The regiment spent the rest of 1862 and most of 1863 in Kentucky defending railroads and Union installations against Confederate raiders. In August, it moved with General Ambrose E. Burnside's army to East Tennessee where it participated in the capture, occupation, and defense of Knoxville during the fall and early winter. Following a brutal winter at Strawberry Plains, TN in pursuit of James Longstreet's retreating forces, it was assigned to duty as part of the XXIII Corps for the Atlanta Campaign. It participated in skirmishes at Dallas, Resaca, and throughout the campaign in northern Georgia, including the relief of Sprague's brigade at the Battle of Decatur on July 22, 1864.