Militia (United States) in the context of "History of the United States Army"

The National Guard is a state-based military force that becomes part of the U.S. military's reserve components of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force when activated for federal missions. It is a military reserve force composed of National Guard military members or units of each state, the territories of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, for a total of 54 separate organizations. It is officially created under Congress's Article I, Section 8 enumerated power to "raise and support Armies". All members of the National Guard are also members of the organized militia of the United States as defined by 10 U.S.C. § 246. National Guard units are under the dual control of U.S. state governments and the U.S. federal government.

The majority of National Guard soldiers and airmen hold a civilian job full-time while serving part-time as a National Guard member. These part-time guardsmen are augmented by a full-time cadre of Active Guard & Reserve (AGR) personnel in both the Army National Guard and Air National Guard, plus Army Reserve Technicians in the Army National Guard and Air Reserve Technicians (ART) in the Air National Guard.

The Regular Army of the United States succeeded the Continental Army as the country's permanent, professional land-based military force. In modern times, the professional core of the United States Army continues to be called the Regular Army (often abbreviated as "RA"). From the time of the American Revolution until after the Spanish–American War, state militias and volunteer regiments organized by the states (but thereafter controlled by federal authorities and federal generals in time of war) supported the smaller Regular Army of the United States. These volunteer regiments came to be called United States Volunteers (USV) in contrast to the Regular United States Army (USA). During the American Civil War, about 97 percent of the Union Army was United States Volunteers.

In contemporary use, the term Regular Army refers to the full-time active component of the United States Army, as distinguished from the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard. A fourth component, the Army of the United States, has been inactive since the suspension of the draft in 1973 and the U.S. armed forces became an all-volunteer armed force.

The Army National Guard (ARNG) is an organized militia force and a federal military reserve force of the United States Army. It is simultaneously part of two different organizations: the Militia of the United States (consisting of the ARNG of each state, most territories, and Washington D.C.), as well as the federal ARNG, as part of the National Guard as a whole (which includes the Air National Guard). It is divided into subordinate units stationed in each state or insular area, responsible to their respective governors or other head-of-government.

The Guard's origins are usually traced to the city of Salem, Massachusetts, in 1636. That year a regiment of militia drilled for the first time to defend a multi-community area within what is now the United States.

The National Guard is a military reserve organization of the United States Armed Forces that is based in each of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and three U.S. territories. It is among the regular reserve components that become part of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force when activated for federal missions. The National Guard is officially created under Congress's Article I, Section 8 enumerated power to "raise and support Armies". All members of the National Guard are also members of the organized militia of the United States as defined by 10 U.S.C. § 246. National Guard units are under the dual control of U.S. state or territorial governments and the U.S. federal government.

The majority of National Guard soldiers and airmen hold a civilian job full-time while serving part-time as a National Guard member. These part-time guardsmen are augmented by a full-time cadre of Active Guard and Reserve (AGR) personnel in both the Army National Guard and Air National Guard, plus Army Reserve Technicians in the Army National Guard and Air Reserve Technicians (ART) in the Air National Guard.

The Battle of Rhode Island (also known as the Battle of Quaker Hill) took place on August 29, 1778. Continental Army and militia forces under the command of Major-general John Sullivan had been besieging British forces in Newport, Rhode Island on Aquidneck Island, but they had finally abandoned their siege and were withdrawing to the northern part of the island. The British then sortied, supported by recently arrived Royal Navy ships, and they attacked the retreating Americans. The battle ended inconclusively, but the Continental forces withdrew to the mainland and left Aquidneck Island in British hands.

The battle was the first attempt at cooperation between French and American forces following France's entry into the war as an American ally. Operations against Newport were planned in conjunction with a French fleet and troops, but they were frustrated in part by difficult relations between the commanders, as well as by a storm that damaged both the French and British fleets shortly before joint operations were to begin. The battle was also notable for the participation of the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, a multiracial unit under the command of Colonel Christopher Greene.

The Virginia militia is an armed force composed of all citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia capable of bearing arms. The Virginia militia was established in 1607 as part of the English militia system. Militia service in Virginia was compulsory for all free males. The main purpose of the Crown's militia was to repel invasions and insurrections and to enforce the laws of the colony.

The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force (USAF), as well as the "air militia" of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It, along with the Army National Guard component of each state, district, commonwealth or territory, makes up the National Guard of each region as applicable. Additionally, the ANG and the United States Air Force Reserve constitute the two air reserve components of the USAF.

When Air National Guard units are used under the jurisdiction of the state governor they are fulfilling their militia role. However, when federalized by order of the president of the United States, ANG units become an active part of the U.S. Air Force. They are jointly administered by the states and the National Guard Bureau, a joint bureau of the Army and Air Force that oversees the U.S. National Guard.

United States Volunteers (also called U.S. Volunteers, U.S. Volunteer Army, among other variations) were military volunteers called upon during wartime to help the United States Army. They were separate from the Regular Army and the militia.

Until the Militia Act of 1903, the land forces of the United States were divided into three organizations: