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21st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment

21st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment
A 19th century engraving of a landscape in which a military action is taking place. Two opposing forces of soldiers battle over a stone bridge. Two flags are carried by soldiers at the center of the bridge. Troops approach from a high hill in the background and white smoke rises on the hillside.
The 21st Massachusetts Infantry was part of Ferrero's Brigade, which captured the infamous Burnside's Bridge during the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862
ActiveAugust 23, 1861 – October 21, 1864
Country United States of America
AllegianceUnion
BranchUnion Army
TypeInfantry
Size1,178
Part ofIn 1862: 2nd Brigade (Ferrero's), 2nd Division (Sturgis's), IX Corps, Army of the Potomac
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Col. William S. Clark,
February 1862 – April 1863
Insignia
IX Corps (1st Division) badgeAn insiginia in the form of a red shield. On the shield are a white anchor crossed by a blue cannon barrel.
Massachusetts U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments 1861-1865
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20th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment 22nd Massachusetts Infantry Regiment

The 21st Massachusetts Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was organized in Worcester, Massachusetts and mustered into service on August 23, 1861.[1]

After garrison duty at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, the regiment served with the Coast Division commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. The Coast Division was deployed in January 1862 for operations on the coast of North Carolina, and participated in the Battle of Roanoke Island and the Battle of New Bern among other engagements. Burnside's division was recalled to Virginia in July 1862. The 21st Massachusetts Infantry was then attached to the Army of the Potomac and participated in several of the largest battles of the Civil War, including the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. The most devastating engagement of the war for the 21st was the Battle of Chantilly, fought on September 1, 1862, during which the unit suffered 35 percent casualties.[2] From March 1863 to January 1864, the 21st served with Burnside in the Department of the Ohio, seeing action in Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. In May 1864, the regiment rejoined the Army of the Potomac, participating in Lt. Gen. Ulysses Grant's Overland campaign and the siege of Petersburg.[2] The regiment was a favorite of Clara Barton, the famed battlefield nurse, who was also from Worcester County, Massachusetts.[3]

By the end of its three years of service, the 21st Massachusetts Infantry had been reduced from 1,000 men to fewer than 100.[2] Of these losses, 152 were killed in action or died from wounds received in action, approximately 400 were discharged due to wounds, 69 were taken prisoner, and approximately 300 were discharged due to disease, resignation, or desertion.[2] Those of the 21st who chose to re-enlist at the end of their initial three-year commitment were eventually consolidated with the 36th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment on October 21, 1864.[4]

  1. ^ Dyer (1908), p. 1255.
  2. ^ a b c d Walcott (1882), p. xv.
  3. ^ Oates (1994), p. 33.
  4. ^ Bowen (1889), p. 345.

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