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Re: 27th Louisiana Infantry
In Response To: Re: 27th Louisiana Infantry ()

My gg grandfather was in the 27th:
Does anybody know of a record of who those wounded were other than officers in action in the different corps? Particularly the 27th at Vicksburg?
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Thomas Word - (Private, 27th LA Infantry Co. B enlisted at Camp Moore, April 29, 186?, present on
all rolls to Dec. 1862, Federal Rolls of Prisoners of War, Capture and paroled at Vicksburg, MS
July 4, 1863 - info Roster of Confederate Soldiers 1861-1865)
Born Dec. 4, 1827 LA
Died Dec. 5, 1881 buried Aquilla, Hill Cty, TX
Married Samantha Wiggins
Born Nov. 7, 1837 Winnsboro, Franklin Parish, LA Died Jan. 14, 1881 buried Aquilla, Hill Cty, TX
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I got this summary of The 27th Louisiana Infantry's action in the Civil War. I don't know the sources:

The 27th Louisiana Infantry was organized under the command of Colonel Leon D. Marks in April 1862 at Camp Moore, Louisiana. Laurin L. McLaurin and Jesse M. Cooper served as the lieutenant colonel and major respectively of the regiment. Once organized the regiment was assigned to Smith's Brigade in the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. Through December 1862 the regiment was
stationed around the defenses of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

In April 1863 the 27th Louisiana became part of Brigade General Francis Abram Shoup's brigade in Smith's Division. Still in and about Vicksburg, the regiment took part in actions versus the Greenville Expedition in early April. In May the 27th earned distinction for its part in repulsing
Ulysses Grant's assaults on the Confederate works surrounding Vicksburg.

The first of these actions came on May 18 when General Shoup ordered the regiment to advance out of Vicksburg to the Graveyard road to cover a detachment foraging for supplies. When the 27th reached the line of rifle pits surrounding the city, a civilian rider rode in and informed Shoup that Union forces were tight on his heels. In his official report of the operations around Vicksburg, Shoup
described what followed: I at once threw forward a strong line of skirmishers to check his advance and to allow us time to occupy the trenches. The skirmishers were engaged before they had advanced 300 yards from our line of rifle-pits. . .This was about 1 p.m. My skirmishers maintained their position. The enemy extended his forces to our left. After a time, Colonel [Winchester] Hall's regiment (the Twenty-sixth Louisiana) arrived . . . . Other troops arrived and extended the line to the left. . Sharpshooting was maintained all along my front till dark. In the
night I was advised that it had been determined to abandon the advanced line on the left, and was ordered to withdraw Colonel Hall's regiment as soon as the troops of that line had fallen back, which was accomplished quietly at dawn. (OR 24:2:406) The troops facing Shoup were elements of
William T. Sherman's 15th Corps. One of these units was Ewing's Brigade which contained the 4th West Virginia Infantry. On the 19th of May the Union assault on Shoup's line was renewed with Ewing's brigade in the vanguard of the attack. Having occupied the works Shoup was ordered to abandon the previous night, the Federals opened a steady fire of artillery. Around 1:00 p.m. Union infantry began moving towards the Confederate lines. According to Shoup's report: We opened on him. He broke and fled to the cover of the hills. After a time he reappeared in greater force farther to the right, in front of redan occupied by Colonel
Marks' regiment [the 27th Louisiana]. Our fire staggered him, but the fragments of several regiments succeeded in gaining the cover of the ridge in front of the redan. Here he remained some time almost wholly free from our fire. He finally made a rush, with the intention of carrying our line, but was met by a terrific fire in front and flank, and fled in utter confusion, leaving many dead. . . .The
enemy continued a terrific fire until dark. In the attack the enemy lost several prisoners, a stand of colors, and many stand of arms. Our loss was heavy. (OR 24:2:406)
The brigade spent the next two days suring up its position. On May 22 the federals renewed yet again their assaults on the Confederate works with much the same results as before. Shoup, writing in a more disjointed style, describes the action: A little after noon the enemy attempted to carry my
position on the extreme right; another failure. A force on my extreme left begins to assemble. Taking advantage of the gorge in front, they gain the cover of the steep declivity at the foot of the ridge running down from our line into the gorge. Several regiments are finally assembled. About
3 p.m. a very heavy force discovers itself on my right. . . . It moves forward to assault our line;it is repulsed with great loss. . . .About 5 p.m. the force on my left just spoken of makes a dash at my line. It is slaughtered, and flies in confusion. The troops behaved most admirably; mount the parapets with enthusiasm. Colonel Marks, Twenty-seventh Louisiana; Lieutenant-Colonel [L.L.]
McLaurin. . .and Major [A.S.] Norwood. . .each display great gallantry.

The assault of May 22 was the last effort by Grant to take Vicksburg by frontal assaults. With the failures of those attacks, Grant began siege operations. For the next 5 2 weeks Shoup's lines were continually harassed by artillery and musketry fire from the Union lines. The federals also worked daily in extending their lines and building new approaches to the Confederate works. They also commenced mining operations, constructing shafts which extended underneath the Confederate lines with the object of filling them with explosives and blowing holes in the defenses.
From Shoup's report it is apparent that the daily exposure to artillery and rifle fire had a telling effect on the men in the 27th Louisiana. On June 14 it is written that The Twenty-seventh Louisiana has suffered dreadfully up to this time. The regiment was rewarded by being ordered out of the works for three days of rest. Upon its return to the lines on June 17, however, things continued to go bad for the Louisianans. In the next week both Lieutenant-Colonel McLaurin, then in command of the regiment after Colonel Marks had been mortally wounded, was mortally wounded himself on June 21. Two days later Major Norwood, who replaced McLaurin, received a wound as well, leaving the regiment with no field officers among the rank of Captain. (OR 24:2:406)
By early July the federals were busily preparing galleries under the Confederate lines at Stockade Redan, occupied by Shoup's brigade, with the intent to blow them. The Confederate dug mines of their own and set off powder charges to try and thwart these efforts. Nevertheless, the Union forces succeeded in their plan and were ready to blow the works on July 4, when news of the Confederate surrender of Vicksburg was announced.

The 27th Louisiana surrendered with the rest of the Confederate forces at Vicksburg on July 4, 1863.
During the battles and siege of the city, the 27th lost three officers and 55 men killed, and four officers and 92 enlisted men wounded. In his after-action reports Major M. L. Smith wrote highly of the regiment:
The good conduct of both officers and men during the forty-seven days in the trenches is worth of special praise. . . .The heaviest and most dangerous attack was on the extreme right and nobly did the Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-Eighth [Twenty-ninth], and Thirty-first Louisiana repel and edure it. . .
To the brave Colonel Marks and his gallant regiment (Twenty-seventh Louisiana) belongs the distinction of taking the first colors, prisoners, and arms lost by the enemy during the siege. (OR 24:2:398-399)
The following fall the regiment was declared exchanged. Those members of the regiment that were east of Mississippi were consolidated with the remnants of the 3, 17, 21, 22, 26, 29, and 31 Louisiana Infantry regiments to form the 22nd Consolidated Infantry Regiment. The old members of the 27th became part of Company F in this regiment. The balance of the 27th was reorganized in the summer of 1864 and remained in service until they were surrendered by General E. K. Smith on May 26, 1865.

Northwest view. Site Marker: Lunette at left of Stockade. This lunette, part of the stockade to its
right, and the line to its left were held, the afternoon of May 19, 1863, and the assaults of the Union force repulsed, by the 27th Louisiana Infantry with the Second Missouri Infantry in support. The casualties in the Louisiana regiment were severe but cannot be accurately stated. The position was held, May 22, and the assaults of the Union force repulsed, by the 27th Louisiana and five companies of the 2d Missouri, with five companies of that regiment in reserve. The casualties cannot be accurately stated. The lunette, the line immediately to its left, the stockade to its right, and north face of the Stockade Redan were held, after May 25, by the 27th Louisiana. A countermine against the Union approach was prepared at the stockade, but not fired. Casualties in 27th Louisiana during the defense: killed 58, wounded 96, total 154, Lieut. Col. L.L. McLaurin and Lieut. George Harris killed, Col. L.D. Marks mortally wounded


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27th Louisiana Infantry
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