It was raised in Philadelphia close to the end of the war, and spent its nine months of service on guard duty at Camp Parole and Washington, D.C.

The 213th Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at Philadelphia between 4 February and 2 March 1865, with men from that city and the counties of Berks, Juniata, and Chester, under the command of volunteer officer Colonel John A. Gorgas.

Three companies under Lieutenant Colonel Jacob M. Davis were sent to Frederick and detailed to guard the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad as part of the First Separate Brigade of VIII Corps.

[4] Major Enos R. Artman of the regiment, commanding the post at Monocacy Junction, sent out a force of men from the 1st Delaware Cavalry that arrested Booth conspirator George Atzerodt on April 20.

[5] Artman subsequently received $1,250 out of the $25,000 in reward funds authorized by the U.S. House of Representatives and Secretary of War for the capture of Booth, his co-conspirators, and Jefferson Davis.