Markii uu qarxay dagaalkii sokeeye sanadkii 1861, von Vegesack wuxuu tagay Mareykanka wuxuuna ku biiray ciidanka Midowga. Wuxuu noqday kabtanka ciidanka lugta ee Ohio qeybta 58aad. Isla sanadkaas, waxaa loo dalacsiiyay sarkaal sare oo ka tirsan shaqaalaha Janaraal John E. Wool. Wuxuu marka hore ka soo shaqeeyey Fort Monroe. Isaga oo ah caawiye (ADC) Joseph K. Mansfield wuxuu ka qeyb qaatay duqeynta qoryaha ee Newport News. Sanadkii 1862 ayuu is casilay, laakiin wuxuu ku biiray Major General George B. McClellan go'doominta Yorktown. Isaga oo ah ADC ee Butterfield wuxuu ka qeyb qaatay dagaalladii Hanover Court House, Seven Pines iyo Fair Oaks. wuxuu ku dagaalamay Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mill, Savage's Station
, iyo Buurta Malvern. Vegesack waxaa loo magacaabay kornayl ka tirsan ciidanka New York ee 20-aad, ciidanka Jarmalka ee "Turner". Waxaa la siiyay amar ka sarreeya guutada 3aad ee qeybta General William Farrar Smith ee Ciidanka 6-aad. Wuxuu ka qeyb qaatay dagaalkii labaad ee Bull Run. wuxuu qabsaday meelaha dhaadheer ee ka baxsan Jefferson, Maryland. Wuxuu muujiyay geesinimada Antietam. Vegesack wuxuu ka qayb galay Dagaalkii Fredericksburg. Bishii Maajo 1863 guutada Vegesack waxay qeyb ka ahayd garabka bidix ee Joseph Hooker dagaalkii Chancellorsville.