A Rabble in Arms: Massachusetts Towns and Militiamen during King Philip’s War

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NYU Press, Apr 1, 2009 - History - 344 pages

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.

 

Contents

Introduction
1
A Note on Method
15
English Military Precedent and the Early Massachusetts Bay Militia
19
2 The Massachusetts Bay Militia and the Practice of Impressment during King Philips War
40
Impressment in Essex Countys Thriving Towns
70
Impressment in Essex Countys Small Towns
109
The Social Identity of the Soldiers of King Philips War
141
War and Peace in Essex County
181
Topsfields 1668 Tax List Ranked by Family with Soldiers Families Highlighted
233
An Examination of the Age of Essex County Soldiers and Officers in King Philips War 16751676
235
The Occupations of the Soldiers of Essex County 16751676
239
Abbreviations Used in Notes
241
Notes
243
Selected Bibliography
297
Permissions
313
Index
315

The Military of Massachusetts Bay Transformed
213
The Soldiers of Essex County in King Philips War 16751676
219
Rowleys 1662 Tax List Ranked by Family with Soldiers Families Highlighted
229
About the Author
325
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

Kyle F. Zelner is Associate Professor of History and a Senior Fellow of the Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi.

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