Militias in early 1770s Colonial Boston

msza45

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I am looking for information about how militias operated in Colonial Boston around the time of the Boston Tea Party. I'm finding that there's a dearth of information for this period. Here's an example of what I'm finding:

"By the early 1770s, the militia’s primary function was to maintain public order, and one historian has described local militia musters as something “of a joke” since many men were “untrained, unarmed, and uninterested.” The situation changed dramatically in the spring of 1775 with the outbreak of open hostilities between the Americans and British forces."
(From http://www.historyisfun.org/yorktown-victory-center/militia-in-the-revolutionary-war/)

Does anyone know more about this somewhat dormant period leading up to the war? Info on training regimes would be helpful, though also the more bureaucratic processes, like if a captain were promoted to Major and then Colonel, how his authority would spread (to companies geographically adjacent to his own?)

Thanks!
 

King Neptune

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I would have to look it up, but I believe it was a function of local government, so you may find relevant information in town histories. Just for fun I looked up such information about my area and learned that the militia met on certain days for training, and that the source for that information was a manuscript in the local library.

I think you'll have to find bits in biographies unless you can find thie book in this search:
A plan of exercise, for the militia of the province of the Massachusetts-Bay
http://umass.worldcat.org/title/pla...setts-bay/oclc/62814729&referer=brief_results

The complete search would help, if you could find the resources listed. Do you live near a university?

http://umass.worldcat.org/search?q=...2236,2462,2897,638,2479&start=11&qt=next_page
 
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Trebor1415

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"Does anyone know more about this somewhat dormant period leading up to the war? Info on training regimes would be helpful, though also the more bureaucratic processes, like if a captain were promoted to Major and then Colonel, how his authority would spread (to companies geographically adjacent to his own?)"

My understanding is that local militia officers were often (although possibly not always) elected by their men. It was not as bueracratic as the modern army or National Guard. My understanding is also that each militia was a thing onto itself and not really dependent on higher authority or beholden to an outside authority. That would mean that a militia Captain wouldn't really get "promoted" and wind up in charge of multiple milities in a larger geographical radius. It just didn't work that way.

If all the local militias in the region were called out, and agreed (or were forced) to serve outside their region the duration and mission would be limited and they would likely be under the command of a regular officer. If multiple militias decided that circumstances warranted them working together, and their was no higher authority, they would work out command arrangements among themselves. These may or may not go smoothly depending on the circumstances, ego's, etc.

I'm not an expert on this, this is just my general understanding from years of reading about the Revolutionary War and the years leading up to it.
 

Trebor1415

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Ok, I got curious and googled up some quick links you may or may not have seen. Turns out there were both govt and private militias, which is something I wasn't really aware of. And while I'm used to thinking of "local militias" the Colonies could each have their own militia which would have higher rank and presumably some sort of structure.

This first link is a book and it looks like the whole text is available as a free e book

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=VS24OKpV-9gC&rdid=book-VS24OKpV-9gC&rdot=1

Some other links that may be useful
http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/uniforms-of-the-american-revolution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minutemen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_(United_States)#Revolutionary_War_.281775.E2.80.931783.29

http://www.redstate.com/2013/02/01/reflections-on-the-american-revolution-the-militia/

https://www.boundless.com/u-s-histo...-the-revolution-71/militia-and-army-411-2437/

http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/committees-of-correspondence

http://archive.adl.org/mwd/faq3.html

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/myths-of-the-american-revolution-10941835/?no-ist
 

King Neptune

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Does anyone know more about this somewhat dormant period leading up to the war? Info on training regimes would be helpful, though also the more bureaucratic processes, like if a captain were promoted to Major and then Colonel, how his authority would spread (to companies geographically adjacent to his own?)

Thanks!

I neglected this part. That period was not "dormant." Look a timeline of the American Revolution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_American_Revolution , and you will note that there were things going on in the 1760's and early 1770's, including even the Boston Massacre in 1770.

Did you manage to find a set of the Acts and Resolves of the Province of Massachusetts Bay?
 

msza45

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Ok, I got curious and googled up some quick links you may or may not have seen. Turns out there were both govt and private militias, which is something I wasn't really aware of. And while I'm used to thinking of "local militias" the Colonies could each have their own militia which would have higher rank and presumably some sort of structure.

This first link is a book and it looks like the whole text is available as a free e book

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=VS24OKpV-9gC&rdid=book-VS24OKpV-9gC&rdot=1

Some other links that may be useful
http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/uniforms-of-the-american-revolution

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minutemen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_(United_States)#Revolutionary_War_.281775.E2.80.931783.29

http://www.redstate.com/2013/02/01/reflections-on-the-american-revolution-the-militia/

https://www.boundless.com/u-s-histo...-the-revolution-71/militia-and-army-411-2437/

http://www.bostonteapartyship.com/committees-of-correspondence

http://archive.adl.org/mwd/faq3.html

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/myths-of-the-american-revolution-10941835/?no-ist

Thanks Trebor. Making my way through these now. Some I had seen, but some I hadn't.
I had heard of private militias before -- when a rich guy basically outfits the unit himself. Not sure if they had to follow the same procedures as the gov't ones, or if they were basically mercenaries.

I neglected this part. That period was not "dormant." Look a timeline of the American Revolution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_American_Revolution , and you will note that there were things going on in the 1760's and early 1770's, including even the Boston Massacre in 1770.

Did you manage to find a set of the Acts and Resolves of the Province of Massachusetts Bay?

Thanks KingNeptune. I did find Acts and Resolves online, and it looks like A Plan of Exercise... is available at the college near me. I am definitely going to check it out, it looks like it might be the jackpot.

All the books I've seen about Colonial/Massachusetts militia pretty much gloss over the period between the Indian Wars and the Revolution. I'm not sure how the British would have felt if they saw colonial militia training in Boston from 1768-70 while they were occupying the city, or from '71-73 when they were stationed on a nearby island.
 

King Neptune

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Thanks King Neptune. I did find Acts and Resolves online, and it looks like A Plan of Exercise... is available at the college near me. I am definitely going to check it out, it looks like it might be the jackpot.

Yes, that looked the best that was specific to your question. You're lucky you could find it.

I hadn't realized the A&R was online, but I haven't looked for it in quite a while. There's an amazing amount of useful information in there, but most of it is irrelevant to much of anything. When I last was researching the Colonial Period I spent a number of afternoons in the Massachusetts Archives, where the originals are.

[/QUOTE] All the books I've seen about Colonial/Massachusetts militia pretty much gloss over the period between the Indian Wars and the Revolution. I'm not sure how the British would have felt if they saw colonial militia training in Boston from 1768-70 while they were occupying the city, or from '71-73 when they were stationed on a nearby island.[/QUOTE]

The British were well aware of the militias, but they weren't expecting things to go quite the way they did. The British had a garrison in Boston continuously from sometime in the early 1600's until March 17, 1776, when they evacuated. There were regular confrontations between the British military and the people of Boston; although the Boston Massacre was the only one that made the history books. Smugglers, such as John Hancock, also gave the Brits trouble, and that's what the Boston Tea Party was about.

Many books gloss over most of the period, because the Revolution was more interesting, and the authors don't want the books to be too thick.
 

msza45

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Do you remember where you found anything about the garrison that remained in the city after the Boston Massacre? Maybe the papers are the best place to look.

FYI I took a look at A Plan of Exercise. It is about as detailed a description of the act of marching, etc that one could imagine. Definitely glad I spent some time with it (scribbled a ton of notes), but it doesnt get into any of the administrative procedures about electing/appointing officers. It's more of a how-to field guide.
 

King Neptune

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Do you remember where you found anything about the garrison that remained in the city after the Boston Massacre? Maybe the papers are the best place to look.

FYI I took a look at A Plan of Exercise. It is about as detailed a description of the act of marching, etc that one could imagine. Definitely glad I spent some time with it (scribbled a ton of notes), but it doesnt get into any of the administrative procedures about electing/appointing officers. It's more of a how-to field guide.

I believe that the administrative procedures would be in the law that required the militias to be set up.

There was a fort on Fort Hill that had been there for a time, and there was another in the North End. I don't know when either was set up, but they pre-existed the Revolution, having been defenses against piracy and the French. They were there prior to 1756 along with batteries in other places, but I don't know where the redcoat were garrisoned.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...etts_-_Geographicus_-_Boston2-bellin-1756.jpg