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The Minuteman Statue

The Minuteman Statue

Minutemen
By 1645 men were selected from militia to accomplish certain task with half hour of being warned. Another type of Minutemen came to existence in 1689 called snowshoe men due to the fact that each one of these men provided themselves with a good pair of snowshoes and other necessary things, and had to be ready on a moments warning. During the French and Indian War, Minutemen also played a role. Minutemen have already been training for over 100 years in the Massachusetts Bay Colony by the time American Revolution started. Every town had and had maintained their training for militia. [1]

Militia and Minutemen are often used as synonymous in modern days, but during the 18th century there was a specific meaning for each one of these words. Militia was referred to men in arms creating a group to defend their towns from invasions of foreign towns and from destruction of war. In the other hand, Minutemen were men with high military skills selected by their commanding officers from the militia which were required to be very mobile and be able to prepare themselves in a minutes notice. 25 years old or younger were typically the ages of these groups. Enthusiasm, reliability and physical strength were characteristics to be selected as Minutemen. About one quarter of the militia was selected as Minutemen and their duties were enlarged due to this aspect. This elite group was the first getting into or awaiting a battle. Most colonial militia had to use their own equipment such as arms and uniforms, or simply used their farming or workman clothing. Hunting rifles were mostly used; they did not have bayonets but were very good at long range. [1]

A central leader was the lack of the Minutemen but even having this disadvantage it was better organized than other military groups. This lack made it disappear with time. But American History would not be the same if Minutemen had not existed. Concord was the first town to obey the order of...