At the start of the war, Burnside was a brigadier general in the Rhode Island Militia. Responding quickly to Lincoln’s call to arms, he raised a volunteer regiment, the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, and on May 2, 1861was appointed colonel. By June, he was appointed brigade commander in the Department of Northeast Virginia. Burnside’s First Rhode Island did not distinguish themselves in battle before their first 90 days of service was up.