Military History

Histories of battles and military episodes related to a particular war are included in the chronological sections of this bibliography where appro­priate. Histories of regiments and other military units are legion. They are discussed below, in the essay on “Biographical Directories.” Inter­ested researchers can find much material in the subject catalog at the State Library under Connecticut subentries “Artillery,” “Cavalry,” “Infantry,” “Militia,” etc. Listed here are general treatments of Connecticut’s military history and miscellaneous items relating to the subject not elsewhere in­cluded.

Brainard, Newton C. “Connecticut’s First Fort.” CHS Bulletin 26(April, 1961)2:49-55. At Saybrook. Layout of structure; inventory in 1646; history to 1812. Two photographs taken in 1871.

Burpee, Charles W. “Connecticut in the Wars.” In History of Connecticut in Monog­raphic Form. (New York: States History Company, 1925)4:1-173. The author, a newspaper editor, served in the Connecticut National Guard and attained the rank of colonel in World War I. This is a plodding narrative of Connec­ticut’s part in all of the nation’s wars from the Revolution to 1919.

—“Connecticut Soldiery.” Connecticut Magazine 3(1897)3:254-65. An illustrated piece on the Connecticut National Guard as it existed and trained in 1897. In­cludes some very quaint photographs of military exercises at the state training grounds, “Spiritualist Camp,” in East Lyme.

Case, James R. “The Tercentenary of the Connecticut Artillery.” Field Artillery Journal 26(1936).

Connecticut Adjutant General’s Office. Record of Service of Connecticut Men in the Army, Navy, and Marine Carps of the United States in the Spanish-American War, Phillipine Insurrection and China Relief Expedition. Hartford: Adjutant General, 1919. A list of men and officers with service notes on each and very short his­tories of the Connecticut regiments involved in the actions.

Ferling, John. “The New England Soldier: A Study in Changing Perceptions.” American Quarterly 33(Spring, 1981).

Fuller, Eleanor E. Captain George Denison: A Biography. Mystic Mystic Seaport Museum, 1941. A published Connecticut College master’s thesis. Denison (1621-1694), a Cromwellian officer, came in 1651 to New London, where he was a civil and military officer, merchant, and Indian fighter. This work is based on the Denison papers at the CHS. Thirty-three pages: citations and bib­liography.

Gates, Stewart Lewis. “Disorder and Social Organization: The Militia in Connect­icut Public Life, 1660-1860.” Doctoral dissertation, University of Connecticut, 1975. “This study surveyed the Connecticut militia in relation to the mainte­nance of social cohesion from 1660 to 1860. It examined the militia both as an instrument used to suppress popular disorders, and as a social institution that reflected the nature of social cohesion and the forces of social dissolution. “Where the colonial militia was practically synonymous with the men of the col­ony, the nineteenth-century militia was one among many competing associational, ethnic, occupational, and interest groups. For men with a military incli­nation, the volunteer companies offered fraternal association. More impor­tantly, the surge of what authorities considered illegitimate riots from 1830 to the Civil War gave the militia a new reason for existence. Long years of relative peace and a decreased Federal reliance on the militia for defense left the vol­unteer militia men searching for a justification for state support. They found such justification as the militia became policemen for industrial America.” (from the abstract)

Marcus, Richard Henry, “The Militia of Colonial Connecticut, 1636-1775: An In­stitutional Study.” Doctoral dissertation. University of Colorado, 1965. This study, under the direction of Carl Ubbelonde, seeks to examine the militia of the colony both as an institution and as a component of the defense system of the northern British American colonies.

“The fighting potential of the Connecticut militia, like that of most sporadically trained and amateur led troops, was limited. Propelled by a momentary en­thusiasm it could win important victories, but was equally capable of de­generating into a rabble through defeat or inactivity. Nonetheless, colonial conditions, economic factors, and tradition made a militia format the only practical answer to Connecticut’s military problems.” (from the abstract)

Mix, Irene H. Connecticut’s Activities in the Wars of the Country: A Summary. Washington, D.C., 1932. An official government pamphlet.

Wiedersheim, William A. “The New Haven Grays.” Journal of the NHCHS 26(Spring, 1979)2:20-32. A company of young gentlemen, founded in 1816, which served in the Civil War, on the Mexican border, and in World Wars I and II. Heavily illustrated.