Martin Byrne arrived in Washington on August 6, 1861 and found a city locked down by mounted police, drilling soldiers, and the weight of a war gone badly wrong. He wrote home to say his health had never been better — and that he'd gained twenty pounds since leaving Carbondale. Read the letter.
“The people flocked in by thousands… it seemed as if its whole population had been poured forth.” On a cold April day in 1861, Pottsville, PA came to a standstill as hundreds of young men marched to the railroad depot and into a civil war that had just begun. Crowds filled the streets, handkerchiefs waved from every window, and the sound of cheers followed the train as it pulled away. The soldiers went into history as the "First Defenders." Read the Full Story.
Pittston's young men mobilized for action one week after the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861.