After early action at Biloxi and Pass Christian, the regiment was directed by General Butler to make a public parade through the city to discourage any outbreaks against Federal authorities.

On June 25, 1862, the unit was put to work upriver on a canal opposite Vicksburg along with regiments from Massachusetts, Vermont, Michigan and Wisconsin, all under the direction of General Thomas Williams.

The canal was intended to connect a loop in the Mississippi River and allow Union ships to bypass the cannons on the bluffs at Vicksburg and have free access from the north to the Gulf of Mexico.

However, lack of drinking water, supplies and medicine, as well as the summer heat and exposure quickly took its toll as heatstroke, malaria, and dysentery spread rapidly.

With many dying or incapacitated, slaves from nearby plantations were added to the workforce, but, as the water level fell in the river, the canal attempt was abandoned on July 24 and the troops were moved downriver to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.