Recruitment offices were first opened at Gold Hill and Silver City,[4] and the first men began mustering in on 17 June 1863.
[5] Other recruiting stations were later opened in Aurora, Carson City and Genoa[6] and the battalion of six companies would be completed in April 1864.
The Expedition to the Humboldt River took Captain Wells and Company D on a 1,200 mile scouting operation, from their camp at Fort Churchill north and west to the California border and back.
The 10 March incident at Walker Lake with Capt Wallace and Company E was settled quickly, with the suspected murderers being handed over by the Northern Paiute band.
Reports from both sides offer largely different versions of the incident, like the question of whether or not members of Company E did things like throwing an infant onto a fire to die.
Capt Littlefield, with 35 men of Company D, while on a scouting run near Paradise Valley, encountered a large band of Northern Paiutes.
Wells, Littlefield and 40 men (the remainder of the force keeping the horses) charged up the hill and fought until night fall, when a retreat was ordered.
[13] Skirmishes with these bands of Paiutes continued throughout the summer, with additional troops of the 1st Battalion Nevada Volunteer Infantry and 2nd California Cavalry Regiment taking part.