One officer in A Company, Captain Parker, resigned after hearing a "foreigner" paraded with the "American Rifles".

[2] The regiment became the "American Guard" in 1853 when their Ogden long rifles were replaced with muskets, which could carry bayonets.

During this action, Dead Rabbit leader Mickey Free was killed and the regiment captured an 8-lb howitzer from the rioters.

[2] On April 16, 1861, 380 men mustered under Colonel Vosburgh at the State Arsenal, in response to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops.

While the army assembled, a team made up of members of the regiment defeated the Washington Nationals baseball club by a score of 41 to 13.

[5] The regiment took part in the occupation of Alexandria, Virginia, in May 1861, accompanying the New York Fire Zouaves and Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, who was killed in the action.

Archaeological research on the battlefield at Manassas shows the 71st, along with the 1st and 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, faced the Tiger Rifles of Major Chatham Wheat's Louisiana Battalion, the only known unit engaged in fighting outfitted with .54-caliber muskets.

[7] The Illustrated London News noted "The militia stood firm, firing and loading as if it were on parade.

Colonel Henry K. Potter commanded the 71st New York State Volunteers (distinct from the 71st NYSNG), which was placed in the Second "Excelsior" Brigade (Brig.

The 71st passed through Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on June 23, 1863,[9] it is often confused with the 71st New York Volunteers, an entirely separate, three year volunteer regiment, which fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, as part of Sickle's III Corps, again in the Second "Excelsior" Brigade (Colonel William R. Brewster).

[12] The 71st was ordered to support the Rough Riders in a skirmish against Siboney's garrison, but the fighting was over before the New Yorkers could arrive.

On June 27, the brigade moved towards Santiago, making slow progress over poor roads in the heat.

As the regiment left the forest, the 71st was pinned down by accurate Spanish rifle fire from the heights of San Juan hill, preventing any advance.

The official report of the 13th Infantry, leading Kent's Second Brigade, notedThe men of the 71st were lying flat on the ground along the underbrush bordering the road with their feet toward the middle of the road... From the remarks they made to us all along the line as we passed them at a run, I inferred that they were in this prostrate formation for the purpose of avoiding exposure to bullets.

Colonel Downs, testified at a court of inquiry in 1899 that he had received no orders to advance since 10 a.m. and therefore held his men in reserve.

"[12]: 285  Ironically, the first American soldier to reach the crest of San Juan Hill was Lieutenant Herbert Hyde True of Company L of the 71st (in Keck's battalion).

One lieutenant noted there were reports the regiment would be moved to Montauk Point, Long Island, to recuperate from the climate,[18] and many men from the 71st were sent there to recover on the hospital ship Shinnecock.

A new armory was built on the spot in 1905 by the firm of Clinton and Russell, and was noted for its particularly fine exterior architecture.

In 1916, before the U.S. entry into World War I, the 71st was mobilized as part of the U.S. Army force serving on the Mexican border.

[26] On September 30, 1917, the 71st paraded down Fifth Avenue, preparatory to its move to Camp Wadsworth, near Spartanburg, South Carolina.

[27] A partial listing of awards and commendations earned by former 71st Infantry men during combat appears in Robert S. Sutliffe's Seventy-First New York in the World War.

[29] The 54th Pioneer Infantry arrived at the port of New York on 26 June 1919 on the troopship USS Artemis and was demobilized on 8 July 1919 at Camp Grant, Illinois.

[30] The 71st Infantry participated in the parade held for Charles A. Lindbergh in New York City in July 1927.

It conducted a review for Marshal Philippe Pétain of France during his visit to New York City on 24 October 1931.

[31] The regiment conducted annual summer training most years at Camp Smith, near Peekskill, New York, and conducted an additional week-long winter training directed by the War Department at Camp Dix, New Jersey, from 12 to 19 November 1939.

[32] In World War II, the 71st, consisting of three battalions, was part of the 44th Infantry Division, which assembled at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Headquarters Company of the 1st Battalion was detached to take part in the retaking of Attu Island in the Aleutian campaign.

[33] In this offensive, the 71st encountered the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen, holding off eight attacks.

In the last days of the war, the First Battalion crossed the Austrian border through a mountain pass and attacked a German division.

In 1984, the Governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, proposed disbanding the 71st and 106th Infantry to use their armory spaces for civilian purposes.