The American Home Guard

Since colonial times Americans have used the militia to maintain local order during both war and peacetime. States have intermittently created, maintained, deployed, and disbanded countless militia organizations outside the scope of the better-known National Guard. The book tells the story of these militia units--variously called home guards, State Guard, National Guard Reserve, and State Defense Forces. Ironically, the very existence of the National Guard made the creation of other militia forces necessary during periods of war. State Militia forces were organized to fill the vacuum left when the National Guard was called up, depriving states of an organized militia that could repel invasions, suppress riots, control strikes, or guard the waterfront. This history analyzes the challenges that faced the State Guards as states sought to build their new militia with leftover men and material. It also examines the roles of the State Guard: providing relief during and after natural disasters, providing military training for future draftees, and broadening participation in military units during wartime by giving a role to men who, because of their age or occupation, could not join the federal forces. Today modern state militias, born to an ancient tradition, must define a role for themselves in a society that increasingly views them as anachronistic.