The 2nd Florida was organized on April and July 1861 and mustered into Confederate service for 12 months near Jacksonville, Florida on July 13, 1861 and joined Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in the late summer. They fought at the Battles of Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Gaines Mill, and Malvern Hill in 1862. In late 1862, the 2nd Florida Infantry Regiment was assigned to E.A. Perry's newly formed Florida Brigade alongside the 5th and 8th Florida. Perry's Brigade served under Anderson’s Division of Longstreet’s First Corps, of the Army of Northern Virginia.