The regiment was organized in and around Binghamton, New York, and was mustered in for a three-year enlistment on August 27, 1862.

[2] It left New York on August 30, 1862, to serve as a guard to the Washington, D.C. railroads in Annapolis Junction, and Laurel, Maryland.

They fought in the Overland Campaign leading up to the Siege of Petersburg, including the battles of The Wilderness, Spotsylvania Courthouse, and Cold Harbor.

The regiment was mustered out of service on June 4, 1865, at the Delaney House in Washington, D.C.

The regiment suffered 5 officers and 160 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 164 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 329 fatalities.