250 years ago this month, General George Washington had a problem. The Continental Army campaigning in Boston and in Canada was made up of men who had agreed to serve through the end of 1775. The end of their term of service was rapidly approaching, with some regiments releasing their soldiers even before December ended.
While the army’s officials worked to convince soldiers to reenlist for another year, staying away from their homes, livelihoods, and families for that long was too large a commitment for many. Even some who were willing to reenlist insisted on returning home first to see their families and get warm winter clothing. It was also difficult to recruit new soldiers to fill the regiments. Meanwhile, the need for soldiers had not decreased—without enough forces to continue the American siege of Boston, the British army might be able to reassert control over Massachusetts.
For a temporary solution, Washington called on the people who had formed the fighting force at the Battle of Lexington and Concord: the militia. He reached out to the governments of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, requesting that they send 5,000 militia troops to serve at Roxbury and Cambridge from December 10-January 15. This relatively short period of service would, Washington hoped, buy time for newly-enlisted reinforcements to arrive.
The Massachusetts government complied, issuing this resolution on December 1. “The commanding Officer of the Militia… in each Town… is directed, to cause the Militia in such Town to be mustered, without Delay, and the Number of Men affixed to his Town respectively, to be inlisted, to serve in the American Army…” Each town was assigned a quota of men to enlist, ranging from 98 for Dartmouth to only 3 for Hubbardston. Some areas were not included in the draft at all, like Berkshire County on the western edge of the colony. The resolution ordered a total of 3089 men to be raised. Through their service, they would keep the siege going until help could arrive.
Learn more about the resolution (object ID MS.7365, property of Robert Nittolo) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database: https://fortticonderoga.catalogaccess.com/archives/31166