140th Anniversary

On this 140th anniversary of the battle I thought it would be appropriate to add to the courageous story of the 21st Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. When General Reno ordered the regiment into the eastern woods to help take the pressure off of Stevens' main attack, the men of the 21st never imagined they would be facing an entire Confederate division... In a letter written shortly after the battle, Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, recognized the courage of these American heroes whose history has now been all but forgotten...

We sat down in our tent and waited to see them break in, but Reno's forces held them back. The old 21st Massachusetts lay between us and the enemy and they could not pass."
"With what desperation our men fought hour after hour in the rain and darkness! How they were overborne and rallied, how they suffered from mistaken orders, and blundered and lost themselves in the strange mysterious wood. And how, after all, with giant strength and veteran bravery, they checked the foe and held him at bay, is an all-proud record of history.
And the courage of the soldier who braved death in the darkness of Chantilly let no man question."

Although the battlefield has been substantially developed, we discovered that a significant section of the battleline, where the 21st Massachusetts and 51st New York fought 140 years ago, has miraculously survived... This is the first time that the exact location of the combatants in the east woods has ever been identified and is the only remaining section of the eastern woods that still exists today.

To read more about the 21st Massachusetts and their encounter with Jackson's Division on the east side of the battlefield (includes updated maps) click here... The East Woods.

To better understand who these courageous American soldiers were, we've also included newly discovered letters written by Pvt. Henry Brown of the 21st Massachusetts.

The Letters of Henry Brown is a collection of previously unpublished war time letters that were contributed by Pvt. Brown's great nephews John Proctor and Henry Brown. The letters give a good description of life in the 21st Massachusetts from the day it was first formed, to it's darkest day, when the regiment suffered it's heaviest loss of life at Ox Hill...