For most of that period, the regiment was stationed in Brightwood, now a neighborhood of Washington but, at the time, outside of the urban area of the city.

The conditions at Fort Stevens were favorable as compared to many winter camps during the Civil War and the regiment had a very low rate of sickness.

At that time, Captain David Allen Russell, of the Regular army was promoted to the colonelcy of the 7th Massachusetts.

[3] Leaving Fort Stevens on March 11, 1862, the 7th Massachusetts was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and was shipped via Washington to Fortress Monroe.

Here, Union forces under the command of Major General George B. McClellan gathered in preparation for an advance on the Confederate capital of Richmond via the Virginia Peninsula.