Raised in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area during August 1864, the regiment initially guarded the Manassas Gap Railroad and detachment elements on provost duty in Virginia.

The 201st Pennsylvania was raised in the Harrisburg area during August 1864 for a one-year term in response to President Abraham Lincoln's call for 500,000 men.

Within 30 days of the start of recruitment, it reached its required membership strength, and became the first of ten regiments to fulfill the state's assigned enrollment quota.

For the rest of the war, the regiment served on guard duty in the city, in the defenses south of the Potomac, on railroad trains, and escorted recruits and stragglers towards the front.

Many officers served on court martial boards, and Lieutenant Colonel J. Wesley Awl was appointed commander of the Alexandria Soldiers' Rest distribution camp in early May.