In response to President Lincoln’s call for 75,000 volunteers, the Ringgold Light Artillery left Reading on April 16th 1861, the first troops to reach Harrisburg. The First Defenders association held a reunion April 16th 1885 in Reading, Pennsylvania celebrating the 24th anniversary of their departure for the state capital prior to joining other troops and leaving for Washington, D.C. at the outbreak of the Civil War. Troops from Reading, Pottsville, Allentown and Lewstown, five Pennsylvania companies in all, reached Washington on the 18th of April, the first companies to arrive, thus the nickname the First Defenders. The Massachusetts troops, which caused the rioting, arrived in Washington the next day.
Newspaper Article 24 Years After the Fact
According to an article in the Reading Eagle, one hundred and four men left Reading in the Ringgold Light Artillery in 1861, while fifty-nine survivors in 1885 were as follows:
- James McKnight
- William Graeff
- Jeremiah Seiders
- F. W. Folkman
- Jacob Womert
- Horatio Leader
- Solomon D. Ash
- James M. Ammon
- Anthony Amon
- George S. Bickel
- Reuben R. Burkert
- Wm. W. Bowers
- David Bechtel
- Amos Drenkel
- Daniel M. Dickinson
- Edward G. Ebling
- Henry E. Eisenbeis
- Geo. B. Eckert
- Samuel Evans
- Adam Frees
- John Frees jr.
- Harrison Fox
- Christian Frantz
- Wm. W. Fix
- Addison Gehry
- Charles W. Gebhart
- Amos Huyett
- Nathaniel B. Hill
- Jacob J. Hessler
- John L. Kennedy
- George W. Knabb
- Harrison Lutz
- Aaron H. Levan
- Christopher Loeser
- Charles Levan
- Daniel Maltzberger
- Hiester McKnight
- Wm. M. Miller
- Wm. P. Mock
- James L. Mast
- John H. McLenegan
- Henry Neihart
- Edward P. Pearson
- James Pfleger
- Frederick Peck
- Frederick H. Phillippi
- Ferdinand S. Ritter
- Henry Rush
- William Rapp jr.
- Francis Rambo
- Isaiah Rambo
- Franklin Schaeffer
- Edward L. Smith
- George W. Sylvis
- Edwad Scull
- Charles Spangler
- Daniel Witman
- Harry Whiteside
- F. M. Yeager
More infomation about the Ringgold Light Artillery and the First Defenders can be found in an article by Nicholas D. Fognano Jr. posted on the Historical Society of Berks County web site. Comparing the list of surviving men from the newspaper article to the list of one hundred and eight men in the On-Line Journal dedicated to the 48th Pennsylvania Infantry by John David Hoptak, of course shows many differences, some in content (name or rank) and others in spelling (Bickel vs. Bickley). The article reproduced below from the April 15, 1885 issue of the Reading Eagle provides rank and current addresses for most soldiers and cites one hundred and four men as members of the Artillery. It’s the current, 1885, addresses that make this list especially valuable.
In the same column, just below the Ringgold Light Artillery article, was an article about another soldiers’ reunion, the ex-prisoners from Libby, Andersonville and other prisons listed 27 men from the Reading area.
Men of similar or like names can be distinguished by the addresses available in the article, compared to those in the 1880 federal census and the 1888, 1889, 1890 and 1891 Reading city directories along with the military available on Ancestry.com. While this particular unit known as the First Defenders was special in that they were first, much like the Tennesseans who fought in the War of 1812 in such numbers that Tennessee became known as the Volunteer State, the Pennsylvanians who fought in the Civil War were varied and many. While searching for military service of a specific person, the local newspapers may have lists not seen or saved in the military archives. Identify the most likely unit(s) in which a man might have served and research those first. Newspaper articles may have appeared on anniversaries of enlistment days, organization days, battle days, mustering out days, victory days, Memorial Days, and Veteran Days.
