9781422280164

Established at the Start The U.S. National Guard is as old as America itself— militias , based on the English model, were established by the first settlers in Jamestown, VA, in 1607. These were raised among the community’s menfolk to provide security against Native American attack, and from 1755 on, against encroachments by French forces on Britain’s North American possessions. The British officers responsible for training these militias for the defense of what were still colonies belong- ing to the British Crown seethed about the “rascals” under their command. “The Americans,” reported General Wolfe in the 18th century, “were the dirtiest most contemptible cowardly dogs that you can conceive. There is no depending on them in action.” They were, he concluded, “rather an encumbrance than any real strength to an army.”What he and his countrymen failed to appreciate was that the militiamen would show a loyalty to one another that they would never think of granting their colonial masters, and that when it came to defending their homes and families, they could be both disciplined and awesomely determined. The British would finally find out the hard way just how badly they had underestimated their charges. The militias played a leading role in the great drama of the Revolutionary War. Massachusetts lawyer John Adams found a new vocation as a guerrilla leader, fashioning these small but tight-knit groups into a formidable force of insurgents . Ready to mobilize

at a minute’s notice, the Minutemen (as they came to be called) first faced the British regulars (or Redcoats) at Lexington, MA, in 1775. Militarily, this was nothing more than a skirmish, but it was a skirmish of enor- mous symbolic significance, and it was followed im- mediately by a more serious engagement at Concord. Here, to the amazement of all—not least, perhaps, of the ragtag army of the settlers themselves—a con- siderable British force was faced down and compelled to retreat in disgrace.

The English Militias The English militias date back to medieval times, when people in the countryside were expected to serve their lords, not only with labor on the land but also with assistance as archers on the field of battle when required. This feudal system had died out by the 16th century, and the small farmer was no longer a bound serf but a freeborn yeoman. However, the view that there were tasks to be done for the nation still survived. The yeomanry, or militia, was organized at the local village, town, or county level, but it added up at the national level to a considerable and well-trained force.

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