At the close of the war and after their discharge the members of the
21st Missouri Regiment scattered over Missouri and other States of
the Union. No effort was made to keep the organization alive until
1888, when T. W. Holman, responding to the whisperings of memory for
a sight and hand clasp of the old comrades of ’61-’66, on his own
responsibility published a call, in August, 1888, for a meeting of
the survivors at Arbela, Mo. The result was a large gathering of the
veterans and the organization of the 21st Missouri Infantry Veteran
Volunteers Association. From that date to the present time annual
meetings have been held. At the meeting in 1896, Messrs. T. W. Holman
and N. D. Starr were made Regimental Historians, to compile and
perpetuate the history of the regiment. At the next meeting, in 1897,
these comrades made a partial report, and at the Edina, Mo., meeting in
1898, submitted the result of their labors in manuscript form. A motion
was then made and carried that T. W. Holman continue the labor and
revise and prepare the manuscript for publication and have it printed
for the use of the Association. In accordance with the foregoing
instructions the succeeding pages are respectfully submitted.