The regiment served in a number of important battles throughout the Eastern Theater, including Antietam and Fredericksburg.

[3] At the Battle of the Wilderness, on May 5, 1864, the entire regiment—except for Company B—found itself hopelessly surrounded by Confederate troops, and was compelled to surrender.

272 officers and men were captured, and were immediately marched to the rear of the rebel army at Orange Court House, and thence to Lynchburg, Virginia.

The prisoners were held until the end of the conflict was near, with some being paroled, and some liberated by Union troops, but with many enlisted dying from starvation, disease and exposure in the period leading up to release.

)—67 of these at Andersonville, and an undetermined number after the captives were moved to Florence, South Carolina, totalling 218 fatalities.