©, 1997, Jeffrey C. Weaver
The 27th Virginia Infantry was organized on May 30, 1861 as the 6th Virginia Infantry but was redesignated the 27th Virginia Infantry the following day. The unit was transferred to Confederate control on July 1, 1861 and served as such until the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. Colonel William W. Gordon provided initial leadership for the unit. Other officers of the unit included John W. Carpenter, (lieutenant colonel); John Echols (lieutenant colonel, colonel); James K. Edmondson (lieutenant colonel, colonel); Philip F. Frazer (major); Andrew J. Grigsby (major, lieutenant colonel, colonel); Elisha F. Paxton (major); Daniel M. Shriver (major, lieutenant colonel). The 27th Virginia Infantry, along with the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 33rd Virginia Infantry regiments were organized into a brigade at the outset of the war under the command of Thomas Jonathan Jackson, and won accolades at 1st Manassas, and became the Stonewall Brigade. The 27th Virginia Infantry, although decimated toward the end of the war, remained in this organization until the end of the conflict.
The 27th Virginia participated, in varying degrees, in a long list of engagements:
Falling Waters, July 2, 1861
1st Manassas, July 21, 1861
Kernstown, March 23, 1862
Cedar Creek, March 24, 1862
1st Winchester, May 25, 1862
Port Republic, June 9, 1862
Gaines Mill, June 27, 1862
White Oak Swamp, June 30, 1862
Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862
Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862
Groveton, August 28, 1862
2nd Manassas, August 28-30, 1862
Chantilly, September 1, 1862
Harper's Ferry, September 12-15, 1862
Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862
Kearneysville, October 17, 1862
Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862
Chancellorsville, May 1-4, 1863
2nd Winchester, June 14-15, 1863
Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863
Bealton, November 5, 1863
Morton's Ford, February 10, 1864
The Wilderness, May 5-6, 1864
Spotsylvania C.H. May 8-21, 1864
North Anna, May 22-26, 1864
Bethesda Church, May 30, 1864
Cold Harbor, June 1-3, 1864
Lynchburg, June 1864
Monocacy, July 9, 1864
Snicker's Ferry, July 18, 1864
2nd Kernstown, July 24, 1864
Winchester, July 24, 1864
Newtown, August 11, 1864
Winchester, August 17, 1864
Shepherdstown, August 25, 1864
Fisher's Hill, September 22, 1864
Cedar Creek, October 19, 1864
Hatcher's Run, February 5-7, 1865
Fort Stedman, March 25, 1865
Sayler's Creek, April 6, 1865
Appomattox C.H., April 9, 1865.
For more information, see Ridenbaugh, Lowell, 27th Virginia
Infantry, H. E. Howard, Inc.,,
Appomattox, VA, 1994.