While it lasted only sixteen months, King Philip's War (1675-1676) was arguably one of the most significant of the colonial wars that wracked early America. As the first major military crisis to directly strike one of the Empire's most important possessions: the Massachusetts Bay Colony, King Philip's War marked the first time that Massachusetts had to mobilize mass numbers of ordinary, local men to fight. In this exhaustive social history and community study of Essex County, Massachusetts's militia, Kyle F. Zelner boldly challenges traditional interpretations of who was called to serve during this period.
Drawing on muster and pay lists as well as countless historical records, Zelner demonstrates that Essex County's more upstanding citizens were often spared from impressments, while the "rabble" - criminals, drunkards, the poor- were forced to join active fighting units, with town militia committees selecting soldiers who would be least missed should they die in action. Enhanced by illustrations and maps, A Rabble in Arms shows that, despite heroic illusions of a universal military obligation, town fathers, to damaging effects, often placed local and personal interests above colonial military concerns.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Contents; List of Figures, Maps and Tables vii; Acknowledgments x; Introduction 1; A Note on Method 19; Chapter 1: "For the best ordering of the militia": English Military Precedent and the Early Massachusetts Bay Militia 24; Chapter 2: The Massachusetts Bay Militia and the Practice of Impressment during King Philip's War 49; Chapter 3: Many Men, Many Choices: Impressment in Essex County's Thriving Towns 85; Chapter 4: Few Men, Few Options: Impressment in Essex County's Small Towns 136; Chapter 5: The Pressed Men of Essex County: The Social Identity of the Soldiers of King Philip's War 178; Chapter 6: The Effects of Impressment: War and Peace in Essex County 226; Afterword: The Military of Massachusetts Bay Transformed 265; Appendix 1: The Soldiers of Essex County in King Philip's War, 1675-1676 272; Appendix 2: Rowley's 1662 Tax List: Ranked by Family with Soldiers' Families Highlighted 273; Appendix 3: Topsfield's 1668 Tax List: Ranked by Family with Soldiers' Families Highlighted 274; Appendix 4: An Examination of the Age of Essex County Soldiers and Officers in King Philip's War, 1675-1676 275; Appendix 5: The Occupations of the Soldiers of Essex County, 1675-1676 276; Abbreviations Used in Notes 277; Notes 278; Select Bibliography 376; Permissions 402; Index; About the Author
