Also called 25th Tennessee Infantry Regiment
Organized September 10, 1861; reorganized May 1862; consolidated January 1, 1863 with 1st (Feild’s) Tennessee Infantry; formed part of Company “I”, 1st Consolidated Tennessee Infantry April 9, 1865; paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina May 1, 1865.
FIELD OFFICERS
- Colonels-Christopher H. Williams, Blackburn H. Brown, A. W. Caldwell.
- Lieutenant Colonels-B. H. Brown, William Frierson.
- Majors-Samuel T. Love, John M. Taylor, A. P. Allen.
All of the companies except one changed company letters when the regiment was reorganized in May 1862. The letters used after the reorganization are shown in the list below, with prior letters indicated.
CAPTAINS
- Aaron Lawler, Co. “A”, formerly “E”. Men from Benton County.
- A. M. Johnson, R. P. Johnson, Co. “B”, formerly “K”. Men from McNairy County.
- A. W. Caldwell, Stephen S. Sanford, M. H. Campbell, T. H. C. Perry, Co. “C” formerly “B”. Men from Troy, Obion County.
- C. H. Williams, William P. Timberlake, John T. Priddy, John C. Lipscomb, Co. “D”. “The Felix Rebels.” Men from Henderson County.
- Isham G. Hearn, Jo I. Sharp, Co. “E”, formerly “G”. “The Decatur Tigers.” Men from Decatur County.
- Samuel A. Sayle, John Maynard, Thomas N. Kizer, Co. “F”, formerly “I”. Men from Henderson County.
- John P. Burns, F. J. Wood, Co. “G”, formerly “C”. Men from Crockett County (then Haywood).
- J. L. G. Matheny, S. M. Crabtree, I. F. Looney, J. NI. Null, Co. “H”, formerly “F’. Men from Weakley and Carroll Counties.
- Richard Barham, John W. Carroll, Co. “I”, formerly “A”. Men from Henderson County.
- Blackburn H. Brown, John M. Taylor, Neill A. Senter, Co. “K”, formerly “H”. “The Henderson County Sharpshooters.” Men from Henderson County.
Of the field officers, Colonel Williams was killed at Shiloh; Lieutenant Colonel Brown, wounded; and Major Love mortally wounded and taken prisoner. Brown became colonel, but was not re-elected at the reorganization. Major Taylor was not re-elected, and Major Allen died July 22, 1864. Major Taylor served as Captain of Company “K” until he, too, was seriously wounded at the Battle of Perryville. Colonel Caldwell and Lieutenant Colonel Frierson became supernumerary, and were transferred to other assignments when the regiment was consolidated with the 1st Tennessee.
The ten companies composing the regiment had been organized in August and September 1861. They assembled at Camp Trenton where they were organized into the 27th Tennessee Infantry Regiment, with an original strength of 833 men.
Soon after organization the regiment moved to Henderson, where it remained until after the Battle of Belmont November 7, 1861, when it was moved to Columbus, Kentucky. Here for the first time, the regiment was furnished with arms. On November 22, 1861 General Leonidas Polk, at Columbus, wrote he was ordering Williams’ 27th Tennessee forward, presumably to Bowling Green, Kentucky, for on December 30, at Bowling Green, General A. S. Johnston wrote that the troops from Columbus were beginning to arrive, and mentioned the 27th, aggregate strength 580, as one that had arrived. So, without a shot having been fired, the regiment had already lost 253 men in effective strength. On January 31, 1862, the regiment was reported in Colonel John S. Bowen’s Brigade, Major General Hardee’s Central Army of Kentucky, with headquarters at Bowling Green, Kentucky.
The brigade at this time was composed of the 9th and 10th Arkansas, 22nd and 25th Mississippi, 1st Missouri and 27th Tennessee Infantry Regiments, plus five batteries.
While the regiment was at Bowling Green, Brigadier General Felix K. Zollicoffer was killed in the Battle of Fishing Creek, and Colonel Williams, with an escort of 100 men from the 27th Regiment was selected to convoy his body to Nashville for burial. The regiment itself moved to Nashville in February 1862, where on February 23, it was reported in Brigadier General S. A. M. Wood’s Brigade, Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow’s Division. The brigade was now composed of the 7th and 16th Alabama, 8th and 9th Arkansas, 27th, 44th and 55th (McKoin’s) Tennessee Infantry Regiments, 3rd Mississippi Battalion, two batteries and one cavalry company. From Nashville the brigade moved to Corinth, Mississippi, in preparation for the Battle of Shiloh April 6-7, 1862. In this battle, the brigade, with 7th Alabama Regiment gone, and Avery’s Georgia Dragoons and Harper’s Battery added, was in Hardee’s Corps. General Wood’s report stated the 27th started the day with 350 muskets. At the end of the second day, Colonel Williams had been killed, Lieutenant Colonel Brown severely wounded, Major Love mortally wounded and taken prisoner. Total casualties were 142 killed and wounded and 48 missing, over half the force with which they had started the battle.
On April 26, 1862, the 27th, still in Wood’s Brigade, reported only 226 effectives, a loss of nearly three fourths of its original strength in a little over seven months. At this time the brigade was composed of the 16th Alabama, 8th Arkansas, 33rd Mississippi, 27th and 44th Tennessee Infantry Regiments, a Mississippi battery and Avery’s Cavalry.
After the Battle of Shiloh, Lieutenant Colonel Brown was promoted to colonel, A. W. Caldwell elected lieutenant colonel and John M. Taylor major. At the reorganization in May 1862, Caldwell became colonel; William Frierson lieutenant colonel; and A. P. Allen major. The reorganized regiment was placed in Major General Benjamin F. Cheatham’s Division, Brigadier General George Maney’s Brigade, composed of 1st (Feild’s), 6th, 9th, 27th Tennessee Infantry Regiments and Smith’s Battery. From this time to the final surrender, the 27th remained in Maney’s Brigade, although the brigade underwent many changes in structure.
The brigade was part of General Bragg’s Army in the invasion of Kentucky, participating in the capture of Munfordville, Kentucky, and the Battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862. At this time, the 41st Georgia Regiment was reported as a member of the brigade. The 27th, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Frierson and Major Allen, reported 210 men in action, with 112 killed, wounded, and missing.
There followed the retreat into Tennessee and the Battle of Murfreesboro on December 31, 1862. Here the 4th Confederate Infantry and Maney’s 24th Sharpshooter Battalion had been added to the brigade, and the 1st/27th and 6th/~h consolidated into field units. The lst/27th, commanded by Colonel Hume R. Feild, reported 457 engaged, with 83 casualties.
In January, 1863, by order of General Bragg, the consolidation of the 1st and 27th Regiments was made permanent, and from this time until the end of the war the regiments served as a unit, although separate muster rolls were maintained. The 1st supplied Companies “A” “C” “D”, “E”, “F”, “G”, and “H”, and the 27th “B”‘, “I”, and “K”, of the lst/27th Consolidated Regiment. Field officers were Colonel Feild and Lieutenant Colonel John House, of the First, and Major A. P. Allen of the 27th.
The subsequent history of the consolidated regiment may be found in the history of the 1st (Feild’s) Tennessee Infantry Regiment. Major Allen was killed in the fighting around Atlanta on July 22, 1864.
In the organization of General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army at Smithfield, North Carolina, March 31, 1865, Maney’s Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Christopher C. McKinney was composed of 1st/27th, commanded by Lieutenant James Lee, and 8th/ 16th/28th Tennessee Infantry Regiments, commanded by Major W. G. Burford. In the final reorganization of the Army, April 9, 1865, the 1st, 6th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 27th, 28th, 34th Tennessee Infantry Regiments and 24th Sharpshooter Battalion constituted the 1st Consolidated Tennessee Infantry Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver A. Bradshaw, of Brigadier General Joseph B. Palmer’s Brigade, Cheatham’s Division. The 27th formed part of Company “I” of this regiment, which was surrendered and paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina May 1, 1865.
Major John M. Taylor, of the 27th, in Lindsley’s Annals, reported that at Corinth, Mississippi, after the retreat from Nashville in December 1864, General Hood furloughed all the West Tennessee troops for thirty days, and that some who did not return in time for the move to North Carolina, reported to Lieutenant General Richard Taylor in Mississippi, and surrendered with his forces in May, 1865, the last of the Confederate forces east of the Mississippi River.
This unit history was extracted from Tennesseans in the Civil War, Vol 1. Copyrighted 1964 by the Civil War Centennial Commission of Tennessee and is published here with their permission. This history may not be republished for any reason without the written permission of the copyright owner.