Heroic Actions Win Immortality... The silk flag bearing this motto was presented in 1859 to the town’s militia company, the Logan Guards, by the grateful ladies of Lewistown, Pennsylvania. Two years later, at the outbreak of the Civil War, the Guards would carry that banner at the head of five companies of Pennsylvania volunteers, known to history as the First Defenders, as they marched through the gritty streets of Baltimore, a pro-Southern city inflamed by the election of Abraham Lincoln. The troops were hastening to Washington, DC to defend the nation’s capital on April 18, 1861, a vanguard of 75,000 Union volunteers. The Logan Guards - The Civil War’s First Defenders from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania by author Forest K. Fisher tells the story of this Mifflin County militia company. Utilizing the Mifflin County Historical Society’s unique archive of military documents, contemporary newspapers, diaries, and servicemen’s letters, the book details the Logan Guards’ origins, their perilous march through Baltimore, their three months service, and return to regular life after the war. The comradeship and dedication to their unit in the post war years remained constant until the last man died in 1929. In addition, the book documents the 1961 and 2011 First Defenders’ anniversary remembrances, enshrinement of the Guards’ banner in Harrisburg, and includes company rolls, rosters, and dozens of historic images. This is the story of Lewistown’s own, the Logan Guards, and their dedicated service to the Union during the American Civil War. PA residents, please add 6% sales tax.