In the decades after the Civil War, Pottsville celebrated "First Defenders Day," April 18th, as one of its most important holidays. On that day in 1861, citizen soldiers from Schuylkill County were among the Pennsylvanians racing to protect the nation's capital from possible rebel attack in the first days of the Civil War. Union soldiers … Continue reading Pottsville, PA celebrated “First Defenders Day” as a tribute to its Civil War veterans