Enlisting in the Army
Mills enlisted on September 12, 1861, as an infantryman into Company B of Gosline's Pennsylvania Zouaves under Captain Enos Baldwin. The company consisted of men from Burlington, New Jersey which was filled in with men from Philadelphia.
The men were sent to "Camp Gibson" in West Philadelphia to be fitted out and begin drilling. They left Philadelphia on October 12, 1861 for Washington, DC.