Formas Normales

The federalization of state militias or National Guard would not be resolved until the early twentieth century. However, the conflicts of the 1870s did provide an impetus for states to review their militia codes and to consider the provision of additional support, more effective organization, and a new focus on rifle practice. In many instances the changes represented "a revision and codification of the entire body of laws relating to the militia."46 Between 1880 and 1892, every state revised its militia code to provide for a better equipped and better trained force. Many changed their militia name to National Guard and almost all increased

appropriations to better support state military organizations.

The improvements had a considerable impact, and in 1891 Adjutant Generals reported over 100,000 members of the organized militia and an aggregate state appropriation of just under $2,400,000 compared to a federal appropriation of just under $440,000.47 There were some exceptions. When Maine revised its militia code, it avoided the use of "national guard" but did emphasize that "(A)ll able bodied male citizens enrolled in this state, not exempt by law, and not belonging to the volunteer or reserve militia, shall be known as the enrolled militia of

46

"A New Militia Code," Boston Daily Advertiser (Boston, MA), Saturday, March 30, 1878. Cooper in The Rise of the National Guard includes a chapter of the same title that provides details of revisions. Mahon, History of the Militia and National Guard, includes an excellent chapter, "Reconstruction: Birth of the National Guard,” covering this period of growth.

47

Adjutant Generals’ reports compiled September 19, 1891, cited in Mahon, History of the Militia, 122-123. Doubler, I Am the Guard points out that most of the money was spent on the construction of armories which provided opportunities for politicians to direct state money to patrons who had construction firms, 119-120. See also Fogelson, America's Armories, 13-16.

Maine."48 In Massachusetts, strong ties to town militia organizations that dated back to the seventeenth century provided some resistance to name changes and the idea of federal control.49 However, most states were more likely to follow the example of West Virginia where, "(T)he active militia shall be organized as hereinafter mentioned, and designated as the West Virginia National Guard."50 For example, the Iowa National Guard, under the guidance of its state NGA, met in late 1891 to bring "the laws of the I.N.G., which are about ten years behind the surrounding states, up to the present system of army regulations."51 Along with the revisions in state codes, each formed a state National Guard Association which was very loosely affiliated with the national-level Association. Newspapers across the country regularly reported meetings, sporting events, and encampments of state National Guard Associations.52 However, in most instances, the increase in support was insufficient to meet the needs of a viable military organization and few did little more than improve the form of the militia while its function continued to suffer from a lack of resources and military discipline.53

48_{Militia Law of the state of Maine, as revised 1880, art. 1, sec. 2 (Augusta, ME: Spague & Son, Printers to the}

State, 1882).

49

Barry Sentiford, "The Meaning of a Name," The Journal of Military History 72, no. 3 (July 2008): 727-754. Sentiford's article is about the Richardson Light Guard, founded in 1851, and the loss of town affiliation that accompanied the transition from militia to National Guard. It is very likely that the New England militia's long history of service may have played a part in their reluctance to accept federal affiliation and control.

50_{Acts of Legislation of West Virginia, ch. XXIV, sec. II (Charleston, WV: Moses W. Donnally, 1889).}

51 _{"Iowa's National Guard," Bismarck Daily Tribune (Bismarck, ND), Saturday, November 14, 1891. Iowa National}

Guard (I.N.G.)

52

For example, Illinois held its ninth annual convention in 1891, Wisconsin its 10th in 1890, and California its fifth in 1888.

53

Derthick, 16-18 provides an excellent discussion of the political growth of the National Guard and the change in militia codes. It is important to remember that this name change in no way changed the role, responsibilities, or controlling authority for the newly labeled force. See "The War Department Strives to Strengthen the Militia," in C. Joseph Bernardo and Eugene H. Bacon, American Military Policy: Its Development Since 1775, 2nd ed. (Harrisburg, PA: Military Service Division, Stackpole, 1961), 247-251. Fogelson's America's Armories is the best source of information about how funding was directed to structures rather than military proficiency. He does, however, make a good argument that the structures improved morale and made the availability of armory training less dependent on community-owned facilities.

New militia codes also revealed a greater attention to the importance of rifle practice. The California code, like other state code changes, reflected the recommendations of the NRA as offered by Wingate. His Manual for Rifle Practice recommended that "(A)n officer upon the General Staff to be known as the General Inspector of Rifle Practice, should be assigned general supervision over the rifle practice of the troops" and that "(A)n officer upon each division, brigade, and regimental staff should be assigned the supervision of the rifle practice of his command, under such regulations as may be prescribed by the General Inspector. They should be known as inspectors of Rifle Practice."54

When the California legislature revised that state's codes and statutes, the revision included "(A)n Act to define the duties of inspectors of rifle practice of the national guard of California."55 Section 1 of the California code provided that:

"It shall be the duty of the general inspector of rifle practice to exercise general supervision over the rifle practice of the national guard; to inspect, or cause to be inspected, from time to time, all ranges and practice-

grounds, and see that the prescribed regulations for rifle practice are carried out by the national guard."56

Practice alone was not sufficient, and the results of competitions that were being directed by the fledgling NRA added the requirement that the Brigade inspector of rifle practice "shall make

54 _{George Wood Wingate, Manual for Rifle Practice, 7th ed. (New York: W.C. Church, 1879), 19. An expanded}

discussion of the role of Inspectors of Rifle Practice is included in section 3.7, "Success at Sea Girt.”

55

California Codes and Statutes, 26th sess., 1885. The Code outlined the duties of inspectors of rifle practice at all levels of command from lieutenant to general officer.

56

California Code, § 2030, sec. 1. The fact that the California Code did not capitalize National Guard is in itself revealing of the lack of attention to the official status of state soldiery.

an annual report to general headquarters, in which he shall state the result of all competitions in marksmanship."

The local perception of the state soldiery as volunteers who possessed the right to control their own destiny marked the most enduring connection between the old uniformed militia and the rising National Guard. Guardsmen resisted centralized control in part because they shared prevailing attitudes toward governmental power of any sort."57 That resistance was not exclusive to federal incursion but also extended to national organizations like the NGA. While the NGA tried, through a variety of means, to gain the support of state militia

organizations and their leadership, it hardly represented the fearsome interest group some historians contend it was. The 1895 Washington D. C. NGA convention, only the fourth meeting in fifteen years, would be the Association's last before two new National Guard Associations surfaced to challenge Wingate's leadership. One, the Interstate National Guard Association, formed in 1897, was based in the western part of the country and would challenge the very culture of the state militia organizations that were becoming the heart and soul of the NGA. The other, the Military Rifle Association of the National Guard, formed in 1890, sought to connect Guard units through interstate competition. Each of these new associations would play a critical role as the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth heralded a transition from state militia to federal National Guard.

57

Cooper, 87-94. Cooper's work builds on Riker, Mahon, and Derthick, all three of whom address the reluctance of state militiamen to accept federal control.