It wasn’t until the war of 1812, when the various state’s militia units were overcome by British regulars that the US Congress came to realize the real consequences of Washington’s warning about the use of state based citizen militia units.

Most of these units were run by egocentrically rich citizens who presumed un-earned ranks of officers. I would have to personally say they were ceremonial in nature. Unfortunately, money doesn’t buy experience, discipline or training. On the other hand, state’s militia units were more properly outfitted, and were given very generous private donations. Federal soldiers were given rations and were very limited on military equipment. In the beginning, there was a lack of appropriate funds by Congress for it’s military personal. This was the answer to the United States problem of relying on a state based militia system and relying on foreign mercenaries for protection. Finally, in 1802, the federal military academy at West Point was established. In a letter to General Alexander Hamilton he writes, “The establishment of a military academy upon a respectable and extensive basis has ever been considered by me as an object of primary importance to this country and while I was in the chair of government, I omitted no proper opportunity of recommending it to my public speeches, and otherwise to the attention of the legislature.”īeing mindful of the country lacking a strong unified military army, President Washington repeatedly warned Congress of these military short-comings throughout his administration and up until his death in 1799. Another major problem was the inadequate field training for officers and engineers. The various state militia units were only a loose knit affiliation of citizens that lacked the necessary military discipline. The experience of unifying and leading a citizen based state militia system demonstrated to Washington that our country in time of war would have a major weakness compared to other countries who would have a well trained and disciplined army. The first use of a semi federal-army was in 1794, when George Washington raised and led 13,000 state militia to quell the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania.

1799-1810 Massachusetts Artillery MilitiaĮven though the Militia existed in the colonies before the battle of Lexington & Concord, I think it best to begin after 1789 when George Washington was elected President and the new US government formed under the Constitution.

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