Pennsylvania. Army National Guard. 1st Infantry Regiment.

The 103rd Engineer Battalion of the Pennsylvania National Guard--nicknamed the "Dandy First"--is the oldest continuously-serving military unit in Pennsylvania, and one of fewer than ten organizations whose lineage goes back to before 1747 (as verified by the Center for Military History). The unit, which today is known as the 103rd Engineer Battalion, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, has undergone many name changes over the years.

Benjamin Franklin started the Artillery Companies of the Associated Regiment of Foot of Philadelphia in 1747, although Philadelphia men were already meeting as an informal militia as far back as the 1730s. From 1747 to the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the regiment's predecessor was a Company of Artillery commanded by Captain Jehu Eyre. This unit was increased to battalion strength and became the Artillery Battalion of Philadelphia; Eyre was promoted to the rank of Colonel and commanded the unit until his death in 1781. The unit reorganized after the War of 1812 as the Volunteer Corps of Light Infantry, Washington Grays and in 1828 again reorganized as the Artillery Corps, Washington Grays.

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