Editor’s Note: Do you have information on this regiment’s role at the Siege of Petersburg? Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of the screen. We are happy to exchange information with other researchers.
Muster In: Organized August 18611
Muster Out: April 9, 18652
Commander(s):
Lieutenant Colonel William A. Barden
Commander Image
Major James B. Moore
Commander Image
Commander 3
Commander Image
First Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army3
- Commander: Major William A. Barden4
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
Second Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army5
- Commander: Major William A. Barden6
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
Third Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army7
- Commander:
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army8
- Commander: Lieutenant Colonel William A. Barden (at least on August 9, 1864)9,10
- Unit Strength: 147 officers and men PFD (August 9, 1864)11
- Weapons: Some mix of Enfield Rifles, Springfield Rifles, and Richmond Rifles12
Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army13,14
- Commander:
- Unit Strength:
- 143 officers and men PFD (September 8, 1864)20
- 139 officers and men PFD (September 19, 1864)21
- 73 officers and men (five companies fighting at Fort Harrison)(September 29, 1864)22
- Weapons: Some mix of Enfield Rifles, Springfield Rifles, and Richmond Rifles23,24
Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army25
- Commander: Lieutenant Colonel William A. Barden26
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army27,28
- Commander: Lieutenant Colonel William A. Barden (November & December 1864)29,30
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army31,32,33,34,35
- Commander:
- Unit Strength:
- Weapons:
Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army40,41
Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles44:
- Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
- Chaffin’s Farm (September 29, 1864)
- Fort Harrison (September 29-30, 1864)
- Fort Gilmer (September 29-30, 1864)
- Williamsburg Road (October 27, 1864)
- Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)
Bibliography:
Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:
- 17th GA: Benning’s Brigade: A History and Roster of the Second, Seventeenth, and Twentieth Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiments
- CIR: P-12 Benning’s Brigade September 8, 1864
- CIR: P-13 Benning’s Brigade August 9, 1864
- CIR: P-15 Benning’s Brigade September 19, 1864
- CV: V13N6: The Assault Upon Fort Gilmer
- CV: V13N9: Assault on Fort Gilmer
- CV: V13N9: The Attack of Fort Harrison
- OR XLII P1 #359: Return of Casualties in Bratton’s, Law’s, Anderson’s, and Benning’s Brigades, First/ANV, Aug 1 to Dec 31, 1864
- SHS Papers: Volume 7: Notes on the Final Campaign of April, 1865
Sources:
- Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pages 216-217 ↩
- Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pages 216-217 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 110 ↩
- Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia, National Archives, Roll 303 (William A. Barden, 17th Georgia, Fold3.com Page 49): Requisition for Forage June 30, 1864: Barden signed this requisition as commanding the regiment on June 30, 1864. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 110 ↩
- Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia, National Archives, Roll 303 (William A. Barden, 17th Georgia, Fold3.com Page 49): Requisition for Forage June 30, 1864: Barden signed this requisition as commanding the regiment on June 30, 1864. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 120 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 129 ↩
- Confederate Inspection Report P-13: Benning’s Brigade, August 9, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 129 ↩
- Confederate Inspection Report P-13: Benning’s Brigade, August 9, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.: 17 officers + 130 enlisted men = 147 PFD ↩
- Confederate Inspection Report P-13: Benning’s Brigade, August 9, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138 ↩
- Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship. The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1311. ↩
- Confederate Inspection Report P-12: Benning’s Brigade, September 8, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
- Confederate Inspection Report P-15: Benning’s Brigade, September 19, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138: Sibley indicates Moore definitely only commanded a battalion of the 17th Georgia. He may or may not have commanded the entire regiment at some point in September 1864. ↩
- Moore, James B. “The Attack of Fort Harrison.” Confederate Veteran, Volume 13, Number 9, pp. 418-420. Moore definitely appears to have been in command of the majortiy of the regiment at Fort Harrison on September 28-29, 1864: “Being in command of the 17th Georgia, I was ordered to Fort Harrison, and with some two hundred penitentiary convicts and three hundred negroes, then at Fort Harrison, to proceed to strengthen the works. With seven companies, three companies being left on picket duty, I arrived at the fort late in the evening of the 28th of September, leaving orders for the three companies to rejoin the regiment as soon as relieved from picket duty.” ↩
- Confederate Inspection Report P-12: Benning’s Brigade, September 8, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.: 20 officers + 123 enlisted men = 143 PFD ↩
- Confederate Inspection Report P-15: Benning’s Brigade, September 19, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.: 20 officers + 119 enlisted men = 139 PFD ↩
- Moore, James B. “The Attack of Fort Harrison.” Confederate Veteran, Volume 13, Number 9, pp. 418-420. Moore’s reported strength of half of the regiment seems to match quite nicely with the overall strength reported just ten days earlier: “I immediately sent the prisoners to the rear in charge of two of my companies, and with the remaining five companies, numbering about seventy three muskets, hurried into the fort and at once opened fire on the enemy…” ↩
- Confederate Inspection Report P-12: Benning’s Brigade, September 8, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
- Confederate Inspection Report P-15: Benning’s Brigade, September 19, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 147 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 147 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 154 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 162 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 154 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 162 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 172 ↩
- The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1171: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General R. E. Lee, January 31, 1865”; This list contains many commanders who were not there. They were the “official” commanders but may have been gone on leave. I have used none of the leaders from this list as a result. ↩
- The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1179: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, January 31, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from January 26-31, 1865, and the leaders should be accurate for this time frame. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 181 ↩
- The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1269: “Organization of the Infantry and Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, February 28, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from February 28, 1865. However, leaders listed are from January. I’ve chosen to ignore the leaders and just use this source for the organization of the order of battle. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 172 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 172 ↩
- The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1179: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, January 31, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from January 26-31, 1865, and the leaders should be accurate for this time frame. ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 181 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 190 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 200 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 190 ↩
- The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 200 ↩
- Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pages 216-217 ↩
