 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 had light casualties of three percent ( four killed , 11 wounded , and one missing ) . 
