Union and West End Cemetery Allentown, Pennsylvania

On a pleasant Saturday morning in August, the Union & West End Cemetery Association presented the "Four Days in April, Allentown's First Defenders." The annual re-eanactment event took place in the cemetery. A walking tour was conducted by the widow Yeager (portrayed by Barbara Miller) and she was accompanied by a color guard and a fife and drum corps. Visitors were led through the cemetery by the widow Yeager (widow of Captain Thomas Yeager, founder of the Allen Infantry in 1858) as they visited each of the graves of the twenty-three Civil War Veterans of Captain Yeager's Allen Infantry that are buried in the Union & West End Cemetery. Widow Yeager gave brief insight into each of the First Defenders as the audience moved from grave to grave.

Upon arrival at Grand Army of the Republic burial plot under the flag, the visitors were greeted by the association President, Charles Canning. President Canning welcomed the assembled group, acknowledged dignitaries in the crowd of onlookers and introduced William Grim, Burgess of the Borough of Allentown in 1861 (potrayed by Everette Carr). Burgess Grim spoke of the history of the Allen Infantry militia unit and its role in defending the capital at Washington at the outbreak of the Civil War.