 The regiment , originally numbering slightly more than 1 @,@ 000 men , departed Worcester on August 23 , 1861 . They were armed with inferior smoothbore muskets that had been converted from flintlock to percussion lock . After a brief , but tense , three @-@ day encampment in Baltimore , the regiment moved to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis , Maryland , arriving on August 30 . The regiment garrisoned the Naval Academy for four months . It was a comfortable post . Maj. William S. Clark of the 21st wrote that the regiment was " delightfully situated , enjoying the very romance of war . " 
