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To: H-OIEAHC@H-NET.MSU.EDU
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From Don Williams small.corgi@verizon.net
I have a question for H-OIEAHC: Did the militia make a major and
essential contribution toward winning the Revolutionary War and the War of
1812? Or do historians largely agree that the militia did not -- or is
there significant disagreement on this issue?
I ask this because I am confused by Ira Gruber's article "Of Arms and
Men" in the current William and Mary Quarterly. While he criticizes
Bellesiles's treatment of the militia on several counts, e.g., for a
"consistently biased reading of sources and on careless uses of evidence
and context", Gruber doesn't point out specific examples from Arming
America to support his criticisms. Depending on one's viewpoint, this
vagueness is either unfair to Bellesiles or is letting Bellesiles off lightly.
Gruber also says "historians ...have agreed that the militia was not an
effective military force." My understanding,however, is that multiple
historians have found that the militias were an effective force, although
not designed to fight standup battles on open terrain against
regulars. The US Army's Center of Military History's "American Military
History" (CMH/AMH) indicates that the Militia's contribution was great
--that they played a pivotal role in several major battles. They also
rendered British victories irrelevant by keeping political control of
areas not actually occupied by the British army --and hence made the war
unprofitable for the British since the British could not reestablish
commerce and collect profits/taxes to sustain their military operations.
A third role of the militias was that they hampered British movement
away from the seaports by constantly cutting British supply lines. They
also ambushed British foraging patrols. Decades ago,John Shy, in "A People
Numerous and Armed", explained how the militia turned North America into
King George's unwinnable Vietnam. In his response to Gruber, Bellesiles
cites George Washington, but the Combat Studies Institute at the US
Army's Command and General Staff College has a monograph criticizing
George Washington's prejudice against use of militias.
 Humanities & Social Sciences Online 
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