Militia System at War Outbreak

JimRA

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Oct 16, 2020
Did the enrolled militia play a part in the mobilization of war volunteers? Seems by 1861 it was only a on paper organization and more of a political tool. Also, the pre war volunteer militia or active militia that eclipsed the enrolled militia was there any federal act that justified or regulated it? Or was it a initiative done by states that grew out of necessity from the collapsed enrolled militia? Thanks

-Jim
 
Did the enrolled militia play a part in the mobilization of war volunteers? Seems by 1861 it was only a on paper organization and more of a political tool. Also, the pre war volunteer militia or active militia that eclipsed the enrolled militia was there any federal act that justified or regulated it? Or was it a initiative done by states that grew out of necessity from the collapsed enrolled militia? Thanks

-Jim
First two questions - depends on the State. Some had well organized militia, some not so much.

Lincoln’s April 1861 call was for militia units. Massachusetts had a well organized militia so had its quote of regiments ready to go within a day or two.

Last two questions — don’t understand what you mean
 
The Bill of Rights was ratified by the states and became effective on 15 December 1791. Included in the Bill of Rights was the Second Amendment: "A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The exact meaning of that amendment, as well as the definition of who or what is the militia, has been a matter of continuing dispute by modern Americans during the firearms control debate. Its meaning was perfectly clear to the founding fathers, however, and is reflected in the legislation that Congress passed to implement it. The militia system was established in Federal law by the two Militia Acts of 1792, which were passed by the 2nd​ U.S. Congress on 2 and 8 May 1792 and signed by President George Washington. By the standards of any Congress the legislation had passed at literally rocket speed following ratification of the Bill of Rights, indicating a remarkable degree of unanimity in Congress regarding the composition, organization, and equipage of the militia.

Under the 1st​ Militia Act, Congress set forth the circumstances under which the militia could be called out:

“Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That whenever the laws of the United States shall be opposed, or the execution thereof obstructed, in any state, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the marshals by this act, the same being notified to the President of the United States, by an associate justice or the district judge, it shall be lawful for the President of the United States to call forth the militia of such state to suppress such combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed. And if the militia of a state, where such combinations may happen, shall refuse, or be insufficient to suppress the same, it shall be lawful for the President, if the legislature of the United States be not in session, to call forth and employ such numbers of the militia of any other state or states most convenient thereto, as may be necessary, and the use of militia, so to be called forth, may be continued, if necessary, until the expiration of thirty days after the commencement of the ensuing session.

“Sec. 3. Provided always, and be it further enacted, By proclamation to order insurgents to disperse. That whenever it may be necessary, in the judgment of the President, to use the military force hereby directed to be called forth, the President shall forthwith, and previous thereto, by proclamation, command such insurgents to disperse, and retire peaceably to their respective abodes, within a limited time.

“Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, Pay of the militia employed by U. States. That the militia employed in the service of the United States, shall receive the same pay and allowances, as the troops of the United States, who may be in service at the same time, or who were last in service, and shall be subject to the same rules and articles of war: And that no officer, non-commissioned officer or private of the militia shall be compelled to serve more than three months in any one year, nor more than in due rotation with every other able-bodied man of the same rank in the battalion to which he belongs.” [emphasis in original]

Thus, under the 1st Militia Act the president was empowered to “call forth such number of the militia” as he deemed appropriate. This provision of the Militia Act was based upon Article 1, Section 8, Clause 15, of the Constitution, which gave Congress the power “To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.” We see this power remaining today in the military draft, which at its most fundamental level is simply a calling forth by the president of the unorganized militia of the United States to protect the nation. In the case of interference with the laws or an insurrection in any state, it was lawful under the act for the president to call forth the militia from other states to enforce the laws or suppress the insurrection. The militia could not be compelled to serve more than 90 days during one year, which probably accounts for President Lincoln’s 15 April 1861 call to the states for 75,000 men, with their service limited to 90 days; a service length which proved to be utterly inadequate to suppress the rebellion of the Southern states.

The 2nd Militia Act defined the composition and arming of the militia:

“Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That each and every free able-bodied white male citizen of the respective states, resident therein, who is or shall be of the age of eighteen years, and under the age of forty-five years (except as is herein after excepted) shall severally and respectively be enrolled in the militia by the captain or commanding officer of the company…That every citizen so enrolled and notified, shall, within six months thereafter, provide himself with a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch with a box therein to contain not less than twenty-four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock, each cartridge to contain a proper quantity of powder and ball: or with a good rifle, knapsack, shot-pouch and powder-horn, twenty balls suited to the bore of his rifle, and a quarter of a pound of powder; and shall appear, so armed, accoutered and provided, when called out to exercise, or into service…That the commissioned officers shall severally be armed with a sword or hanger and espontoon, and that from and after five years from the passing of this act, all muskets for arming the militia as herein required, shall be of bores sufficient for balls of the eighteenth part of a pound. And every citizen so enrolled, and providing himself with the arms, ammunition and accoutrements required as aforesaid, shall hold the same exempted from all suits, distresses, executions or sales, for debt or for the payment of taxes.”

Thus, every White, male, citizen was involuntarily enrolled upon his 18th​ birthday by the captain of the local militia company. The states could, and in some instances did, expand the ages of men subject to militia service by state law. The duty of enrollment later passed functionally to county tax assessors or other local functionaries, who enrolled young men and assigned them to state militia regiments. The modern equivalent is the Selective Service System. In the requirement that all militia muskets be standardized with bores capable of accepting “balls of the eighteenth part of a pound” and equipped with bayonets, Congress required that the militia man equip himself at his own expense with a state of the art military weapon, since this was effectively .69 caliber, which was the standard U.S. military caliber of the time.

In the pre- and post-Revolutionary War period wealthier men often outfitted themselves as cavalry or artillery companies. The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston, for example, traces its lineage in the militia system to 1637. Congress not only took this into consideration, but generally required that the men outfit themselves at their own expense. Section 4 of the 2nd​ Militia Act required that:
  • For Artillery companies: “The officers to be armed with a sword or hanger, a fusee, bayonet and belt, with a cartridge-box to contain twelve cartridges; and each private or matross shall furnish himself with all the equipments of a private in the infantry, until proper ordnance and field artillery is provided…[They] shall be uniformly clothed in regimentals, to be furnished at their own expense; the colour and fashion to be determined by the brigadier commanding the brigade to which they belong.”
  • For Companies of Horse: “The commissioned officers to furnish themselves with good horses of at least fourteen hands and an half high, and to be armed with a sword and pair of pistols, the holsters of which to be covered with bearskin caps. Each dragoon to furnish himself with a serviceable horse, at least fourteen hands and an half high, a good saddle, bridle, mailpillion and valise, holsters, and a breast-plate and crupper, a pair of boots and spurs, a pair of pistols, a sabre, and a cartouche-box, to contain twelve cartridges for pistols.
So, under the Militia Acts every man subject to the law was compelled by the national government to participate in the militia system virtually for life and to arm himself at his own expense with arms and equipment suitable for military service. For the common man, this consisted of infantry weapons, and constituted a significant personal expense. In modern American military terms this would be a select fire M4 carbine, a bayonet, a basic load of ammunition, and the load bearing equipment necessary to carry it and his field equipment.

Americans have always been resistant to compulsion. As the Indian Peoples were pacified, pushed further west, or exterminated, the perceived threat from that source was reduced, as was the perceived threat from foreign powers after the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. Consequently, citizens resisted active participation in the militia, and the state legislatures and Congress failed to adequately control or fund it. In consequence the militia system had largely collapsed well before 1860, except for small numbers of uniformed and equipped organized militia units – the “uniformed militia” - which largely functioned as social clubs. But it was a “select” militia in which the few companies that existed selected themselves, and largely armed and equipped themselves, receiving little support or effective administration from their state or territorial governments.

By the time of the Civil War there were approximately 3 million men in the enrolled militia, and consequently several thousand theoretical regiments and the requisite number of political colonels, brigadiers, and major generals to command them across the United States. In Virginia, for example, Adjutant General William H. Richardson wrote in his 1859 report to the governor that the Commonwealth’s militia consisted of five regiments of cavalry, five regiments of artillery, and 194 regiments of infantry. Although the Commonwealth’s militia was one of the best equipped in the Union, Richardson also reported that he had only 4,965 state owned small arms on-issue to the militia and 53,947 small arms of all types and conditions on-hand at the Commonwealth’s arsenals at Richmond and Lexington, and that the vast majority of these weapons were flintlock. The expectation was that Virginia’s militia would report for duty with its own privately owned military firearms.

This expectation was fatuous. Years after the war, Confederate President Jefferson Davis wrote “It soon became evident to all that the South had gone to war without counting the cost. Our chief difficulty was the want of arms and munitions of war…. The resources on which our people had relied – the private arms in the hands of citizens – had proved a sad delusion...”

Regards,
Don Dixon
 
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The enrolled militia did play a role in mobilization, and that role varied from state to state.

One of the reasons for the early fame of Ben Butler was that he had been very active in the Mass. militia prior to the war, and worked hard to engineer his own appointment as a brigadier general in the state militia at the time the war began. He was therefore in a military leadership position from the very beginning and received a lot of press coverage, especially in Mass.

Down in North Carolina, militia units formed the nucleus of the ten regiments of the NC State Troops that were authorized by the state legialsture. Militia officers, such as my avatar Lt. GW Ward, were given commissions as officers in the new regiments.
 
The enrolled militia a.k.a. beat militia probably played little part in the early Civil War. Most early war units were not formed by the enrolled militia of an area but instead were formed by volunteers who formed their own company and elected their own officers. States did have organized militias before the War. These organized militias were of two basic types, independent militia which provided all their own equipment to include arms, and militia units ( sometimes call Uniformed Militia) that received state owned arms and equipment and perhaps even money to defray costs.

Independent militia units were usually authorized by the state but not controlled by the state. State supported militia units were commanded by the Adjutant General who issued orders to them, establish rules and regulation for them, inspected them, and the Adjutant General might order then to attend yearly encampments.

Some states formed regiments from the pre war state controlled militia companies. Usually these units had to volunteer for war service. Some states might allow independent militia companies to volunteer to join a regiment. Both state controlled militias and independent militias often provided officers for higher command who had at least some experience in commanding troops, even if this experience was mostly organizing parades or setting up and controlling the yearly militia encampments.
 
The Southern states had a long tradition of having state militia units. These had served a variety of purposes depending on the events of the times. Initial, the militia companies were formed to protect settlers against the indigenous natives. Later on, they ensured security against a slave insurrection. This required militias to provide night watches and slave patrols twenty-four days a month. The diligence and zeal by which these tasks were performed differed greatly. However, after the raid at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, in 1859 by John Brown and his followers, Alabama’s General Assembly reorganized the militia system. The legislature provided funds for the arms and accoutrements and the militia units trained and drilled twelve times a year. These volunteer companies became the Volunteer Corps of the State of Alabama. Each County had at least one militia unit as mandated by the law. Consequently, when Alabama succeeded from the Union on January 11, 1861, and joined the Confederacy on February 4, 1861, there was no shortage of military units to defend the state. All Alabama Volunteer Corps Companies functioned as volunteer militia until the governor issued orders for them to go on duty. Many companies were called into state service in April 1861, and mustered as a Confederate command at Montgomery in May 1861.
 
So essentially the militia that were indoctrinated into the federal system changed payroll expense to the Government, plus allowed Congress to ratify appointments?
Lubliner.
 
So essentially the militia that were indoctrinated into the federal system changed payroll expense to the Government, plus allowed Congress to ratify appointments?
Lubliner.

As a general rule, the militia received no pay for their musters at home. It was a civic duty, which was one reason why the militia fell out of favor. At least up to the early 1820s they received significant fines - $.50 to $2 per day in Virginia - if they failed to appear for muster or appeared improperly equipped.

If they were called up by the governor, they might or might not get paid. Often they weren't. It was a civic duty, and payment, if any, was based on state law.

If they were called up by the president, they received the same pay and allowances as national government troops of the same rank. The unit officers were either elected by the troops or appointed by the governor. The governors' ability to appoint officers was the main reason why new state regiments were created during the Civil War, rather than the recruits being used as replacements in already existing regiments. It was political patronage for the governors, but, it meant that veteran units were bled down to nothing.

Regards,
Don Dixon
 
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