Monument to the 73rd Pennsylvania at Gettysburg

The 73rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

that served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Service

The 73rd Pennsylvania Infantry was organized at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

beginning in June 1861 and mustered in for a three year enlistment on September 19, 1861 under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

John A. Koltes. The regiment was attached to Steinwehr's Brigade, Blenker's Division,

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

, to March 1862. 2nd Brigade, Blenker's Division,

II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to: France * 2nd Army Corps (France) * II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...

, Army of the Potomac, to April 1862. 2nd Brigade, Blenker's Division, Department of the Mountains, to June 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division,

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

Army of Virginia The Army of Virginia was organized as a major unit of the Union Army and operated briefly and unsuccessfully in 1862 in the American Civil War. It should not be confused with its principal opponent, the Confederate Army of ''Northern'' Virginia, ...

, to September 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division,

XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

, Army of the Potomac, to October 1863, and

Army of the Cumberland The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio. History The origin of the Army of the Cumberland dates back to the creation ...

to April 1864. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XX Corps, to July 1865. The 73rd Pennsylvania Infantry mustered out July 14, 1865.

Detailed service

Left Pennsylvania for Washington, D.C., September 24. Duty in the defenses of Washington, D.C., until March 1862. Advance on Manassas, Va., March 10-15. Near Catlett's Station, Va., until April 6. Moved to Petersburg, Va., April 6-May 11. Operations in the Shenandoah Valley until June. Battle of Cross Keys June 8. Duty in the Shenandoah Valley and at Sperryville until August. Occupation of Luray July 22. Battle of Cedar Mountain August 9 (reserve). Pope's campaign in northern Virginia August 16-September 2. Fords of the Rappahannock August 21-23. Sulphur Springs August 24. Gainesville August 28. Groveton August 30. Bull Run August 30. Duty in the defenses of Washington, D.C., until November. Movement to Centreville November 1-19, then to Fredericksburg December 9-16. "Mud March" January 20-24, 1863. At Stafford Court House until April 27. Operations at Welford's, Kelly's, and Beverly Fords April 14-15. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Battle of Chancellorsville May 1-5. Gettysburg Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg July 1-3. Pursuit of Lee July 5-24. Guard duty along Orange & Alexandria Railroad until September. Movement to Bridgeport, Ala., September 24-October 3. Operations in Lookout Valley October 19-26. Reopening Tennessee River October 26-29. Battle of Wauhatchie, Tenn., October 28-29. Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign November 23-27. Battles of Orchard Knob November 23 and Tunnel Hill November 24-25. Mostly captured November 25 at Tunnel Hill. Duty in Lookout Valley until May 1864. Atlanta Campaign May 1-September 8. Demonstration on Rocky Faced Ridge May 8-11. Dug Gap or Mill Creek May 8. Battle of Resaca May 14-15. Near Cassville May 19. New Hope Church May 25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church, and Allatoona Hills May 26-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kennesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Pine Hill June 11-14. Lost Mountain June 15-17. Gilgal or Golgotha Church June 15. Muddy Creek June 17. Noyes Creek June 19. Kolb's Farm June 22. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Ruff's Station or Smyrna Camp Ground July 4. Chattahoochie River July 5-17. Peachtree Creek July 19-20. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Operations at Chattahoochie River Bridge August 26-September 2. Occupation of Atlanta September 2-November 15. Expedition to Tuckum's Cross Roads October 26-29. Near Atlanta November 9. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Carolinas Campaign January to April 1865. Averysboro, N.C., March 16. Battle of Bentonville March 19-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 9-13. Occupation of Raleigh April 14. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 20.

Grand Review of the Armies The Grand Review of the Armies was a military procession and celebration in the national capital city of Washington, D.C., on May 23–24, 1865, following the Union victory in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Elements of the Union Army in the ...

May 24. Duty in the defenses of Washington until July.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 216 men during service; 5 officers and 98 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 113 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

* Colonel John A. Koltes - killed in action at the Second Battle of Bull Run while commanding the brigade * Colonel Gustavus A. Muehleck - resigned January 27, 1863 *

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

William Moore - promoted to colonel but never mustered at that rank; resigned February 8, 1864 due to wounds received in action at the Battle of Chancellorsville * Lieutenant Colonel Joseph B. Taft - temporarily assigned on November 22, 1863 from the 143rd New York Infantry to command after the regiment had no remaining field officers; killed in action at the Battle of Missionary Ridge * Lieutenant Colonel Charles C. Cresson *

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Augustus Brueckner - commanded at the Second Battle of Bull Run; killed in action there * Captain Daniel F. Kelly - commanded at the Battle of Gettysburg and the Battle of Missionary Ridge where he was captured while in command of the regiment *

1st Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

Samuel D. Miller - commanded at the Battle of Missionary Ridge after Cpt Kelly was captured

References

* Blakeley, Archibald. ''Address Delivered by Colonel Archibald Blakeley on Sherman Heights, Missionary Ridge, Chattanooga, Tennessee at the Dedication of the Monument Erected by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Memory of her Seventy-Third Infantry Regiment, November 7, 1903'' (S.l.: s.n.), 1903. * Dyer, Frederick H. ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion'' (Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co.), 1908. * ''The Seventy-Third Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers at Gettysburg'' (S.l.: s.n.), 1889. ;Attribution * {{CWR

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