Before we delve into the regimental makeup of the Massachusetts forces, we want to acknowledge the invaluable contribution of the members from Brown’s and Farmer’s Companies. These veteran reenactors, who faithfully represent the local men who saw combat on April 19, 1775, are a wealth of knowledge. If you encounter either organization at Minute Man National Historical Park, take the opportunity to learn from them. They are passionate about their subject and eager to share their expertise.
So, back to the question. The Nerds were asked whether Massachusetts minute or militia companies had any structural hierarchy above the company level or if the various town units acted independently and were not organized into regiments until the Siege of Boston.
The answer is yes. Minute and militia companies were organized into regiments, typically on the county level, before Lexington and Concord.
The origins of the Massachusetts militia can be traced back to the reign of Edward I when Parliament enacted legislation decreeing that every freeman between the ages of fifteen and sixty was to be available to preserve the peace within his county or shire. In the towns where the freemen were located, they were organized into military units known, by their periodic training, as “trained bands.”
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| Photo Credit - Sean O'Brien |
Under Charles II's rule, when Parliament revised membership requirements, established payment protocols, and appointed officers, the 'trained bands' transitioned into what we now know as 'militias. ' By the 17th century, militias had become one of the cornerstones of English society. Thus, when Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies were founded, the establishment of the militia followed naturally. In both colonies, every man over sixteen automatically became a member. The governor maintained the sole authority to activate the militia during a crisis.
Each time a new town sprung up, a militia company was formed. As a town grew or its population grew, additional militia companies were created. When new counties were formed, the various town militias within each county's borders were organized into regiments.
In the early to mid-17th Century, Massachusetts and Plymouth Counties had one militia regiment per county. However, by the eve of the American Revolution, the various counties of the colony had multiple county-level militia regiments organized along territorial districts.
For example, Essex County had four militia regiments. The 4th Essex Regiment of Foot consisted of militia units from towns within the Merrimack Valley region of the county - Andover, Bradford, Boxford, Methuen, Haverhill, Amesbury, and Salisbury. By comparison, the 1st Essex consisted of towns from the southern part of the county, including Salem, Massachusetts, Beverly, Lynn, and Saugus. The 2nd and 3rd Essex Regiments of Foot were composed of towns in the county's interior or between Newburyport and Ipswich.
Thus, by 1774, all Massachusetts counties had at least two militia regiments, but it was more common for each county to have between four and eight regiments within its respective borders.
Like militia companies, regimental field officers were elected by their men. However, the more common practice was for militia officers to meet annually to elect field officers rather than have the rank and file choose. This practice was followed when, on October 26, 1774, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress moved to wrest control of the Massachusetts militia system away from loyalist officers who commanded it. To achieve this, the Provincial Congress ordered the militias to “meet forthwith and elect officers to command their respective companies; and that the officers so chosen assemble as soon as may be . . . and proceed to elect field officers.”
That same day, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress formally called for creating minute companies by drawing a quarter of men from each town militia company. The men were to be organized into town-level minute companies and regiments. According to the order, “ [The] field officers, so elected, forthwith [shall] endeavor to enlist one quarter, at the least, of the number of the respective companies, and form them into companies of fifty privates . . . who shall equip and hold themselves in readiness, on the shortest notice from the said Committee of Safety, to march to the place of rendezvous . . . said companies into battalions, to consist of nine companies each.”
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| Photo Credit - John Jasewicz |
Like their militia counterparts, minute battalions were organized along county regimental districts.
Returning to the example of the 4th Essex Regiment of Foot, Andover’s Samuel Johnson, the newly elected colonel, appeared before each of his town militia companies to recruit and organize companies of minutemen. On February 2, 1775, he spoke to the four militia companies from Andover's North and South Parishes. According to the Essex Gazette, “Last Tuesday at 2 o'clock p. M. the town foot-companies of the 4th regiment of Militia in the County of Essex, Inhabitants of the North Parish in Andover, being mustered (after attending prayers for the direction of the God of armies), Col. Samuel Johnson, lately chosen first officer of said regiment, addressed himself to the companie and with great zeal recommended to them the necessity of enlisting themselves into the service of the province and in a short time fifty able-bodied effective men, being one quarter part of said companies — more than a third part of whom are heads of families and men of substance and Probity, willingly offered themselves: they were then escorted to an Inn, where they made choice of Capt. Thomas Poor, junr, for their captain, Ensign Benjamin Farnum first lieutenant, and Samuel Johnson junr. for second lieutenant. They then subscribed a covenant obliging them to conform to the Resolves of the former or any future Congress or General Assembly of the Province that hath or may have Relation to their Duty, and by said Covenant subjected themselves to martial discipline for the term of one year from the time of their enlisting. And this day the two companies in the South Parish in this town were mustered at two o'clock afternoon, when after attending prayers for direction, Col. Johnson enlisted forty-five able-bodied men as aforesaid and of the like condition and probity, being one quarter part of said companies last mentioned, who immediately proceeded to make choice of Capt. Benjamin Ames for their captain, Lieut. David Chandler first lieutenant and Isaac Abbot for second lieutenant, and subscribed the covenant aforesaid. All being performed with great unanimity, seriousness and decorum, and the soldiers seeming rather to be animated than disheartened by the late disagreeable news contained in the king's speech.”
On February 22, 1775, Johnson visited Boxford. According to the same newspaper, the colonel “addressed himself with great zeal to the two foot-companies of the Fourth Regiment, recommending to them the necessity of enlisting themselves into the service of the Province, and in a short space of time fifty-three able-bodied and effective men willingly offered themselves to serve their Province in defence of their liberties.”
After most towns under Johnson’s command formed minute companies, they elected their field officers, including Andover’s James Frye, as colonel. Thus, the minute companies, raised from the 4th Essex, were organized into Colonel James Frye’s Minute Battalion.
Like the companies under their command, militia and minute regiments assembled in the months and weeks before April 19th to drill and exercise.
In early 1775, the 4th Bristol Regiment of Militia assembled most of its companies in Mansfield to inspect arms and drill. In March 1775, Middlesex minute and militia battalions assembled for arms inspections and battalion-level drills. On April 11, 1775, Israel Litchfield noted, "three Companies Drew up in Battallion and were Excersised by Major Jacobs.” A little less than a week before the Battles of Lexington and Concord, on April 13, 1775, James Frye’s Minute Battalion held a day-long drill in Andover.
Admittedly, in the aftermath of the Battle of Lexington, most militia and minute companies from Essex, Middlesex, and Norfolk Counties did not wait for regimental orders and immediately mobilized for combat. This is understandable, given that the fighting was either “in their backyard” or a small distance away. By comparison, units from Plymouth, Barnstable, Bristol, and western Massachusetts counties, all generally removed from the fighting, generally assembled on the regimental level and then marched to war together.
Admittedly, in the aftermath of the Battle of Lexington, most militia and minute companies from Essex, Middlesex, and Norfolk Counties did not wait for regimental orders and immediately mobilized for combat. This is understandable, given that the fighting was either “in their backyard” or a small distance away. By comparison, units from Plymouth, Barnstable, Bristol, and western Massachusetts counties, all generally removed from the fighting, generally assembled on the regimental level and then marched to war together.
Danvers - “Capt. Saml. Flints of ye Militia in the Regiment whereof Timothy Pick’ring Jun Esqr was Colo.”
Acton - “Captain John Hayward’s [Company] in Colonel Abijah Pierce’s Regiment,”
Billerica - “Capt. Edwd. Farmer, of Billerica, in Colo. green’s Regt of Melitia”
Boxford - “Cap William Perly in Colo. James Frye’s Regiment”
Chelmsford - “Capt. Oliver Barron, of Chelmsford … belonging to the Regiment of Militia whereof Colo. David Green Esqr. is Colonel”
Reading - “Capt John Bachellers Company of Minute Men, In Colo Ebenizer’s Bridge’s Regiment”
Sudbury - “Capt. Joseph Smith, in Colo James Barrett’s Regiment”
Woburn - “Capt. Joshua Walker’s Company under the Command of Colonel David Greene of the 2d Middlesex Regiment of Foot”
Dracut - “Capt. Peter Coburn’s Company of minute men under the command of Colo. Bridge”
Cambridge - “Capt. Samuel Thatcher’s Company in Colo Gardner’s Regiment of Militia.”
Brookline - “Under ye command of Capn. Thos. White in Col Wm Heaths Regiment”
Roxbury - “Company under the command of Capt. Moses Whiting, in Colo. John Greaton’s Minut Regiment”
Of course, on a final note, it should be noted that not all provincial military companies in Massachusetts were attached to regiments. In early 1775, Bristol County officials complained there were four minute man companies “not yet incorporated into a regiment.” Similarly, many “independent military companies,” paramilitary units composed of a town’s elite that acted independently of the Colony’s militia system, do not appear to have been organized on the regimental level on the eve of Lexington and Concord.
In the days after Lexington and Concord, the militia and minute regiments outside of Boston manned the siege lines to keep His Majesty’s forces in check. In late April, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress moved to re-organize the army into a “Grand Army.” Preliminary research suggests that many of the minute battalions remained to support the siege and were formally adopted into the Massachusetts Grand Army. In contrast, many of the militia regiments returned home. However, by May 1775, recruiters called on militia regiments to assist in raising additional regiments to support the siege.
An overview of the raising of the Massachusetts Grand Army can be viewed here.
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