11th Pennsylvania Infantry The 11th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment was a Union army regiment that participated in the American Civil War . It had the distinction of being the oldest unit in continuous service from Pennsylvania . History . The 11th Pennsylvania was recruited from several counties in Pennsylvania as a three - month regiment on April 26 , 1861 , and sent to Camp Curtin , Harrisburg for training and organization . Phaon Jarrett served as its first colonel , with Richard Coulter as lieutenant colonel and William D . Earnest as major . It was assigned to Robert Patterson ' s Army of the Shenandoah . The regiment received the nickname " The Bloody Eleventh " at the Battle of Falling Waters , Virginia , July 2 , 1861 . The 11th was reorganized as a three - year regiment in the August of the same year at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg . After a few weeks of drill , the regiment was given garrison duty at Annapolis , Maryland . In April , it was moved to Mannassas Junction , where it guarded the railroad . It was again transferred , this time to the Shenandoah Valley , in late May as part of Irvin McDowell ' s Corps . They fought in the Battles of Cedar Mountain and Second Bull Run . After the Army of Virginia was merged into the Army of the Potomac , the reconstituted regiment became part of the I Corps . At Turner ' s Gap at the Battle of South Mountain , the 11th came under light fire only , losing two men wounded . At the Battle of Antietam three days later , it was heavily engaged on the Union right around the West Woods . In this battle , it lost 27 killed , 89 wounded , and two captured . When the original three - year enlistment period expired in January 1864 , many of the men reenrolled in the regiment at the influence of Brig . Gen . Richard Coulter , a former colonel of the regiment . Because of this , the unit was designated " veteran volunteers . " During the reorganization of the Army in the spring of 1864 , the 11th became part of the V Corps , as the old I Corps had been disbanded , and surviving units transferred to the V Corps . The 11th fought in multiple battles in the Eastern Theater , including Second Bull Run , Antietam , Chancellorsville , Gettysburg , Grant ' s Overland Campaign , the Siege of Petersburg , and the Appomattox Campaign . It was mustered out on July 1 , 1865 . A total of 1 , 890 men served in the regiment during the war , and only 340 men were discharged at war ' s end . Among the numerous casualties was one that would stand out as an undying remembrance of the unit and its loyalty to the cause . The regiment ' s beloved mascot , a brindle bull terrier named " Sallie , " traveled everywhere with the unit . She was said to have hated three things — Rebels , Democrats , and Women . Her loyalty was undying , for at Gettysburg , after the battle on the First Day was over , Sallie , tired and hungry , ambled out to where her brave comrades had fought and died . She lay down with the dead , until she was found , weak and close to death herself , on July 4 , 1863 . Her friends nursed her back to health , and she fought with the unit in every battle until she was mortally wounded at Hatcher ' s Run in February 1865 . The men gave her a proper burial , never forgetting the most devoted member of their regiment . Her likeness is forever memorialized on the 11th Pennsylvania monument on Oak Ridge in the Gettysburg National Military Park . Casualties : Notable members . The 11th Pennsylvania was commanded for most of its service by Colonel Richard Coulter . Two of the regiment ' s men were awarded the Medal of Honor , both for capturing battle flags . Private George W . Reed earned his at the Battle of Globe Tavern on August 21 , 1864 , and Sergeant Hiram H . De Lavie at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1 , 1865 . William Henry Locke , the regimental chaplain , later wrote a history of the 11th Pennsylvania . Reenactors . Company K , 11th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry , is based in southwest Pennsylvania . It includes not only military reenactors but also women and children portraying the families of the soldiers .