to beat the bush found that our game had flown. The commanding officer of the expedition, a Frenchman by birth (not an officer of the 21st), conducted himself with great arrogance and want of common sense towards the people: ordering the seizure of horses and other property without proper inquiry into the antecedents of their owners, allowing the men to raid upon suspected rebel sympathizers, and forcing several Union men and women as well as rebels to take an iron-clad oath of allegiance and loyalty. I felt heartily ashamed of being connected with the affair, particularly with the disregard of the humane principle that allegiance and protection go together. We left the town towards the close of the afternoon, accompanied by several of the citizens whom we had rendered homeless by forcing them to make public declaration of their unionism, and had thereby made them a mark for the vengeance of the guerrillas, to whose mercy we were abandoning them. We got back to our camp at Mount Sterling at nine o'clock, making the march of thirty-two miles in about twenty hours. April 17th. Up to this date the whole brigade had been encamped in the vicinity of Mount Sterling, but to-day all the troops, except the 21st and a detachment of Kentucky cavalry were withdrawn; and the 21st with regret moved from the beautiful open grove where they had been encamped, with its trees in full foliage and its thick turf of bright luxuriant grass, to the court-house in the centre of the town, a large brick building standing in an open elevated position. The regiment was treated very kindly by the inhabitants; and a strong mutual feeling of respect and affection grew up between our men and the citizens. It has been well said that the 21st gained one of its greatest victories during those three pleasant inactive months at Mount Sterling; for they taught a people, many of whom had been born into a bitter prejudice against "Yankees," to regard Massachusetts troops with confidence, respect, and love.1 Twice, when it had been ordered away, it was retained on petitions to the commanding general 1 Woodbury's Ninth Army Corps, p. 263. Adjt.-General's Report (Mass.) for 1863. Narrative of 21st Mass.- .ED. -- signed by the inhabitants unanimously. Few incidents of importance occurred during the stay of the regiment in Kentucky. About the end of April several of the officers who found themselves with merely nominal commands, and, with no prospect of the regiment's being filled up, debarred from all chance of promotion, were discharged on their resignation.1 The Boston Journal" of May, 1863, contained the following notice of their retirement, which I give in full, although mentioned personally in it, because it seems to me to contain so excellent a comment on the wasteful folly of reinforcing the army by the addition of new regiments instead of keeping up the old ones: THE MASSACHUSETTS TWENTY-FIRST. We learn with regret that on account of the avowal of the War Department, in recent orders, of the intention of the government not to fill up regiments so far reduced in numbers as the 21st Massachusetts, several of the best officers of that veteran regiment have tendered their resignations, and are now on their way home. Among them are Colonel W. S. Clark of Amherst, and Captains C. F. Walcott of Boston, and W. T. Harlow of Spencer, gentlemen who have been officers from the commencement, and to whose fortitude and gallantry, on half a score of the most famous battle-fields of the war, the Commonwealth is, in so large a measure, indebted for the glorious record of the 21st. We should be glad to think that the government no longer needs the services of such officers. The retirement of an officer, with a merely nominal command, from the pay and emoluments of an honorable position, after the government has announced its determination not to fill up the depleted ranks of his regiment, cannot be attributed to any improper motive, nor is it to be wondered at. In France, England, and even in the rebel States, old regiments are not allowed to die out in this manner. We have not learned the art of war if we do not keep the ranks of the veteran regiments full. Experienced 1 I think that I can fairly say that my own command was a nominal one at this time. I had been an acting field officer since the battle of Chantilly, but on the return of absent officers resumed command of my old company at Mount Sterling; the company, with a captain, 1st and 2d lieutenants and full list of noncommissioned officers, then numbering but six privates present for duty. — ED. officers should have something more than a nominal command. The men who have the fall of leaders and comrades to avenge should have their arms strong for the work. Let us have volunteers, or conscripts, and let the first use that is made of them be to fill up the old regiments; in no other way can the steady bravery of our army be maintained. We hope to see these officers soon in the service again, in positions worthy of their merits. On the 28th and 29th of April, the guerrilla leader, Peter Everett, threatened Mount Sterling with several hundred men, but came no nearer than Owensville, some twenty miles away to the eastward. On the 13th of June, about fifty of our cavalry, reconnoitring towards Owensville, were ambuscaded by some of Everett's guerrillas, and fled back to the town. They came into Mount Sterling on the run, with "a thousand guerrillas" close behind them, advancing on the town, and "If you don't surrender they 'll take no prisoners." The people were fearfully excited; as they had been under Union care so long, they dreaded the rebel raiders more than ever before, and their prayers and blessings went with the sturdy 21st as they marched out to cover the town. The guerrillas, however, had no idea of having a real fight, and, as the regiment moved forward, their advance, which had shown itself on the hills about a mile east of the town, disappeared. During the following night the 8th and 9th Michigan cavalry arrived with a battery, and, under command of Colonel De Courcy, went in pursuit of the rebels. After a chase of fifty miles, Colonel De Courcy's command came up with the enemy and scattered them, killing and wounding a number, and taking a good many prisoners. In the early part of July, the rebel General John H. Morgan started from Tennessee on his famous raid through Kentucky into Indiana and Ohio. July 6th the 21st, with real regret, bade good-by to their kind friends in Mount Sterling, and made a forced march of thirty-three miles to the beautiful city of Lexington, which was threatened by the enemy. The day was oppressively hot, and the men, heavily loaded and out of tune for marching, were much exhausted by the march. Reaching Lexington at midnight, the regiment went into camp near Fort Clay. The frightened farmers poured into the city from the surrounding country with their stock and negroes, but the rebel raiders passed by without giving further trouble to the place. On the 16th of July the regiment changed their camp to a beautiful grove adjoining the Lexington cemetery, where nearly a month passed pleasantly away, without any occurrence of an exciting nature, except that on the 28th of July they slept on their arms near Fort Clay, on the rumor of an expected rebel attack, and on the 30th of July were hastily ordered by rail to Paris, on the report that the rebels had attacked the place, but after getting on board the cars the report was found to be false, and the order countermanded. August 12th. The 21st, leaving Lexington by rail at five o'clock P. M., after a run in the cars to Nicholasville, twenty miles to the south, marched about five miles, and went into bivouac at ten o'clock, near Camp Nelson, a noted Union. depot of supplies, on the Kentucky River. August 13th. The regiment marched into Camp Nelson, and encamped in an oak grove. General Burnside and staff came to see their dress-parade in the evening. The men never drilled better, and welcomed their beloved general with hearty cheers. The regiment remained in this beautiful and healthy place, doing fatigue, picket, and general guard duty, until September 12th, when they took up the line of march for East Tennessee, as part of the 1st brigade, 2d Division, 9th Army Corps, composed of the 21st Massachusetts, 48th Pennsylvania, and 2d Maryland regiments, commanded by Colonel J. K. Sigfried of the 48th. CHAPTER XIV. SEPTEMBER 12- DECEMBER 27, 1863. SIEGE OF THE DELIVERANCE OF EAST TENNESSEE. - MARCH TO KNOXVILLE. BATTLES OF BLUE SPRINGS AND CAMPBELL'S STATION. KNOXVILLE. VETERAN REËNLISTMENT OF THE REGIMENT. In the early part of June, 1863, General Burnside had been on the point of moving, to expel the enemy from the sorely oppressed region of East Tennessee, but just as his army was about to march, orders were received from Washington to reinforce General Grant's army (then engaged in the siege of Vicksburg) with eight thousand men. The whole 9th Corps (with the exception of the 21st and two other regiments) were at once forwarded to his support, and did memorable service in holding General Johnson's relieving army at bay, and in pursuing it, after the surrender of the place. Early in August the 9th Corps was returned to General Burnside, badly used up by the hardships of their campaign in Mississippi. Meanwhile, General Burnside had been gathering an army for the deliverance of East Tennessee, and to cut and occupy the main line of communication between the rebel armies of the east and west. The 23d Army Corps, together with new troops raised in Kentucky, and gallant East Tennessee refugees, faithful unto death, were moving for the great work, when the 9th Corps returned to Kentucky, and joined the delivering army, who were "bearing the old flag back to Ten General Burnside's entire army was composed of about eighteen thousand men, and on the 16th of August entered actively upon the prosecution of the campaign. |