After the slave-owning states of the South fired on the “Star of the West” on Jan. 9, 1861, in Charleston Harbor in their quest to break away from the Union, Butler newspapers began their nervous coverage of that mission.

“The two months of anxiety which followed culminated in the attack, bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, and in bringing the people of the North face to face with the fact that the South had determined to fight her way out of the Union,” said a passage in “History of Butler County, 1895.”

“Even then, however, it was difficult to believe that a general uprising of the southern people would take place, or that the firing upon Fort Sumter was the beginning of one of the greatest wars of modern times.”

Those in Butler believed that although the fort had been attacked, the two sides would work out their differences without the need for further bloodshed.

“The intelligence that hostilities had commenced filled everybody with the deepest regret,” wrote an editor of the time at the Butler Herald. “It is to be hoped that the whole matter will be settled without loss of life and that peace will be restored.”

However, the locals' hopes were dashed when President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for volunteers to fight for the Union cause.

“The struggle for the preservation of the Union had been transferred from the arena of debate to the field of battle,” the book states.

On Jan. 18, 1861, a great Union meeting was held at the county courthouse and presided over by James Gilmore Campbell, a U.S. marshal.

The locals who attended were men whose names turn up in the earliest history of Butler, including John Negley, George Miller, Herman Berg and Samuel Purvis.

“Party spirit was forgotten, stirring speeches were made and the resolutions adopted pledging Butler to send her last man to the front, if necessary, to preserve the Union,” according to the history book.

Lincoln had called for an initial 75,000 volunteers from the northern states, and Butler's quota was one company.

The young men of the county, and their fearful parents, did not hesitate to answer their country's call.

“The response was so prompt that within a few hours after the reception of the news, the ranks of the company were full, and it was ready to proceed to the front,” the book states.

The company, named the Butler County Blues, was led by Capt. John Purviance, 1st. Lt. Alexander Gillespie, 2nd Lt. John VanDyke and eight other officers.

After mustering in as Company H, 13th Pennsylvania Volunteers and serving under Gen. Robert Patterson in Harpers Ferry, Martinsburg and Shepherdstown, W.Va., the regiment was mustered out of service on Aug. 6, 1861.

“It soon became evident that the Rebellion had gathered too much force to be put down with 75,000 men, and President Lincoln issued a second call, this time for 200,000 men for three years' service,” the history book said.

A company known as Dickson's Guards from West Sunbury and another company from Evans City entered service in June and were assigned to duty in the Army of the Potomac, serving in the 1st and 5th Army Corps.

In August, a company was recruited that included many members of Company H. The new 102nd Pennsylvania Volunteers were assigned to duty in the 6th Army Corps.

Another company recruited around the same time from the northwestern and western part of the county were known as the Round Heads, as they were descendants of the original English Round Heads and of Scotch-Irish seceders and covenanters.

A company recruited from Butler, Harrisville and other areas became Company H, 78th Pennsylvania Volunteers when they mustered in October 1861. Their command served in the western army as part of the 14th Army Corps.

The last companies organized in 1861 were recruited from the southern, central and northern parts of the county. They served as Companies E and I of the 103rd Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers.

In 1862, Lincoln issued a call for even more men.

“Notwithstanding the large number that had already gone to the front from among her people, Butler County promptly and patriotically responded to this call,” the book said.

In little more than 18 months, 16 companies from Butler County were sent to the front, relieving the county of virtually every younger man capable of bearing arms.

“She had proved her patriotism by a cheerful response to every call made, and stood ready to make still greater sacrifices, if needed, to save the Union,” said the history book.

More companies were raised as needed during the bloody war, as the South advanced into northern territory.

In all, 25 companies were recruited in the county and sent into service, and some county natives served in regiments from surrounding counties.

Many families grieved losses as Butler County's boys fought valiantly for the Union. In all, 500 native sons paid the ultimate price in defeating the South.

“They died on the field of battle, in the hospital and in the prisons of the South,” the history book reports. “Many more returned home maimed and crippled by wounds or broken in health by disease.

“The list of the dead and the surviving is a long and honorable one and bears eloquent witness to the patriotism of the people of Butler County in the nation's time of need.”Two companies from Butler County served with the 40th Regiment, 11th Pennsylvania Reserve. While known as Companies C and D, the county boys were known as Dicksons Guards, after the Rev. W.T. Dickson, principal of the West Sunbury Academy, and the Connoquenessing Rangers.Mustered into service in Washington, D.C., the regiment was present at or participated in 18 battles, including Gettysburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Second Bull Run.In severity of casualties, the regiment ranked second in Pennsylvania in losses. Officers and privates killed totaled 196, and 485 were wounded.Of the 108 men of Dickson's Guards, 21 were killed in action, 47 wounded, three died in prison, three from diseases contracted in prison and three from diseases contracted during service.Several names from the muster list continue to be familiar in the county, including Fleeger, Campbell, Bruner, Hilliard, McElhaney and Schmidt.Of the 123 Connoquenessing Rangers, 23 were killed in battle, 37 wounded and 11 died of diseases.Existing Butler County surnames fill that roster as well, including Kennedy, McGaughey, Gilliland, Beers, Critchlow, Pisor, McKinney and Shearer.Col. James Cooper McKee, M.D., of Butler, who was appointed in 1858 assistant surgeon of the U.S. Army, served as assistant medical director of Pope's Army at Antietam and assistant medical purveyor of the Army of the Potomac.Dr. Samuel Graham of Butler served as the assistant surgeon of the 174th Pennsylvania Volunteers, then surgeon of the 81st Pennsylvania Volunteers.Finally, the Confederate Army surrendered at Appomattox, Va., on April 9, 1865, after the fall of Richmond one week earlier.“The people of Butler, among the first to respond to the call for troops, were also among the first to rejoice over the success of the 'Boys in Blue' saving the Union from disruption,” according to the history book. “This rejoicing took the form of a 'Jubliee Meeting,' held at the courthouse in Butler.”After a number of patriotic speeches, a resolution offered by John H. Negley was adopted. It read: “Resolved, that we learn with irrepressible joy of the success of the armies of the Union; the downfall of the rebel capital and the surrender or capture of the rebel hosts. Victory and peace have come through war, and, God be praised, the Republic lives.”The county's unbridled joy was short-lived, however, as Lincoln was assassinated just one week later on April 14, 1865.“Flags and banners that had been flying to the breeze to celebrate the last great victory of the Union armies, were placed at half mast and draped in mourning, and the emblems of a people's sorrow everywhere met the eye,” said a report from the time.A meeting of the people of Butler borough was held on April 19, and the closing portion of a speech delivered by Gen. John Nelson Purviance summed up the county citizenry's feelings on the death of the president.“Abraham Lincoln lived to see the Rebellion ended and the promised land of peace. The possession is the heritage, we may confidently hope, of a free and Christian people, who love liberty and hate slavery.”This is the first of a two-part series about Butler's reaction to the events of the Civil War.