Encamped at Falmouth, Virginia through April 1863, the regiment participated in Major-General Ambrose Burnside's Mud March (January 1863) and in operations at Rappanhannock Bridge and Grove Church (February 5–7) before being ordered on to the Chancellorsville Campaign. During this phase of duty, the 72nd New York lost nearly one-fourth of its members in the intense combat of the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 7, including the regiment's commanding officer, Colonel William O. Stevens, who died the next day after having been mortally wounded and captured by Confederate States Army troops.
