Existing comment:
Parade Ground Soldiers: The Passing of the Old Militia:
-- "Not one man in twenty has any fair knowledge of the shooting qualities of his rife." -- Chandler P. Chapman -- Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Wisconsin -- 1884.
Interest in the military waned after the Civil War and Wisconsin government officials busied themselves with other matters. One of the biggest challenges was caring for the thousands of disabled state veterans who were no longer the responsibility of the Federal medical system. In addition, state military authorities turned their attention to tabulating statistical information about the war, dealing with stockpiles of surplus weapons and explosives, and verifying service records so that enlistment bounties could be adjusted and pension claims processed.
Both state and national government leaders were convinced the United States faced no serious military threats. Any future need for troops, they thought, would rekindle the "spirit of 1861" and lead to the outpouring of volunteers. In fact, two-thirds of the states did not bother to maintain even the semblance of a formal militia system.
Wisconsin, however, continued to maintain organized militia groups. Twenty-four companies, for example, registered with the Adjutant General's office in 1870. But these organizations were primarily social and political. They drilled and marched in gaudy uniforms with little in the way of state control or assistance other than the gift of obsolete Civil War weapons which the state was unable to store. These parade ground soldiers harkened back to a bygone era. |