Abstract

Although inclusion into the National Guard brought uniformity, professionalism, and better equipment to state militia, it weakened the vital bonds of some militia companies with their communities. In the nineteenth century, the Richardson Light Guard of Wakefield, Massachusetts, thrived under generous patrons, a supportive town, and a relatively wealthy state government, but after it became part of the National Guard in 1916, the deep links with its home community steadily weakened, then broke. What had once been an institution of the town passed to the state, then to the federal government. Increased federal involvement helped an elite militia company become an average National Guard company.