Gilbert Ed - Patriot Militiaman in the American Revolution 1775-82

This electronic edition published in 2015 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Osprey Publishing,
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ISBN: 978-1-4728-0754-0

E-book ISBN: 978-1-4728-0756-4

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For our parents and ancestors Oscar E. Gilbert Senior (Colonel Thomas Brandon), Elsie Kendrick Gilbert (Privates Abel Kendrick and Lewis Turner), James D. Rittmann Senior (Colonel George Dashiell, Somerset County Militia, Maryland; Private William Mardis, 11th Virginia Regiment and Virginia Militia; and Private Robert Marshall, 6th Regiment Maryland Line), and Sarah Wintter Rittmann Ponder (Lieutenant Richard Hodges Junior, Upper 96th Regiment, South Carolina Militia).

We would like to acknowledge the cooperation of Marti Mangiello and the staff of Inn of the Patriots, Grover, NC; Michael Scoggins, Southern Revolutionary War Institute, York, SC; Bobby Gilmer Moss, Professor Emeritus, Limestone College, Gaffney, SC; Charles Baxley, Southern Campaign website; re-enactors Bob McCann, Robert Ryals, Ricky Roberts and others; Joe Epley; Kara Newcomer of the US Marine Corps History Division; and Elizabeth Gilbert-Hillier for research in the British National Archives. Archival resources were provided by the Fondren Library of Rice University, Houston, TX; the Houston Texas Public Library, particularly the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research; and the National Archives I, the Library of Congress, and the Daughters of the American Revolution Library in Washington, DC. Imagery was provided by Military and Historical Image Bank; the National Archives II, College Park, MD (NARA); the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library, Providence, RI; the American Revolutionary War Living History Association, Grover, NC; the US Marine Corps History Division MCB Quantico, VA (USMCHD); and the British National Archives.

Readers may care to note that the original paintings from which the colour plates in this book were prepared are available for private sale. The Publishers retain all reproduction copyright whatsoever. All enquiries should be addressed to:

www.steve-noon.co.uk

The Publishers regret that they can enter into no correspondence upon this matter.

Osprey Publishing is supporting the Woodland Trust, the UK's leading woodland conservation charity, by funding the dedication of trees.

When war begins, then Hell opens. English proverb

Americans have a romanticized view of the militias role in the War for Independence. American generals of the era knew that disciplined Regulars would be necessary to win independence, and on the whole the militia played a relatively minor role. The militias inability to stand in the face of a resolute British attack often brought disaster upon their companions of the Continental Line. In 1776 George Washington said if I was called upon to declare upon Oath, whether the Militia have been most serviceable or hurtful upon the whole, I should subscribe to the latter.

The purpose of the Whig militia was the traditional role of local defense against raids and local offensives by the British and their Indian allies. The Patriots those rebelling against the Crown more commonly called themselves Whigs; see glossary. The period-appropriate term Indian is used here, as opposed to Native American. Another common role of militia was to keep their Tory neighbors under control. Nowhere was this function more important than in the Delmarva Peninsula east of Chesapeake Bay shared by Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. The breadbasket of the Revolution supplied food moved by coastal vessels for Patriot armies to the north and south. The Royal Navy often controlled the Bay, intercepting water traffic and raiding at will. Militia often proved incapable of opposing even small landing parties.