Kammala jumla mai zuwa: A ranar 22 ga Agusta, 1861, Rice ya shiga cikin 14th Massachusetts Infantry kuma an ba shi kwamandan. Ba da daɗewa ba aka canja shi zuwa Rundunar Sojojin Massachusetts ta 19 don umurni da Kamfanin F. Tare da wannan rukunin ya shiga cikin yakin basasa na: Ball's Bluff, Siege na Yorktown,
Fair Oaks, Tashar Savage, Glendale, da kuma Malvern Hill. An daukaka shi zuwa matsayin Manjo a ranar 7 ga Satumba 1862 kuma ya yi yaƙi a Antietam daga baya a watan Satumba na 1862, da kuma yakin Fredericksburg Disamba 11-13, 1862. Domin ayyukansa a yakin Gettysburg a cikin sake dawo da Pickett's Charge, an gabatar da shi da lambar yabo a 1891. An sanya shi a matsayin Laftanar Kanal 28 Feb 1864, ya umurci rundunarsa a cikin Kamfen na Rapidan, yaƙe-yaƙe na Bristoe Station, Blackburn's Ford, Robinson's Cross Roads, da kuma Mine Run. Ya umurci 19th a yakin da Wilderness a ranar 5 ga Mayu zuwa 7, 1864 da kuma yakin Laurel Hill a ranar 8 ga Mayu, 1864. An ji rauni kuma aka kama shi a cikin harin a yakin Spotsylvania Court House, Mayu 12, 1864. Yayin da ake safarar shi a matsayin fursuna a ranar 23 ga Mayu, ya tsere ta hanyar yanke ƙofar motar motar da kuma tsalle daga gare ta yayin da jirgin yake tafiya a 15 mph. Ya isa Lines Union, kusa da Kogin Ohio, kwana ashirin da uku daga baya. An daukaka shi zuwa Kanal a ranar 28 ga Yuli 1864.