Musters – Events
The First Defenders meet at 6:30 PM on the second Tuesday of each month from April through December. Meetings include dinner and a speaker who may be a guest or a member. Meetings are held at Giannotti’s Country Restaurant on Pricetown Road in Alsace Manor.
A book raffle is held each month with all proceeds donated to battlefield preservation, and members who attend virtually will have the opportunity to participate even if they cannot attend a program.
Guests and new members are welcome. Space is limited in the restaurant, so please contact a board member or the First Defenders by email (see the Regimental Staff page).
MEMBERS ONLY! Sign up to attend the upcoming event!
The 13th PA Reserves - The "Bucktails"
Presented by Greg Mertz
Even before President Lincoln’s April 1861 call for volunteers to put down the rebellion, Thomas Kane began to recruit a group of red flannel-shirted lumbermen 
from northwest Pennsylvania as a sharpshooter organization. Sporting the tail of a buck’s tail on their hats as evidence of their marksmanship, the 42nd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment…the 13th Reserves, would ever after be known as the “Bucktails.” During its three years of service, the regiment would see action along the Potomac River, in the Shenandoah Valley, the Peninsula, Second Bull Run, Antietam and Fredericksburg. One of their finest days would come on July 2nd 1863 when they helped stop the Confederate assault in front of Little Round Top at Gettysburg, and the regiment would close out its service following the Overland Campaign in June 1864. The “Bucktails” were arguably one of the most famous of the Pennsylvania regiments, and they wrote their legacy on the front lines of the war in the east and on the honor role of history.
Greg Mertz retired as supervisory historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in 2021, after a nearly 40-year career in the N
ational Park Service. A frequent contributor to many history publications, he is the founding president of the Rappahannock Valley Civil War Round Table, former vice president of the Brandy Station Foundation and an active and in-demand tour guide.
Shadows in the Jungle: The Alamo Scouts behind the Japanese Lines in WW 2
Presented by Larry Alexander
Acclaimed author Larry Alexander follows the men who made up the elite recon unit that served as General MacArthur's eyes and ears during the Pacific War. Drawing from personal interviews and testimonies from Scout veterans, Alexander weaves together the tales of the individual Scouts, who often spent weeks behind enemy lines to complete their missions. Now, more than seventy years after the war, the story of the Alamo Scouts is finally told.
Meade and Grants Relationship
Presented by Brad Gottfried
Brad and Linda Gottfried will discuss their latest book, “Grant and Meade: An uneasy Alliance.” The Meade-Grant relationship was a complex one that slowly evolved through time. In this presentation, you will be asked to step into General Meade’s boots as he attempts to navigate the minefield of Washington’s politics, the sometimes vicious press, and forge a working relationship with a new General-in-Chief, who sometimes seems like he wishes to command your Army of the Potomac.
Brad Gottfried earned a Ph.D. in Zoology and served as a college educator for over 40 years, rising to the presidency of two colleges before he retired in 2017. He has written 23 books on the Civil War. Brad is a Gettysburg Licensed Town Guide and an Antietam Licensed Battlefield Guide.
Linda Gottfried earned a BFA and served as a graphic designer and development officer at several colleges and nonprofit organizations before retiring in 2015. She now spends her time as sculptor and enjoying retirement. Several of her pieces have won awards. The Gottfrieds have five children and seven grandchildren and they live in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania.
Brad and Linda have collaborated on four projects: Hell Comes to Southern Maryland (published by Turning Point Publications), Lincoln Comes to Gettysburg: The Creation of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address (published by the Emerging Civil War), and The Antietam Paintings of James B. Hope (published by Turning Point Publications), and tonight’s presentation, Race to the Potomac: Meade and Lee After Gettysburg (published by the Emerging Civil War). Their most recent book, Grant & Meade: an Uneasy Alliance has been published by the Seminole Press this year.
The Year That Made America: From Rebellion to Independence 1775-1776
Presented by Tom McMillan
Tom McMillan will convey a detailed historical account focusing on the pivotal, chaotic 18-month period leading up to the Declaration of Independence. The lecture, from the book of the same title, highlights that independence was not inevitable, emphasizing that the crucial vote occurred on July 2, 1776, rather than July 4. He will cover the, often overlooked, dramatic events and political maneuvering between 1775 and 1776, including the impact of Thomas Paine's Common Sense. He will argue that the true, definitive vote for independence took place on July 2, 1776, and explores the intense, messy, and "raucous" political debates that preceded it. Please join us as Tom McMillan, a history enthusiast and former sports PR executive who focuses on making historical accounts, such as this, readable and engaging.
The Big Dogs Of Europe Watching Our American Civil War
Presented by Mike Rupert
" The Big Dogs of Europe watching our American Civil War".
As students of the civil war we are usually hyper-focused on battles and personalities between the North and South. However, what is going on in Europe? How do their self-interests play a part or not, in the bloody conflict across the Atlantic? The world powers are more than curious to see if this young “United States” can survive.
The “American Question” of a lasting self-government is on trial.
Michael Rupert has worked in automotive service and management south of Pittsburgh, PA for almost 40 years. The past had become the present while on a family trip to the Gettysburg battlefield in 2001. Since then, countless seminars, lectures, conferences, and battle walks made “it as real as something that happened last week”. A self-taught student with an unending quest to keep the memory alive for future generations.
Contributed essays for Jay Jorgensen's book TOP TEN AT GETTYSBURG in 2017. Successfully completed all testing to become a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg National Military Park in 2018. Leads all types of battlefield tours - large and small groups including specialty tours. Recently joined faculty of two Gettysburg Battlefield Leadership Development companies. Appeared multiple times on the Addressing Gettysburg podcast. Produced Gettysburg Battle walks for the Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides since 2019.
Michael was born and raised in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. Married for 36 years to his wife, Susan, and has two grown children. In the colder months lives in hometown of Pittsburgh, PA - and Littlestown, PA during the Guide season.
Lincoln Treasures at the Library of Congress
Presented by Michelle Krowl
Michelle Krowl is a Civil War and Reconstruction specialist in the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress who manages and highlights the extensive Lincoln collection.
Krowl highlights this 1864 document in which Lincoln, doubting his reelection, pledged to work with the Democratic president-elect to save the Union before inauguration. She has documented the items in Lincoln's pockets on the night of his assassination, which included eyeglasses, a pocketknife, and a handkerchief and discuss items such as a lock of Lincoln's hair and various, often deeply personal, documents from the The Library of Congress.
1913 Gettysburg Reunion
Presented by Michael Jesberger
The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1st to July 3rd, 1863, turned the tide of the American Civil War, but not before 50,000 Union and Confederate soldiers became casualties from the ferocious three days of fighting. 50 years later, from June 29-July 4, 1913, To commemorate the anniversary of The Battle of Gettysburg, more than 50,000 Civil War veterans ranging in age from 60 to 112 years old descended on the rolling hills and the town of Gettysburg. They traveled back to the site where half a century earlier they engaged in combat and would now host an occasion of healing that was known as the Grand Reunion. Abraham Lincoln had incorrectly stated in his endearing Gettysburg Address that "the world will little note nor long remember what we say here" in November of 1863, those same words could also be said about the Grand Reunion. Although the 1913 gathering was a widely anticipated, momentous event with over 50,000 spectators joining the 50,000 veterans, this largest of all reunions of Civil War veterans has been all but forgotten in the 100 years since that occasion. Join historical reenactor, lecturer and tour guide, Michael Jesberger for a discussion on this often overlooked story of the American Civil War.
TBA
Presented by Joe Schaeffer
Battle of Paoli
Presented by Michael Harris
The Battle of Paoli (September 1777). On the night of September 20th, 1777, one of the most infamous events of the American Revolution took place: the Battle of Paoli sometimes referred to as the Paoli Massacre. While only 53 Americans perished in the nighttime British surprise attack, Patriot propagandists were able to vilify the tactics employed by the British, who cut men down with bayonets.
After the American defeat on September 11th at Brandywine Creek, British General Sir William Howe’s forces occupied the American capital at Philadelphia. Washington needed to keep his army close to Philadelphia to monitor British activity. Because the Continental Army was chronically short on provisions and supplies, Washington also needed access to the supplies stored at Reading, Pennsylvania. Because of this, Washington positioned his army between Philadelphia and Reading, fifty miles to the Northwest, dividing his forces and posting units on both sides of the Schuylkill River just north of Philadelphia. He gave orders to General “Mad” Anthony Wayne, encamped near Chester, Pennsylvania, to keep pressure on the British by harassing them at every opportunity and to attempt to capture their supplies. Wayne made the mistake of believing his forces were undetected by the British, an oversight that would cost him dearly.
Michael C. Harris is a graduate of the University of Mary Washington and the American Military University. He worked for the National Park Service at Fredericksburg, Virginia, Fort Mott State Park in New Jersey, and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission at Brandywine Battlefield.
