The ten companies of the 27th Massachusetts Volunteers were recruited in the western part of the State in the late summer and fall of 1861.

New Bern was the regiment's headquarters until Oct. 10, 1863, when it was ordered to Newport News and was for a time occupied with routine duties at Norfolk and Portsmouth.

It embarked for Virginia, docking at Yorktown, thence to Williamsburg, Fortress Monroe and Bermuda Hundred, where it landed and marched to Cobb's hill.

The battles of Dunn's farm and Port Walthall Junction followed and during one day the regiment had 5 wounded, while 50 were disabled by sunstroke.

After a brave defense of their position, much of the regiment was surrounded while fighting in a dense fog, losing in addition to its killed and wounded, 252 of its number taken prisoners.

Within a week, Major William A. Walker was killed leading the regiment in the bloody assault on Confederate positions at the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 3.

On March 8, it was attacked at Southwest Creek (Wise's Forks), where the whole brigade, with a few exceptions, was captured, after resisting for an hour in an engagement with Confederate General Hoke's entire division of 8,000 men.

When capture became certain, these two men wrapped the colors around the staffs, hid them under a rotten log, and covered it with leaves and grass.

During the course of the Civil War, there were three regiments that were recruited from towns located in the four westernmost counties of Massachusetts (Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire).

In the 27th Massachusetts, the towns that supplied at least 10 men to the regiment include: Springfield (124) Northampton (86) Amherst (72) Chicopee (61) Adams (60) Athol (56) Westfield (54) Granville (35) Hadley (34) Ludlow (34) Great Barrington (31) Lee (29) Pittsfield (29) Wilbraham (28) Montague (24) Brimfield (20) Easthampton (20) New Salem (19) Williamsburg (19) Belchertown (19) Williamstown (18) Holyoke (18) Southwick (17) Greenfield (16) Leverett (16) Palmer (16) Worthington (16) Blandford (15) Tolland (14) Wendell (14) Deerfield (13) Ware (13) Charlemont (12) Erving (12) Granby (12) Northfield (12) Huntington (11) Shelburne (11) Shutesbury (11) Enfield, MA (10) Monterey (10) Pelham (10) South Hadley (10) Orange (10) The total number of men who served under the flag of the 27th Massachusetts was 1,543.