Prior to the war and during its first term of service, the unit was sometimes known as "Cook's Battery" after its commanding officer, Capt.

The battery was attached to the VI Corps of the Army of the Potomac during its second term and took part in some of the largest battles of the war including the Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign in the spring of 1864.

Due to the fact that these first units were en route to Washington on April 19 (the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord), in Massachusetts these 90 day troops are often known as the "Minutemen of '61.

They departed for Washington on October 3 and were attached to Brigadier General William B. Franklin's division, part of the Army of the Potomac until March 1862.

At that point they were attached to the Artillery Brigade of the VI Corps of the Army of the Potomac with which they remained associated until the end of their service in October 1864.

They played a role in covering the retreat of the Union Army of Virginia after the Second Battle of Bull Run on August 30 and September 1.

[4] During the winter of 1862 to 1863 they participated in the Mud March, a failed attempt to engage Lee's army in January 1863, and then were stationed at White Oak Church in Virginia until the end of April.

During Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, the 1st Massachusetts Battery participated in the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2–3, being stationed on Cemetery Hill.

After the close of the campaign, the battery encamped at Warrenton, Virginia until September 15 and then Stone House Mountain until October 5.