 Following his failure at Fredericksburg , Burnside was reassigned to the Department of the Ohio . The IX Corps , which he had formerly commanded , was reassigned with him . The 21st Massachusetts boarded trains for Cincinnati on March 28 , 1863 . They were then transported to Mount Sterling , Kentucky , to combat Confederate guerrillas . In April , due to the reduced numbers of the regiment ( now about 200 ) several officers , being effectively without commands , chose to resign their commissions , including Col. William S. Clark . Command of the regiment passed to Lt. Col. George P. Hawkes . 
