A thread on a sad moment of historical parallel.

In a photograph captured this morning, National Guard soldiers are seen sleeping on and around a bust of President Abraham Lincoln inside the United States Capitol. 1/ #CivilWar #Twitterstorians

Hanging on the wall to the right is a plaque that commemorates the soldiers who rushed to Washington in the aftermath of the confederate assault on Fort Sumter in April 1861. 2/ #CivilWar #Twitterstorians

Among those soldiers were two units from Pennsylvania's #CoalRegion - the Washington Artillerists and the National Light Infantry, both of Pottsville. They became known as the "First Defenders." 3/ #CivilWar #Twitterstorians #Pennsylvania (Photo: Soldiers from Schuylkill County)

Many of the units who rushed to the nation's capital at the beginning of the Civil War were quartered in the Capitol as well, sleeping in some of the same spaces now occupied by soldiers today. 4/ #CivilWar #twitterstorians

A sizable group of those stationed at the Capitol complex following the January 6, 2021 attack on the building are members of the #Pennsylvania National Guard. 5/ #CivilWar #Twitterstorians

The #Pennsylvania National Guard is a successor to the militia units - such as the Washington Artillerists and National Light Infantry of Pottsville, PA - that formed the Pennsylvania component of the United States Army during the #CivilWar. 6/6 #Twitterstorians