American Military Insignia, 1800-1851

Introduction

Reading edition

Organization of the Regular Army

Organization of the Militia

The "common" Militia was first established by the various colonies of all able-bodied men between roughly the ages of 16 and 60 for protection against Indian attack. These militiamen were required by law to be enrolled in the unit of their township or county, furnish their own arms and equipment, and appear periodically for training. They were civilian soldiers who had little or no taste for things military, as their performance in both peace and war almost invariably demonstrated. They were not uniformed and contributed little or nothing to the field of military dress.

The "volunteer" or "independent" Militia companies, on the other hand, were something else again. These units, composed of men who enjoyed military life, or rather certain aspects of it, appeared rather early in the Nation's history. The first of these, formed in 1638, was The Military Company of the Massachusetts, later and better known as the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts. By 1750 there were a number of independent companies in existence—many of them chartered—and membership in them had become a recognized part of the social life of the larger urban centers.

The concept of volunteer Militia units was confirmed in the Uniform Militia Act of 1792, which prescribed flank companies of grenadiers, light infantry, or riflemen for the "common" Militia battalions and a company of artillery and a troop of horse for each division, to be formed of volunteers from the Militia at large and to be uniformed and equipped at the individual volunteer's expense. Thus, from within the national Militia structure emerged an elite corps of amateur—as opposed to civilian—soldiers who enjoyed military exercise, and the pomp and circumstance accompanying it, and who were willing to sacrifice both the time and the money necessary to enjoy it. Since the members were volunteers, they were ready to submit to discipline up to a point; they trained rather frequently; many of the officers made an effort to educate themselves militarily; they chose their own officers; and their relative permanency gave rise to an excellent esprit de corps. In actuality, these organizations became private military clubs, and differed from other male social and fraternal groups only in externals.

The great urban growth of the Nation during the period 1825-1860 was the golden age of the volunteer companies, and by 1845 these units had all but supplanted the common Militia. It would be difficult to even estimate the number of volunteer companies during this period. They sprang up almost everywhere, more in answer to a demand by the younger men of the Nation for a recreation that would meet a social and physical need and by emigrant minorities for a group expression than for reasons military. It was a "gay and gaudy" Militia, with each unit in its own distinctive and generally resplendent uniform. If the "Raleigh Cossacks," the "Hibernia Greens," the "Velvet Light Infantry Company," or the "Teutonic Rifles" were more "invincible in peace" than visible in war, they were a spectacular, colorful, and exciting integral of the social and military life of the first half of the 19th century.

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · Two months after the War of the Revolution officially ended with the signing of a peace treaty on September 3, 1783, General Washington dire Note 2 · The failure of an expedition commanded by Col. Josiah Harmar of the First American Regiment against the Indians in 1790 awakened the Congres Note 3 · Under this discretionary power, the Army was reorganized into the Legion of the United States. This was a field army in which the three comb Note 4 · The threat of war with France in 1798 brought further expansions. In April of that year an "additional regiment" of artillerists and enginee Note 5 · More quickly than it had arisen, the threat of a war with France abated. Early in 1800 action was suspended under the two acts creating the Note 6 · The Jeffersonian theories regarding a strong militia and a small professional army were rudely shaken in 1807 by the Chesapeake-Leopard affa Note 7 · In March 1814 Congress reorganized both the artillery and the dragoons. The three artillery regiments, which had never operated as such, but Note 8 · Almost as soon as the war ended, Congress moved to reduce the Army[21] by limiting the peacetime establishment to 10,000 men, to be divided Note 9 · By 1821 the prospects of a prolonged peace appeared so good that Congress felt safe in further reducing the Army. Consequently, in that year Note 10 · The opening of the West in the decades following the War of 1812 brought an important change in the organization of the Army. Experience hav Note 11 · When the second Seminole War broke out in 1836, a second regiment of dragoons was organized.[26] And, as the war dragged through another inc Note 12 · Meanwhile, the responsibilities of the Army in the opening of the West continued to increase, and in 1846 the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen w Note 13 · At the start of the War with Mexico Congress leaned heavily on volunteer units, with the hard core of the Regulars remaining unchanged. But Note 14 · All of these new units proved merely creatures of the war, and the coming of peace saw a reduction to the old establishment of eight regimen Note 15 · Uniform regulations prior to 1821 were loosely and vaguely worded, and this was especially true in regard to officers' insignia. For example