StoneMtnMinis | 28 Aug 2019 7:01 a.m. PST |
How many militia artillery units were in existence during the AWI? Any info on their uniforms? TIA Dave |
Andrew Walters | 28 Aug 2019 9:01 a.m. PST |
I will look forward to the answers here. I would have thought most militia units were too small to have their own artillery units, just a few attached field guns here and there. I suspect the answer may be different for 1775 and 1781. These questions very often produce some fascinating responses, so I'll just keep refreshing all day… |
Andrew Walters | 28 Aug 2019 10:15 a.m. PST |
Actually, I'm wrong. [pause for surprised gasps] Wikipedia has a page listing militia units from the AWI, and there are many artillery companies, and a few battalions! link The ones that comment on uniform just say they wore the regular uniform, blue coat, white pants. Of course, we want more details than wikipedia is likely to offer. Here's good ol' Hamilton relaxing in his artillery uniform.
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robert piepenbrink | 28 Aug 2019 11:59 a.m. PST |
In addition to the militia and the Continentals, there's often a battery or so of state artillery floating around. |
historygamer | 28 Aug 2019 3:42 p.m. PST |
Isn't that a painting of Hamilton in his Light Infantry uniform? |
historygamer | 28 Aug 2019 3:43 p.m. PST |
There were no such formations termed batteries during this period. |
historygamer | 28 Aug 2019 3:47 p.m. PST |
I'm not aware of any militia artillery units during the AWI. Some states, such as Maryland, maintained state artillery units. But they were not miltia per se, they were state troops. By definition, militia doni have uniforms, aside from a handful of per war city units. |
historygamer | 28 Aug 2019 3:54 p.m. PST |
State units of artillery were explicitly used to man large fortifications, such as works around Annapolis and Baltimore. Philadelphia had a similar unit manning large guns on the river in a previous period. |
historygamer | 28 Aug 2019 4:01 p.m. PST |
Think about the impracticality of a militia artillery crew. Where is the gun kept? How is the gun transported since limbers and drivers were usually contractors. Where do they get ammunition, powder, implements, etc? |
Dn Jackson | 28 Aug 2019 10:19 p.m. PST |
Militia artillery was not uncommon prior to the revolution, though I believe they were primarily in large cities. link The guns would be kept in the local armory or fortifications. I know that prior to the ACW it was common that permanent fortifications would only have a small detachment of regulars, (or in some cases a single ordinance sergeant), assigned to care for the fort. The local militia was expected to man the fort and guns in time of war. |
42flanker | 28 Aug 2019 11:50 p.m. PST |
I seem to remember reading on TMP within the last year or so that in the face of impending defeat or occupation, a local artillery unit's guns, or at least the cannon tubes, were buried and subsequently recovered. |
42flanker | 28 Aug 2019 11:53 p.m. PST |
PS That cap of Hamilton's looks a little Mapoleonic to me! |
historygamer | 29 Aug 2019 7:07 a.m. PST |
Don – I suppose it depends on your definition of uncommon. As I said previously, they existed in cities, but likely only a handful. Some were dedicated to coastal defense. Guns were one of the objectives the Smith expedition was after at Lexington and Concord. Beyond 1775, I've never come across references to militia artillery. |
historygamer | 29 Aug 2019 7:14 a.m. PST |
That is an Alonzo Chappell painting done long after the time period. I wouldn't put any faith in the uniform portrayed in it. |
Virginia Tory | 29 Aug 2019 7:26 a.m. PST |
That's the 1779 Continental Light Infantry uniform. Almost never used (why would Hamilton wear a gunner's uniform, anyway?) |
7th Va Cavalry | 29 Aug 2019 8:22 a.m. PST |
While discussing this with my good friend John the OFM, we agreed on the following. In "The Road to Concord", J L Bell tells "How four stolen cannon ignited the Revolutionary War." link At least around Boston, artillery in the hands of the locals was not uncommon. They were almost as common as Thompson machine guns in hardware stores in the 1930s. Obviously, they would be manned by Gentlemen, who also obviously could "obtain" proper uniforms. Where did Washington get the guns to besiege Boston? They did not all come from Ticonderoga. And where did he get the trained men to man those guns? Let's not kid ourselves that the army observing Boston were anything but militia. They may have been called Continental regulars, but they were just militia with a name change. And let's not forget the Pennsylvania Associators. They had an artillery battery, and guns that could be taken into the field. See Mercer's painting of the Battle of Princeton. It features Associator infantry, and also Associator artillery prominently featured. link The OP asked how they would be clothed. We submit that, just like the Associators, they were Gentlemen interested in the military arts. The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston were certainly Gentlemen, and able to afford the latest artillery uniforms as worn by the British. After all, didn't they still consider themselves British? As proper Englishmen, they were there to defend Massachusetts from the French and Indians. Have to train for that. |
Brechtel198 | 29 Aug 2019 11:28 a.m. PST |
The picture of Hamilton above is at Yorktown in a light infantry uniform as he led The Continental Corps of Light Infantry in the night assault on the left flank British redoubt. Hamilton had also been, earlier in the war, an artillery company commander, and had served as such at Trenton in December 1776. |
Brechtel198 | 29 Aug 2019 11:30 a.m. PST |
The American artillery was organized in companies. A battery was an artillery emplacement, from one to however many pieces were in the emplacement. The term was usually used for artillery emplacements in sieges. |