|
|
| Line 16: |
Line 16: |
| <br> | | <br> |
|
| |
|
| === The Military === | | ==Militia== |
| | | The militia depended on a form of universal compulsory service by all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60. Units were formed on a local basis, usually by county. The higher ranks of militia officers were often officers who had retired on half-pay from the British army and taken up land grants in the area. |
| '''Some Terminology'''
| |
| | |
| {| width="600" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1"
| |
| |-
| |
| | militia <br>
| |
| | ''n''. a military force, esp. one raised from the civil population and supplementing a regular army in an emergency<br>
| |
| |-
| |
| | garrison<br>
| |
| | ''n''. the troops stationed in a fortress, town etc. to defend it<br>1. the building occupied by them<br>
| |
| |-
| |
| | garrison<br>
| |
| | ''v''. provide (a place) with or occupy as a garrison<br>1. place on garrison duty<br>
| |
| |-
| |
| | garrison town<br>
| |
| | ''n''. a town having a permanent garrison<br>
| |
| |}
| |
| | |
| <br>
| |
| | |
| {{Note|In the United States there are private groups calling themselves ''Militia'', but ''Militia'' is not used by the American military; their part-time soldiers are the National Guard, organized by state. In Canada, where our (still volunteer) ''Militia'' has a long and honourable history, there is some danger that the term will be misused and misunderstood.}}
| |
| | |
| <br>
| |
| | |
| ==== British Military and Local Militia ====
| |
| | |
| The invasions of 1775-1776 and 1812-1814 convinced Britain that the United States was a potential aggressor and so the British Army built fortifications at strategic points along the Saint John River. Here they maintained small '''garrisons''' of their regular army. However, through much of the 19th century the local '''militia''' was seen as the mainstay of land defence. However, except for the Fenian agitations, most American attacks in the Maritimes had been by sea from privateers, and it was the British Navy that protected the colonies.
| |
| | |
| ==== Universal Compulsory Service ====
| |
| | |
| In the first months of 1787 Thomas Carleton (the Lieutenant Governor) and the General Assembly agreed a militia was essential in the new colony, and the enabling bill was passed on 1 March 1787. The militia depended on a form of universal compulsory service by all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60. Units were formed on a local basis, usually by county. The higher ranks of militia officers were often officers who had retired on half-pay from the British army and taken up land grants in the area.
| |
|
| |
|
| Published militia lists, naming officers only, are quite common in the almanacs, directories and such. Actual muster rolls listing all militia members are rare, but may turn up in the provincial archives, or local museums. One muster roll from 14 July 1790, is printed by M.G.Reicker in ''Those Days are Gone Away: Queens County New Brunswick. 1643-1901'', pages 162-163, as well as a list of the officers of the First and Second Battalions, Queens County Militia, 1862, on pages 164-165. | | Published militia lists, naming officers only, are quite common in the almanacs, directories and such. Actual muster rolls listing all militia members are rare, but may turn up in the provincial archives, or local museums. One muster roll from 14 July 1790, is printed by M.G.Reicker in ''Those Days are Gone Away: Queens County New Brunswick. 1643-1901'', pages 162-163, as well as a list of the officers of the First and Second Battalions, Queens County Militia, 1862, on pages 164-165. |