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The 21st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry 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. 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 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.〔Walcott, xv.〕 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.〔 The regiment was a favorite of Clara Barton, the famed battlefield nurse, who was also from Worcester County, Massachusetts.〔Oates, 33.〕 By the end of its three years of service, the 21st Massachusetts had been reduced from 1,000 men to fewer than 100.〔 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.〔 Those of the 21st who chose to re-enlist at the end of their initial three-year commitment were eventually consolidated with the 36th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry on October 21, 1864.〔Bowen, 345.〕 ==Organization and early duty== Following the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861 (the first major engagement of the war and a disastrous defeat for the untested Union army), citizens of the northern states began to realize that the Civil War would not end quickly.〔Catton, 51.〕 Additional troops would be needed beyond the 75,000 volunteers that had been called out for 90 days of service. As a result, over the summer of 1861, volunteers rushed to enlist for a term of three years. The 21st Massachusetts was among the "three year regiments" organized after the First Battle of Bull Run.〔Walcott, 1.〕 The regiment was formed during July and August 1861. The designated camp of assembly was the Agricultural Fair Grounds in Worcester. The majority of the companies were from Worcester County with nearly every town in that county represented on the regiment's rolls. Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties were also represented.〔Bowen, 327.〕 The first commanding officer of the 21st was Col. Augustus Morse, who was involved in the comb making industry in Leominster, Massachusetts and had been a major general in the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia prior to the war. According to Charles Walcott, the regimental historian, despite Morse's decades of experience with the State Militia, he was, "entirely destitute of soldierly enthusiasm or spirit, wonderfully ignorant of military drill and maneuvres, and a wretched disciplinarian."〔Walcott, 2.〕 The regiment, originally numbering slightly more than 1,000 men, departed Worcester on August 23, 1861. They were armed with inferior smoothbore muskets that had been converted from flintlock to percussion lock.〔Walcott, 490.〕 After a brief, but tense, three-day encampment in Baltimore, the regiment moved to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, arriving on August 30. The regiment garrisoned the Naval Academy for four months. It was a comfortable post. Maj. William S. Clark of the 21st wrote that the regiment was "delightfully situated, enjoying the very romance of war."〔Maki, 59.〕 During their stay in Annapolis, the men of 21st assisted in the escape of a slave belonging to Maryland Governor Thomas Holliday Hicks. While the slave was hidden in a chimney in one of the Naval Academy barracks, Governor Hicks's repeated demands for his return were refused by the officers of the regiment.〔Walcott, 14.〕 On December 20, 1861, the 21st was assigned to the Coast Division commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside for operations in North Carolina. The 21st was the first regiment selected by Brig. Gen. Jesse Reno for his brigade. The 21st Massachusetts would gain a great respect and affection for Reno, who first led their brigade and later the IX Corps of which the 21st was a part.〔Walcott, 17.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「21st Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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