
The 17th Michigan Infantry Regiment was a Michigander regiment of the Union Army that was active from 8 August 1862 to 3 June 1865 during the American Civil War. First raised in the state capital and major shipping and manufacturing hub of Detroit in August 1862, the 17th Michigan Volunteers left directly for Maryland in response to the invasion of the North by Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. The first occasion of being under fire was at the Battle of South Mountain, where the green troops - many having been students at Michigan State Normal College - took heavy casualties, but performed well enough to earn themselves the nickname the "Stonewall Regiment". At Antietam, they formed the far right of Christ's Brigade when they advanced on the town of Sharpsburg, going up against the Georgians and South Carolinians of Evans' Brigade at the Sherrick Farmstead. Following the Maryland campaign, the 17th was transferred to the Army of the Tennessee, where they served admirably as part of the rear guard during the retreat to Knoxville. Following the surrender at Appomattox, the 17th Michigan proceeded to Washington DC to participate in the Grand Review, and was mustered out of service in June 1865.