By John David Hoptak

By John David Hoptak 4 WESTERNPENNSYLVANIA PENNSYLVANIA HERITAGE HISTORY◆ PENNSYLVANIA | SPRING LEGACIES 2010 ◆ WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY ◆ SUMMER 2013 FACING PAGE Unrest in Baltimore did not subside with the April 18 departure of the Keystone State’s First Defenders. On the following day angry anti-Union protestors attacked the Massachusetts 6th Regiment Infantry, killing four soldiers in what has since been called the Baltimore Riot of 1861 or the Pratt Street Massacre. New York Public Library. Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor on April 15, 1861, igniting the American Civil hroughout the four years of the American Civil Perhaps most notable is War, which ultimately caused the deaths of nearly 700,000 War, more than two million men served the the forgotten history of the first individuals on both sides by mortal Union, some for months, others for years. The vast majority Northern volunteers to arrive wounds on the battlefield and diseases and infections. were volunteers, young boys and aging men who willingly in Washington, D.C., following Harper’s Weekly (April 27, 1861). left home behind to fight for the preservation of the Union President Abraham Lincoln’s call- and the eradication of slavery.1 Historians have documented to-arms. On Thursday, April 18, the stories of countless citizens-turned-soldiers, recalling 1861, less than one week after the opening salvos of the war fired the hardships they endured in camp and while on campaign, at Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor, 475 and describing in detail the horrors they endured in combat. Pennsylvania volunteers, in five volunteer militia companies, Despite these vast annals of war history, many soldiers’ arrived in the nation’s capital. Their timely arrival earned stories are lost to time or overlooked. them the distinguished title of First Defenders. PENNSYLVANIA HERITAGE ◆ PENNSYLVANIA LEGACIES ◆ WESTERNWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY HISTORY ◆ |SUMMER SPRING 20102013 5 istorian Samuel Penniman ONn Friday, April 12, 1861, the decades- of the most ferocious and deadly experiences Bates later romanticized that long sectional tensions that defined—and of their lives. Only three days after Lincoln’s H these Pennsylvanians arrived in divided—the young nation broke out after request, the first volunteer troops arrived in Washington at “the head of the grand column Southern forces fired on Fort Sumter. Following Washington. of the two million men, who afterwards . the fortification’s capitulation two days later, These early troops came from eastern marched in their footprints.”2 In spite of this President Lincoln, just one month in office, and central Pennsylvania, organized into five notable achievement, the history of the First found himself faced with the greatest crisis militia companies whose origins predated the Defenders remains overshadowed by famous to ever confront the United States. Realizing outbreak of sectional hostilities. The oldest of officers, epic battles, and prominent military the rebellion could now be reconciled only by the five companies, the National Light Infantry units. “In the progress of the gigantic struggle force, he issued a call on Monday, April 15, for of Pottsville, Schuylkill County, had been which ensued, of which the most farsighted had 75,000 volunteers to serve for a period of three organized in 1831. The Washington Artillery, then no conception,” Bates wrote, “so many and months. Enthusiastic men and boys swarmed organized in Pottsville in 1842, was the only such brilliant services have been rendered by the recruiting offices throughout the North in company with wartime experience; the unit soldiers of the National armies, that the timely response to the president’s urgent summons. served as Company B, 1st Pennsylvania arrival of these companies had been little noted.” Within several days—and, in many instances, Volunteers, in the Mexican-American War, It is time, then, to rescue these soldiers from within a matter of hours—thousands began waged from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the drifting further into the shadows of neglect.3 their journeys as soldiers, embarking on one annexation of Texas in 1845 by the United These early troops came from eastern and central Pennsylvania, organized into 5 militia companies whose origins predated the outbreak of sectional hostilities. A flag “Presented by the Ladies of Lewistown” on September 19, 1859, one year after the organization of the Logan Guards in the Mifflin County seat of Lewistown, was carried by the volunteers as they made their way to defend the nation’s capital in April 1861. PHMC The State Museum of Pennsylvania. Members of the Logan Guards carried their large regimental drum as they rushed to Washington, D.C., in April 1861. Survivors of the First Defenders unit entrusted the drum to the commonwealth in the 1890s. PHMC The State Museum of Pennsylvania. 6 PENNSYLVANIA HERITAGE ◆ PENNSYLVANIA LEGACIES ◆ WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY ◆ SUMMER 2013 States. The Ringgold Light Artillery of Reading, for parade and drill practice and participated Berks County, was formed in 1850 and in encampments at Lewistown in 1859 and commanded by Captain James McKnight, at Huntingdon, Huntingdon County, the while the Logan Guards of Lewistown, following year. Such rigorous training put the Mifflin County, came into existence companies in an anomalous position within eight years later at the behest of Major the state militia system, but their readiness Daniel Eisenbise. The newest company, to serve in the event of emergency caught the the Allen Infantry of Allentown, Lehigh attention of state officials. After Lincoln’s call County, under the command of Captain for volunteers went out, it was little surprise to James Yeager, was organized two years Governor Andrew Gregg Curtin that they were before the outbreak of the Civil War. among the first to offer their services. In fact, During the antebellum era, the anticipating hostilities, Pottsville’s National organization of these companies was Light Infantry telegraphed their willingness to regularly maintained, and their members serve to Secretary of War Simon Cameron on Pottsville’s Washington were drilled much more frequently than April 11, a day before the attack on Fort Sumter. Artillerists was organized in July 1842 under most of the Keystone State’s militiamen. The Writing after the war, Cameron declared the Captain James Nagle. Logan Guards, for example, met monthly company “was the first company of volunteers From The First Defenders (1910). BELOW The Ringgold Light Artillery A photograph captioned “Ringgold Light of Reading, Berks County, Artillery / On duty at the Washington Navy was organized and equipped Yard. / April 1861” and inscribed “With the in 1850 with four six- compliments of / the Commandant—Captain pounder brass field pieces Dahlgren.” Captain A. B. Dahlgren was the and caissons. A depiction commandant of the Navy Yard and chief of of a cannon appears on the Ordnance Bureau during the Civil War. He the company’s flag above designed various types of guns and cannon a ribbon emblazoned with for the Union war effort, earning him the title STAND BY THE FLAG & “Father of American Naval Ordnance.” DON’T GIVE UP THE GUNS. Ken Turner Collection. PHMC The State Museum of Pennsylvania. PENNSYLVANIA HERITAGE ◆ PENNSYLVANIA LEGACIES ◆ WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HISTORY ◆ SUMMER 2013 7 “War Governor” Andrew Gregg Curtin ardently supported Lincoln as advocate, friend, advisor, and confidant. He rallied troops from the Keystone State to fight whose services were offered for the defense recounted the departure of the Schuylkill for the Union. Pennsylvania State Archives, MG-218, Photograph Collections. of the Capital,” and it “with four additional County companies: companies from Pennsylvania . were the As the companies proceeded down first troops to reach the seat of government at Centre street, to the depot of the Phila- delphia and Reading Railroad, they were the beginning of the war of the rebellion.”4 greeted with cheers from the thousands Reading’s volunteers fired off a telegram who lined each side of the street, and a 5 on April 15 to Governor Curtin after receiving perfect ocean of handkerchiefs waved Lincoln’s request: by the ladies, who had taken possession “The Ringgold Light Artillery are parad- of all the windows, and every available ing this morning with their guns for situation along the street. All the stores practice; have ninety men on parade, were closed and business entirely sus- every one of them expecting to be pended. At the depot the crowd was ordered on duty for the U.S. service immense, and it was almost impossible before they leave their guns.” Secre- to force your way through it. The tops of tary of the Commonwealth Eli Slifer the passenger and freight cars, the roofs responded the following day, “Captain of the depot and neighboring houses, James McKnight: Bring your command were black with spectators. Never had so to Harrisburg by first train. If any of great a concourse assembled on any one your men need equipments, they will be occasion before in Pottsville. provided by the general Government. The Pottsville Cornet Band, which Lose no time.” had escorted the companies to the With the offers of these companies depot, immediately before the starting immediately accepted, thousands turned out of the cars played “Hail Columbia” and “Yankee Doodle.” As the train slowly to witness the departure of eager volunteers left the depot, cheer upon cheer went from their respective hometowns. In its April up from the assembled thousands. The 20 edition, the Miners Journal of Pottsville men were in good spirits, but there were APRIL16 TELEGRAM TO RINGGOLD LIGHT ARTILLERY: Captain James McKnight: Bring your command to Harrisburg by first train. If any of your men need equipments, they will be provided by the general Government. Lose no time. The year after the heroic First Defenders were mustered in at Harrisburg in April 1861, artist Theodore R.

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