History The 27th Virginia Infantry was organized in the Lexington, Virginia area for service on May 30, 1861. Company G was from the Wheeling, Virginia area (now West Virginia). From then until the unit was accepted into Confederate service on July 1, 1861, it bore the designation of the 6th Virginia State Infantry. When mustered into Confederate service, the regiment contained only seven companies. An eighth company was subsequently added. Under the provisions of War Department regulations, the 27th Virginia Infantry should have been designated as a battalion rather than as a regiment. Orders to the effect of such a designation change appear to have been issued in mid-April, 1862, but never carried out - probably originally, because the unit was actively involved in the spring campaign of 1862 and, later, because of the unit's already established reputation as part of the "Stonewall" Brigade. Company:
Like almost all Civil War units, the Twenty-Seventh Virginia Infantry was often known by an alternate designation derived from the name of its commanding officer. Names of this type used by or for the regiment are shown below.
Upon being mustered into Confederate service the 27th Virginia Infantry was assigned to the Army of the Shenandoah. In early 1862 the unit reported in the Department of Northern Virginia and soon afterwards the Army of the Valley. In the early summer of 1862 the regiment joined the Army of Northern Virginia (ANV). It served in that Army until the summer of 1864. At that time the unit joined the Army of the Valley District, serving in that Army until the final month of 1864. The unit then rejoined the Army of Northern Virginia, serving in that Army for the remainder of the War. Throughout its career the 27th Virginia Infantry was brigaded with the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 33rd Virginia Infantry regiments to constitute the famous "Stonewall" Brigade - the 1st Virginia Infantry Brigade. Following the severe losses sustained by this brigade at Spottsylvania Court House on May 12, 1664, all of the regiments of this brigade were consolidated to form one regimental sized organization. As a whole, the men of the 1st Brigade were mostly of Scotch-Irish, German, Swedish, or English descent and typically from farming backgrounds due to the fertile Valley region they were from. Generally, they thought the idea of the "Union" was a good one but Virginia was their home. - Virginia, as the mother of this new nation, was their "country", not the United States. Consequently, the Valley men set out to defend their homes and homeland and cast their lots with the new Confederacy. The 27th Virginia Infantry was engaged in over 60 skirmishes, battles, etc., in
Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia during its long career.
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The Stonewall Brigade would be referred to by other nicknames as well: "Stonewall's Band", "Jackson's Foot Cavalry", "Men of Manassas", and the "Valley Men". They served with distinction throughout the entire war and despite some low points along the way, they continually lived up to their nickname as the Stonewall Brigade and commanded the respect of friend and foe alike. Jackson never hesitated to call on the brigade and always took comfort when his old brigade was leading the way.
According to the paroles granted at Appomattox Court House., April 9,
1865, fewer than twenty-five officers and enlisted men of the 27th Virginia surrendered
there. General Lee, in a show of respect, graciously asked the 210 men remaining in the
old Stonewall Brigade to lead the final march of his Army of Northern Virginia. It is this
last simple act by Lee that gives the true testimonial of the legacy left by the men of
the Stonewall Brigade. The Valley men gladly accepted this last duty probably not for
themselves but for their comrades left on the bloody battlefields of the war. Surely they
also did it for their former leader who had made them what they were and who always
considered them his own; General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. It must have
been an amazing sight to see these troops, worn and battered from the war. They
undoubtedly marched proudly down the road, their heads held high, their tattered battle
flags flying over them - the men of the Stonewall Brigade. Behind them, the long gray
lines of the former Army of Northern Virginia.
"..and men will tell their children tho all other memories fade, how they fought with Stonewall Jackson in the old Stonewall Brigade.."from The Song of the Rebel by John E. Cooke; 1863 |
Submitted By:Denny Soszynski
MMCWR, Inc.
27th Virginia, Co. A & G
Citizens of Wheeling