History of US Army National Guard - Essay Example

History of U.S. Army National Guard The U.S. National Guard is one of the oldest armed forces of the Americanmilitary. In fact on 13th December 2012, it will be celebrating its 376th anniversary. Most members of the National Guard are either university students of civilians with another job, but their allegiance towards the nation can be perceived through their participation in this must esteemed organization. The history of National Guard takes you back to the times when the first English colonies came to America. The Europeans arrived in the New World and immediately adopted the system of militia. According to this system, it was mandatory for all healthy men to take up arms in times of urgency and need. In 1636 Massachusetts followed in the footsteps of Virginia and established laws for militia on 13th December at the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Dutch settlers in America also formed an organization on the similar lines as the English militia and named it the Burgher Guard. However, in 1653 the Dutch and the English engaged in a conflict over land. Such conflicts would arise time and again but in 1964 the British captured Amsterdam and the Burgher Guard surrendered and was then transformed to foot soldiers under the leadership of Captain Nicholas Bayard. The militia of each colony was responsible for its own funding and upkeep, thus the militia of each colony was vastly different from one another on basis of military equipments and substantial training. The militia assisted the Continental army during the Revolutionary wars and though it is believed that the militia had no crucial role in the winning strategy, it steadily gained importance. The Continental Congress passed its own first Militia Act on 18th July, 1775 while New York coded its own Provincial Militia Act on 22nd August, 1775. Federalists were of the opinion that instead of a militia regiment, fully trained and professional soldiers should be hired. But, no one paid attention to their arguments. In fact in 1776, New York’s militia was reorganized into two divisions. The first division included all the Manhattan (present New York) units while the Second division included the rest of the units. Again in 1789 the U.S constitution was signed and soon after in 1792 the U.S. Militia Act was passed. Both these steps proved that U.S supported the idea of including citizens in the military. Though such measures showed the firm belief that the Government had in the militia’s ability, but for some time the ability could not be tested because there was no such need. But, soon enough the militia got an opportunity to display its skills to safeguard the interests of the U.S. The British and the French were engaged in wars between themselves which interfered with the sea-trading rights of the U.S. The goods ship of several U.S. merchants were seized by the Europeans illegally At last the U.S congress had no other choice but to propose the Embargo Act in 1807 on the recommendation of President Thomas Jefferson which was finally passed as law on 22nd decenber,1907. On12th February, 1808, New York successfully passed the Act of Defense of the Northern and Western Frontiers, to protect its own interests. This increased hostility among the countries and in June, 1812. U.S declared war on Great Britain. This war, known as the War of 1812, continued for almost three years. However, here again the militia had no substantial role in the victory, because the militia was poorly funded and lacked good equipment and leadership. Yet, the U.S won because of the fact that Britain had no interests in the war and was fighting it almost for show. In fact all of Britain’s resources were engaged in war with France. Even after defeating France in the wars, Britain had no interests in the War of 1812 and again engaged herself with the colonization of the Eastern parts. The U.S had won the War but Britain did not acknowledge the defeat and offered peace to U.S on 11th February, 1815. The treaty of peace was signed on 20th February, 1815. Back in the U.S., there was a division of opinion about the importance of the militia. Anti-Federalists supported the idea of an organized militia system, while Federalists wanted well organized centrally-controlled, professional soldiers. But, no one funded the militia and soon after that, militia itself became weary after participating in several wars that had kept them engaged and the form of mandatory or compulsory militia came to an end. The compulsory militia trend was followed by the voluntary militia. In fact several new militia units were formed some of which are New York’s Second Battalion, Buffalo’s Twenty-eighth artillery, Chasseurs of Brooklyn and Albany’s Washington Continental. The trend of voluntary militia service became immensely popular among the Middle and the Higher-class citizens. Voluntary militia gained popularity especially among the youth from these societies because of some reasons. The first among the reasons is that, these youths had nothing much to do and could devote the time as well as fund themselves to take part in this voluntary body and secondly, the stories of the compulsory militia was recollected with much pride which inspired the youths to follow the footsteps of the Revolutionary war heroes; perhaps to win some heroic recognition themselves. The voluntary militia became a prestigious organization, well known for its role in controlling both rural and urban domestic violence. During this particular period of time, U.S was undergoing a dramatic change. It was slowly making its way into becoming one of the leading industrial countries but the change was hard and accompanied with unrest. Sudden industrialization effected many people negatively, there was chaos everywhere, and immigration rates was skyrocketing and everything was a mess. New York was overcrowded and living conditions were horrible which led to uprising and protests. The nation was handicapped and could not control these disturbances with the local police forces alone, and that was when they sought voluntary militia assistance. The militia handled the strikes and riot and gained recognition throughout the nation for their prompt action, courage and discipline. Among the various domestic disturbances in New York, that the voluntary militia helped control were, the Flour riots (1862), Abolition Riot of July (1834), the Stevedore Riots (1836) and several others. In 1858, the Quarantine Riots started. Angry citizens burnt up hospitals which were healing patients inflicted with yellow fever. However, the Riot was thought to be an uprising of the middle and upper classes of the state against the new immigrants because most patients in the hospitals were immigrants. However, the militia handled the sensitive situation with much expertise and brought it under control. The militias were also called upon for several other problems because of their good reputation. In New York the militia was called for to help to stop the violence against the Holland Land Company’s offices. In Erie Country, the militia regiment was called to control the laborers who were responsible for the riots. Thus, from this it is well understood that the militia was well loved and trusted by most people. In fact the militia became a part of civic life and was asked to participate in all kinds of processions, military parades and celebrations. No celebration or parade was ever considered good without watching the participation of the militia men all dresses up in their formal uniform. In 1847, “An Act for Organization of the First Division of the New York State Militia” was passed as an endeavor to organize the many units that had come into existence. A similar act was also carried out by the Second Division which led to re-organization of many units that were already present. In 1852, both the First and Second Divisions were formally divided into eight divisions. These eight divisions lasted till 1882. The divisions were re-categorized to make organization easier. Each division consisted of three brigades; each brigade had under it, three regiments. Each regiment was re-divided into two, three or four companies. The New York militia was one of the strongest and well trained militia. President Abraham Lincoln sent for them when the nation was fighting the Civil wars in 1861. Almost 20% of the total Northern Province troops consisted of experienced and well trained militiamen. The state trusted the expertise of the militia so much that these men were sent up to the front. The performance of the voluntary organizations in the Civil wars was highly applauded. Another incidence during this time that won appreciation for the militia was the New York City Drafts Riots of July 1863 which was also Civil-war related. The thirteenth, the twenty-third, the forty-seventy and the seventy-first regiments were summoned back from the front into the city to assist the local authority in controlling the rioters. The furious citizens were actually going against the draft that supported conscription; however, the militia successfully tackled the situation and brought the situation under their control. Thus, the National Guard’s basic role in maintaining peace, law and order and controlling domestic violence started from these incidences. Soon after this the infamous labor-capital conflicts started which was to last for some years and here again; the National Guard was successful in upholding its reputation and controlled the situation. Post Civil war, America was drastically changing. In fact after the 1873 economic Panic which annihilated America’s economy, America still managed not only to recover but also stir up a radical change in the situation. There was a constant inflow of immigrants which just added to the problem. Some clever Business men took charge of the situation and ushered in urbanization and modernization. Owners of industries and entrepreneurs quickly rose to a great height and accumulated a good amount of fortune but the case was not the same for all. For, some people dived deeper into the depths of poverty and there was this always increasing gap between the rich and the poor. America, which was free from any type of class system, was now being dragged into class division and the tension between the classes was not something to be ignored. The living conditions of the poor most of who were immigrants were unimaginable. Most were unemployed and were forced to live in small rooms with no basic amenities , while some lucky ones who found jobs had to work for about long hours daily, under terribly harsh and dangerous conditions. They had no fixed routine and no compensation bonds and were just treated inhumanly. The first labor-capital conflict occurred in 1877 and is known as the Great Railroad Strike. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company was cutting wages of the workers and the workers revolted against them and refuse to work. This started Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia and was carried on for several days. The nation was paralyzed. Most places summoned their militias to control the problem while the President though that the places like West Virginia which was among the worst hit must be controlled by the army. The Twenty-their regiment of Brooklyn was ordered to go to Hornellsville where the workers stopped trains and were destroying the railway tracks. After some time everything came under control. It was later seen that the places where the army was ordered to go, were severely damaged and large number of properties were destroyed while the New York militia was applauded for its role in containing the problem and keeping the mayhem caused by the workers to a minimum. But, this was not the end, because following in the footsteps of the Great Railroad strike of 1877, several other uprisings were seen, each more gruesome than the other. The Buffalo Switchmen’s strike 1892 was started in New York. The workers who worked for the Erie, the Philadelphia and the reading, the New York central etc joined together to revolt against the immensely low wages and the bad working conditions. The National Guard was yet again called upon. 7,000 militiamen had to work for fourteen days to bring a peaceful end to the situation. The National Guard also played a pivotal role in some other conflicts during this phase of time-. The strikes include the Carnegie Steel Strike 1892 and the Pullman strike in 1894. Another noteworthy rebellion where the National Guard’s role was appreciated was the Brooklyn Trolley Strike. The strike started out on 14th January, 1895. The employees of the trolley system rose against their employers for low wages and harsh working conditions. The rioters went berserk and burnt trolley cars, destroyed tracks and spread absolute mayhem. The local police was of no use because some people of the force actually supported the rebellions and the problem was only increasing. The National Guard brought the problem under control and by 28th January, the Manhattan’s First Brigade and Brooklyn’s Second Brigade restored complete law and order. Several such uprisings took place and every single time, it was the militia who successfully restored domestic peace. Though to the rioters, the militiamen were nothing but a brutal police force, most of the general public highly praised the efforts of the militia. In fact the press and the papers hailed the militia system for becoming the backbone of the American army. Most people developed great faith on the militia and it was during this time and forth that the National Guards were highly approved and supported. The state too started helping in the development of the militia system. In 1882 an annual training camp for the National Guard was established near Peekskill. Subsequently, more such training camps was established which brought together National Guards from different regiments. In 1882, the Consolidation Act was passed according to which, the eight National Guard divisions was reduced to just four. In 1886, the term “division” was replaced by the term “brigade”. In the last decades of the 1800’s several changes were made in the 1782 Militia Act. One of the noticeable amendments that were introduced was the change in the sum of money that the federal government decided to pay to the Militia for its upkeep. Previously it was $200,000, but owing to act the sum was doubled. However, even $400,000 was not enough to pay for proper maintenance and upkeep of the highly experienced National Guards. During the first few decades of the twentieth century, the National Guard took a backseat especially after the Dick Act of 1903 and the National Defense Acts were passed. According to the Militia Act of 1903, the militia became a federally funded reserve body. These acts recognized the central-controlled army as the most important part of the American Military system. The National Guard became mere assisters to the main army. The acts were passed to meet the ever growing military need of America. On many occasions the centralized army displayed their skills which impressed the federalists who were always in support of a centralized army. They argued with the government that the National Guard was a very powerful body that could meet the needs of entire America. Role of the National Guard started in diminish in the domestic front also. The labor-capital revolts became much lesser in number as the upper classes agreed to some of the demands, for example the long working hours were limited to 8 hours and the wages were also raised. Following the change of events, the duties of the National Guard was completely changed and it no longer held a pivotal role in restoring law and order. The National guard however, did assist the main army during World War 1 and World War 2. IN World War 1, 405 of the soldiers sent to France for combat were National guards. During World War 2 they almost doubled the number of army men. Most National Guards were deployed to Korea, Berlin and Vietnam .However, soon after the National Guard became the primary reserve force. The National guard Air Force became important to army aviation. However, after World War 2, the state controlled militias replaces National Guard as the primary reserve force and the National guard became the secondary reserve force. During the phase of the Cold war, the National Guard was not called for any combat duty and was kept as a reserve only. Slowly, as the National Guard started losing its national and war-related importance it earned fame on the civic front. The Nation Guard’s help was sought to restore peace in 1971 at Attica state prison which was afflicted by riots. After the cold war ended in 1989, both the military and the National Guard had to suffer because the funds were reduced. However, the National Guard adhered to its duty towards the public. In 1992 it assisted the police in controlling the Loa Angeles Race Riots In fact in the last decade of the twentieth century; the National Guard was once again resurrected to perform important duties towards the nation. The action of the National Guard was prompt and they successfully helped the citizens during the 1996 Blizzard of New York and 1998 Ice Storm. The National Guards were also sent to assist the NATO peacekeeping forces in 1996. Thus the National Guard became guardians to the citizens. In fact in 1997, to ensure that young men kept joining the National Guard forces, Governor Pataki passed a bill according to which the college or university fees of each new recruit was reimbursed. In 2001, after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the common American life seemed completely annihilated. Here again the National Guard fulfilled its duty towards the people and performed relief duties. Some member of the National Guard had also been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan during days of turmoil to combat terrorism and participate in the peace keeping operation of America. Today, the national Guards are highly respected because of their sense of duty and prompt action towards the nation. They form America’s first line of defense. National Guard’s units are found in all of the fifty states and territories of the U.S. and are governed by their respective local state authorities. Now, this prestigious organization is under the administration of the National Guard Bureau which links the National Guard body to the Department of Defense. The bureau is responsible for funding and training the Army and Air units of the National Guard. WORKS CITED Mahon. J., History of the Militia and the National Guard. New York: Free Pr, 1983.Print. Bergman, John W. “Marine Forces Reserve in Transition.” Joint Force Quarterly, no. 43 (2006). Doubler, Listman. The National Guard: An illustrated history of America’s Citizen Soldiers. New York: Potomac, 2007. Print. Powers. R., “History of the Army National Guard.” About, n.d. Carafano, James Jay. “The Army Reserves and the Abrams Doctrine: Unfulfilled Promise, Uncertain Future.” Heritage Foundation, April 18, 2005. http://www.heritage.org/ Research/NationalSEcurity/h1869.cfm. “History of the national Guard.” Albany: State University of New York press, 2006. Print (pp 17-36) Read More