17th Michigan Volunteer Infantry - Spotsylvania Court House VA - American Civil War Monuments and Memorials on Waymarking.com

The 17th suffered their greatest losses of the war at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House. On May 12, 1984, the Union attacked a bulge in the Confederate lines known as Heth's Salient. Simultaneously, Confederate Gen. R. E. Lee ordered an attack on the Federal left flank where the 17th MI were. In 30 minutes of bloody combat, the 17th lost almost 200 men and their colors.

On May 10, 1997, a monument was placed at Heth's Salient on the Spotsylvania Court House battlefield by the 17th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Company E Inc.. The inscription on the front of black polished granite slab reads:

17TH MICHIGAN
VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
REGIMENT
[Emblem]
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
2TH MICHIGAN VOL. INFANTRY
1ST MICHIGAN SAHRPSHOOTERS

LOSSES FOR THE 17TH MICHIGAN
ON MAY 12, 1864
26 KILLED
70 WOUNDED
100 MISSING OR CAPTURED

AT 2 P.M., MAY 12, 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.

References:

• Virtual Tour Stop, Heth's Salient (U.S. National Park Service)
• 17th Michigan Infantry Regiment

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