74th Pennsylvania Infantry The 74th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment which served in the Union Army during the American Civil War . It was one of many all - German regiments in the army , most notably in the XI Corps of the Army of the Potomac . Its combat record was marred by the perceived poor performance of the entire corps at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg , when parts of the corps routed during Confederate attacks . Organization . The volunteer regiment was recruited during August and September 1861 , primarily of recent German immigrants and descendants of Germans . It was officially mustered into service in mid - September as the 35th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment at Camp Wilkens , near Pittsburgh . On September 22 , the 35th was posted to Washington , D . C . However , due to internal intrigue arising while its first colonel , Alexander Schimmelfennig , was ill , it was to lose that designation , and its men were in a state of limbo until Pittsburgh and Philadelphia interests convinced the U . S . War Department to reinstate the colonel . The regiment was then redesignated as the 74th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment , but its men and its communities knew it as " The German Regiment " or the " 1st German Regiment . " The companies were from the following counties : < br > Company A Columbia and Wyoming Counties < br > Company B Pittsburgh < br > Company C Northumberland County < br > Company D Snyder and Union Counties < br > Company E Northumberland County < br > Company F Indiana and Westmoreland Counties < br > Company G Adams and Berks Counties < br > Company H Unknown < br > Company I Pittsburgh < br > Company K Allegheny and Philadelphia Counties Early service - 1862 . The 74th Infantry received its colors on March 5 , 1862 , while encamped near the nation ' s capital . Representative Robert McKnight made the presentation . The regiment was part of the " mud march " in Virginia ' s Shenandoah Valley in the spring of 1862 in the effort to confront General Stonewall Jackson . Its first significant battle was at Cross Keys . The 74th was on the far left of the Union line , where it was engaged in a heated battle in the latter part of the day . Six men were killed and another thirteen were wounded . Its second battle was at Freeman ' s Ford , when Schimmelfennig advanced the regiment into the rear column of the Confederate forces . The enemy turned its full force on the regiment forced the 74th to retreat . 12 men were killed , 37 were wounded , and 3 drowned trying to cross the river and get back within Union lines . An additional 16 men were missing . It was here that Brig . Gen . Henry Bohlen was killed . Colonel Schimmelfennig was eventually promoted to take his place . In the following days , the regiment was participated in the battles of Sulphur Springs and Waterloo Bridge before joining the Army of the Potomac for the Northern Virginia Campaign . It participated in heated fighting at Second Bull Run . When the regiment returned to the Washington D . C . area , its command changed . Maj . Adolph von Hartung was promoted to colonel and commander of the regiment , which was stationed near Stafford Court House . There , some of its men who took ill were treated at the XI Corps Reserve Hospital in Fairfax , Virginia . ( Today this historic building , complete with Union soldier graffiti on the walls , is known as Blenheim House . Four members of the 74th wrote on the walls of this house . ) 1863 service . During the early stages of the Battle of Chancellorsville in May , the 74th was among the XI Corps troops that were surprised in camp by the furious flank attack of Jackson ' s Corps . Another retreat occurred at Gettysburg , where the regiment was pushed through the streets to Cemetery Hill when the brigade retired . Of 381 officers and men , the 74th lost 10 killed , 40 wounded , 60 captured or missing . With the rest of Schimmelfennig ' s depleted brigade , soon after Gettysburg , the 74th was permanently transferred from the Army of the Potomac to South Carolina , where it saw action in several fights in the swamplands during operations to take Charleston . Final service . The regiment mustered out of Federal service in August 1865 .