The Forgotten Story of the Black Man Who Was the First to Shed Blood in the Civil War

On this episode of Our American Stories, Nicholas Biddle died broke, never received a pension, and was never officially recognized as a Union soldier because of his age and the color of his skin—but he was treated as a soldier by his company and was the first to shed blood in the Civil War, just days after the first shots were fired at Fort Sumter.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
the show where America is the star and the American people.
Up next, a story courtesy of the Gettysburg National Military
Park telling the story of the forgotten first defenders of
our nation's capital during the Civil War, and the first
man to shed blood in the Civil War is Ranger

(00:32):
John Hoptech. Take it away, John.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
I grew up in Schoogle County, Pennsylvania, about two hours
from here, in a few miles south of the county
seat of Pottsville. And from as young as I can
remember this proof, I have just been captivated by this
era in American history, the Civil War. There was something
about it that drew me in early. And my parents,
who are here, they would always take my sister and

(00:57):
I to battlefields and we floor these places, and I
would go home with bags of toy soldiers and coloring books.
And when we weren't at battlefields, well, we were exploring
local graveyards. And this continued, of course after I got
my live and started to drive and wonder why I

(01:18):
had difficulties and you know, getting dates in high school.
But even still to this day, whenever I visit home,
I will stop at a local cemetery or try to
just to pay my respects. This was a way for
me to try to get to know the Civil War
history of my home area. And I encourage everybody to

(01:39):
do this. I mean, there's a lot of history to
be learned from these old cemeteries. And there are some
no orthy graves up in Scuogle County. There's a couple
generals buried, and one grave in particular has always always
captin me more than others. This is the grave of
Nicholas Nick Biddle. It's in the Bethel Ame Cemetery in Pottsville,

(02:01):
and as you can see right there carved upon his headstone,
first to shed blood in Civil War Nicholas Biddle, Captain
Wren's Orderly. So as a young kid when I saw this,
I thought, wow, the very first person to shed blood
in the Civil War came from the same place I did,

(02:23):
right Scugle County. Now I went home and I looked
in my books, that Golden Book of the Civil War
and the Time Life series, and I couldn't find anything
nothing about Nick Biddle, no mention at all. But wait,
he was the first one, the first person to shed blood.
Surely we have to know about this guy. So it

(02:43):
trip up to the Pottsville Library of the Historical Society,
and I discovered his story, and I found out that
he was wounded while with the First Defenders. So I
went back to those books First Defenders, Nothing nothing, see
the story of Biddle, The story of the First Defenders,
not often told, not well known. I was a bit disappointed. So,

(03:05):
just by way of brief introduction, who were the First
Defenders and who was Nicholas Nick Biddle? Well, those opening
shots on Fort Sumter, they fell like a thunderclap across
the North. There was outrage, There was shock, indignation, followed
by a profound patriotic impulse to defend the flag, to

(03:29):
defend the country that was just fired upon by the
South Carolinians. April twelfth of eighteen sixty one. A patriotic
fervor swept the North. Okay, So Lincoln puts out a
call to arms. He needs seventy five thousand men to
serve a three month period ninety days, okay, and he

(03:50):
needs them quickly. The response to Abraham Lincoln's call was pronounced,
and it was fast, and it was electric from Maine
to Minnesota and in all points in between. Communities mobilized
and volunteers began making their way toward the nation's capital, Washington, DC,
and that that is where they were most needed. Following

(04:14):
the attack on Sumter, there was a strong belief that
the next place to be attacked would beware Washington itself.
The government buildings the capital city. There was a very
real and grave danger to Washington. Many believed that a
Confederate force was on its way as soon as Fort

(04:34):
Sumter surrendered. They thought Pierre Beauregard would be leading his
Confederate force north in order to attack the capital. And
those fears were especially pronounced when word of Virginia secession
began to trickle into the capital. What if Confederate forces
put artillery on Arlington Heights? What if Confederate gunboats began

(04:54):
sailing up the Potomac River? Washington, d C. The capital
woefully unprepared for its defense. Washington surrounded by slave territory.
Right the fearful trembled for its safety, and truly it
seemed that Washington was doomed to fall. For Verena Davis,

(05:16):
first lady of the Confederacy, she sent out invitations to
a few of her friends to join her and her husband,
Jefferson Davis in the White House on May first of
eighteen sixty one. There was this very real, palpable fear
for the protection of Washington. And in Washington was a
force of only nine hundred US Regular Army soldiers, and

(05:40):
there was also a militia, a militia of about fifteen
hundred persons. Okay, So Washington, DC had a militia, but
many well they were, you know, questioning the loyalties of
many in that group. Okay. So that is kind of
the military force that was in the Capitol when Fort

(06:00):
Sumter fell. There were some politicians though in Washington Congress
not in session, but there were still politicians about, and
they began to raise a force. Okay. So Cassius Clay
of Kentucky he raised one hundred volunteers to defend the
area between the Capitol and the White House. Okay. And
Senator James Lane of Kansas he gathered together a crew

(06:24):
of about fifty people. They called them the Frontier Guard,
and they went into the White House. Okay, they patrolled
the White House, but that was about it. That was
about the size of the defenders in Washington. So all
eyes are focused North, Okay, the call goes out for volunteers,
When will they start to arrive? What will happen first?

(06:46):
Will the Northern volunteers arrive in Washington or will the
city be attacked by Confederates?

Speaker 1 (06:56):
And you've been listening to National Park Service ranger John
Hoptech tell one heck of a story about the beginnings,
the early stages of the Civil War and how thoroughly
unprepared Washington d C. Was, how vulnerable Washington d C
Was to being outright sacked. And when we come back,
we'll learn more about the first person to shed blood

(07:18):
the cause of the Union. Here on our American Stories.
This is Lee Hibib and this is our American Stories,

(07:39):
and all of our history stories are brought to us
by our generous sponsors, including Hillsdale College, where students go
to learn all the things that are beautiful in life.
If you can't get to Hillsdale, Hillsdale will come to
you with their free and terrific online courses. Go to
Hillsdale dot edu. That's Hillsdale dot edu. And we returned

(08:10):
to our American Stories and the story of the forgotten
first defenders of the Civil War and Nicholas Biddle. When
we left off Gettysburg, National Park Service ranger John Hoptec
told us about Lincoln's call to arms at the start
of the Civil War and the first few Pennsylvanian volunteers
that left to board trains to Washington to help defend

(08:31):
the nation's capital from what seemed to be an imminent
invasion from the South. Let's return to the story.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
Despite the seriousness of this occasion, the company historian of
the Allen Infantry, he wrote, most of the volunteers regarded
the journey as a pleasant change from daily occupation. It
was a picnic, an agreeable visit to the capitol. Only
a very few more serious realized that it was the

(08:58):
beginning of war, with its horrors, cruelties, and privations. So
by April seventeenth, just two days after Lincoln's call to
arm was announced, these five companies are gathering in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania's capital, And with the Washington Artillery was Nicholas nick Biddle.

(09:23):
So who was Nick Biddle? The simple truth of the
matter is, prior to April of eighteen sixty one, we
know very little about this man. Of his early life,
we have no record. That's how his obituary began, we
do not know where he was born. We don't know
when he was born. At first, obituaries claimed that he

(09:47):
was ninety years old. By the eighteen nineties, when people
talked about Nick Biddle, they said, no, he was born
about seventeen ninety six, so that would have made him
about sixty five years old in eighteen sixty. Where was
he born? Well, the Pottsville Miners Journal said, we think
he was born in Delaware. We think he was born

(10:09):
in Delaware. It said that he had seen enough of
slavery in his early days to hate it, so he
may have been born enslaved. May have been born and
slaved in Delaware around seventeen ninety six. Okay, the record
is again unclear. How does he end up in Cold Country?

(10:31):
Many believe he escaped along the underground railroad, rebelled against slavery,
made his way north to freedom. Others say he went
to Philadelphia first, and in Philadelphia he started to work
for Nicholas Biddle, the president of the Second Bank of
the United States, very wealthy banker, and many believe that

(10:54):
Nicholas Biddle took Nicholas Biddle's name because he worked for him.
Those of the stories that have been told over the
years about Nick Biddle. This Nick Biddle, we don't know much.
We don't know much, okay, But what we do know
is that he was when he arrived in Harrisburg April
seventeenth of eighteen sixty one, he was wearing the uniform

(11:20):
of the Washington Artillery Company, even though he was not
officially a member. He couldn't, of course, because of the
color of his skin. But we do know he was
considered a part of this company, which is why he went. Now,
consider that brave moment when this man who may have

(11:41):
who likely was born enslaved, decided to go back south.
So Nick Biddle is with the Washington Artillery when they
arrive in Harrisburg April seventeenth, eighteen sixty one, and the
next morning, all five hundred of those first Defender they're
awake early. This is the Fateful Day, Thursday, April eighteenth.

(12:05):
That morning they're awake early, and they were mustered into
federal service when they raised their right hand and took
the oath of allegiance that was administered by Captain Seneca
Simmons of the seventh United States Infantry. So now they
are soldiers, but they hardly looked the part. Some of

(12:27):
them were in uniform, okay, Nick Biddle was wearing the
uniform of the Washington Artillery, and they were largely unarmed.
The officers had their side arms, their swords and pistols.
The Allen infantry had their flintlocked muskies, which had neither
flints nor locks. But, said one person, they could be

(12:48):
used as clubs. Right, but that was about it. Out
of uniform, a motley assortment, civilian garb. But they are
now US soldiers. They weren't really concerned about the fact
that they were unarmed. They were not quite expecting any trouble.
All we got to do get on the train, make

(13:09):
our way to Baltimore, get off the train, go to
another train, and go to Washington. Right, it's an agreeable
picnic to the capitol. So they make their way, heading
south and not anticipating any trouble. As they made their
way through Pennsylvania, there were people with US flags waving
them along the route, but as soon as they crossed

(13:30):
that Mason Dixon line, well, the sympathies changed. One of
the first defenders said that he saw one of the
students at the Lutherville Seminary Female Academy waving a Confederate
flag at the train as it passed, their first hint
that some trouble may lay ahead. There was much trouble

(13:51):
ahead because Baltimore, Baltimore, well, there's a lot of Confederate
sympathy in the city of Baltimore. There's trouble brewing. There
were calls for secession in Maryland, there were calls for
secession in Baltimore. Civil War historian Alan Nevins called Baltimore
quote a powder tub ready for a match. That powder

(14:15):
tub was on its way, those five hundred Pennsylvanians heading
in response to Abraham Lincoln's call. Baltimore had a reputation
for unruliness. Okay, some called it the mob city. There
apparently were riots in Baltimore on election day in eighteen
fifty six and eighteen fifty seven and eighteen fifty eight

(14:37):
and eighteen fifty nine. And of course there was that
whole conspiracy about kidnapping and assassinating Abraham Lincoln as he
made his way to Washington for his inauguration in Baltimore. Okay,
so Baltimore has a bit of a reputation okay, And
as it turned out, as it turned out, members of
the pro Confederate if you will, city militia, we're drilling.

(15:00):
That morning, they were parading in Baltimore, and then ward
arrived that trainloads of Northern volunteers were heading their way.
They were determined to resist, so they organized and they
gathered together. Okay, and they were determined not to allow
these Pennsylvanians to march through their city to respond to

(15:20):
Abraham Lincoln's call. So several thousand of them began to gather.
And as the Pennsylvanias meanwhile blissfully unaware on those trains
making their way south, then a telegram arise and the
captains of those five companies received ward that a mob

(15:41):
was forming to contest their arrival. They decided, well, we're
going to go through anyway, but just to be safe,
we're going to get off the trains a little bit
north of Bolton Station. That'll do it. That'll do it.
The trains carrying these Pennsylvania volunteers stopped just short of

(16:03):
Bolton Station, but the mob quickly caught on to that ruse.
They rushed their way north to where the Pennsylvanians were
just then stepping off the train and Captain w Ren
of the Washington Artillery. He wrote that the mob approached,
quote like a lot of angry wolves. They began jeering
and taunting and cursing at these Pennsylvanians. It's no longer

(16:24):
a picnic. Is it no longer an agreeable visit to
the Capitol. There were shouts supporting Jeff Davis, there were
insults against Lincoln and the Union. And it was impossible,
impossible in the midst of that for these company commanders
to organize and get their guys in column information to
march to the next train station. They had to march

(16:45):
to Camden station to pick up the B and O
railroad to Washington. So they had about a two mile
journey to get from north of Bolton station to Camden station.
So they all got back on the cars. They all
got back on and this mob is there, yelling, cursing.
So let's call the Baltimore City Police.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
And you've been listening to National Park Service ranger John
Hoptech tell one heck of a story. The idea that
the nation's never been more divided something you hear today often,
Oh contrere, listen to what these Pennsylvania soldiers were stepping
into and didn't even know it. A thousand troops training
up a militia in Baltimore to resist them, simply passing

(17:26):
through to protect the nation's capital. And for those of
you who know that part of the country, that trip
from Baltimore to Washington, d C. Well that's a one
hour car drive, so this is really close. When we
come back more of Gettysburg, National Park Service Ranger John Hoptech,
the story of Nick Biddle and the Forgotten First Defenders
here on our American stories, and we returned to our

(18:09):
American stories in the final portion of our story on
the Forgotten First Defenders and the first man to draw
blood in the Civil War, Nicholas Biddle. When we last
left off, the First Defenders had arrived in Baltimore, Maryland,
where they had to call upon the Baltimore City Police
to prevent violence from breaking out. Let's return to the story.
Here again is National Park Service Ranger John Hoptech.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
Here they come. They have arrived. The entire Baltimore City
Police force has arrived. They are now going to escort
these Pennsylvanians through the city. But this was cold comfort,
as many of these first defenders said a lot of
these police officers were laughing at him, because many of
the police officers fully agreed with the sympathies of that

(18:52):
gathering mob. So they finally got off the trains and
they began their march through the cityists, Stone them, kill them,
Hurrah for Jeff Davis. You'll never get out of here alive.
Have you your coffins made? These were some of the
things the Pennsylvanians heard as they marched through Baltimore, heading
toward Camden Station. These Pennsylvanians are outnumbered nearly five to one.

(19:19):
The historian of the Allen Infantry wrote it this way,
ruffs and tufts, longshoremen, gamblers, floaters, idlers, red hot secessionists,
as well as ordinarily sober and steady men, crowded upon,
pushed and hustled the little band, and made every effort
to break the thin line. It was a severe trial

(19:41):
for the volunteers, with not a charge of ball or
powder in their pouches. For these Pennsylvanians, it must have
seemed an eternity. But finally they arrived at Camden Station
at last. But it was there where violence at last
broke out. That's when bottles and bricks and stones and

(20:02):
clubs and whatever else the mob could get a hold
of began to rain down and crash among these volunteers.
But the first hit, the first one to be struck down,
or so many believed, was Nick Biddle. Apparently it was
the sight of Biddle, a black man in uniform, that

(20:22):
especially infuriated this mob. An unknown as salient, grabbed a brick,
launched it Adam and hit him squarely in the face,
squarely in the face. He fell backward, but he was
caught by an officer from another one of those militia companies,
and staggering, he helped him onto one of these train cars.

(20:42):
His head was wrapped in bandages which quickly bled through.
But it was amidst this shower of bottles and stones
and bricks that the Pennsylvanians hurried on board some others
of the mob. They attempted to detach the engine of
the train, but this effort, said one man, was prevas
by the determined character of the engineer. After they drew

(21:03):
revolvers and threatened to shoot any man who made that attempt.
At long last, the train cars began to pull away
from Baltimore. They got out alive, and the next day
they realized how fortunate they had been when they heard
what happened to the sixth Massachusetts who was following in
their footsteps. On April nineteenth, April eighteenth evening at last,

(21:28):
finally that evening, the trains arrived at the foot of
Capitol Hill, and that's where these Pennsylvanians were headed to
defend it. There were men who were bruised and battered
and bloodied, none more so perhaps than Nick Biddle. But nevertheless,
said one man, we arrived in fine spirits because we
were the very first company that are here. Politicians began

(21:52):
to show up too. Now for the day laborers and
the clerks, and the coal miners and the students who
composed the ranks of these companies on a day here
they were now quartered in the committee rooms and the
offices of the US Capitol building. They're being met by
these politicians. Quite a memorable day. But perhaps the next

(22:13):
day was equally as memorable, because on April nineteenth they
are also visited by Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln arrived at
the Capitol to meet and to personally thank these Pennsylvanians
for their timely arrival. Remember that anxiety that pervaded the capitol.
Who's going to get there first? Will the capital be attacked? Well,

(22:36):
now now the first volunteers to respond to his call
are there. He made his way along with Seward and Cameron,
two of his cabinet secretaries, and he shook the hands
of these Pennsylvania volunteers. One of the members of the
Washington Artillery yelled out speech speech. They wanted to hear
speech from Lincoln officers and soldiers of the Washington Artillery.

(23:00):
He said, I did not come here to make a speech.
The time for speech making has gone by. The time
for action is at hand. I came here to give
you a warm welcome to the city of Washington, and
to shake hands with every officer and soldier in your company,
provided you grant me that privilege. Oliver Bosbyshell he left

(23:22):
this account. Imagine the scene. Here were sturdy, young fellows
suddenly called upon to don the uniform of soldiers, many
of whom had never been out of sight of the
mountains of their estate, spread out upon the hard marble
floors of the Capitol in an effort to secure some

(23:42):
rest from the fatiguing journey, when every man is brought
to his feet by the announcement of the presence of
the one man each of us most desired to see,
the honored chieftain of the nation, Abraham Lincoln. Profound silence
for a moment, broken by the hand clapping and cheers
of the tired volunteers. Yes, here, towering over all in

(24:06):
the room was the great central figure of the war.
I remember how impressed I was by the kindliness of
his face, and the awkward hanging of his arms and legs,
his apparent bashfulness in the presence of these first soldiers
of the Republic, and with it all a grave, rather
mournful bearing in his attitude. The President's words were few,

(24:28):
but earnest and impressive.

Speaker 3 (24:30):
Close contact with the man at the helm was more
than the satisfaction of personal curiosity. It was a kind
of baptism of responsibilities heretofore unheeded, a revelation of a
state of profound seriousness in the solving of which each
one listening to the great leader's words felt personally called
upon to his best. That's what Oliver Bosbyshell said, you know,

(24:53):
making his way from company to company Abraham Lincoln heard
of what happened in Baltimore, and he saw the injuries
to some of these soldiers, and presumably he came face
to face.

Speaker 2 (25:06):
With Nick Biddle. And imagine that moment. Here was Abraham
Lincoln face to face with Nick Biddle, his head covered
in blood soaked bandages, his blood dripping on the floor
of the US Capitol building. A man who may have
been born, enslaved and escaped and now is back in uniform.

(25:28):
What a moment. I would love to see that on canvas.
And the screenwriters watching make a compelling movie. Right By
late July, ninety days have come and gone. They were
naturally glad to be back home, but for most of
them it was a short vision. Most of them would

(25:52):
re enlist, many would give their lives. Nick Biddle returned
to Pottsville. He was never paid as a soldier. He
never took the oath of allegiance because he couldn't. He
would never receive a pension. Biddle, to his dying day,
never tired of talking about those supreme hours of his life,

(26:13):
the time of his wounding and the time of Lincoln's
call to see him and sympathized with him, and the
scar which he carried to his grave he proudly showed
to people interested. It was his badge and his brand
of patriotism. He died in obscurity, but he would never
be forgotten by the Washington Artillery. It was the Washington

(26:36):
Artillery who paid for his funeral. The First Defenders also
also paid for a headstone to be placed over Nick
Biddle's grave. It read in memory of Nicholas Biddle. His
was the proud distinction of shedding the first blood in
the late War for the Union, being wounded while marching

(26:56):
through Baltimore with the first volunteers from Schoogle County by
his friends in Potstam And.

Speaker 1 (27:04):
A terrific job on the production and editing by our
own Monty Montgomery. And a special thanks to Gettysburg National
Park Service ranger John Hoptech. What a story, what a
picture in all of our heads of that time, with
Lincoln greeting these soldiers. Story of Nicholas Biddle and the
First Offenders Here on our American Stories