National Guard

The Compulsory and Volunteer Militias

Twelve of the original 13 colonies (Pennsylvania was the exception) required militia service from able-bodied white [Page 563]men. Militiamen were required to arm and equip themselves, and to appear regularly at training drills. From the local militia's origins in the early 17th century to its demise 200 years later, townships and counties trained and supervised the compulsory militia. Although valuable in defending communities from attack by Native Americans, the compulsory militia was ineffective in offensive military operations.

Colonial and state militia systems, which reserved the right to set their own criteria for enlistments and selecting officers, also functioned as mobilization systems to organize volunteers for prolonged campaigns with British regulars, the Continental Army during the Revolution, and the U.S. Army after 1783. The ideals of the colonial militia were incorporated in the Constitution, notably by leaving control of the militia firmly in the hands of the states. The compulsory militia declined rapidly after 1787, as states found it increasingly difficult to enforce militia training or compel troops to turn out in times of emergency, while the regular Army assumed the militia role of frontier Indian service and the major role of defending the nation.

However, another element of the militia, volunteer companies, expanded after 1820 and gave new life to state military systems. Often referred to as the uniformed militia, the volunteers provided an outlet for men with an avocational interest in military matters. The companies also served as fraternal, political, and social organizations for a growing middle class in antebellum America. Although sanctioned by state militia authorities, the uniformed militia companies were largely self-regulating, electing their own officers, writing company regulations, selecting their own uniforms, and recruiting new men according to their own standards. Clothed in elaborate, gaudy uniforms and dedicated to intricate close-order drills, the volunteers traveled from city to city visiting other units for drill competitions and socializing. The military value of these volunteers was questionable, but the uniformed companies kept alive the idea of a state citizen–soldier militia that was so important to those who wrote the Constitution. Moreover, the companies were deeply entrenched in their local communities—they were the only soldiers most Americans ever saw.

The Civil War and the Rise of the National Guard

An undetermined number of volunteer uniformed militia helped to form the first regiments when North and South went to war in 1861. The efforts of these few thousand were quickly overshadowed by the mass armies that followed. However, state militias played a vital role by raising the volunteer regiments that formed the Union and Confederate armies. Americans had always preferred that their soldiers be volunteers, as seen in the stiff resistance to the Union draft in particular. The state effort in raising volunteer regiments was a continuation of an old militia practice and may be seen as the epitome of the American faith in the locally recruited volunteer citizen–soldier, expected to return to civil life in his own community once war was over.

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