"I do not regret having done as I have done, for I with many thousands was honest and enlisted for our country. If I was home and knew as much as I do now I would enlist at the first opportunity."

Corporal Andrew D. Couch - January 1863
Killed May 2, 1863 at Chancellorsville, Virginia

Colonel William H. Noble

Lt. Colonel Charles Walter

Colonel of the Seventeenth from its formation until its muster-out, Colonel Noble was wounded at Chancellorsville leading his regiment. He was captured on December 24, 1864 near the St. John's River in Florida. Ultimately sent to Andersonville Prison, he was the highest ranking officer ever imprisoned there. After the war Noble and his daughter made a very comfortable living handling pension claims for Union veterans.

Lt. Colonel Walter, born in Denmark, had been captured at 1st Bull Run. He was released in summer of 1862, and immediately joined the 17th as Lt. Colonel. He was known for his soft spoken mannerisms while drilling the regiment. Walter was killed at Chancellorsville at the Talley house in his first battle with the Seventeenth; the 1st of three Lt. Colonel's to die in action with the regiment.

from Roger D. Hunt Collection/USAMHI

photo courtesy of C. Paul Loane

Lt. Col. Douglas Fowler

Lt. Colonel Henry Allen

Another veteran of the three months service, Fowler was mustered in as Captain of Company A. Too sick to walk, he went with his company to Chancellorsville in an ambulance. Fowler, along with C. Frederick Betts, rallied large numbers of the 17th after they were driven from their position at Chancellorsville, and he was promoted to Lt. Colonel soon after. In command of the regiment at Gettysburg, he was killed on July 1st by artillery fire. His body was never recovered.

Last Lt. Colonel of the 17th, Henry Allen first enlisted in the 71st New York Volunteer Infantry (3 months regiment) in 1861. One year after he was mustered out he returned home to Norwalk, CT and helped to recruit a company for the 17th,mustering in as 1st LT of Company F at the age of 20. He was wounded at Gettysburg, and became the last Lt. Colonel of the regiment after Lt. Col. Wilcoxson's death in Florida. Allen's younger brother died in 1864  of wounds suffered at Bermuda Hundred.

photo courtesy of Bobby Dobbins

photo courtesy of Bobby Dobbins

Lt. Colonel Albert Wilcoxson

Image pending

Promoted to Lt. Colonel after the death of Douglas Fowler at Gettysburg, Wilcoxson was wounded at the skirmish at Braddock's Farm in 1865. He was taken prisoner but died of his wounds as a POW. His sword was returned to his widow in CT after his death by Captain J.J. Dickison, a fellow Mason. The sword is still in the possession Wilcoxson's lodge in CT. His body was returned to CT for burial in Norwalk.

description pending.

Photo courtesy of Matthew Morris

From a collection

Major Allen G. Brady

Adjutant H. Whitney Chatfield

A veteran of the 3 months service (where he was under arrest for insubordination for much of that time), Major Brady ended up in command of the regiment at both Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. He was wounded at the latter, and subsequently served as the Provost Marshal at Point Lookout POW Camp.

Chatfield was conspicuous at Chancellorsville, where he helped to rally the remnants of his regiment. Promoted to Adjutant, Chatfield was killed at Dunn's Lake, Florida on February 5, 1865 as he tried to fight his way out of a Confederate ambush. His grief stricken parents brought his body home for burial in Bridgeport.

From the collection of Dale Call

from The Military and Civil History of CT during the War of 1861-1865

Quartermaster Hanford Hayes

Chaplain William Hall

1st Quartermaster of the 17th, he was court-martialed in 1863. His reputation ruined, he resigned his commission in July 1863.

1st Chaplain of the 17th

photo courtesy of Jeff Grzelak

photo courtesy of Bobby Dobbins

Surgeon Robert Hubbard - war time view

Surgeon Robert Hubbard - post war view

1st Surgeon of the 17th Connecticut. Hubbard was appointed Medical Director of the XI Corps prior to the Battle of Chancellorsville, and accompanied the XI and XII Corps when they were transferred to the west after Gettysburg. He resigned his position in late 1863.

War view from the USAMHI - Post War from the History of Bridgeport

Principal Musician John P. Hearn - post war view

Principal Musician Thomas R. Hearn

Thomas and John Hearn enlisted in Company F as musicians - Thomas in August 1862 and John in February 1863 (although John's pension file claimed an August 1862 enlistment date). A third brother, James, enlisted in Company I and died of typhoid fever in April 1863. Thomas and John were originally musicians in Company F. Thomas was promoted to Principal Musician on July 1, 1863 and John on November 10, 1863. John Hearn was captured on February 4, 1865 at Dunn's Lake, Florida. He was imprisoned at Andersonville and was paroled on April 21, 1865. Both brothers were mustered out on July 19, 1865.

Images contributed by Kathleen McGarry