54th Pennsylvania Infantry The 54th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment which served in the Union Army during the American Civil War . History . The 54th was recruited during August and September 1861 . The companies were from the following counties : Jacob M . Campbell was selected as colonel of the regiment , Barnabas McDermit as lieutenant colonel and John P . Linton as major . The companies were gathered together and organized at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg , Pennsylvania . On February 27 , 1862 , the regiment was ordered to Washington , D . C . , and then sent to Harpers Ferry the following month . Once there , the companies were detached to various points along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to defend it against guerrilla bands . On October 4 , 1862 , a Confederate force led by Brig . Gen . John D . Imboden captured Companies B and K ( both of which were exchanged in December ) . The regiment was later assigned to the VIII Corps as part of the 3rd Brigade , Second Division , and sent to Romney , West Virginia . In January 1863 , the 54th was transferred to the Department of West Virginia as part of the 4th Brigade , First Division . Campbell was given command of the brigade . Linton , promoted to lieutenant colonel after the resignation of McDermit , took charge of the regiment . Captain Enoch D . Yutzy of company C was promoted to major . In May 1864 , Maj . Gen . Franz Sigel was put in command of the department by Lt . Gen . Ulysses S . Grant and ordered to capture the Shenandoah Valley as part of Grant ' s spring offensive . On May 15 , Sigel encountered Maj . Gen . John C . Breckinridge ' s Confederate force in the Battle of New Market . The 54th Pennsylvania fought near the center of the Union line and managed to retreat in good order . The regiment lost 174 men in the battle , including Linton , who was wounded . On May 26 , Maj . Gen . David Hunter took command of the department from Sigel and embarked on the Lynchburg Campaign . During this campaign , the 54th lost eighty - four men . At the Battle of Piedmont , Private Thomas Evans of Company D seized the colors of the 45th Virginia Infantry , for which he would receive the Medal of Honor . On June 8 , 1864 , the enlistments for most of the 3rd and 4th Pennsylvania Reserve Regiment s expired . Those who were not mustered out were transferred to the 54th . After Hunter ' s withdrawal into West Virginia , Maj . Gen . Philip Sheridan was appointed commander of the Union forces ( now called the Army of the Shenandoah ) in the Valley . In December , Sheridan ' s army was transferred to Petersburg , and the 54th was assigned to the Army of the James , in which the 54th served for the rest of the war . It participated in the capture of Fort Gregg during the breakout at Petersburg and in the Appomattox Campaign . At the Battle of High Bridge , the entire 54th Regiment was captured , but was released four days later . The regiment was sent first to Camp Parole at Annapolis , Maryland , and then to Harrisburg , where it was mustered out on July 15 . Reenactors . A Johnstown , PA group is portraying the 54th Pennsylvania Co . A . . It belongs to the 1st Battalion of Birney ' s Division .