Episode 67: CPT Charles F. Walcott and the 21st Massachusetts at the Battle of Chantilly

At the Battle of Chantilly, the evening of 1 September 1862, CPT Walcott and the 21st Massachusetts alongside the 51st New York advanced toward the east through dense woods and a thunderstorm to support the advance of the IX Corps upon a Confederate line that threatened the Army of Virginia’s rear. After becoming separated with the 51st New York, the Bay Staters eventually advanced against two Confederate Brigades where they suffered 35% casualties. With the rain spoiling their ammunition, the regiment retreated, only to be found by MG Phillip Kearney who ordered them to support one of his brigades advancing through a cornfield.

Sources used for this episode:

Walcott, Charles F. History of the Twenty-First Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers in the War for the Preservation of the Union 1861-1865 with Statistics of the War and of Rebel Prisons. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1882. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044024208118&seq=21.

Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 12, pt. 2: Reports. Government Printing Office, 1885. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077728222&view=1up&seq=3.

Davis, George B., Perry, Leslie J., and Kirkley, Joseph W. Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of Union and Confederate Armies. Government Printing Office, 1891-95. https://archive.org/details/atlastoaccompany00unit/page/n6/mode/1up.