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97-456: The central area is a polygon of brick. On the Pratt St. side there is a strip of grass; behind the brick there used to be a pool at the base of a multi-leveled concrete structure with walkways and fountains; however, this fountain structure was removed in 2016. The location of the square puts it right in the middle of Baltimore's 1861 riots , during which locals turned on a Union regiment that

194-536: A black servant traveling with the regiment, was hit on the head. But that night the Pennsylvania troops, later known as the " First Defenders ", camped at the U.S. Capitol under the incomplete dome , which was then under construction. On April 17, the 6th Massachusetts Militia departed from Boston , Mass., arriving in New York City the following morning and Philadelphia by nightfall. On April 19,

291-491: A body distinct from the rest of the militia, and, by being more devoted to military exercises, they acquired skill in the use of arms. More attention than formerly was likewise bestowed on the training and drilling of militia. The need for efficient minuteman companies was illustrated by the Powder Alarm of 1774. Militia companies were called out to engage British troops, who had been sent to capture ammunition stores. By

388-510: A bounty which paid 10 shillings each for the scalps of Indians. In 1703, snowshoes were issued to militiamen and bounty hunters to make winter raids on the Indians more effective. The minuteman concept was advanced by the snow shoe men. The Minutemen always kept in touch with the political situation in Boston and their own towns. From 1629 to 1683, the towns had controlled themselves but in 1689,

485-514: A militia regiment under Colonel David Green and a Minuteman regiment Colonel Ebenezer Bridge. Colonel William Prescott's Middlesex regiment had not yet split and had ten companies of militia and seven of minutemen. Worcester County had managed to already complete the organization and staffing of three Minuteman regiments by April 1775. In August 1636, the first offensive military attack by militias failed when Massachusetts dispatched John Endecott with four companies on an unsuccessful campaign against

582-602: A nominal strength of 9,000 men with minuteman companies being formed from the younger, more physically fit men. The militia in New England was still midway through the process of splitting the Minutemen companies from the regular militia companies into their own regiments by the spring of 1775. For example, the old 2nd Middlesex Regiment of Foot, a provincial unit that had seen action in the French and Indian Wars, divided into

679-458: A poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . Although historians criticize the work as being historically inaccurate, Longfellow understood the history and manipulated it for poetic effect. The 1925 Lexington-Concord Sesquicentennial half dollar features a sculptural portrayal. The athletic teams of the University of Massachusetts-Amherst are nicknamed the Minutemen and Minutewomen . Until

776-567: A precaution, these items were often hidden or left behind by minutemen in fields or wooded areas. Other popular concealment methods were to hide items underneath floorboards in houses and barns . The Minuteman model for militia mobilization married with a very professional, small standing army was the primary model for the United States' land forces up until 1916 with the establishment of the National Guard . In commemoration of

873-576: A result, the legislative session was canceled. A new legislature was elected in November 1861. Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War . They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Minutemen provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that enabled

970-548: A year with the Minutemen receiving extra training. From the end of the French and Indian War , this was normal during peacetime but, in the 1770s, as friction with The Crown increased and the possibility of war became apparent, the militia trained three to four times a week. In response to these tensions, the Massachusetts Provincial legislators found that the colony's militia resources were short just before

1067-416: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Baltimore riot of 1861 Maryland pro-Confederate/Southern sympathizers ultimately suppressed [REDACTED] United States ( Union ) [REDACTED] Pro-Southern/Confederate Maryland sympathizers Maryland Copperhead Democrats The Baltimore riot of 1861 (also called the "Pratt Street Riots" and the "Pratt Street Massacre" )

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1164-632: Is named "Minutemen" to highlight the rapid deployment and mobility nature of their mission. One of the factions in Bethesda 's 2015 video game Fallout 4 , which is set in Massachusetts, is called the "Commonwealth Minutemen". The inspiration for their namesake comes from the requirement to be ready "at a minute's notice" to defend any settlement in danger. Sinclair Lewis portrays Minute Men as paramilitary forces of Buzz Windrip 's despotic government in his 1935 book It Can't Happen Here . In

1261-514: Is only because such a contingency in political affairs as the present has never before arisen." Just before daybreak on June 27, soldiers marched from Fort McHenry on orders from Major General Nathaniel P. Banks , who had succeeded Cadwalader as commander of the Department of Annapolis, and arrested Marshal George P. Kane . Banks appointed Col. John Reese Kenly of the 1st Regiment Maryland Volunteer Infantry as provost marshal to superintend

1358-625: Is widely asserted, the captain of the Acton militia and first to be killed in Concord during the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, but rather French used live models in the study of the anatomy and facial expression. The Minute Man statue is still the symbol of the National Guard , featured prominently on its seals. It was also the symbol of the former Boston and Maine Railroad . Minutemen are portrayed in " Paul Revere's Ride ",

1455-419: The 7th New York Infantry Regiment , proceeded to Annapolis Junction (halfway between Baltimore and Washington), and the 7th New York went on to Washington, where, on the afternoon of April 25, they became the first troops to reach the capital by this route. There were calls for Maryland to declare secession in the wake of the riot. Governor Hicks called a special session of the state legislature to consider

1552-485: The American Revolutionary War , on October 26, 1774, after observing the British military buildup. They found that, "including the sick and absent, it amounted to about 17,000 men, far short of the number wanted, that the council recommended an immediate application to the New England governments to make up the deficiency", resolving to re-organize and increase the size of the militia: The Massachusetts General Assembly

1649-616: The Dutch , Sint Eustatius , were supportive of the American revolutionaries . As a token of support, they traded gunpowder to the Colonials for other goods needed in Europe. Not only did the Minutemen have political awareness of events in New England, but also of those occurring in Europe, such as Britain's lack of allies. In 1770, Samuel Adams had begun agitating for a reform and update of

1746-752: The New England Colonies . The term has also been applied to various later United States civilian paramilitary forces. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony , all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60 were required to participate in their local militia company. As early as 1645 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, some men were selected from the general ranks of "town-based training band" to be ready for rapid deployment. Men so selected were designated as minutemen. Their companies were organized by town, so it

1843-462: The Pequot Indians. According to one account, the expedition succeeded only in killing one Indian and burning some wigwams . Weeks elapsed between the incidents that caused the march and the arrival of Endecott's men in the area. Once they got there, they did not know which Indians to fight or why. This feeble response served to encourage the Indians, and attacks increased on the settlers in

1940-687: The President Street Station , spreading throughout President Street and subsequently to Howard Street, where it ended at the Camden Street Station . The riot produced the first deaths of Union volunteers by hostile action, although caused by civilians, in the American Civil War . Civilians among the attackers also were killed. In 1861, many Baltimoreans did not support a violent conflict with their southern neighbors and some of them strongly sympathized with

2037-486: The Southern cause. Historian David J. Eicher described Baltimore in 1861 as "the largely pro-Southern city of Baltimore". In the previous year's presidential election, Abraham Lincoln had received only 1,100 of more than 30,000 votes cast in the city. Lincoln's opponents were infuriated (and supporters disappointed) when the president-elect , fearing an infamous rumored assassination plot , traveled secretly through

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2134-602: The Washington Monument and traveled to the station to confront the combined units of troops, which unbeknownst to them were unarmed and had their weapons unloaded. Kane's newly organized city police force generally succeeded in ensuring the Pennsylvania militia troops' safe passage marching south on Howard Street to Camden Street Station of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad . Nevertheless, stones and bricks were hurled (along with many insults) and Nicholas Biddle,

2231-770: The Wecker which continued throughout the war to be a supporter of the Union cause. The editor moved to another paper in Illinois . As a result of the riot in Baltimore and pro-Southern sympathies of some of the city's populace, the Baltimore Steam Packet Company also declined the same day a Federal government request to transport Union forces to relieve the beleaguered Union naval yard facility at Portsmouth, Virginia . In Brown's later assessment, it

2328-541: The YMCA , Union soldiers were "neither birds to fly over Maryland, nor moles to burrow under it". On the evening of April 20 Hicks also authorized Brown to dispatch the Maryland state militia for the purpose of disabling the railroad bridges into the city—an act he would later deny. One of the militia leaders was John Merryman , who was arrested one month later, and held in defiance of a writ of habeas corpus , which led to

2425-629: The 2003 rebranding featuring a modernized Sam the Minuteman , the logo featured the Concord Minute Man statue prominently. The U.S. Air Force named the LGM-30 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile the "Minuteman", which was designed for rapid deployment in the event of a nuclear attack . The "Minuteman III" LGM-30G remains in service. The U.S. Navy VR-55 Fleet Logistic Support Squadron

2522-462: The Baltimore police; Kenly enrolled, organized, and armed 250 Unionists for a new police. When the old Board of Police would not recognize the new police, and tried to continue the old police, they were arrested and sent to Fort Warren in Boston Harbor. On July 10, George R. Dodge, a civilian, was appointed as marshal of police. Major General John Adams Dix succeeded Banks in command of

2619-598: The Committees of Correspondence to hold County Conventions to revamp the militia. Gage tried to seat his own court in Worcester , but the townspeople blocked the court from sitting. Two thousand militiamen marched to intimidate the judges and get them to leave. This was the first time that the militia was used by the people to block the king's representatives from acting on royal orders and against popular opinion. Gage responded by preparing to march to collect munitions from

2716-586: The Confederate general and commander at the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi , whose surrender in July 1863 resulted in the first split of the Confederacy ) returning from duty on the western frontier. They split off from Howard Street in downtown Baltimore and marched east along the waterfront to Fort McHenry and reported for duty there. Seven hundred "National Volunteers" of Southern sympathizers rallied at

2813-537: The Connecticut Valley. In the following year, the Province of Massachusetts Bay again put a force on the field in collaboration with Plymouth Colony and Connecticut. By the time that Plymouth had gotten their force packed and ready to march, the campaign had ended. Massachusetts Bay sent 150 militiamen, Plymouth sent 50, and Connecticut sent 90. In May 1643, a joint council was formed. They published

2910-441: The Department of Annapolis, and Colonel Abram Duryée 's 5th New York Volunteer Infantry , "Duryée's Zouaves," constructed Fort Federal Hill, Baltimore . To better secure the city, a ring of additional fortifications were built in and around the city, most notably Fort Worthington to the northeast (around present-day Berea ), and Fort Marshall (in present-day Highlandtown / Canton ). Some Southerners reacted with passion to

3007-600: The King appointed governors. By 1772, James Otis and Samuel Adams used the Town Meetings to start a Committee of Correspondence. This instigated a boycott in 1774 of British goods. The Minutemen were aware of this as well. With a rising number of Minutemen they faced another problem: a lack of gunpowder to support an army for long enough to fight a prolonged campaign against the British. The people of an island controlled by

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3104-573: The Mayor of Annapolis protested, but Butler (a clever politician) bullied them into allowing troops to land at Annapolis, saying, "'I must land, for my troops are hungry.'—'No one in Annapolis will sell them anything,' replied these authorities of the State and city." Butler intimated that armed men were not always limited to the necessity of purchasing food when famished. The 8th Massachusetts, with

3201-682: The U.S. In fact, prior to Lincoln's demand for 75,000 soldiers with which to invade the South, Virginia , North Carolina , and Arkansas had elected secession delegations which had voted to remain in the Union and Tennessee had held a referendum of the people to determine whether or not to elect a secession delegation, and had voted by about 2/3 majority to not even consider the matter. The other slave states of Delaware and Maryland , as well as Missouri and Kentucky (later known as " border states ") were in flux. When Fort Sumter fell on April 13, President Lincoln sent telegraphs followed by letters to

3298-427: The Union. As the war began, the city's divided loyalties created tension. Supporters of secession and slavery organized themselves into a force called "National Volunteers" while Unionists and abolitionists called themselves " Minute Men ". The conflict at Fort Sumter had occurred on April 12–13, one week before the riot. At the time, Virginia , North Carolina , Tennessee , and Arkansas had not yet seceded from

3395-543: The Union. Their discontent increased in the days afterward when Lincoln put out a call for volunteers to serve 90 days and end the insurrection. New militia units from several Northern states were starting to move south, particularly to protect Washington, D.C. , from the new Confederate threat in Virginia. Baltimore's newly elected reform mayor, George William Brown , and the new police marshal (chief), George Proctor Kane , anticipated trouble and began efforts to placate

3492-456: The all the governors of states that had not seceded, calling for 75,000 troops with which to re-possess U.S. property in the South. After receiving this communication, the Governor of Virginia directed Virginia's Secession Delegation to reconvene. Just nine days earlier, On April 4, 1861, Virginia's secession delegation had voted to stand with the Union by a vote of 90 to 45. However, in light of

3589-615: The annihilation or surrender of the original road column. While a lot of Colonial militia units did not receive either arms or uniforms and were required to equip themselves, through colonial history both the Crown and local governments had issued arms and sometimes uniforms for provincial soldiers. Many simply wore their own farmers' or workmen's clothes and, in some cases, they wore cloth hunting frocks. Many farmers who owned separate guns such as fowling pieces , and sometimes rifles (though rarer in southern New England) would use them instead of

3686-461: The area, and the British moved on. The British then moved to Concord and faced a larger number of militia. The British were rapidly outnumbered at Concord, with the arrival of the slower moving militia; they had not counted on a long fight, and so had not brought additional ammunition beyond the standard issue in the soldiers' cartridge boxes. This then forced a strategic defeat on Colonel Smith, forcing him back to Boston. A "running fight" began during

3783-553: The articles of the New England Confederation . The real power of the confederation was that all four of the colonies promised to contribute soldiers to an alert force that would fight anywhere in the colonies. On September 7, 1643, the towns were given more tactical control. A new rule allowed any general to call up his militia at any time. On August 12, 1645, 30% of all militia were made into short-notice groups (minutemen). Command and control were decentralized to

3880-461: The barrel) gave it a much greater range than the smoothbore musket, although it took much longer to load. Because of the lower rate of fire, rifles were not used by regular infantry, but were preferred for hunting. When performing as skirmishers, the militia could fire and fall back behind cover or behind other troops, before the British could get into range. The wilderness terrain that lay just beyond many colonial towns favored this style of combat and

3977-415: The battlefield. It is a myth that the British and other professional armies of the 1700s did not practice marksmanship with their muskets; the military ammunition of the time was made for fast reloading and more than a dozen consecutive shots without cleaning. Accuracy of the musket was sacrificed for speed and repetitive loading. The militia prepared with elaborate plans to alarm and respond to movements by

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4074-785: The book were then arrested. A man supposed to be a Maryland State Militia soldier was detained in Fort McHenry, and Judge Giles, in Baltimore, issued a writ of habeas corpus, but Major W. W. Morris, commander of the fort, wrote back, "At the date of issuing your writ, and for two weeks previous, the city which you live, and where your court has been held, was entirely under the control of revolutionary authorities. Within that period United States soldiers, while committing no offense, had been perfidiously attacked and inhumanly murdered in your streets; no punishment had been awarded, and, I believe, no arrests had been made for these crimes; supplies of provisions intended for this garrison has been stopped;

4171-403: The book, the fascist-like militia is called "Minnie Mouses" by the populace. In Alan Moore 's Watchmen graphic novel the first masked vigilantes assembled are titled the Minutemen. The Minutemen was a militant anti-communist organization in the early 1960s. The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps was a militant anti-Mexican immigrants volunteer group formed in 2005. The Minuteman Project

4268-605: The call for troops, Virginia's Secession Delegation did meet once more and took another vote. On April 17, the new vote was 85 to 55 that Virginia would secede, with the condition that a referendum of the people would be held and secession would only occur if the people confirmed the vote of the Delegation. Virginia's secession was particularly significant due to the state's industrial capacity. Sympathetic Marylanders, who had supported secession ever since John C. Calhoun spoke of nullification , agitated to join Virginia in leaving

4365-541: The case of Ex parte Merryman . On April 19, Major General Robert Patterson , commander of the Department of Washington (Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia), ordered Brigadier General Benjamin Butler , with the 8th Massachusetts, to open and secure a route from Annapolis through Annapolis Junction to Washington. The 8th Massachusetts arrived by ship at Annapolis on April 20. Gov. Hicks and

4462-556: The centenary of the first engagement of the American Revolution, Daniel Chester French , in his first major commission, produced one of his best-known statues (along with the Lincoln Memorial ), The Minute Man . Inscribed on the pedestal is the opening stanza of Ralph Waldo Emerson 's 1837 " Concord Hymn " with the words, " Shot heard 'round the world ." The statue's likeness is not based on Isaac Davis as

4559-521: The city in the middle of the night on a different railroad protected by a few aides and detectives including the soon-to-be famous Allan Pinkerton in February en route to his inauguration (then constitutionally scheduled for March 4) in Washington, D.C. The city was also home to the country's largest population (25,000) of free African Americans, as well as many white abolitionists and supporters of

4656-824: The city's population. On Thursday, April 18, 460 newly mustered Pennsylvania state militia volunteers (generally from the Pottsville, Pennsylvania area) arrived from the state capital at Harrisburg on the Northern Central Railway at its Bolton Street Station (off present-day North Howard Street  — across the street from the present site of the Fifth Regiment Armory of the Maryland National Guard , built 1900). They were joined by several regiments of regular United States Army troops under John C. Pemberton (later

4753-456: The colonial agrarian society, many were familiar with hunting. The Indian Wars , and especially the recent French and Indian War , had given colonials valuable experience in irregular warfare and skirmishing, while British line companies (light infantry and grenadier companies were called flank companies and trained in skirmishing) troops were less familiar with this. The long rifle was also well suited to this role. The rifling (grooves inside

4850-510: The colonies to respond immediately to military threats. They were an evolution from the prior colonial rapid-response units. The minutemen were among the first to fight in the American Revolution . Their teams constituted about a quarter of the entire militia. They were generally younger, more mobile, and provided with weapons and arms by the local governments. They were still part of the overall militia regimental organizations in

4947-546: The colonies were expanding, the Narragansetts got desperate and began raiding the colonists again. The militia chased the Indians, caught their chief, and got him to sign an agreement to end fighting. In 1672, the Massachusetts Council formed a military committee to control the militia in each town. In 1675, the military committee raised an expedition to fight the raiding Wampanoag tribe. A muster call

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5044-599: The colonists and the Crown, it escalated them. That same month, Parliament passed "An Act for the better regulating the Government of the Province of Massachusetts-Bay" and "An Act for the more impartial administration of justice in said Province," otherwise known as the Intolerable Acts , which were designed to remove power from the towns. This brought many more citizens to Samuel Adams's side, and he pressed

5141-569: The extent that individual company commanders could put their troops into a defensive battle if necessary. A portion of the militia was well trained and well equipped, and set aside as a ready force. In May 1653, the Council of Massachusetts said that an eighth of the militia should be ready to march within one day to anywhere in the colony. Eighty militiamen marched on the Narragansett tribe in Massachusetts, though no fighting took place. Since

5238-483: The first armed militia to arrive at or await a battle. Officers were elected by popular vote, as in the rest of the militia, and each unit drafted a formal written covenant to be signed upon enlistment. The militia in the New England colonies were organized in regiments by county. The militia and minutemen companies still were organized by town and trained typically as an entire unit in each town two to four times

5335-435: The front, and pay no attention to the mob, even if they throw stones, bricks, or other missiles; but if you are fired upon and any one of you is hit, your officers will order you to fire. Do not fire into any promiscuous crowds, but select, any man whom you may see aiming at you, and be sure you drop him. Indeed, as the militia regiment transferred between stations, a mob of anti-war supporters and Southern sympathizers attacked

5432-512: The growing numbers of federal troops in Maryland. At this time the legislature seems to have wanted to maintain Maryland's neutrality in the conflict. Many more Union troops arrived. On May 13, Butler sent Union troops into Baltimore and declared martial law . He was replaced as commander of the Department of Annapolis by George Cadwalader , another Brigadier General in the United States Volunteers . Lincoln subsequently had

5529-654: The incident. James Ryder Randall , a teacher in Louisiana but a native Marylander who had lost a friend in the riots, wrote " Maryland, My Maryland " for the Southern cause in response to the riots. The poem was later set to "Lauriger Horatius" (the tune of O Tannenbaum ), a melody popular in the South, and referred to the riots with lines such as "Avenge the patriotic gore / That flecked the streets of Baltimore". It did not become Maryland's state song until 78 years later (1939). After many efforts to revoke this status, it

5626-492: The intention to capture this fort had been boldly proclaimed; your most public thoroughfares were daily patrolled by large numbers of troops, armed and clothed, at least in part, with articles stolen from the United States; and the Federal flag, while waving over the Federal offices, was cut down by some person wearing the uniform of a Maryland soldier. To add the foregoing, an assembly elected in defiance of law, but claiming to be

5723-459: The king's forces out of Boston. The frequent mustering of the minute companies also built unit cohesion and familiarity with live firing, which increased the minute companies' effectiveness. The royal authorities inadvertently gave the new Minuteman mobilization plans validation by several "show the flag" demonstrations by General Gage through 1774. The royal authorities in Boston had seen these increasing numbers of militia appearing and thought that

5820-468: The legislative body of your State, and so recognized by the Executive of Maryland, was debating the Federal compact. If all this be not rebellion, I know not what to call it. I certainly regard it as sufficient legal cause for suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus ." Moreover, Morris wrote, "If, in an experience of thirty-three years, you have never before known the writ to be disobeyed, it

5917-562: The mayor, police chief, entire Board of Police, and city council of Baltimore imprisoned without charges, as well as one sitting U.S. Congressman from Baltimore . Chief Justice Roger B. Taney , also a native of Maryland, ruled on June 4, 1861, in ex parte Merryman that Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus was unconstitutional; but Lincoln ignored the ruling, and in September when Baltimore newspaper editor Frank Key Howard , Francis Scott Key's grandson, criticized this in an editorial he too

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6014-420: The militia and a report on the number and condition of the units' weapons. Another mission was military training to prepare the provincial soldiers for combat and the nature of that combat. Since British doctrine usually counted on the militia as augmentees to the regular forces as skirmishers and irregular auxiliaries, the provincial soldiers were more frequently trained as irregulars or skirmishers rather than in

6111-476: The militia in the provincial legislature. Hutchinson, the Royal Governor, had ignored him, but as tensions mounted, that tactic became less effective. Adams' and his like-minded friends were gaining more traction. In May 1774, Hutchinson was relieved by General Thomas Gage , the new Governor of Massachusetts , who arrived with orders to close the port of Boston. Instead of tamping down disagreement between

6208-411: The militia muskets if the muskets they bought for their duties were old or inoperative. These pieces gradually appeared in quantity, but neither fowling pieces nor rifles had bayonets . Some colonies purchased muskets, cartridge boxes, and bayonets from England, and maintained armories within the colony. Muskets were usually shipped to Crown authorities, where they became provincial arms and then sold to

6305-489: The militia would not interfere if they sent a sizable force to Concord to seize munitions and stores there (which they considered the King's property, since it was paid for to defend the colonies from the American Indian threat). The British officers were proven wrong. Shooting erupted at Lexington . There is still a debate as to whether it was a colonist or a British soldier who fired the first shot. The militia left

6402-415: The motive being that ranking officers in the militia could be considered strong Loyalists. Officers were then elected by their regiments. In turn, the officers then appointed one third of their militia regiment as Minutemen. Other counties followed Worcester's lead, electing new militia officers and appointing Minutemen. The British practiced formations with their weapons, focusing on marching formations on

6499-538: The organized Minuteman concept colony-wide was the Picket Guard, a concept of a rapid responder that never came to fruition because the legislation in the Colony of Massachusetts House of Representatives was never passed because the war ended. Members of the minutemen, in contrast to the regular militia, were no more than 30 years old, and were chosen for their enthusiasm, political reliability, and strength. They were

6596-501: The organized militia. The Continental Army regulars received European-style military training later in the American Revolutionary War, but the militias did not get much of this. Like the militia organization itself, training day had a large administrative mission. Four times each year, militia companies were legally obligated to document all persons living within their areas of responsibility who qualified for

6693-557: The provincials. For 50 miles around Boston, militiamen were marching in response. By noon the next day, almost 4,000 people were on the common in Cambridge. The provincials got the judges to resign and leave. Gage backed off from trying to seat a court in Worcester. The colonials in Worcester met and came up with a new militia mobilization plan in their County Convention. The Convention required that all current militia officers resign;

6790-617: The rear companies of the regiment with "bricks, paving stones, and pistols." In response, several soldiers fired into the mob, beginning a giant brawl between the soldiers, the mob, and the Baltimore police . In the end, the soldiers got to the Camden Station, and the police were able to block the crowd from them. The regiment had left behind much of their equipment, including their marching band's instruments. Five soldiers (Corporal Sumner Henry Needham of Company I and privates Luther C. Ladd , Charles Taylor, Addison Whitney and Sergeant John Ames of Company D) were killed or mortally wounded in

6887-403: The remainder of the American Revolution, militias moved to adopting the minuteman model for rapid mobilization. With this rapid mustering of forces, the militia proved its value by augmenting the Continental Army on a temporary basis, occasionally leading to instances of numerical superiority. This was seen at the Battles of Hubbardton and Bennington in the north and at Camden and Cowpens in

6984-473: The rest of the militia. Some also expended time, money, and effort to make sure their Minutemen were well-armed. For example, Captain Isaac Davis who was a gunsmith in his civilian occupation built a firing range on his farm to train his men in firing and drill. He also made sure that every man in his company had a good musket, cartridge box, canteen, and bayonet. This was one of the reasons that his company

7081-423: The retreat. Militiamen knew the local countryside and were familiar with "skulking" or "Indian warfare". They used trees and other obstacles to cover themselves from British gunfire and pursuit by British soldiers, while the militia were firing and moving. This kept the British under sporadic fire, and caused them to exhaust their limited ammunition. Only the timely arrival of a relief column under Lord Percy prevented

7178-454: The riot. After the April 19 riot, some small skirmishes occurred throughout Baltimore between citizens and police for the next month, but a sense of normalcy returned as the city was cleaned up. Mayor Brown and Maryland Governor Hicks implored President Lincoln to send no further troops through Maryland to avoid further confrontations. However, as Lincoln remarked to a peace delegation from

7275-471: The riot. About 36 men of the regiment were also wounded; many were left behind. At least 12 civilians were also killed. It is unknown how many more civilians were injured. Luther C. Ladd is often called the first Union soldier killed in action during the American Civil War . The same day, after the attack on the soldiers, the office of the Baltimore Wecker , a German-language newspaper,

7372-409: The shortest notice. These minutemen were to comprise one-quarter of the whole militia, to be enlisted under the direction of the field-officers, and divide into companies, consisting of at least 50 men each. The privates were to choose their captains and subalterns, and these officers were to form the companies into battalions, and chose the field-officers to command the same. Hence the minute-men became

7469-529: The situation. Since Annapolis, the capital, was occupied by Federal troops, and Baltimore was harboring many pro-Confederate mobs, Hicks directed the legislature to meet in Frederick , in the predominantly Unionist western part of the state. The legislature met on April 26; on April 29, it voted 53–13 against secession, though it also voted not to reopen rail links with the North, and requested that Lincoln remove

7566-457: The south. Cowpens is notable in that Daniel Morgan used the militia's strengths and weaknesses skilfully to attain the double-envelopment of Tarleton 's forces. Historian M. L. Brown states that some of these men mastered the difficult handling of a rifle, though few became expert. Brown quotes Continental Army soldier Benjamin Thompson, who expressed the "common sentiment" at the time, which

7663-535: The time the militia was ready, the British regulars had already captured the arms at Cambridge and Charlestown and had returned to Boston. The reorganization increased the total size of the militia as well. During the French and Indian Wars , the counties in the New England colonies had provided provincial regiments to the armies of the Crown. In Massachusetts, Middlesex County provided two while most had provided one (except Worcester which had provided three). The new reorganization provided six regiments of militia with

7760-530: The towns or individuals who would pay for them as only the wealthy few could purchase arms directly from arms manufacturers. On several occasions, the Crown authorities had issued muskets as recruitment tools, such as for the 1709 Quebec expedition and the 1710 Port Royal expedition. The Crown often used such opportunities to clear their storehouses of outmoded and inferior weapons, but local Crown authorities were horrified and it became more usual for provincial troops to turn in muskets unless they bought them for use in

7857-511: The traditional dense lines and columns. When used in conjunction with continental regulars, the militia would frequently fire ragged irregular volleys from a forward skirmish line or from the flanks of the Continental Army, while Continental soldiers held the center. Minutemen tended to get more training in line tactics and drill than the regular militia. Many Minutemen company commanders put their men through more training separate from

7954-407: The train cars and blocked the route. When it became apparent that they could not travel by horse-drawn railroad cars over the connecting track between the stations, the four companies, about 240 soldiers, got out of the cars and marched in formation through the city. However, the mob followed the soldiers, causing damage and placing obstructions until they finally blocked the soldiers. The mob attacked

8051-529: The two stations had to be pulled by horses along Pratt Street . Sometime after leaving Philadelphia, the unit's colonel, Edward F. Jones , received information that passage through Baltimore "would be resisted". According to his later report, Jones went through the railroad cars and gave this order: The regiment will march through Baltimore in column of sections, arms at will. You will undoubtedly be insulted, abused, and, perhaps, assaulted, to which you must pay no attention whatever, but march with your faces to

8148-484: The unit headed on to Baltimore, where they anticipated a slow transit through the city. Because of an ordinance preventing the construction of steam rail lines through the city, there was no direct rail connection between the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad 's President Street Station and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 's Camden Station (ten blocks to the west). Rail cars that transferred between

8245-488: Was a civil conflict on Friday, April 19, 1861, on Pratt Street , Baltimore , Maryland. It occurred between antiwar "Copperhead" Democrats (the largest party in Maryland ) and other Confederate sympathizers on one side, and on the other, members of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania state militia regiments en route to the national capital at Washington who had been called up for federal service . The fighting began at

8342-400: Was completely wrecked and the building seriously damaged by the same mob. The Wecker's founder, Carl Heinrich Schnauffer , as well as its prominent employees had fled Germany after the failed revolution of 1848–49 . The publisher, William Schnauffer, and the editor, Wilhelm Rapp , whose lives were threatened, were compelled to leave town. The publisher later returned and resumed publication of

8439-471: Was formed in which each town was required to participate. The Second Indian War broke out in 1689, and militiamen throughout the Thirteen Colonies began to muster in preparation for the fighting. In 1690, Colonel William Phips led 600 men to push back the French. Two years later he became governor of Massachusetts. When the French and Indians raided Massachusetts in 1702, Governor Phips created

8536-613: Was imprisoned without trial. Federal troops imprisoned the young newspaper editor in Fort McHenry , which, as he noted, was the same fort where the Star Spangled Banner had been waving "o'er the land of the free" in his grandfather's song. In 1863 Howard wrote about his experience as a political prisoner at Fort McHenry in the book Fourteen Months in the American Bastille ; two of the publishers selling

8633-599: Was in the lead of Colonel Barrett's Middlesex Minutemen regiment as the Rebels marched down to face the regulars at the Old North Bridge at the Battle of Concord. There were still some cases where men in the Minuteman companies had to be provided arms. In Concord's two Minutemen companies, fifteen of the 104 still needed to be provided with muskets from the town's arsenal. Their experience suited irregular warfare. In

8730-647: Was passing through the city. McKeldin Square has been designated as Baltimore's zone for protests, where it is legal to exercise one's First Amendment rights and pass out pamphlets. Permits are required for groups with groups of 25 or more requiring a permit. On October 4, 2011, it became the location of the Occupy Baltimore protests until their December 13 eviction. 39°17′10″N 76°36′47″W  /  39.28611°N 76.61306°W  / 39.28611; -76.61306 This Baltimore location article

8827-536: Was removed from being the state song in 2021. On September 17, 1861, the day the legislature reconvened to discuss these later events and Lincoln's possibly unconstitutional actions, twenty-seven state legislators (one-third of the Maryland General Assembly ) were arrested and jailed by federal troops, using Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus , and in further defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice's ex parte Merryman ruling. As

8924-479: Was sent out and four days later, after harsh skirmishes with the Wampanoags, three companies arrived to help the locals. The expedition took heavy losses: two towns were raided, and one 80-man company was killed entirely, including their commander. That winter, a thousand militiamen pushed out the Wampanoags. In response to the success of the Wampanoags, in the spring of 1676 an alarm system of riders and signals

9021-490: Was stymied by Governor Hutchinson from passing a bill. As a result, resisting legislators, including Samuel Adams being among the leaders, set up Committees of Correspondence in parallel with their fellow Patriots in Connecticut , New Hampshire , and Rhode Island that recommended that the militia increase in size and reorganize and form special companies of minutemen, who should be equipped and prepared to march at

9118-484: Was that minutemen were notoriously poor marksmen with rifles: "Instead of being the best marksmen in the world and picking off every Regular that was to be seen, the continual firing which they kept up by the week and the month has had no other effect than to waste their ammunition and convince the King's troops that they are really not really so formidable." There was a shortage of ammunition and supplies, and what they had were constantly being seized by British patrols. As

9215-600: Was the Baltimore riot that pushed the two sides over the edge into full-scale war, "because then was shed the first blood in a conflict between the North and the South; then a step was taken which made compromise or retreat almost impossible; then passions on both sides were aroused which could not be controlled". On July 10, 1861, a grand jury of the United States District Court indicted Samuel Mactier, Lewis Bitter, James McCartney, Philip Casmire, Michael Hooper and Richard H. Mitchell for their part in

9312-461: Was very common for their counterpart militia company to contain relatives and friends. Some towns in Massachusetts had a long history of designating a portion of their militia as minutemen, with "minute companies" constituting special units within the militia system whose members underwent additional training and held themselves ready to respond at a minute's notice to emergencies, which gave rise to their name as Minutemen. The immediate predecessor to

9409-532: Was very familiar to the local militia. In time, however, loyalists such as John Butler and Robert Rogers mustered equally capable irregular forces ( Butler's Rangers and the Queen's Rangers , led by Englishman John Graves Simcoe ). In addition, many British commanders learned from experience and effectively modified their light infantry tactics and battle dress to suit conditions in North America. Through

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