As those who know me personally can attest, I’m somewhat of a history buff especially when it comes to American history. I truly enjoy reading and studying the events that laid the foundation of our country, good or bad, and relish the descriptions of individual heroes and how they persevered against sometimes overwhelming odds to accomplish their mission. Anything from the War for Independence to recent history is fair game for me.

My most recent sojourn into the past concerns the study about our historical forerunners, the Minute Men and the militia in general. These were an interesting lot, but very different than some of the stereotypes purported by politically correct text books seen in our “public” school systems.

As others, I have long suspected that the minute men did not just tend their farms and when called to service, magically appear within mere minutes equipped with musket, ball, powder, hatchet and knapsack fully trained and disciplined. Nor were they an unruly mob of volunteers who could shoot, but had no concept of military discipline but were incredibly lucky when engaging the professional British army or tribes of Native Americans trained from birth to be deadly warriors. That is the stuff of myth, and if translated into modern doctrine, the ingredients for massacre.

The facts are much more illuminating. For example, the minute men and militia were separate groups; minute men being drawn from the militia but possessed different duties and capabilities. Both groups worked in conjunction with each other. A modern example can be seen in the SMVM and associated units with the differentiation between “Pioneers” and general militia. As the minute men were, Pioneers are drawn from the militia, but have different mission parameters and capabilities than the general militia.

History also demonstrates by the example of the minute men and militias that their factual prowess in battle (unlike what is popularized today) and effectiveness in keeping the frontier safe and effectiveness against the British came from true “regulation”, that is,”A skillfully and artfully trained, disciplined, ordered unit of men operating under rules governing efficient operations in the field also having competent command” (see “What Does Well Regulated Mean?”). The people of that period knew to do otherwise was to invite disaster. Our ancestral Americans possessed a degree of discipline and spirit of cooperation that was part of familial indoctrination in each community backed up by political, spiritual, and social influences.

We who are involved with the militia today would do well to learn the same lesson, but by necessity, more rapidly! Yes, changing the “group think” of some today will be admittedly more difficult given the sociological differences of today’s sociological indoctrination when compared to early America, but we must change if we are to prevail if and when “the day” ever comes.

So, how did the minute men and the militia gain their skill and prowess that was aptly demonstrated on April 19, 1775 (The Battle of Lexington & Concord)? It wasn’t luck, it wasn’t cowardice on the part of the British, it was the result of a system that was 150 years in the making from the time of the first colonization of the “New World”.

As early as 1645, colonial governing councils had ordered that each militia commander select 30% of available men to be ready to respond within 30 minutes notice for any service ordered by their respective commanders. How’s that for “regulation”? To do this, they had to train and train regularly. They also had actual discipline within their units. Men were required to report on time and equipped at the chosen place of rendezvous. They had at least one officer and one NCO within their group charged with the training and efficient operations while in the field. And, most importantly, units acted in concert with one another supporting not only operational and tactical goals, but the requirements of service as well. An example of this was the requirement for each male 16 and older to own his own rifle or musket. If he couldn’t purchase one outright on his 16th birthday, he was allowed to purchase one on credit! How’s that for making sure your people have the minimum equipment?

When it came to Command and Control (C&C), the minute men and the militias departed from standard British methodology, which was (much like today’s military) very centralized in control with no input from either the men or subordinate leaders, to a necessary ingredient of “maneuver warfare” ideology. While officers and NCO’s led both minute men and militia, each member of the minute men had a say in the planning and execution of a mission. Further, each minute man unit could act autonomously to a large degree and withdraw under pressure if needed. Constant evaluation of the capabilities and limitations of weaponry, tactics, supply systems and training was considered ‘SOP’. They also had a system for the common defense that was constantly under development: Alarm riders, Alerts, Inter-town cooperation (we could read this today as ‘inter-unit’ cooperation), and special units detached from the militia for specific missions or purposes (minute men).

Little known is the fact that on April 19th, 1775, 14,000 men from 47 regiments moved against the British with 4,000 men from 14 militia regiments actually engaging the British column on their long walk back to Boston, the militia and the minute men fought side by side, but the tactical concept the minute men operated under was separate and distinct. As today, all men were to supply themselves with arms and become “proficient” in military training. A major difference from today, however, is that appropriate ball and powder were supplied from the towns for training. It is interesting to note the one thing that hasn’t changed over our existence as a Nation: that marksmanship was, and is, the cornerstone of all other unit training. Americans today just can’t seem to accept that in many ways the minute men and militia were as prepared as the British regulars, and in some ways, better trained. The common view that the American War for Independence was a farmers’ uprising fought by bumpkin militia popularized in text and film is pure nonsense and does not stand up to historical fact!

A partial description of how the minute men’s training and concept of operations differed from the general militia is gained from an excerpt from a letter sent by the Provincial Congress to all towns in December 1774: "…that each of the minute men, not already provided therewith, should be immediately equipped with an effective fire arm, bayonet, pouch, knapsack, thirty rounds of cartridges and balls, and that they be disciplined (trained) three times a week, and oftener, as opportunity may offer." The general militia was not neglected; however, the primary focus of the time was to develop the ability to field a specially trained and equipped group of men under competent command in very short order.

The “shot that was heard ‘round the world” is attributed to both the minute men at Lexington and the British. We may never know for sure. Historical accounts from both sides of that battle which left one in every four minute men a casualty state both sides could have opened fire first. Interestingly enough, just before the battle ensued, as the British were breaking off into squads to surround the minute men, the minute men began to break off elements toward stone walls on their flanks, as if to form mutually supporting defense positions in depth! More maneuver warfare concepts in operation, apparently.

On the march to Concord, the British began to feel the first sting of the minute men: snipers attempting to find the range of the British column from their ‘hides’ in the woods flanking the road. Minute men and militia units were paralleling the route of the British and the British suspected as much, but didn’t know how many men and what they were facing.

The actual historical records of the battle show that while the British were respected (and rightfully feared to some degree) by the minute men and the militia, the British were quickly put into route and harassed and engaged all the way back to Boston by ‘specially trained and equipped’ minute men. General Gage never knew or even suspected how well organized, disciplined, and trained the minute men and militia were. The minute men as well as some of the militia were armed with the same weapons the British possessed! Think about that in context of the grammatical construction and purpose of the 2nd Amendment!

To close, keep in mind the minute men didn’t “just appear” to help with the start of the American War for Independence; rather, they were well trained, well disciplined, well organized enough to be able to train secretly for an entire winter without discovery by the British, wrested control from the British of enough equipment to provide an army with 20,000 muskets and 10,000 bayonets.

The minute men knew that readiness meant more than keeping one’s musket within arms reach; they knew, as we must repeat again and again today, until it becomes part of our subconscious that readiness means being:

Today, just as it was during our country’s formation and long before, this can only be achieved by dedicated, conscious effort.

See you in the field.

*The majority of historical material is taken from the source listed below.

**For more information on the realities of the minute men, check out “The Minute Men – The First Fight: Myths and Realities of the American Revolution”, by John R. Galvin.