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71st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry (1st California Regiment)

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The 71st Pennsylvania California Regiment was a regiment that served in the American Civil War. This regiment was comprised of men from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but was raised by Oregon's senator Edward Dickinson Baker and was counted towards California's quota for army volunteers. When Baker raised this regiment in the spring of 1861, he stayed on as their colonel and served as so until he died in the Battle of Ball's Bluff. There are multiple names that refer to this regiment or its brigade, including "First California Regiment," and "The Philadelphia Brigade." These nicknames display the regiment's tie to both states.

This regiment served within the Army of the Potomac and was present at many of the major battles in the eastern theatre. They partook in various conflicts within the Peninsula Campaign and the Seven Days battles. In 1862, the regiment was present at both the Battle of Antietam and the Battle of Fredericksburg. At Antietam, the men of the 71st Pennsylvania California Regiment, led by Colonel Isaac Wister, partook in the infamously brutal fighting in the West Woods. These men then went on to partake in the Battle of Gettysburg. They were involved in the conflict each day, but on July 3, 1863 they defended against Pickett's Charge at the Angle on Cemetery Ridge. This regiment's service only continued as they served at later battles such as the Battle of the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House. The service of this regiment earned them commemoration on monuments at the battlefields of Gettysburg and Antietam.