What/who is a militia keeps popping up in various threads.
I don't know if anyone has noticed or not.
Not sure if this is taught in elementary school anymore but it was taught when I was in grade school.
Once upon a time the British Army was staying in the fair city of Boston. Many citizens did not like this since they had to keep the soldiers in their houses not only to shelter them but also feed them. And who really wants young armed men in the house with the women folk! Given that the British Army and Navy was filled with the dregs of society, the boarding of soldiers in houses was not favored by the local populace for many reasons.
General Gage, the govenor of Massachusetts sent the British Army in their nice Red Coats to the little towns of Lexington and Concord on Tuesday, 4/18/1775. Why did General Gage do such a thing? Did the soldiers need to stretch their legs after after a long winter in Boston? Did they need fresh spring air? Well, we will get back to the why shortly....
As the Redcoats marched into Lexington they where met by 70 of the local militia. Someone goofed. Someone fired the shot heard around the world and then the stuff it the fan. The militia lost 8 dead and 10 wounded. The Redcoats marched to Concord found most of the contraband they wanted had been removed and so they started their stroll back to Boston....
But men poured in from the surrounding areas and shot the stuff out of the Redcoats. The British army lost 273 men killed, wounded or missing out of a force of 700. That is 39%. The rule of thumb is that a unit that looses 30% is no longer fit for combat. The militia lost 93 kill, wounded and missing.
After the retreat into Boston the word was out. Men took the rifle/musket off the hearth and came from all over Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut to sit outside Boston. 13,600 colonists besieged 7,000 Redcoats in Boston. On June 17th, I guess it took awhile for Gage to figure out that the impudent Colonists where not leavng, so the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought. Actually the battle was on Breeds Hill not Bunker Hill for a bit of trivaia. Eventually the Militia was forced to retreat after beating back the British Army twice. The third bayonet assault pushed the Americans off the hill. Why did the militia retreat? Was it the shiny bayonets being shoved in their face? We will get back to that in a second.
The Redcoats lost almost half of the 2,200 men who attacked the Rebels. Of the 1,500 militia, 441 where killed, wounded, or captured. Roughly 29%.
1 - So who where these impudent men that fought the Redcoats?
2 - Why did they have weapons and who paid for them?
3 - Why did the British go to Concord?
4 -How did the Redcoats push the militia off of Breeds Hill?
I do believe 1 and 2 are obvious. They where the local citizens. They had to band togather since they was all they had. There was no real "them" to come help them put out a fire, help a neighbor, build a barn, fight off Indians or thugs. Why they had weapons was simply for protection and to put food on the table. They bought the weapons and ammo. Going back prior to the Normans 1066 invasion, the common man in England was REQUIRED by law to keep arms in the house, be proficient in their use and respond with said weapons when called.
3. The Redcoats went to Concord to sieze weapons and ammo from the citizens. The event that caused the war that led to the formation of the United States was because of The Gov'ment tried to sieze arms and ammo from The People. The Shot Heard Around The World was literally fired to stop Gun Control.
4. The militia ran out of ammo which allowed the Redcoats to push the colonist off Breeds Hill at the point of a bayonet. Powder and shot was very hard to get in the colonies. It had to come from England. One of the many big problems facing George Washington was simply getting powder and lead.
Its been self evident to me since about the third grade who is the militia. And why.
Later,
Dan
