[5] The regiment was initially commanded by Col. Milo S. Hascall of Goshen, an 1852 graduate of West Point who had resigned his commission before the war and entered law and Indiana politics.

[5] Taking rail from Oakland to Webster, and then marching up Tygart's Valley to Huttonsville, the regiment reached Cheat Mountain Pass on the following Wednesday and encamped at Elkwater.

Being assigned to General Nelson's Division, on December 10, the regiment marched to Camp Wickliffe, near New Haven, where it remained until Monday, February 10, 1862, when it moved toward Green River.

It then participated in the march to and siege of Corinth from April 29 through May 30, and after its evacuation moved with Buell's army through northern Alabama to McMinnville, Tennessee, where, on Saturday, August 30, it overtook Forrest and attacked and routed him.

[11] In December 1862, the regiments colonel, John T. Wilder was promoted to command of the 2nd Brigade, 5th Division, Center, XIV Corps, Army of the Cumberland (AoC) under Maj. Gen. William S.

Due to this, every advance made by Buell was impeded by repeated Confederate cavalry raids in his rear to capture or destroy his supplies and wagon trains and cut off his communication.

[24] At the same time, Wilder who had previously protested his men continually on the run on foot in a vain attempt to catch the Confederate cavalry, volunteered his whole brigade for conversion and also proposed to the arming of his regiments with repeating rifles, promising to take the initiative away from the Rebels.

Despite orders from the divisional commander, General Joseph J. Reynolds to fall back to his infantry if he made contact, which was still six miles away, Wilder decided to take and hold the position.

[41] Colonel James Connolly, commander of the 17th's brigade-mate 123rd Illinois, wrote: As soon as the enemy opened on us with their artillery we dismounted and formed line of battle on a hill just at the south entrance to the "Gap," and our battery of light artillery was opened on them, a courier was dispatched to the rear to hurry up reinforcements, our horses were sent back some distance out of the way of bursting shells, our regiment was assigned to support the battery, the other three regiments were properly disposed, and not a moment too soon, for these preparations were scarcely completed when the enemy opened on us a terrific fire of shot and shell from five different points, and their masses of infantry, with flags flying, moved out of the woods on our right in splendid style; there were three or four times our number already in sight and still others came pouring out of the woods beyond.

The corps commander, General Thomas, shook Wilder's hand and told him, "You have saved the lives of a thousand men by your gallant conduct today.

[44][27] On June 25, Bate and Johnson renewed their attempts to drive the Union men out of Hoover's Gap but failed against the Lightning Brigade now with its parent division and corps.

[49][note 8] Due to its effectiveness, the 17th and its brigade while maintaining an administrative link to Reynold's division, began to operate independently as a mobile reserve for Rosecrans' army.

[51] The actions of the 17th and its cohort unnerved the Rebel corps commanders such that at 3:00 p.m. on June 30, Bragg ordered a nighttime withdrawal across the Elk River before the Rosecrans' expected assault, thereby losing a chance to inflict potentially serious damage on the AoC.

Rosecrans did not immediately pursue Bragg and "give the finishing blow to the rebellion" as Stanton urged, but paused to regroup and study the difficult choices of pursuit into mountainous regions.

The men in the brigade opposite the city found some Confederate soldiers on the north bank, ignorant of the Union force approaching with the 123d Illinois capturing forty prisoners and a ferry.

At Harrison's Landing, the 92nd and 98th Illinois found no meaningful forces save a single gun in a small fort on the south bank that was quickly destroyed by the accompanying section of Lilly's Battery.

[66] The deception operation included the 92nd and its compatriots faking boat construction by hammering, sawing, and tossing bits of lumber into the river at Harrison's Landing so that it would float downstream to Chattanooga.

[74][75] The 17th and its brigade remained in the city instead of pursuing the enemy because Wilder saw that as a cavalry task and not one for infantry, but reports the men received from locals were passed on which gave Rosecrans the impression that the Army of Tennessee was fleeing in disarray.

[81] (September 19–20, 1863) Realizing that part of his force had narrowly escaped a Confederate trap, Rosecrans abandoned his plans for a pursuit and began to concentrate his scattered AoC near Stevens Gap.

With bullets now landing among the brigade's mounts in the rear and concerned about his left flank after Minty's loss of Reed's Bridge, Wilder pulled the 17th and its mates to a new blocking position near the Viniard farm.

[97] At dawn, on Sunday, September 20, Rosecrans personally ordered the brigade to take position west across Dry Valley Road on the crest of the east slope of Missionary Ridge at the right end of XX Corps and to report to Maj. Gen. McCook.

The 39th Indiana[note 12] had been detached from Willich's 1st Brigade from Johnson's Second Division of McCook's XX Corps and was acting as an independent mounted infantry army-level asset.

In the time that Wilder took to arrange a small detachment to escort him back to safety, the opportunity for a successful attack was lost and he ordered the 17th and its cohort to withdraw to the west.

As they fell back, they collected the details from the 92nd Illinois and set a screening line across Dyer Road as it passed through the gap from the hill to the mountain with the Vittetoe house in its center.

He did give Wheeler license to attack the AoC's logistics, and the Rebel cavalry destroyed a wagon train in the Sequatchie Valley and harassed pickets and foraging parties sent out from the city.

Nine days later, Wednesday, September 30, temporarily assigned to the 2nd Cavalry Division,[note 13] the regiment broke camp and marched 37 miles upriver to Blythe's Ferry.

The Rebels, men of Crews' Brigade,[note 14] fled in the darkness leaving a few killed and wounded, and a great number of rifles, pistols, etc., on the field.

Averaging 25 miles marching a day, the brigade was never able to catch up with the Rebel horsemen, but the near-constant pursuit effectively screened Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's force advancing along the Memphis & Charleston Railroad as well as the AoC's logistic lines.

On Monday evening, 23 November, the regiment crossed the Tennessee River on Sherman's pontoon bridge to the south side and moved out on the road northeast towards Cleveland.

Green F. Shields, of Company K.[note 17] By the end of the 1st quarter of 1863, after roughly fifteen months of service, the weapons were distributed as follows in the ordnance survey reported in March 1863.