17th Regiment, Massachusetts Infantry

Brief History
Compendium of the War of the Rebellion" by Frederick H. Dyer contains no history for this unit.

Companies in this Regiment with the Counties of Origin
Men often enlisted in a company recruited in the counties where they lived though not always. After many battles, companies might be combined because so many men were killed or wounded. However if you are unsure which company your ancestor was in, try the company recruited in his county first.

The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database lists 3,052 men on its roster for this unit. Roster.

For more information see the following.

Civil War Achicves, section 17th Regiment Massachusetts Infantry, (accessed 15 April 2013).

Other Sources

 * Beginning United States Civil War Research gives steps for finding information about a Civil War soldier. It covers the major records that should be used. Additional records are described in ‘Massachusetts in the Civil War’ and ‘United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865’ (see below).


 * National Park Service, The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, is searchable by soldier's name and state. It contains basic facts about soldiers on both sides of the Civil War, a list of regiments, descriptions of significant battles, sources of the information, and suggestions for where to find additional information.


 * Massachusetts in the Civil War describes many Confederate and Union sources, specifically for Massachusetts, and how to find them.. These include compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865 describes and explains United States and Confederate States records, rather than state records, and how to find them. These include veterans’ censuses, compiled service records, pension records, rosters, cemetery records, Internet databases, published books, etc.


 * Kirwan, Thomas. Memorial history of the Seventeenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, (old and new organizations), in the Civil War from 1861-1865 : issued by the authority of the supervisors authorized to write and publish the history. (Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1985)


 * Kirwan, Thomas and Splaine, Henry. Memorial history of the Seventeenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (old and new organizations) in the Civil War from 1861-186 (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1991)


 * Civil War in the East,17th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, (accessed 12 April 2013).


 * Images of the 17th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, (accessed 12 April 2013).


 * Library of Congress, Book online, 17th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, accessed 12 April 2013).

Regimental History and Roster

 * Memorial history of the Seventeenth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry (old and new organizations) in the Civil War from 1861-1865, by Thomas Kirwan,, 1829-1911; Splaine, Henry, 1837, Publisher Salem, Mass., Pub. Salem Press Co, 1911, Online at: