74th Pennsylvania Infantry

74th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry
Pennsylvania flag
Active	September 14, 1861, to August 29, 1865
Country	United States
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Infantry
Engagements	Cross Keys Freeman's Ford Sulphur Springs Waterloo Bridge Groveton Second Bull Run Chancellorsville Gettysburg Seabrook Island John's Island James Island

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.

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:
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
Company H Unknown
Company I Pittsburgh
Company K Allegheny and Philadelphia Counties