Musters – Events
The First Defenders meet at 6:30 PM on the second Tuesday of each month from September through May. Meetings include dinner and a speaker who may be a guest or a member. Meetings are currently held at The Inn at Reading. A book raffle is held each month with all proceeds donated to battlefield preservation. 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!
This month's program has regretfully been cancelled. "From Kirby’s Kingdom: Ramifications from the Trans-Mississippi in 1864" presented by Phillip Greenwalt, will be re-scheduled for sometime during our 24th Campaign in 2020-2021. Please check back for information on the May Meeting. Thank you.
"Searching for George Gordon Meade" presented by Tom Huntington
Who was George Gordon Meade, and why has he been pushed into the shadows ra
ther than being feted as one of the Civil War's most important generals? A solid soldier who had command of the Army of the Potomac thrust upon him only three days before the climactic Battle of Gettysburg, Meade's reputation was quickly diminished by the press, Radical politicians, the irascible Dan Sickles and the looming shadow of Ulysses S. Grant. Meade once grumbled, "I suppose after awhile it will be discovered I was not at Gettysburg at all."
The search for George Meade reveals an interesting life, a solid antebellum military career and an impressive Civil War experience that is often overlooked. The victor of Gettysburg would be the last commander the Army of the Potomac ever had, but many don't realize that because Meade was eclipsed by Grant. His is an interesting story that is worth discovering.
Tom Huntington is a magazine editor who has developed a love for stories that 
merge stories from the past with discoveries of the present. He has published Ben Franklin's Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Civil War Trails, as well as numerous articles in Civil War Times, America's Civil War and Smithsonian, to name a few. Tom resides in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, with his wife and children.
