Battle of Spotsylvania • Tour the Battlefield • Monuments & Markers • The Armies
The monument to the 17th Michigan Infantry Regiment is at Stop 7 on the Spotsylvania Battlefield Auto Tour It is a few feet from the ‘Heth’s Salient‘ wayside marker. (see map below)
There is also a historical marker to the 17th Michigan Infantry at Fox’s Gap on South Mountain, Maryland.
Abou the monument to the 17th Michigan
The crossed cannon and anchor on a shield on the front of the monument is the symbol of the Union Ninth Corps, which grew out of Burnside’s amphibious expedition to North Carolina in the early days of the war. The Ninth Corps fought in both the Eastern and Western Theaters in the Civil War on battlefields as far-ranging as South Mountain, Antietam, Vicksburg, Knoxville and Petersburg. The 17th Michigan suffered its worst loss of the Civil War here at Spotsylvania. The monument was dedicated in 1997.
Text from the front of the monument:
17th Michigan
Volunteer Infantry Regiment
9th Corps
3rd Division
1st Brigade
Michigan units on the field
in the 9th Corps
17th Michigan Vol. Infantry
20th Michigan Vol. Infantry
8th Michigan Vol. Infantry
27th Michigan Vol. Infantry
2nd Michigan Vol. Infantry
1st Michigan Sharpshooters
Losses for the 17th Michigan
On May 12, 1864
26 killed
70 wounded
100 missing or captured
Text from the rear of the monument:
At 2 p.m., May 12th, two
Ninth Corps brigades were
ordered to attack the
Confederate works one-quarter
mile southeast of this spot.
The 17th Michigan was on
the extreme left of the Federal
line. As the regiment approached
its objective, Brig. Gen. James
Lane’s North Carolina Brigade
emerged from the thick woods
and struck it on the left flank
in the bloody hand-to-hand
fighting that followed, the
17th Michigan lost its national
colors and 189 of the 225
men it carried into battle.
Three soldiers later received
the Medal of Honor
for their brave but unsuccessful
efforts to save the colors.
Three soldiers from the 17th Michigan Infantry received the Medal of Honor for their actions at Spotsylvania:
Private Frederick Alber of Company A, who “Bravely rescued Lt. Charles H. Todd of his regiment who had been captured by a party of Confederates by shooting down one, knocking over another with the butt of his musket, and taking them both prisoners.”
Sargent Daniel McFall of Company E, who “Captured Col. Barker, commanding the Confederate brigade that charged the Union batteries; on the same day rescued Lt. George W. Harmon of his regiment from the enemy.”
Sergeant Charles Augustus Thompson of Company D, who “After the regiment was surrounded and all resistance seemed useless, fought singlehanded for the colors and refused to give them up until he had appealed to his superior officers.”
See more information about the history of the:
1st Michigan Sharpshooters
2nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry
8th Michigan Volunteer Infantry
17th Michigan Volunteer Infantry
20th Michigan Volunteer Infantry
27th Michigan Volunteer Infantry
Location of the monument
The monument to the 17th Michigan is on the south side of Burnside Drive about 0.45 mile east of Tour Stop 6 next to the Heth’s Salient wayside marker. (38°12’50.2″N 77°35’14.8″W)
(go to the Tour Stop 7 page)
(go to the main Battle of Spotsylvania Auto Tour page)