21st Mississippi Infantry

The regiment was formed from separate companies sent from Mississippi to Northern Virginia in the fall of 1861, where they were combined into the regiment and brigaded with 3 other Mississippi regiments under General P.G.T. Beauregard. They were at Manassas, and on the Peninsula Campaign, the brigade now under the command of General Barksdale.

"They participated in the scaling of Maryland Heights by the brigades of Barksdale and Kershaw September 12 and 13, with some skirmishing, and reached the field of Sharpsburg on the 17th after the battle had been raging a few hours. The extraordinary fatigues of the campaign had reduced the effective strength of the regiment to 18 officers and 182 men, of whom 6 were killed and 56 wounded in this bloody battle. The Twenty-first was distinguished in the driving of the enemy from the woods in front of the brigade, beyond which the Twenty-first and Seventeenth pursued some distance in an open field.Captain Sims commanded in the battle, but Colonel Humphreys arrived near the close of the fight and 'his timely presence cheered and animated the whole brigade.'"
(from Rowland)

Initial Strength: 200; Killed in Action (KIA): 6; Wounded (WIA): 56;
Losses, % of Initial Strength: 31%

Detail Map #4: Greene's High-Water Mark in the West Woods (9am-noon)
Detail Map #5: Sedgwick is Flanked in the West Woods (9-10am)

Tablet #357: McLaws' Division, Longstreet's Command - 16 Sep, 11 AM to 18 Sep, 9 PM
Tablet #358: Barksdale's Brigade, McLaws' Division - 17 Sep, 5 AM to 18 Sep, 9 PM

They fought at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg - where Barksdale was killed and Col Humphreys was promoted Brigadier-General to command the brigade. They then went West with General Longstreet, fighting at Chickamauga, and on the Chatanooga and Knoxville Campaigns. In early 1864 they returned to the Army of Northern Virginia, and fought in the Wilderness, at Cold Harbor, and in the seige of Petersburg. In August they fought in the Shenadoah Valley campaign - notably at Winchester, Berryville, and Cedar Creek. In November 1864 they were back in the defences of Richmond, fighting with the ANV to Appomattox.

Source: Rowland, Dunbar, Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898, Nashville TN: 1908 - transcribed online on the Mississippi in the Civil War site.