Quote:Maybe the millitia were employed by companies in bigger cities, such as Mass or Phily
I'm not at all sure how you are using the word "companies" there, Rev. In any case...
http://www.ushistory.org/people/minutemen.htm
Quote:Although the terms militia and minutemen are sometimes used interchangeably today, in the 18th century there was a decided difference between the two. Militia were men in arms formed to protect their towns from foreign invasion and ravages of war. Minutemen were a small hand-picked elite force which were required to be highly mobile and able to assemble quickly. Minutemen were selected from militia muster rolls by their commanding officers. Typically 25 years of age or younger, they were chosen for their enthusiasm, reliability, and physical strength. Usually about one quarter of the militia served as Minutemen, performing additional duties as such. The Minutemen were the first armed militia to arrive or await a battle.
The mythological part of the question is where the gun nuts have convinced themselves that the Revolutionary War was won by men who took their hunting rifles off the walls and ran out to oppose the British. That is ludicrous.
The equipment required of a militiaman included:
Quote:Below are various accounts, regulations and laws regarding the use of militia weapons and equipment.
1. "Each soldier to provide himself with a good fire arm, a steel or iron ram rod and a spring for same, a worm, a priming wire and brush, a bayonet fitted to his gun, a scabbard and belt thereof, a cutting sword or tomahawk or hatchet, a . . .cartridge box holding fifteen rounds . . . at least, a hundred buckshot, six flints, one pound of powder, forty leaden balls fitted to the gun, a knapsack and blanket, [and] a canteen or wooden bottle to hold one quart [of water]" (Journal of Arthur Harris of the Bridgewater Coy of Militia.)
2. "A firelock, bayonet, waistbelt, a cartridge box, cartridges, and a knapsack." ("An Easy Plan of Discipline for a Militia", Timothy Pickering, p. 1-4.)
3. "Militia minutemen [who were to] hold themselves in readiness at a minutes warning, compleat in arms and ammunition; that is to say a good and sufficient firelock, bayonet, thirty rounds of powder and ball, pouch and knapsack." (Town of Roxbury Resolves, December 26, 1774.)
http://www.18cnewenglandlife.org/18cnel/...ilitia.htm
The bayonet is the key. A hunting rifle cannot be fitted with a bayonet. If someone did own a rifle and the talent to shoot it effectively they would be employed as a sharpshooter picking off British officers ( a tactic which the British found to be truly barbaric) so perhaps that is where this myth comes from. General Daniel Morgan began his career commanding a Sharpshooter company which had been raised from frontiersmen for the express purpose of harassing the British. The vast majority of militiamen were expected to serve in the line, loading and firing massed volleys of musketry.
For the record, I own and have fired repeatedly both muskets and muzzle-loading rifles. To properly load the rifle takes about a minute. The musket can, with a little practice and a paper cartridge, be loaded and fired in about 20 seconds. And while you are re-loading you always have that bayonet in place in case they get too close for comfort.
