69th Pennsylvania Infantry

69th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment
The 69th Pennsylvania monument at Gettysburg looking west. Pickett's Charge started at the trees in the distance and advanced directly toward the camera.
Active	August 19, 1861 - July 1, 1865
Country	United States
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Union Army
Type	Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Part of	2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, II Corps, Army of the Potomac
Nickname(s)	The Rock of Erin (Earned at Gettysburg Baker Zouaves (Companies I and K) Paddy Owen's Regulars The Irish Volunteers
Colors	United States National and Irish Green
Engagements	Battle of Ball's Bluff Peninsula Campaign Second Battle of Bull Run Battle of Chantilly Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg Battle of Chancellorsville Battle of Gettysburg Battle of Wilderness Battle of Spotsylvania Battle of Cold Harbor Siege of Petersburg Appomattox Campaign
Commanders
Colonel of the Regiment	Joshua T. Owen Dennis O'Kane
Notable commanders	Joshua T. Owen Dennis O'Kane

The 69th Pennsylvania Infantry (originally raised as the 2nd California) was a volunteer regiment in the Union army during the American Civil War. Part of the famed Philadelphia Brigade, it played a key role defending against Pickett's Charge during the Battle of Gettysburg. Companies I and K, designated as the regiment's skirmisher companies, wore a very Americanized Zouave uniform. This uniform consisted of a dark blue Zouave jacket with green trimming, green cuffs, and sixteen brass buttons down the front on both sides of the jacket, a sky blue Zouave vest, chasseur sky-blue trousers, and a dark blue kepi. This was one of the few Zouave uniforms that did not use red as the jacket trimming. However, the Zouave uniforms were mostly destroyed during the Peninsula Campaign and were not replaced.

The 69th Pennsylvania was recruited from Philadelphia Irish militia companies of the 2nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Militia. It was mustered into service on August 19, 1861, with Joshua T. Owen as its first colonel. Many of its members had served in the 24th Pennsylvania, a three-month volunteer regiment. The unit was first designated the 2nd California. It left for Washington, D.C. that September, before being assigned to the Army of the Potomac in October as part of Colonel Edwin Baker's California Brigade. The regiment’s first action was at the Battle of Balls Bluff. After this battle, its name was changed to the 68th Penna. for a short time and then the 69th. They made an attempt with the 69th New York to form an Irish Brigade, but Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin of Pennsylvania opposed the idea, which led to the proposal being dropped. The 68th had their regimental designation changed to the 69th in honor of the 69th New York Infantry.