[6] Known as the Reading Union Volunteers when mustered in for the Whiskey Rebellion, this militia unit quickly gained a reputation for skill and dependability, as evidenced by its having been accorded the honor, just seven months after its founding, of serving as the escort for U.S. President George Washington.

[11][12] Departing for Philadelphia by boat on the Schuylkill River on September 16, 1814, the unit helped defend the city from threatened invasions by British troops.

When those threats lessened, the seventy-four militiamen from Reading were ordered to Camp Dupont near Wilmington, Delaware, where "they became a part of the 'Advance Light Brigade,' in the First Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which was under the command of General Cadwalader.

"[13] Ordered from Camp Dupont to Baltimore, they were assigned to artillery duty, and given charge of four brass, six-pound cannon, one of which they would bring home with them to Reading when they returned to the city.

[15] In 1824, the Reading Artillerists were among the Pennsylvania soldiers who were on hand in Philadelphia to welcome the Marquis de Lafayette, the last living French general who fought beside George Washington during the American Revolution.

Following his passing on March 16, 1837, at the age of sixty-five, Daniel Keim was eulogized by the Democratic Press as someone with an "enviable reputation for honesty" and a "generous disposition," which "made him generally known as 'the poor man's stay and the soldier's friend.

[23][24][25] Upon their honorable discharge in July 1844, Major-General Robert Patterson, commanding officer of the Pennsylvania Militia, described the Reading Artillerists and their fellow members of the First Battalion as "gallant and well-disciplined" men who exhibited "exemplary and soldier-like deportment," and thanked them for "their alacrity in reporting for duty.

Attached to the command of General Winfield Scott during the Mexican War, the Artillersts then engaged with their fellow 2nd Pennsylvania infantrymen in the Siege of Veracruz from March 9 to 29, fought in the Battle of Cerro Gordo on April 18, garrisoned Jalapa from May through mid-June, skirmished at the Pass of Latoeya June 20, and were also present at Contreras, Cherubusco, Perote, Puebla, and Tepeyahualco, as well as the Battle of Chapultepec.

[29] According to a 1915 Reading Times recap of the Artillerists' service during the war, "Col. John W. Geary in his report to General Winfield Scott after the taking of the city of Mexico stated that the Reading artillerists allowed no one to surpass them in the performance of duty and in crossing from Garita to the breast work of the citadel acted with great coolness in exposed positions.

[33][34] Offering the services of his soldiers to President Abraham Lincoln and Pennsylvania Governor Andrew Curtin on April 16, 1861, in response to Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand volunteers to defend Washington, D.C. following the fall of Fort Sumter to Confederate forces, Captain G. W. Alexander then oversaw the preparations of his militiamen as they readied their unit for what many hoped would be a short deployment.

[35] According to Berks County historian Arthur D. Graff, Rosa Nicolls presented a letter to Alexander "just as the company was departing for service" in which she advised him of her society's intention to support the Reading Artillerists and other local militia units in their efforts to protect the state and nation: [A meeting of the Ladies Aid Society] was held here last evening for the purpose of furnishing clothing and other necessities to those in need of same.

Primarily tasked with protecting several major roads used by Union Army troops, they also stood guard at vulnerable points along key railroad lines.

Wounded severely in both legs during the Battle of Sabine Cross Roads (Mansfield) on April 8, 1864, he recovered, and was honorably discharged in September 1864 upon expiration of this three-year term of service.

[41] Following their honorable discharges from their respective Union Army regiments at the end of the U.S. Civil War, the Reading Artillerists returned home to Berks County.

[42] Roughly fifteen years later, civic leaders determined that the city should have a more robust defense force and, in May 1881, created an entirely new militia unit, but chose to give it an historic name.

[43]The same publication then announced in early December of that same year that the Artillerists were "having one of the rooms in their armory, second floor of Library hall, handomely furnished and equipped.

When completed, the room will present as handsome an appearance as any of the kind in the city.In 1882, The Reading Eagle documented growing community support for the organization: Among those present at the meeting held at the Reading Artillerists' armory, Fifth and Franklin Streets, last evening, for the purpose of forming a citizens' committee to give aid to the coming bazaar of the company to raise funds with which to build an armory, were Gen. Gregg, Mayor Rowe, P. R. Stetson, S. E. Ancona, Chester N. Farr, Henry M. Keim, Esq., Thomas Bohannon, T. D. Stichter, J. T. Valentine, A. K. Stauffer, and H. Willis Bland, Esq., Postmaster Grant, Dr. W. Murray Weidman, Andrew Shaaber, Capt.

The chairman stated the object of the meeting, spoke of the necessity of having an armory here, and said that, although the Artillerists were in their infancy, they had already won a record of which they could justly proud.

Placed under state leadership, they quickly regained control of the plant, ended the strike, and returned home to their respective communities.

[53] "The hall," wrote Morton Montgomery, "was beautifully and profusely decorated with the national flag in various sizes, and knapsacks, canteens, caps, accoutrements and various military insignia were arranged against the balconies and walls in a most pleasing manner."

Arriving in Arroyo, Puerto Rico while U.S. gunboats were lobbing shells into the town, the men from Company A were assigned to outpost duty along the Patillo road.

[59] Per Montgomery's Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, the full list of commanding officers for the Reading Artillerists was lengthy,[60] and included these men: