The invasion was now at an end; and as the last rebel left the soil of Maryland, the campaign of the Twenty-seventh drew near to its close. Leaving Falling Waters, the regiment accompanied the Second Corps down the Potomac to Harper’s Ferry, and went into camp at Pleasant Valley, about two miles distant. On the morning of July eighteenth the Twenty-seventh ceased its connection with the Army of the Potomac. In announcing this event, Colonel Brooke, our brigade commander, issued the following general order:
“Headquarters Fourth Brigade, First Division, }
Second Corps, Camp in Pleasant Valley, }
Maryland, July 17, 1863. }
“General Order—No. 9.
“The term of service of the Twenty-seventh Connecticut Volunteers having nearly expired, it has been relieved from further duty, and ordered to report to its place of enrolment.
“The Colonel commanding the brigade desires, in parting with the officers and men of the Twenty-seventh Connecticut, to convey to them his sincere feelings of regret at losing their services, while at the same time he thanks them for the obedience and faithfulness which have been a marked feature of the regiment.
“Knowing it intimately for so many months of active and arduous service—having been an eye-witness of its many deeds of gallantry, and of the noble devotion displayed by it on many a memorable day, during the time in which he has had the honor to command its services—he feels it a duty he owes, not only to the living heroes, but to the memory of those who have fallen in the field in battling in our righteous cause, to bear testimony to the valor and gallantry it has always displayed.
“Side by side with the veterans of the Army of the Potomac it has fought, and by the gallantry of its conduct won for itself an enviable name and reputation, and which may well, in after years, cause all who belong to it to feel a pardonable pride in having it to say that they served with the Twenty-seventh Connecticut.
“By order. Colonel Brooke.
“Charles P. Hatch, Lieutenant,
“Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.”