Battle of Camden
Following the engagement at New Bern, the 21st was among the regiments selected for an expedition to destroy the Dismal Swamp Canal which would cripple the Confederacy's shipbuilding activities at Norfolk, Virginia. A portion of Reno's brigade was transported by steamers to Camden County and engaged in the relatively minor Battle of Camden on April 19, 1862. The 21st, at this stage, numbered 500 men, having lost numerous soldiers to disease while in an unsanitary camp at New Bern. After the Battle of Camden, Reno eventually abandoned the expedition against the canal and the brigade returned to New Bern on April 22. In the course of the mission, the 21st Massachusetts Infantry had light casualties of three percent (four killed, 11 wounded, and one missing).