Judi Dench (Dame Judith Dench), actress; known to James Bond fans for her role as M in Bond films beginning with Golden Eye (1997), her many awards include an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress (Chocolat, 2000). While Pennsylvania was technically outside of the slaveholding U.S, it was a border state. As the volunteers arrived at Camden Station, they were pelted with stones, bricks, bottles and whatever else the local mob could reach; some were even clubbed or knocked down by a few well-landed punches. Biography Biddle was born and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By Dannie Gore Nicholas Biddle first to shed blood for The Civil War. Biddle, the bank’s director, retaliated by restricting loans to the state banks, resulting in a reduction of the money supply. The entire Baltimore police force had been summoned to escort the volunteers through the streets, but even the police had a difficult time controlling the raucous crowd of 2,000, which jeered the anxious militiamen while hurrahing for Jefferson Davis and the Southern Confederacy. One struck Biddle in the head, knocking him to the ground and leaving a wound that reportedly exposed bone. The term of service for the initial 75,000 Northern volunteers—including those in the ranks of the First Defender companies—was for three months, and in late July 1861, the soldiers were mustered out. Grace Hopper, mathematician and computer pioneer. Whatever the truth, by 1840 Biddle had made Pottsville his home, taking up residence in a modest dwelling on Minersville Street. While serving with the Washington Artillery in Baltimore in the first days of the war, he was targeted by a Confederate and badly injured by a brick thrown on April 18, 1861. In History. He reportedly shook hands with Biddle and encouraged him to seek medical attention. The rest of the way, the Defenders were escorted by Baltimore police. "On this day in 1861, Nicholas Biddle became “the first blood of the Civil War” in the midst of mob violence in Baltimore." Since that time, remembrance of Biddle’s role in the Civil War has faded almost to the point of oblivion, and, shamefully, his tombstone has been destroyed by vandals. Before setting out from the Pennsylvania capital, the soldiers of the five companies took the oath of allegiance and were all sworn in as soldiers of the United States. The latter could be hinting to a gentleman by the name of Nicholas Biddle, an African-American soldier passing through Baltimore on April 18, 1861 on his way to Washington and the battlefields of the Civil War. The surviving veterans of the Washington Artillery and the National Light Infantry once again answered the call. The militia managed to escape but not with thirty-six of their men being injured and having to leave the bulk of their gear. Jackson’s veto was only one part of the war on the “monster bank.” In 1833, the president removed the deposits from the national bank and placed them in state banks. A few years after graduation from Princeton College, John Biddle entered the United States Army, serving for most of the War of 1812 in the Niagara Frontier under General Scott. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. Banker (1786-1844) Born in Philadelphia on January 8, 1786, Biddle entered the University of Pennsylvania at the age of ten. Not only that, but it was what you could call a “hostile city” at the time. He is best known for his role in the Bank War. The first man to shed blood during the Civil war was an escaped slave by the name of Nicholas Biddle from Pottsville, PA. Due to his having escaped a life of slavery very little is known of Mr. Biddle's life. Also see . First Defender Heber Thompson wrote that one man was caught dumping gunpowder on the floor of one of train cars “in the hope that a soldier carelessly striking a match in the darkened interior…might blow himself and his comrades to perdition.” For the idealistic volunteers from Pottsville, Allentown, Reading and Lewistown, the ordeal quickly erased any romanticized notions of soldiering they might have had. First Casualty of the Civil War Disputed. He remained in Pottsville, still nursing the painful head wound he had suffered in Baltimore. COPYRIGHT (C) 2017 - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - BLACK THEN BIDDLE’S INJURIES WERE THE MOST SERIOUS, an irony considering he wasn’t technically a soldier since the Federal government would not muster him in because of his race. Others in the group were hit by bricks and bottles as the mob tried to overtake the train. Size Approximately 8x12 inches. His Was the Proud Distinction of Shedding the First Blood In the Late War For the Union, Being Wounded While Marching Through Baltimore With the First Volunteers From Schuylkill County 18 April 1861. Joel Chandler Harris, writer, creator of the Uncle Remus tales. . Another story, perhaps more plausible, has the escaped slave settling in Pottsville itself and becoming a servant at the Mountain House hotel, where he was employed during the January 1840 dinner. Jacqueline Dormer/staff photo A flag marks the grave of First Defender Nicholas Biddle, who was the first to shed blood in the Civil War. In Baltimore, the First Defenders ended up in a hive of aggression as a mob 2,000 people deep moved in on them. It was upon seeing Biddle that they exploded. At the time, however, Biddle received the attention even of Abraham Lincoln as the president visited the militiamen being billeted at the U.S. Capitol on April 19. April 18, 1861,” it reads. Little is known about Biddle’s life, except that he was born a slave in Delaware about 1796 and later escaped. By Dannie Gore Nicholas Biddle first to shed blood for The Civil War. "In Memory of Nicholas Biddle, Died Aug.2, 1876, Aged 80 years. So you think the Civil War only happened because of events and decisions after 1850? Continue Reading. Battered and bruised, the First Defenders would arrive in Washington D.C later in the day where President Lincoln met them personally. . On this day in 1861, Nicholas Biddle became “the first blood of the Civil War” in the midst of mob violence in Baltimore. Sarah Spencer Washington. It’s odd considering he didn’t change his name until his late-30s or early-40s. After Biddle moved to the Pennsylvania State Senate, he lobbied for the rechartering of the Second Bank of the United States. Troops of color weren’t admitted into the U.S Army until May 1863 with the establishment of the United States Colored Troops. Charles John Biddle (1819 – September 28, 1873) was an American soldier, lawyer, Congressman, and newspaper editor. The vibe of Baltimore was that Maryland needed to ditch the Union. But Biddle refused. A few bolder Confederate sympathizers lunged at the unarmed Pennsylvanians with knives and drawn pistols. But exactly when he slipped the chains of human bondage is not known. It’s odd considering he didn’t change his name until his late-30s or early-40s. The following day the Pratt Street Riot broke out. Chartered in 1816 and was prosperous under Nicholas Biddle. In History. Posted by John David Hoptak at 5:43 AM. The president learned the Pennsylvanians had been attacked while traveling through Baltimore en route to the capital. For whatever reason, the servant Biddle remained behind in Pottsville when his employer returned to Philadelphia. John D. Hoptak works as a ranger at Antietam National Battlefield. Biddle adopted the name and whoever he was called before was forgotten. Read the poem “The Grave of Nick Biddle“, a stirring ode written in 1876 about April 18, 1861, the day “In Baltimore City, where riot ran high.”. He preferred to remain with the company. of hostilities was Daniel Hough, an Irish immigrant soldier who died at Fort Sumpter on April 14, 1861, four days before Nicholas Biddle, who was injured during a civil disturbance at a train station in Baltimore several days later. Posted May 15, 2020. Read the poem "Grave of Nick Biddle" dedicated to the Civil War's first blood. He was the son of Nicholas Biddle, president of the Second Bank of the United States, and nephew of Congressman Richard Biddle. The other origin of Biddle is that he escaped to Philadelphia early on and worked in the service the more famous Biddle, then he took the name upon settling in Pottsville. “Peace, Union, and Glory”: Berks County African Americans in the Civil War By LAURA HIRNEISEN After Lincoln’s initial call for troops in 1861, Pottsville resident Nicholas Biddle, then sixty-five years old, promised himself he would join the fighting, even if it had to be on the sly. ... the Cherokee Trail of Tears, the seizure of Spanish Florida, the battle of New Orleans, the declaration of war on the Federalist bank of America, ... developed during civil war era for fast communication with the west. “In Memory of the First Defenders And Nicholas Biddle, of Pottsville, First Man To Shed Blood In The Civil War. A large crowd gathered in front of Biddle’s home and then, as a drum corps played, began the solemn procession up Minersville Street to the “colored burying ground” adjacent to the Bethel A.M.E. Church. 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