Pennsylvania’s 1st Civil War casualty honored

A German immigrant who volunteered to fight in the Civil War but was killed by a mob before reaching the battlefield has been honored as Pennsylvania’s first casualty of the war.

A proper memorial to 26-year-old George Leisenring was unveiled Saturday at the entrance to historic Palmer Cemetery in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, the Inquirer reports.

The ceremony included firing of muskets, laying of flowers, and discussion of the blacksmith’s life.

Leisenring boarded a train along with 1,200 other volunteers in April 1861 to defend the nation’s capital. But he was stabbed to death when a mob of secessionists attacked the volunteers at a Baltimore train station.

The Inquirer says a marker is also planned for Delaware County’s Fernwood Cemetery, where Leisenring’s remains were ultimately interred in a mass grave.