Yankee Tirade

This Time

April 30, 2008 on 12:10 am | In Uncategorized |

It has been a good trip to Boston this time around. I have someone close to me that has terminal cancer so I get to visit them as much as possible.

I had dinner with a Sherborn Town Historian one night. Betsy Johnson is an expert on history in the town and we exchange ideas from time to time. We are generally in agreement that Captain Moses Babcock’s Company of Cavalry was War of 1812 and not the Revolution as indicated in the 1974 Sherborn History Book. His grave is marked with a Revolution marker but this is a common mistake with 1812.

She asked me to describe the differences between the Continental Army and the Militia of that time.

1) The militia was paid for by the towns and not federally.

2) Militia officers were voted on by the men and in the Continental Army they were appointed by the Army.

3) Militia men were not in set enlistment contracts because all able bodied males were supposed to be in it. The Continental Army was for set period enlistments.

4) The militia could be drafted into the Continental Army and not the other way around.

I hope this helps.