About State of the Union History

1813 James Madison - The Great Bulwark of Defense, The Militia


During the war of 1812 only a small number of men who fought were regulars in the U.S. Army.   In fact, 458,000 of the 528,000 men who fought in the war were militia men.   This posed some significant problems from President James Madison as commander-in-chief.   For one, some of the governors challenged whether or not the state militias could be nationalized.  Multiple governors of new England states reasoned that the presence of the British Royal Navy did not constitute an invasion, and refused to give Madison authority to deploy these militia men outside of the state.     A bigger problem was that the militia men lacked the discipline and training to be reliable under combat conditions.   The militiamen often retreated when outflanked by the British.   In 1813,  Madison reminded Congress that the militia was and always will be "great bulwark of defense and security for free states".   The constitution gave the federal government to use that force as the "best provision against an unsafe military establishment". but these problems needed to be addressed.  Madison urged Congress to revise the militia laws so that that all detachments of the militia could be more effectively secured into employment and placed under the government of the United States.
"The militia being always to be regarded as the great bulwark of defense and security for free states, and the Constitution having wisely committed to the national authority a use of that force as the best provision against an unsafe military establishment, as well as a resource peculiarly adapted to a country having the extent and the exposure of the United States, I recommend to Congress a revision of the militia laws for the purpose of securing more effectually the services of all detachments called into the employment and placed under the Government of the United States."

On April 18th, 1814 Congress did pass an act to further the 1792 militia act which defined a uniform structure of officers for the militia.   This presumably was to address the problem of poor discipline of the militia.  

"there shall be to each division, one division inspector, with rank of lieutenant colonel, and one division quartermaster, with rank of major;  to each brigade one aid de camp, with the rank of captain; and the quartermasters of brigade, heretofore provided for by law, shall have the rank of captain.  And it shall be incumbent on the said officers to do and perform all the duties which. by law and military principles, are attached to their offices, respectively."


Approved April 18, 1814


http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29455
http://www.bandyheritagecenter.org/Content/Uploads/Bandy%20Heritage%20Center/files/1812/Militia%20in%20the%20War%20of%201812.pdf
The public and general statutes passed by the Congress of the United States of America: from 1789 to 1827 inclusive, Joseph Story Volume 2, page 1424
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/American_militia_firing_at_the_British_infantry_from_behind_a_split_rail_fence_during_the_Battle_of_Guilford_Courthouse%2C_March_15%2C_1781.jpg

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