Evening star., 1896-04-15
FIRST DEFENDERS
Old Veterans on Thar Way Again
to Washington.
TIE SAFE ROUTE
Reception Different From That
of Thirty-Fwe Years Ago.
PLANS AND PROGRAM

The survivors of the FIVE hundred and
thirty Pennsylvanians who were the first
citizens outside Of the District Of Colum-
bia. to come to the defense Of the imperiled
national capital in 1851, are gathering In
Harrisburg. Pa, today. preparatory to re-
visiting Washington, and celebrating here,
| on April 1S. the thirty-fifth anniversary Of
their first arrival here. There were f/a
companies Of Pennsylvania militia In taat
original band, and they. marched into
Washington April 1S, 1851. unu1l formed
and unarmed, and encamped that night in
! tho corridors Of the Capitol buipI ling. Their
| numbers have been reduced to less than
| one hundred and they are widely scat
tered throughout the UniIl, but they will
| all come together in Harrisburg today, and
proceed to follow the same route that they
took thirty-five years ago. when ZEN they re; re,
| Of President LncoN for troops to subdue
the rebellion In 1881, when they rendez-
voused in HarriZhurg, they slept on bun
| dies Of straw ia the halls of the Common
wealth Hotel, but today they are being
welcomed by Gov. Hastings and his mill
tary stan, and will be rendered q banquet
and reception at the executive mansion.
The Original Five Companies.
| These old soldiers formed an organiza-
ton known as the First Defenders Asso-
citation, made up of the survivors Of the
original five companies which came to
Washington, and which were the Logan
| Guards of Lewistown. the Ringgold Artillery
Of Reading. the Allen Infantry Of Allen
| town and the National Light Infantry and
the Washington Artillerists Of Pottsville.
| AS before stated, the Defenders propose to
follow the same route that they took IN
| 1861. and their plans are elaborate. The
first two companies to start on the trip VIII
i be the two Pottsville organizations. which
| will leave Pottsville this afternoon and
| proceed to Reading, where they will be
Joined by the company Of that city and & the
| tanned at Reading by McLeon Post, G. A.
R.. and then all four companies will leave
| for Harrisburg, where they will be Joined
tenders will be met by a reception commit
| tee, and will be rendered a reception by
Gov. Hastings and his wife at the execu-
| tive mansion. At o'clock tomorrow morn
| ing the veterans will leave for Baltimore
and will be received upon their arrival
there by Mayor Hooper and the city OFF,
| Gals The city council of Baltimore has
appropriated $500 for their entertainment,
| and this will be expended in a banquet
Difference Between Then and Now.
The old fellows will doubtless be strongly
impressed with the difference between this
reception and that of a third Of a century
ago. At that time even when approaching
Baltin ore the crews Of the train that was
carrying them deserted and the soldiers
themselves had to run it into Baltimore.
Five hundred armed policemen met them at
the depot and escorted them through the
city, while a bowling mob surrounded
them and at one time stoned them. They
got through Baltimore safely, however. and
reached here about dusk. Just as they will
tomorrow night They were Quartered that
night in the House Of Representatives and
remained there three weeks. Then they
were transferred to. the arsenal and late in
July rart Of them were sent to reinforce
Gen. Robert Patterson at Marttnsburg.
mated into the twenty-ffth Pennsylvania
regiment.
The Reception fn This City.
The visitors will be received here tonaor-
row evening at the Baltimore and Potomac
depot by committee composed of Frank
Devices, Frank Wallace, Charles Garrett
and James Mcdonald, all former residents
Of Pottsville. and first defenders, and j. A.
Mckee. a member Of the Lewistown Guards.
There will also be an escort of the local
militia, including the Old Guard, the Wash
| ington Light Infantry, the High School
Cadets and the members of the Metropoli-
tan Rifles. who are the survivors Of the
old veterans, who enlisted April IL, 1861,
the day after Fort Sumter was fired on.
The Rifles under command of Lieut.. John
T. Chauncey. will have the post of honor
in the escort.
The line Of march will be up the avenue
to WIZARDS Hotel, where a reception will
| be held. and where the visitors will So
journ during their stay in this city.
Friday morning they will visit Mount
ington. which was Garrisoned by a por-
tlon Of the first defenders in 1851. At Mar
| shall Hall planked shad dinner will be
enjoyed. President Cleveland will receive
them Saturday morning and they will leave
for home in the afternoon. The present Of
f1cers of the First Defenders Association
| are: President, H. E. Eisendise Of the Lo-
gan Guards Of Lewistown: vice presidents.
| A. II. Levan Of the Ringgold Artillery.
Reading; Daniel Downey Of the National
Light Infantry. Pottsville; E. J. Gaynor of
the WASHINGTON Artillerists. Pottsville; Geo.
KEEPER of the Allen Infantry, Allentown,
and E. E. Zeigler Of the Logan Guards.
Lewistown; treasurer. F. M Yeager of the
Rtnggold Artillery, Reading: secretary, F.
B. Bauman Of the Washington Artillerists
Pottsville.
The National Guard.
There will be large turnout of the Dis
trict National Guard tomorrow evening, as
escort to the First Defenders, who are to
arrive at 7:25 o'clock. Lieut.. Col. M. EN-
! met Urell Of the second regiment will be In
command Of the escort, which will be
headed by the Second Regiment Band. The
following ordet has been issued by Col
Cecil Clay, who is in command Of the
Guard In the absence Of Gen. Ordway from
the city:
Organizations of the District of Column
bia National Guard desiring to act as
escort to the First Defenders upon their
arrival in Washington are directed to turn
out upon the orders Of their commanding
| officers issued in accordance with this
authority. They will report to Lieut., Col
Urell, second regiment, in command Of the
escort. at 9Th and Pennsylvania avenue
northwest, not later than 7:15 pm. Thurs
day, April 16.
Companies turning out under this order
will shoot their company matches Friday,
April IT,"
Col Clay. as the commanding officer of
the second regiment, has also issued the
following order:
'In accordance with orders from brigade
headquarters, battalion commanders are di-
rected to turn out such part of their COM
mands as. in their judgment, may be prac-
ticable. to act as escort to the First De-
tenders upon their arrival in Washington,
Thursday, April 16. Battalions are to be
formed SO as to report to Lieut. Col Urell,
second regiment, in command of escort,
not later than 7:15 pm. Fatigue uniform,
4