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.

At the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, 27 June 1864 SGT Nixon B. Stewart of the 52nd Ohio followed his Brigade Commander, COL Daniel McCook in the assault against the Confederate trenches upon Cheatham Hill held by PVT Sam Watkins and the 1st Tennessee. The vital rail junction and industrial hub of Atlanta lay approximately 20 miles to the south. So intense was the fighting upon this part of the line that it became known afterward as “The Dead Angle.”

Sources used for this episode:

Stewart, Nixon B. Dan. McCook’s Regiment, 52nd O.V.I. A History of the Regiment, Its Campaigns and Battles. Blue Acorn Press, 1900.

Watkins, Sam R. Co. Aytch, Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment; Or, A Side Show of the Big Show. 2nd ed. Chattanooga: Times Printing Company, 1900.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/fk9t14v821&seq=3.

Davis, George B., Perry, Leslie J., Kirkley, Joseph W. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 38, pt. 1: Reports. Government Printing Office, 1891. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077722977&view=1up&seq=3.

At the Battle of Gettysburg, 2 July 1863, PVT J.S. McNeilly of the 21st Mississippi as part of BG Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade charged the salient created by the Union III Corps. The 21st Mississippi smashed into COL Tippin and the 68thPennsylvania which held the line in a Peach Orchard. After the Confederates successfully broke the III Corps’ line, PVT McNeily and the 21st Mississippi continued their charge, eventually by themselves, toward the newly formed hole in the Union line. With no infantry for support, LTC McGilvery of the 1st Volunteer Brigade had to sacrifice SGT Baker and the 9th Massachusetts Battery, to slow the Mississippian’s advance, and buy enough time to pull any artillery he could find into a new line east of the Trostle Farm.

Sources used for this episode:

McNeily, John S. “Barksdale’s Mississippi Brigade at Gettysburg, ‘Most Magnificent Charge of the War.’” In Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, vol. 14. University Mississippi, 1914. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3497860&seq=5.

Baker, Levi W. History of the Ninth Massachusetts Battery. J. C. Clark Printing Co., 1888. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044024337172&seq=13.

Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Ser. 1, vol. 27, pt. 1: Reports. Government Printing Office, 1889. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077699761&view=1up&seq=3.

At the Battle of Mansfield, 8 April 1864, PVT J.P. Blessington and the 16th Texas form a line of battle to await the first Union column marching north along the Mansfield Road. After retreating up the Red River to consolidate forces, the Confederate Army now had a large enough force to turn around and face the Union Army which intended to seize Shreveport. Having successfully broken the first two Union lines, PVT Blessington and the 16th Texas joined in the pursuit down the Mansfield Road and eventually ran into a third prepared line.

Sources used for this episode:

Blessington, Joseph P. The Campaigns of Walker’s Texas Division. By a Private Soldier. Lange, Little & Co. Printers, 1875. https://archive.org/details/campaignsofwalke00bles/page/n6/mode/1up.

Davis George B., Perry, Leslie J., Kirkley, Joseph W. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 34, pt. 1: Reports. Government Printing Office, 1891. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077700288&view=1up&seq=3.

At the Siege of Port Hudson, which began in May 1863, SGM George N. Carpenter and the 8th Vermont manned the trenches north of the town. The Army of the Gulf was working in conjunction with the MG Grant’s siege of Vicksburg to the North. Much rode on the success of these sieges. Vicksburg and Port Hudson were the last two Confederate fortresses on the Mississippi River. If the Army of the Gulf could quickly take the town, they could march to Vicksburg and reinforce Grant. On 27 May, SGT Carpenter and the rest of the Army began their assault.

Sources used for this episode:

Carpenter, George N. History of the Eight Regiment Vermont Volunteers. 1861-1865. Press of Deland & Barta, 1886. https://archive.org/details/historyofeighthr01carp/page/n8/mode/1up.

Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 26, pt. 1: Reports. Government Printing Press, 1889. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077743049&view=1up&seq=3.

At the Battle of Bentonville, 19 March 1865, SGT Walter A. Clark of the 63rd Georgia and the Army of Tennessee advanced against the Left Wing of MG William T. Sherman’s Army. Though outnumbered when the Union Army was combined, General Joseph E. Johnston wanted to negate this by sending his Army of the South against one Wing at a time. After breaking the first line which consisted of the XIV Corps, SGT Clark and the 63rd Georgia continued their advance and met elements of the XX Corps which had just reformed after a retreat.

Sources used for this episode:

Clark, Walter A. Under the Stars and Bars: or, Memoirs of Four Years Serving with the Ogelthorpes of Augusta, Georgia. Chronicle Printing Company, 1900. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t5fb59b55&seq=7.

Davis, George B. Perry, Leslie J. Kirkley, Joseph W. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 47, pt. 1: Reports. Government Printing Office, 1895. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077725947&view=1up&seq=3.

At the Battle of South Mountain, on the evening of 14 September 1862, PVT Phillip Cheek and the 6th Wisconsin advanced upon Turner’s Gap, one of three passes at South Mountain. Alongside the 19th Indiana, 2nd and 7th Wisconsin Infantries, the men of BG John Gibbon’s 4th Brigade met heavy resistance from COL Alfred H. Colquitt’s Brigade of Georgians and Alabamians but steadily advanced up the slope to within a close range where both sides poured volleys into each other. Despite running low on ammunition, PVT Cheek and the rest of his Brigade held their ground until the Confederates retreated that night.

Observing the advance upon Turner’s Gap from his headquarters, MG McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac remarked to MG Hooker, the I Corps commander, about the fighting spirit of the men that, “They must be made of iron.” From that day, PVT Phillip Cheek and the men assigned to BG Gibbon became known as the Iron Brigade.

Sources used for this episode:

Cheek, Philip and Pointon, Mair. History of the Sauk County Riflemen, Known as Company “A,” Sixth Wisconsin Veteran Volunteer Infantry, 1861 – 1865. Democrat Printing Company, 1909. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nnc1.cu01504851&seq=11.

Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 19, pt: 1 Reports. Government Printing Office, 1887. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079609610&view=1up&seq=3.

Wisconsin Historical Society. “The Origin of the Famous Iron Brigade’s Name.” Accessed 18 March 2026. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS3518.

At the Battle of Cedar Mountain, 9 August 1862, PVT Worsham and the 21st Virginia formed the right flank of Garnett’s brigade in a wooded area along the Orange and Culpeper Road. Perfectly position for flanking fire upon advancing Union Regiments to the south and east, Garnett’s Brigade was itself flanked, and PVT Worsham witnessed what he called a “Hell Spot” as his Brigade was overrun and the woods became scene to intense hand to hand fighting.

Sources used for this episode:

Worsham, John H. One of Jackson’s Foot Cavalry; His Experience and What He Saw During the War 1861-1865. Including a History of “Company F,” Richmond, Va., 21st Regiment Virginia Infantry, Second Brigade, Jackson’s Division, Second Corps, A. N. VA. Neale Publishing Company, 1912. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nc01.ark:/13960/t32240t06&seq=11&view=1up.

King, Horatio C. Cedar Mountain. 1902. https://archive.org/details/cedarmountain00king/mode/1up.

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.