his men and virtually all of his officers. A
sullen and foreboding man, “Old Coley”
demanded both rigorous drill and rigid dis-
cipline. Not surprisingly, his unbending per-
sonality and explosive behavior alienated
his troops, all fresh volunteers unaccus-
tomed to taking orders. The soldiers gener-
ally felt his overbearing style bordered on
the tyrannical, and it was not uncommon
for a wayward soldier to be rebuked with a
blistering haze of profanity.
Barely a month and a half after muster-
ing in, a cabal of disaffected officers for-
warded a letter to Governor Morton
requesting a new colonel for the 27th. The
insubordinate letter was shelved out of
hand, but the malcontents then confronted
Colgrove directly and pressed for his res-
ignation. Normally combative, Colgrove
was stunned by the lack of confidence. “It
was a heavy stroke and took the colonel
completely by surprise,” remembered one
observer. “Instead of getting in a rage as
all expected he would it humbled him right
down.” A flustered Colgrove told his offi-
cers that he preferred losing his life to
resigning and going home in disgrace.
Undeterred, the group sent another let-
ter to the governor requesting Colgrove’s
immediate recall. “We have patiently sub-
mitted to insults,” the letter read, “until
forbearance is beyond endurance. The reg-iment is now on the point of demoraliza-
tion for such causes as having officers
called fools, liars & threatened with a
knockdown.”
Far from effecting Colgrove’s recall, the
letter backfired for its signatories. Com-
missary Sergeant Simpson Hamrick, a
casual observer of the tempest among the
officers, noted that “Colgrove will be too
fast for them, for he is shrewd and smarter
than all the officers combined. They will
drop one by one, and the regiment will still
be controlled by the one man power.” True
to Hamrick’s prediction, Colgrove retained
not only the governor’s confidence but his
commission as well and succeeded in out-
lasting his opponents. Over the course of
the following year, all the insubordinate
officers either resigned or were transferred
out of the 27th, replaced with men who
were either loyal to Colgrove or smart
enough to keep their own counsel. Ham-
rick summed up the imbroglio in a letter
home. “The great trouble is our officers,”
he wrote. “Colgrove is decidedly the best,
but has an abuseful disposition. But with
all his vices he is the officer worth a
notice.” There was no doubt, he said,
about Colgrove’s “fighting pluck.”
Such infighting was only aggravated
when, in March 1862, the 27th Indiana,
2nd Massachusetts, and 3rd WisconsinRegiments were brigaded together in Maj.
Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks’ V Corps. The
rough mannerisms of the Hoosiers clashed
with the prim carriage of Gordon’s Regu-
lars, and a mutual animosity developed.
Promoted to brigade command, Gordon
was regarded as a pretentious martinet
who held his “seven-foot Indiana volun-
teers” in little esteem. The Hoosiers
responded with equal contempt for the
“Lilliputian” Bay Staters. Derided for their
pronounced Hoosier drawl, Colgrove’s
men were likewise displeased with their
connection to “one of the most detestable
Yankee brigades.” One Hoosier summed
up his comrades’ feelings in a letter home,
bemoaning that “one glance is sufficient
to distinguish the ‘semi-barbarous’ 27th &
their Badger friend the 3rd Wisconsin, who
are pretty much in the same category, from
their polished bandbox neighbors.”
Such harmless banter could be expected
from soldiers, but the antipathy that devel-
oped between Gordon and the 27th sub-
sequent to their first engagement was less
amusing. Banks’ V Corps, including Gor-
don’s brigade, was soundly trounced by
Maj. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s
Valley Army at Winchester, Virginia, on
May 25, 1862. During the chaotic retreat
from town, a good number of men from
both regiments were taken prisoner. Com-Library of Congress
Battlefield artist Alfred Waud’s panoramic landscape of Charlestown, West Virginia, shows the camp of the 2nd Massachusetts at far left. The drawing was
made in March 1862, when the 2nd Massachusetts brigaded together with the 27th Indiana and 3rd Wisconsin in Maj. Gen. Nathaniel Banks’ V Corps. The fol-
lowing month they were soundly defeated by Stonewall Jackson at Winchester.CWQ-EW16 Culp's Hill_Layout 1 10/22/15 1:04 PM Page 41