Leopold von Gilsa Leopold von Gilsa ( died March 1 , 1870 ) was a career soldier who served as an officer in the armies of Prussia and later the United States . He is best known for his role in the misfortunes of the XI Corps in the Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War , particularly at the battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg , where many of his men were unjustly accused of cowardice . Early life . Von Gilsa was born in Germany , and served as an officer in the Prussian Army in the First Schleswig War of 1848 – 51 . He moved to the United States and settled in New York City , where he taught and played the piano and sang in the music halls along the Bowery . Civil War . When the Civil War erupted , von Gilsa organized the De Kalb Regiment , an all - German unit , which became the 41st New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment . It was named for a hero of the American Revolution , Baron de Kalb . The regiment ' s development , which occurred in the Yorkville section of Manhattan , was reported in the " New York Times " during the spring of 1861 . Some of the expenses were paid by the Union Defense Committee of New York City . The regiment left for Washington , D . C . , by water for Elizabethport , New Jersey , on July 8 , 1861 , followed by a trip via railroad . The regiment served under von Gilsa in the campaign leading up to the First Battle of Bull Run . It was in reserve with the rest of Theodore Runyon ' s Fourth Division , Army of the Potomac . The regiment then participated in the campaigns of John C . Frémont in western Virginia . Von Gilsa was severely wounded leading the regiment in the Battle of Cross Keys . Minus its leader , von Gilsa ' s regiment served in the brigade of Julius Stahel under Maj . Gen . Franz Sigel in the Second Battle of Bull Run . When Sigel ' s command became XI Corps , Army of the Potomac in late 1862 , the De Kalbs were in First Brigade of Stahel ' s First Division . Von Gilsa , after recuperating , became brigade commander in this period . Following the Battle of Antietam , he assigned the De Kalb Regiment to take part in a reconnaissance led by Sigel into Virginia . Chancellorsville . In the Battle of Chancellorsville , Von Gilsa ' s brigade was on the right flank of the army on May 2 , 1863 , when Stonewall Jackson made his march to outflank the Union army . Von Gilsa warned the division commander , Charles Devens , that Confederate troops had been detected in the woods near his line . Devens and Oliver Otis Howard , the corps commander , ignored his warnings . The Confederate attack that followed swept von Gilsa ' s brigade away and routed his terror - stricken soldiers . Von Gilsa and other Germans were blamed by Howard and other Yankees for the misfortunes of XI Corps , a display of xenophobia that was protested by German Americans at the time . Von Gilsa was noted for the use of profanity in his native German . During the retreat from Chancellorsville , Von Gilsa and Howard crossed paths and Von Gilsa poured out a stream of oath s in German with such vehemence and in such profusion that Howard thought he had gone insane . Gettysburg . In June 1863 , Von Gilsa initially had bad relations with the new division commander , Francis Barlow , who put him under arrest for allowing more than one man at a time to leave the column to get water . ( The Germans thought Barlow a petty tyrant . ) Von Gilsa was back in command of his brigade at the Battle of Gettysburg . On the first day , Barlow advanced his division to a knoll in advance of his assigned position , today known as Barlow Knoll . Von Gilsa ' s command was on the right flank of the line , and it was ousted from its position by the Confederate division of Jubal Early , which outflanked Barlow ' s line . On the second day , the remainder of von Gilsa ' s brigade was positioned in a lane at the foot of Cemetery Hill . The line , as established by acting division commander Adelbert Ames was too thin , and an attack by Early ' s division broke through . Troops of the Eleventh Corps , assisted by the brigade of Samuel Carroll from II Corps , expelled the Confederate attackers . Carroll ' s brigade joined the XI Corps soldiers in holding the lane against any potential Confederate attack on the third day of the battle . Later campaigns . After Gettysburg , Alexander Schimmelfennig took command of the brigade . Von Gilsa returned to command of his regiment . The division passed to George Henry Gordon , and was transferred to the Department of the South . Von Gilsa commanded the First Brigade , Gordon ' s Division , X Corps on Folly Island , one of the Sea Islands of South Carolina from August 1863 to June 1864 . He also commanded the garrison of Folly Island , including conducting reconnaissances and small raids in that vicinity . The veterans of the De Kalb Regiment returned to New York City in June 1864 , with von Gilsa still in command . It had left with nearly 1 , 500 men and returned with 327 . ( Recent recruits were retained in service until December 9 , 1865 . ) Von Gilsa remained on the ranks of active officers without a formal command until he mustered out in December 1865 . Death . Colonel von Gilsa died in New York City . He was buried on March 3 , 1870 , at Green - Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn . Franz Sigel delivered a few brief remarks as a eulogy . Barlow and Carl Schurz praised von Gilsa ' s courage , and his soldiers liked him .