The company initially served provost duty at Fortress Monroe, was eventually trained in light artillery drill, and reorganized on March 17, 1862 as the 7th Massachusetts Battery.

Later in 1863, the 7th Massachusetts Battery served on the Virginia Peninsula during a demonstration against Richmond, in New York City in the wake of the draft riots, and later in the defenses of Washington.

The Richardson Light Guard was recruited in Lowell, Massachusetts in April immediately after the Battle of Fort Sumter and the start of the war.

On that day, the battery became part of an expedition to the Blackwater River (which represented the boundary between the Union occupied counties of southeast Virginia and Confederate territory of the interior).

Confederates opposed this Union advance on January 30 during the Battle of Deserted House in an isolated location about ten miles west of Suffolk.

[4] The 7th Massachusetts Battery was heavily engaged during this battle, suffering 13 casualties including two killed in action and two mortally wounded.

[1] When Union forces at Suffolk were besieged by Confederates under the command of Major General James Longstreet, the 7th Massachusetts Battery played an active role in defending the fortifications.

The operation was intended to divert Confederate forces from the Gettysburg Campaign, possibly even resulting in the capture of a lightly defended Richmond but Dix did not press an offensive.

[7] For most of the spring the battery was posted in Alexandria, Louisiana, taking part in occasional patrol activities in that vicinity during the Red River Campaign.

When the Confederates evacuated Mobile, the battery entered the city with other Union troops and set up camp there, remaining until after the end of the war.