Susquehanna University Press ; Associated University Presses
Date of Publication
c1999.
Physical Description
438 p. ; 29 cm.
Notes
Includes bibliographical references (p. 399-432) and index.
Contents
The citizen-soldier -- The militia in American perspective -- The northern colonial militia -- Colonial militias in the middle and southern states -- The militia and the Army -- The militia after the revolution -- The courts and the militia -- Conclusions.
Summary
The American militia system fulfilled many roles in colonial America. It offered protection for the colonists, provided a sense of community to the new settlers, and was an instrument of integration for subsequent immigrants. In the Revolution the militia did home-guard duty and acted as a reservoir of trained manpower for the Continental Line, although many militiamen fought alongside the regular army in crucial engagements.
The emergence of a true standing army, and the general failure of the militia in the War of 1812, led to decreased reliance upon it. After 1900, Elihu Root demanded that the militia law and training be revised, leading to a nationalization of the system and the replacement of traditional militias with the national guard system. By World War I, the dual enlistment clause made militiamen simultaneously members of the militias of their own states and members of a national militia that could be deployed as the federal government chose. Still, as recently as the 1980s the national government and the states clashed over the training of militias beyond the nation's boundary.
History of the Pennsylvania reserve corps: a complete record of the organization; and of the different companies, regiments and brigades; containing descriptions of expeditions, marches, skirmishes, and battles; together with biographical sketches of officers and personal records of each man during his term of service
Pennsylvania reserves in the peninsula : General M'Call's official reports of the part taken by his division in the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mills, and New Market Cross Roads, together with statements of Generals Mead [!] and Porter, and Colonels Stone, Fisher, Hays, Warner, Taggart, Roberts, Bollinger, and others
