- Joined
- Aug 27, 2011
- Location
- Central Massachusetts
On the 18th of April, 1861, the first troops to answer President Lincoln's appeal for defenders of the Capitol, passed through Baltimore. Five companies of Pennsylvania Militia:
The National Light Infantry of Pottsville
The Allen Guards of Allentown
The Logan Guards of Lewistown
The Ringgold Light Artillery of Reading
and the Washington Infantry of Pottsville
These, totalling 432 men, hurriedly assembled, (along with 40 men of Co. H, 4th U.S. Artillery), took train for Baltimore. Their arrival, about 6 p.m., had been unexpected, but rebel elements in the city reacted quickly. The men had to deboard, and march about three miles to another station, there to board another train for Washington.
On leaving the cars, a battalion was formed as a battalion: the regulars, on the right, followed by the Logan Guards, and the other companies following in suit, with the Ringgold Artillery, bringing up the rear. As the column was forming near Bolton station, the police of Baltimore appeared in large force, headed by Marshal Kane, and followed by a mob, who at once commenced an attack upon the volunteers, countenanced by a portion of the police, sent to give safe conduct through the city. Orders were given to the men to preserve their temper, and to make no reply to anything that should be said to them. At the command "forward," the mob commenced hooting, jeering, and yelling, and proclaimed with oaths, that the troops should not pass through their city to fight the South.
Near the city centre, the regulars split off, and headed towards Fort McHenry. The volunteers marched on, with the howling mob following. Except for officers' pistols, and a few other guns scattered among the five companies, most of the Pennsylvanians were unarmed, and some wore only pieces of uniforms. But, The Logan Guards were armed with thirty-four Springfield muskets, which had been drawn from the National armory, on a requisition from the Adjutant General of Pennsylvania, and the thirty-four of their number carrying them, were uniformed precisely like the regulars. Furthermore, there was not a charge of powder in the five companies; but one of the men of the Logan Guards, happening to have a box of percussion caps in his pocket, had previously distributed them to his comrades, and the thirty four muskets of the Guards were capped, and carried, half cocked, at a support arms, creating the impression in the mob, that these muskets were loaded, and would be used against them, if they attempted an assault.
Until they reached Camden Station they were opposed by nothing but insults and threats. But as the volunteers were boarding the train at the station, the angry mob hurled a shower of bricks, clubs, and stones into their disorganized ranks, fortunately, however, inflicting only slight injuries. In the midst of the confusion, an attempt was made to detach the engine from the train and run it away. This was only prevented by the determined character of the engineer and his assistants, who drew revolvers, and threatened to shoot any who dared to make the attempt. At length, amidst the demoniac yells of the crowd, the train moved off, carrying the volunteers safely beyond the reach of their desperate assailants.
Some of the Pennsylvanians were injured by the flying missiles. Ironically, perhaps, the first man so injured (the "first blood" of the war, in a sense), was Nicholas Biddle, a 65-year-old African American fully-uniformed orderly with the Washington Infantry, whose head injury exposed part of his skull.
The five companies finally made their way to Washington, where they were barracked in the basement of the Capitol, and were finally given arms and uniforms, and equipment.
The First Defenders Medal
See: http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/pa-heritage/nick-biddle-forgotten-hero-civil-war.html
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