"History of the Militia and the National Guard" Topic

Of possible interest?

potowmack.org/mahonch3.html

Amicalement
Armand

State troops for the Patriots later became the National Guard. Today they are still raised equipped and paid by the States.
Militia units are a different animal. By the Civil War, they were clothed and equips by a Colonel. So an individual and not the State.

That is incorrect. The militia was not used as the militia after the War of 1812 as its overall inefficiency and many-times worthlessness was finally realized, even though the militia was 'regulated' by federal law. There were also different types of militia. For example, the uniformed volunteer militia units in Maryland fought well at North Point and formed part of the garrison of Fort McHenry. They were quite different from the run-of-the-mill militia.

Lincoln fought his war with State Volunteer units, not militia.

The National Guard is the descendant of the militia, the volunteer militia, etc. And they belong to the states, not the Federal Government though they can be federalized.

Interesting….

Amicalement
Armand

You are partially correct as am I. It may be a case of apples and oranges.
The lineage of National Guard units vary.
The status and use of State units also varied depends no on the war. In WW2, some State Guard Divisions were composed of troops from a single State and others like the Dixie Division, in Korea will come from several.
By 1812, militia units were distinction from State volunteer units in both terms and duration of service which became a problem during the Creek War.
Militia units in the Alabama/Mississippi territory were raised on a local basis and there were not State funds for these units. They served at the pleasure of the local Captain or the Army Military District Commander. This hampered Claiborne's forces as well as the others as companies were reassigned almost at will.
The Carolina troops were sent to Alabama to replace Georgia troops because, in part, due to the governor wanting to protect his coastline.
Tennhad raised different Command in 1812, 1813 and even 1814. Jackson had the Tenn militia transferred to State service which was easy since many units were based on counties. He could not control Alabama militia as they were part of Miss , thus Claiborne s control.

Prior to the Civil War Alabama militia units were financed by a Colonel or a city government. Some militia units in Mobile were raised from local fire brigades. Their uniforms and arms were provided by the commander.
When the war started local commanders raised units and controlled them until the muster point. At the Camp of Instruction, they, if undersized, would be combined with two or three other units. At the muster point they would be given a company designation and assigned to a Regiment.
A full list of counties, company nicknames and Regiment can be found in my article on the subject in Time Portal Passages.