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 During the months of August and September 1861, the volunteer regiment was primarily enlisted from recent German immigrants and their descendants. 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: Company A Columbia and Wyoming Counties Company B Pittsburgh Company C Northumberland County Company D Snyder and Union Counties Company E Northumberland County Company F Indiana and Westmoreland Counties Company G Adams and Berks Counties - same company under Captain Krauseneck (see later). It was one of the most diverse companies including one Irishman, one Austrian, four Swiss, eight Alsatians, 10 Bavarians, 14 Badeners (another German state) and 15 Wurttembergers (another German state). Company H Unknown Company I Pittsburgh 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