It was initially organized to protect the Nebraska Territory from Indian attacks, but primarily served in the Western Theater before being reorganized and sent to the frontier.

The territorial legislature met in special session in Omaha, and agreed to raise the requested local defense force.

[1] The regiment camped at various sites in Missouri, including Pilot Knob, throughout the fall and winter of 1861–1862.

[2] After joining the Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant, the 1st Nebraska Infantry participated in the successful attack on Fort Donelson in Tennessee, fought at the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, and took part in the Union advance on, and siege of, Corinth, Mississippi.

This article about a specific military unit of the American Civil War is a stub.