The following historical information is about the service of both the company, regiment, and the men, of "Creighton Zouaves," Company G of the Twenty-Seventh (27th) Oho Infantry Regiment, U.S. Volunteers, which served in the American Civil War from July 1861 to July 1865. If you have any corrections, suggestions, or additional information that you wish to contribute, feel free to submit the information to the Webmaster.

This regiment was organized at Camp Chase, Ohio, in August, 1861. The enlisted men who composed it were from all parts of the State, and were, to a great extent, strangers to themselves and to their officers. On the morning of the 20th of August, 1861, the regiment marched out of camp nine hundred and fifty strong, and took the cars for St. Louis, Missouri. On its arrival the regiment encamped near the city, and great efforts were made to perfect the men in drill and discipline. Early in September the regiment moved by steamer to St. Charles, and thence to Mexico, on the St. Joseph Railroad. Soon after this, orders were received to march to the relief of Colonel Mulligan at Lexington. The troops moved rapidly across the country; but, before they could reach the city, the enemy had seized all the boats, and so rendered it impossible to cross the river. The command moved up the north bank of the Missouri and crossed over to Kansas City. While here the regiment was constantly engaged in drilling, and soon became able to maneuver with promptness and precision. In October the command marched to join General Fremont, then moving on Springfield; but, upon the arrival of General Hunter, the regiment was ordered to Sedalia. In December, 1861, the regiment shared in the capture of thirteen hundred recruits, who were endeavoring to join the Rebel General Price. In February, 1862, the regiment was ordered to proceed to St. Louis, where it arrived, after a severe march, on the 20th. The next morning the regiment moved down the river, and landed at Commerce.

In the organization of the Army of the Mississippi, the Twenty-Seventh was assigned to the First Brigade, First Division. In March, the army moved upon New Madrid, the Twenty-Seventh being in the advance. The morning the column neared the town, the regiment drove the enemy's skirmishers back to the main line, and then advanced upon this line through a perfect storm of shells from the forts and gunboats. When the enemy's position had been well ascertained, the regiment moved back out of the range of the Rebel guns and encamped. On the night of March 12th, two companies of the Twenty-Seventh, with a detachment from another regiment, drove in the Rebel pickets and protected the force detailed to place the siege-guns in position. This was effected without loss, and the next day the regiment moved up in support of the battery. The regiment was actively engaged during the remainder of the siege, and, after the surrender of the town, remained in camp about two weeks, constantly engaged in drilling. It then moved to Island No. 10, and assisted in the capture of that place, and a few weeks later moved to the vicinity of Fort Pillow.

The army being ordered to Pittsburg Landing, arrived at Hamburg (near Pittsburg Landing) about the 1st of May, 1862, and moved on Corinth, forming the left of Halleck's army. During the advance, the regiment was frequently engaged in skirmishing, and, during the siege, was repeatedly under fire, and in every instance behaved well. The regiment shared in the pursuit of the Rebels, but soon returned to the vicinity of Corinth, where the summer months were spent quietly in camp. Fuller's brigade, or, as it was frequently called, the Ohio Brigade, to which the Twenty-Seventh belonged, had occupied luka, but, about the middle of September, was again concentrated at Corinth. Hardly had they reached Corinth when General Price attacked the small force left at luka, and occupied the place. The Ohio Brigade was a part of the force sent to recapture the town, which it reached on the 19th of September. The fight began at noon, near Barnett's Station, eight miles from luka, and it was after four P. M. before the Rebels were forced back to the town. The Ohio Brigade acted as rear-guard on the 19th, and the battle was raging furiously when it reached the field. It was immediately formed for action, and moved to the front on the double-quick, driving the enemy over the crest of a ridge. Darkness put an end to the conflict, and in the morning the enemy was gone. They were followed for ten or twelve miles, and then the troops returned to Rienzi.

In a short time the brigade returned to Corinth, and encamped near the town on the Tus-cumbia. The next day (October 3d) the brigade formed in line of battle on the north-east side of town, but after nine o clock in the evening it moved to the Chewalla Road, and took position on both sides of Battery Robinett, which it sustained during the whole of the next day's fight. During the night of the 3d the hostile lines were resting within range of each other, and the skirmishers were close together. Before daylight the Rebel guns, two hundred yards distant, opened fire with great rapidity. As soon as it was light enough to sight a piece, the guns of Robinett and Williams drove the Rebels from their position. Skirmishers were very active for several hours, those from the Twenty-Seventh using seventy rounds of ammunition, and losing several men. When the right of the National line was forced back to Corinth, Van Dorn made a vigorous attack on the Ohio Brigade, and, after a desperate struggle, was repulsed. In this engagement the brigade lost three hundred men, and more than sixty of these belonged to theTwenty-Seventh. The regiment joined in the pursuit, and after advancing as far as Ripley, with nothing of importance occurring, it returned to Corinth. Here the regiment received two hundred recruits, a very timely re-enforcement, as the Twenty-Seventh was much reduced, some of the companies mustering mere squads.

On the 1st of November the Ohio Brigade marched toward Grand Junction to join Grants army, and with that army it marched as far south as Oxford, Mississippi. When Forrest crossed the Tennessee River, in December, the brigade was ordered to Jackson, Tennessee, to assist in driving the Rebel raider back. After considerable marching, the brigade encountered Forrest at Parker's Cross Roads, and took an active part in the engagement at that place, capturing seven guns, three hundred and sixty prisoners, and four hundred horses. In this capture the Twenty-Seventh bore an honorable share. The Ohio Brigade followed Forrest to the Tennessee River, marching in the middle of winter, over ice one day and in fathomless mud the next, without tents, without rubber blankets, without proper food, and without ambulances. When the troops readied Corinth one-fifth of the men were bare-footed, and the Surgeon of the Twenty-Seventh reported officially that the deaths resulting from that march equaled the losses of a severe skirmish. When the brigade arrived at Corinth, it was attached to General Dodge's command; and though the garrison was living on half rations, in view of the hardships the Ohio troops had sustained, full supplies were issued to them. Comfortable log huts were built, and quite a rivalry sprang up among the regiments as to whose camp should be the finest. That of the Twenty-Seventh was laid out with great care and taste, and was remarkably neat and clean.

The brigade moved eastward with General Dodge, through luka and the Tuscumbia Valley. General Dodge drove the Rebel cavalry from Bear Creek, and followed as far east as Town Creek. After returning from Town Creek the Ohio Brigade was ordered to Memphis, and remained sometime, performing garrison duty. During its stay at Memphis the Twenty-Seventh was engaged in several reconnaissance's, and one hundred men from the regiment, with detachments from the other regiments of the brigade, were engaged in guarding prisoners of war from Vicksburg to Johnson's Island, Fort Delaware, and other points. In October, 1863, the brigade left Memphis, and moved via Corinth to luka. In the march from luka the Twenty-Seventh was in the advance brigade, and moved from eighteen to twenty miles per day, and encamped at night from six to ten miles in advance of the main column. Communication was held each night by means of rockets. General Dodge finally halted with a large portion of his command at Pulaski, but the Ohio Brigade marched about fifteen miles south and occupied Prospect. Here the troops were employed in building fortifications and bridges. When these works were about completed the Twenty-Seventh reenlisted as veterans and were furloughed to their homes. Shortly after their return to the field the Ohio Brigade moved against Decatur and captured it. Fortifications were laid out, and the town was soon well intrenched. While at Decatur the Ohio Brigade was discontinued, and the Twenty-Seventh and Thirty-Ninth Ohio, Sixty-Fourth Illinois, and Eighteenth Missouri, constituted the First Brigade (Colonel Fuller commanding) of the Fourth Division, Sixteenth Army Corps.

On the 1st of May, 1864, the Fourth Division moved from Decatur and joined the main army at Chattanooga. When the army approached Resaca, the Twenty-Seventh, with other regiments, was ordered to move upon the railroad north of the town, to damage it as much as possible, and to endeavor to reach the bridge over the Oostenaula. They, were succeeding well in their undertaking when they were recalled and fell back to Snake Creek Gap. At Dallas, Georgia, early on the morning of the 27th of May, the pickets were sharply attacked by the Rebels, and driven back to within easy musket range of the main body. The brigade formed in line, and two companies of the Twenty-Seventh advanced on the double-quick to re-enforce the guard. The Rebels were driven back, but Captain Sawyer, commanding the skirmish-line, and his First-Lieutenant, Henry W. Diebolt, were mortally wounded; and these two officers, who had served in the same company and eaten at the same table, were laid side by side that evening, in the little grave-yard just north of Dallas. The regiment was engaged with Hood's corps on the 28th of May, skirmished at Big Shanty in June, and fought at Kennesaw, losing heavily, both in officers and men. On the 4th of July, 1864, the regiment participated in the action at Nickojack Creek, advancing at the head of the division with fixed bayonets, and charging the Rebel works with complete success.

On the 22d of July, before Atlanta, the regiment was engaged in one of its most severe battles, and sustained its heaviest loss. It charged the enemy again and again, and at one time, when threatened on its flanks, changed front to rear, under fire, formed the new line promptly, and again advanced to the charge. Under a clump of pines, two miles south-east of Atlanta, near where they fell, rest the heroes of the Twenty-Seventh who were killed upon that field. The regiment was with the Sixteenth Corps as it moved to the west side of Atlanta, and participated in the skirmish of July 27th, driving back the enemy's cavalry. In August the regiment was sent to Marietta, where it remained till the fall of Atlanta. From the time it left Chattanooga till Atlanta was in our possession, it had lost sixteen officers and two hundred and one men, only six of whom (all enlisted men) were reported missing. This was a loss of more than half the men present for duty when the regiment left Chattanooga.

The regiment pursued Hood northward, and, after returning, marched with Sherman to the sea. skirmishing near Savannah, with slight loss. It shared in the campaign of the Carolinas, and at the crossing of the Salkehatchie, South Carolina, the Twenty-Seventh literally hewed its way through forest and swamp, with water nearly up to the waist, for more than a mile, and was among the first to find a way to cross the river. At Cheraw, South Carolina, the Twenty-Seventh was the first regiment to enter the town, skirmishing with the Rebel cavalry, driving them through the streets of the town and across the Pedee. Here the regiment captured a fine English twenty-pound gun, which bore the following inscription: 'Presented to the sovereign State of South Carolina, by one of her citizens residing abroad, in commemoration of the 20th of December, I860' (the day South Carolina seceded). At Bentonville, North Carolina, Monroe's division, to which the Twenty-Seventh belonged, attacked the enemy's left, and pushed forward so vigorously that the skirmish-line was at General Joe Johnston's head-quarters before they were aware of it. This was the last time the Twenty-Seventh was under fire.

After the surrender of Johnston it moved via Richmond to Washington, participated in the review, and then proceeded to Louisville. In July, 1865, the regiment was ordered to Camp Dennison, and there the members of it received their final payment and discharge.

As the original three months' term of service of "Company A, Light Guard Zouaves" and the "Sprague Zouave Cadets," then serving as Companies A and B of the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, drew near Sergeant Frank Lynch of 'Light Guard Zouaves' began speaking with his comrades about organizing a new company for three years' service, when their terms would expire. The idea met with a favorable response, and even though the two existing companies remained in active service and both would re-enlist for three years' service, enough members showed an interest that on July 27th, 1861, while the members were home on furlough, a meeting was held in Cleveland for the purpose of organizing the company. Meeting at the Atwater Building on Superior Street in Cleveland, the company was officially organized as the "Creighton Zouaves," named honor of Lieutenant Colonel William R. Creighton of the 7th Ohio Infantry Regiment who was the original Captain of 'Company A, Light Guard Zouaves;' and the officers and non-commissioned officers were selected - Frank Lynch was elected Captain, Henry J. Virgil as 1st Lieutenant, both had served three months with the 'Light Guard Zouaves,' and Edward Gibson of the 'Sprague Zouave Cadets' as 1st Lieutenant. Of the Non-Commissioned Officers six (6) had served with the Guard, four (4) with the Cadets and three were new recruits.

The new company was quickly accepted into active service, and on August 14th, 1861, the ninety-five (95) officers and enlisted men were mustered into United States service for three years' service at Camp Chase, Ohio, by Captain Howard Stansbury, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Serving with the regiment throughout its campaigns, battles and marches, the balance of the company re-enlisted for the duration of the war in late 1863, the three years' men who had not re-enlisted were mustered out of service on August 18th, 1864, at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Continuing until the end of the war, the company, by this time numbering only twenty-seven (27) officers and men under the command of 1st Lieutenant James Dixon, was officially mustered out of United States service on July 11th, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky.

During the company's term of service there were carried on the rolls the names of one hundred and twenty-two (122) officers and men. Of these ninety-five (95) composed the original company, to this were added twenty-seven (27) various recruits and transfers. Of this number thirty-nine (39) were discharged (3 general discharges, 2 to re-enlist, 20 for disability and 14 per orders), twelve (12) were promoted, three (3) were transferred and nine (9) had no further record. Nineteen (19) men died while in service (9 of unknown causes, 2 of wounds, 7 were killed in action and 1 by accident). Forty (40) men were mustered out of service from the company; twelve (12) in August 1864 upon the expiration of their original terms of service, one (1) in May 1865, and twenty-seven (27) with the company when it was mustered out of service in July 1865.

Research Pending

1st Sergeant Henry W. Diebolt (Find-A-Grave)	1st Sergeant Charles H. Smith (Itinerary of the 7th OVI)	Private John Faulkner (Find-A-Grave)	Private Thomas Heflin (Find-A-Grave)