 Ramba uchinyora ndima iyi - Akarwa muhondo dzinoverengeka muMissouri, kubatanidza Hondo yeWilsons Creek, kwaakarinda zvitima zvokuyamura. Mutungamiri Abraham Lincoln akagadza Stanley kuti ave brigadier general musi waSeptember 28, 1861, kunyange zvazvo Seneti yeUnited States isina kusimbisa kugadzwa kwacho kusvikira musi waMarch 7, 1862. Achirwa muWestern Theater, akapinda mumabasa akarwisa New Madrid, Missouri uye Hondo yeChitsuwa Nhamba Gumi. Akabatanidzwa muhondo huru dzakawanda, kusanganisira Hondo yeChipiri yeKorinde, kwaakatungamira chikamu chevarwi veMississippi, uye Hondo yeStones River, kwaakatungamira vatasvi veCumberland Army. Musi waMarch 11, 1863, Stanley akagadzwa kuva mukuru mukuru kuti ave mukuru kubva munaNovember 29, 1862. Stanley akatungamirirawo mauto eUnion muTullahoma Campaign. Akarwara mukupera kwa1863 uye akarasikirwa nehondo yeChickamauga. Muna 1864, akarwa pasi paWilliam Tecumseh Sherman semutungamiri wedhipatimendi mu IV Corps yeHondo yeCumberland panguva yeAtlanta Campaign, uye akasimudzirwa kuve mutungamiri wevashandi apo Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard akatumidzwa mutungamiri weHondo yeTennessee. Pashure pokubatwa kweguta racho, panzvimbo pokumushandira achifamba achienda kugungwaSherman akatumira Stanley ne IV Corps yake kuTennessee kuti vabatsire kudzivirira nyika kubva pakupinda kweHondo yaJohn Bell Hood yeTennessee. 