Militia and National Guard numbers

[john duffer]

I've always been amazed at how quickly armies came into being in 61 and this may in part explain it. I'm assuming Viele is talking about Militia and National Guard units (his book is dedicated to a New York National Guard regiment). From the preface of HAND-BOOK FOR ACTIVE SERVICE by Egbert L. Viele dated 21st February, 1861:

"There are at this moment in the United States 3,000,000 of organized troops, all of them more or less accustomed to the use of arms, and many of them have been drilled in military tactics. "

[David Fox]

Re: Militia and National Guard numbers

Boy. I'm from Missouri on that one. And it's a statement internally inconsistent: "3,000,000 organized troops...many of them...drilled in military tactics"? How could one be "organized' and not drilled...assuming 'drill' and 'tactics' are, in the 19th Century sense, interchangable. On top of that, all three million have familiarity with the handling of firearms. Hummm.

[john duffer]

Re: Militia and National Guard numbers

" How could one be "organized' and not drilled "

The Minute Men jump to mind :). Note that I'm only posting the reference, for all I know Mr Viele was laughing his butt off when he wrote that and I also thought dropping a zero or two from his number might be more correct. If I can find it again I came across another reference a while back as to the large number of folks, especially Southeners, that were familier with firearms.

[Silas]

Re: Militia and National Guard numbers

From bits and pieces I've read about some militia organizations, they may have met once a month to drill, but the drills were more like social occasions - think : picnicking, drinking and politicking - than drilling. I'm thinking pre-John Brown. Although drills tended to become more serious after Harper's Ferry, most militias were still woefully inadequate by the time the war arrived. So, organization may have existed, but the men were not likely prepared.

[Becky Morgan]

Re: Militia and National Guard numbers

Familiarity with the use of firearms covers an awful lot of territory. I would imagine--and there's a bad word, but it's all that's possible on this question--that most country boys hunted or knew someone who did. City boys were not as likely to have direct experience, but if "familiarity" included knowing which end of a gun goes boom, perhaps. Police sidearms would be the most common source of exposure.

As for organization, yes, muster days would serve that purpose to some degree, but as has already been stated, most don't seem to have been very serious.

It would be interesting to know how many recent immigrants had ever held a long gun. I am ignorant of the state of firearms ownership and use in Europe at the time; how common would it have been for the a rage immigrating Irishman tohave handled a gun? Given the political situation at the time, it seems unlikely that most would have had the chance,

mmigrants had ever

[Benedict]

Re: Militia and National Guard numbers

It would be interesting to know how many recent immigrants had ever held a long gun. I am ignorant of the state of firearms ownership and use in Europe at the time; how common would it have been for the a rage immigrating Irishman tohave handled a gun? Given the political situation at the time, it seems unlikely that most would have had the chance,

mmigrants had ever

I suppose most first generation German-born male immigrants (who were old enough) were familiar with "tactics"/"drill"/... since almost all German states had compulsory military service. Hence units like, for example, the 9th Ohio who started the war with drilling according to Prussian regulations.