[3] After training, the unit was transferred to Richmond, Virginia, where they were placed in Major General Robert Ransom, Jr.'s brigade.

LeRoy McAfee assumed command of the 49th NCT, being promoted to full colonel on 1, November 1862, and held that post until the army's surrender at Appomattox.

They participated in the capture of Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and then were force marched to Sharpsburg, Maryland, for the Battle of Antietam.

The 49th served in the New Bern area and near the Chowan River in North Carolina with the purpose of protecting the Petersburg / Weldon / Wilmington railroad.

[7] Returning to Virginia, the unit participated in several battles as part of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign, eventually taking their place in the Petersburg line on the Confederate left just south of the James River.

On 30 July 1864, the Union army exploded thousands of pounds of gunpowder they had placed into a mine dug under the Confederate position.

They played a conspicuous part in repelling the assault and ensuring that the Army of Northern Virginia was not cut in half.