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The Minutemen in Virginia were volunteers called forth from the Virginia militia. They trained more often then the regular militia to enhance unit cohesion and effectiveness to mass firepower as was the standard tactic of 18th century warfare. The Minutemen were merely better trained than the regular militia. In Virginia the militia and the Minutemen were required at all times to be armed and ready to immediately repel invasions and insurrections. The Minutemen were actually a reconstituted form of the Independent Companies started by George Mason and came into existence after the Independent companies were under the central control of the Virginia Committee of Safety. The state of Virginia was divided into 16 military districts and the minutemen were formed. They only lasted one year from July 1775 to October 1776 as the severe military manpower shortage in the Continental line drew down the available men required to constitute the companies. They were then folded back into the regular militia. George Mason Jr. was a member of the Minutemen. For actual Acts of the Colony of Virginia creating the Minutemen see http://www.virginia1774.org/MilitiaActs.html Rudolph DiGiacinto Founder &c. Virginia1774.org

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What do minute men do?

Minute men are militia men who were able to ready their arms in minutes.


What were Massachuetts militia men that were said to be ready on a minute notice called?

minute men


What term refers to citizen soldiers?

minute men or Militia


What were the members of the coloinal militia called?

minute men


Well prepared militia companies in Massachusetts were known as what?

Minute Men?


Who were the first minute men that fought and British regulars?

The "minute men " were a special units within the general militia. They were more like our rangers or seals of today. The first minute men unit to engage the British was in Concord. We have done a disservice to these brave men by not recognizing them as a special unit in the revolution. Usually the term "minute man" is used to refer to the entire militia and that is not what they were.


What role did the militia play in the early tensions between the colonies and great Britain?

The militia played a big role in early tensions between the colonies and Great Britain. For example, the minute men were militia men trained to right on a minutes notice. They were the people who fought the British in the battle of Lexington and Concord.


What is another name for the name Minutemen?

American militia. The minute men were American militia that would be ready to fight on a minutes notice during the American Revolution.


Small handpicked militia force that was named this because of their ability to fight at a minutes notice?

Minute-men


Where did the Minute men fought British regulars for the first time?

Minutemen fought British regulars for the first time in Lexington and Concord.


What was another name for colonial militia men?

State Defence Forces, State Defence Corps, State Military Reserve


Was the minute men the militia during the revolutionary war?

They were a part of the militia. In every colony except Pennsylvania, every male between 18 and 60 was part of the militia. He had to provide himself with a weapon and equipment, and muster several times a year for drills. In the New England states, as tensions grew in the year or two before the Revolution started, militia units began forming "minute companies", of young, strong men, who were to be prepared to drop whatever they were doing and hurry to the militia rallying point agreed to before hand, at a minutes notice.