Harrison, Joseph M.

The First Regiment Infantry, Pennsylvania, or "The Dandy First," is considered by some to be the oldest continuously existing troop in the United States National Guard, and the only existing Pennsylvania unit that served in the Continental Army. 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. "The Dandy First" saw their first combat during the French and Indian War. Later, they participated in the Revolutionary War as Captain Thomas Proctor's 4th Continental Artillery, making them the only Pennsylvania unit authorized to carry the lineage of a Continental Army unit. They fought in the War of 1812 also.

In 1822 the Volunteer Corps of Light Infantry, Washington Grays was formed, and in 1828 merged with the First Regiment Volunteer Artillery, Pennsylvania Militia. During the Know Nothing nativist riots in Philadelphia prior to the Civil War, the unit defended Catholic Churches from rioters. Soon afterwards, they mustered into service during the Civil War as the 118th and 119th Pennsylvania Volunteers.

The unit was known as the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry when they fought in the Spanish-American War of 1898 and when they served on the Pancho Villa Expedition (pushing the Mexican revolutionary back south of the border in 1916). Soon after, the unit served in World War I as the 109th Infantry of the 28th Infantry Division. After enduring brutal conditions on the front, the unit was reorganized in 1921 as the 103rd Engineer Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division. The 103rd was mobilized for World War II and the Korean War.

As of 2012, the 103rd Engineer Battalion, Pennsylvania Army National Guard is still in existence. Its armory on the campus of Drexel University in Philadelphia houses the 1st Regiment Infantry Museum.

Bibliography:

Crowley, Dennis. "Pennsylvania's Historic Regiments: The 103rd Engineers." Accessed May 7, 2012. http://graywolf1.home.pipeline.com/103rdeng.html

Murphy, Christopher. "The Armory and "The Dandy First" 103rd Engineer Regiment." February 16, 2011. Accessed May 7, 2012. http://www.library.drexel.edu/blogs/drexelarchives/2011/02/16/students-write-7/

Signs on display throughout 1st Regiment Museum, viewed May 7, 2012.

From the guide to the Joseph M. Harrison subject files on 1st Regiment Infantry, Pennsylvania, circa 1870-2004, (1st Regiment Infantry Museum)