A Brittle Sword: The Kentucky Militia, 1776-1912

by Richard G. Stone Jr.

Overview

As an outpost of the advancing frontier, Kentucky played a crucial military role. Kentucky's state militia, which, under federal law, enrolled every able-bodied male citizen aged eighteen to forty-five, helped to secure the West for white settlers during the bloody Indian wars. Its members suffered defeat, capture, and death in the War of 1812, but also contributed to victories in the battles of the Thames and New Orleans. Though some Kentucky volunteers campaigned in the Mexican-American War, the general militia was moribund by the middle of the nineteenth century. Its infrequent musters had degenerated into sometimes mirthful and sometimes tragic frolics.

A Brittle Sword provides a lively interpretation of Kentucky's citizen-soldiers and their role in the military history of both the state and the nation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813192772
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	11/11/2009
Series:	Kentucky Bicentennial Bookshelf
Pages:	138
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Richard G. Stone, Jr. is an associate professor of history at Western Kentucky University.

Table of Contents

Virginia's Western Sword
Citizen-Soldiers of Kentucky
Decision at Fallen Timbers
Army of the Commonwealth
From Tippecanoe to New Orleans
Corn Stalk Militia to the Rear
Inflamed Borderland
Violent Decades
Nationalizing a Citizens' Army