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.