Thompson's Rifle Battalion, Carlisle, Cumberland County

I'm a bit shook, as the kids today like to say. Tomorrow evening I'll be giving my first on-camera interview since Laury's Island was published back in 2020. Alton Northrup, of WHTM ABC 27 in Harrisburg, was introduced to my blog by Kaylee Lindenmuth of the Shenandoah Sentinel and he wants to ask me some questions about it. Unlike last week's disappointment with the publisher scam, this one's legitimate and actually going to happen. I still haven't decided what I'm going to wear. (Thank you, Kaylee!)

Meanwhile, a post! This week's topic ended up being a bit more complex than I expected. It's actually spread across four different markers in four different counties, although this is the primary one and the others are sort of supplemental material, if that makes sense. I don't have the other three, but I'll give them posts when I do and connect them with this one. The other markers are about some of the companies which served in this battalion of lore, so I'm sure they've got some interesting stories of their own. As I've said in a few other posts, Pennsylvania is a treasure trove of American firsts, and this is no exception: we provided the Revolutionary War with the very first battalion authorized by Congress itself. (And really, is anyone surprised by that?) To put it another way, the Army of the United States was born here.

Gen. John Armstrong, Carlisle, Cumberland County

Happy Memorial Day! Take that however you like - either belated (for Memorial Day observed) or early (for the actual holiday).

This past weekend, husband Kevin and I went to Cumberland County for a meeting of the White Rose Irregulars of York. The weather throughout May has been rather hit or miss this year, but we had a beautiful day on Saturday, so after the literary gathering we wandered off in search of history. After studying my list of which markers are where, we decided to travel just a bit more westward and visit the community of Carlisle.

I mostly know Carlisle as being the home of Jim Cheney, my fellow Keystone State enthusiast who runs UncoveringPA.com. I'm pretty sure I've passed through the outskirts at least once or twice, but I have never (as far as I can remember) actually gone there until now. Carlisle dates its founding to 1751, so it's not surprising that it's home to a fairly large number of PHMC markers, most of which are related to the American Revolution. I believe we collected about half of the markers to be found there, and only gave up the hunt because we wanted to be home for supper. 

I have since been pondering the question of which one I wanted to use for this week's post, and it hasn't been an easy decision. Literally every marker we collected is fascinating. I finally settled on today's subject because it answered a question I didn't realize I had never asked, which is this: who is the eponym of Pennsylvania's Armstrong County?