Provincial troops were military units raised by colonial governors and legislatures in British America for extended operations during the 18th century. The provincial troops differed from the militia, in that they were a full-time military organization conducting extended operations. They differed from the regular British Army in that they were recruited only for one campaign season at the time. These forces were often recruited through a quota system applied to the militia. Officers were appointed by the provincial governments. During the eighteenth century militia service was increasingly seen as a prerogative of the social and economic well-established, while provincial troops came to be recruited from different and less deep-rooted members of the community.
The first provincial forces in British North America were organized in the 1670s. The major operations during King William's War were conducted by provincial troops from Massachusetts Bay. During Queen Anne's War provincial troops from Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Hampshire made up the bulk of the English forces. During King George's War the land forces that took Louisbourg were entirely supplied by Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. During the French and Indian War the imperial government in London took an increasingly more leading part, relegating the provincial troops to a non-combat role, largely as pioneers and transportation troops, while the bulk of the fighting was done by the regular British Army. However the contributions of Connecticut, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island were essential.
Organization
During the French and Indian Wars, provincial troops separate of the militia were raised by the colonial governors and legislatures for extended operations. These forces were often recruited through a quota system applied to the militia; drafts would only be used when enough volunteers didn't sign up. Bounties were used to boast volunteer enlistment. The officers were appointed by the provincial governments; the field officers were mostly men of political importance and members of the legislatures with many years service in the militia, while the junior officers were efficient and popular militia officers. The provincial troops were enlisted for specific campaign seasons, and organized anew each spring, yet most of the officers served year after year. The colonial governments also appointed persons in charge of logistics, often prominent merchants who had the business acumen and knowledge to run the extensive logistic operations required.Shrader 1991, pp. 5–6.Robert K.Wright Jr, "Colonial Military Experience." The Society of Colonial Wars in Connecticut. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
The distinction between the militia and the provincial troops was not always understood in contemporary Britain, and Benjamin Franklin tried to explain the differences in a 1756 letter to his English friend Peter Collinson. The men serving on the frontier, Franklin clarified, were not militia but full-time soldiers enlisted to fight for a specific period of time, and paid by the colonial governments. In contrast, the militia were men following their normal business, mustering on specific days to train, and ready to fight only in case of an emergency. Massachusetts Bay was the colony that made the largest contribution to the war effort during the French and Indian Wars. In the seventeenth century provincial forces were first raised for offensive operations through volunteers from the militia regiments. After King William's War, the colonial legislature enacted new laws that embodied the basic principles that would govern the colony's military forces during a century of warfare. The militia's role was relegated from a prospective combat force, to "a combination of home guard, draft-board, and [...] supply network," forming the base from which the provincial troops were recruited and supplied.Anderson 1984, pp. 3, 25–26.
Recruitment and social composition
During the eighteenth century militia service was increasingly seen as a prerogative of the social and economic well-established, while provincial troops came to be recruited from different and less deep-rooted members of the community. Legislation often excluded several categories of men from the militia that the colonial governments were perfectly willing to enlist as provincial troops, such as settled Indians, free persons of color, servants, and vagrants. The provincial troops were recruited from the elements of the population that were easiest to do without; young men without property, with no stake in the society. In order to fill the quotas assigned to them by the imperial government, the several colonies used bounties as carrots, and draft as a stick. Offering money induced propertyless men to enlist, while the draft often was directed at the elements of society that the colonial governments saw as problematic, such as vagrants or disorderly young men. Drafted men could hire substitutes, and they were most often belonging to the least well-established groups. Those who were recruited to the provincial troops in Connecticut and Virginia were men that had been outside the organized militia and hence lacking the social status suggested by militia membership. But in Massachusetts the provincial soldiers came from segments of the population more reflective of the society at large, although research done only covers the first year of the French and Indian War and it's possible that the social composition changed over time.Anderson 1984, p. 28.Higginbotham 1987, pp. 238–240, 242–243.Cox 2004, pp. 8–9.
Comparison between militia, associators, provincial troops, and regulars Organized militia Associators Provincial troops British Army Combat role Home guard Home guard in the Province of Pennsylvania, in lieu of a militia Extended operations within the North American theater of operations Extended operations without global geographical limitations.Main occupation Civilian Civilian Military MilitaryEnlistment In theory all able-bodied men, but in reality only those who could equip, pay and subsist themselves. Only those who could equip, pay and subsist themselves. In theory only volunteers, but sometimes drafted men. In theory only volunteers, but sometimes also men raised through impressment. Service obligation Part-time; 16–60 years of age Part-time; 16–60 years of age Full-time; one campaign season Full-time; life, although during the French and Indian war, also for three years or for the duration of the war. Articles of War No No Only when in conjoint operations with the British army Yes Pay Unpaid Militiaman Unpaid Volunteer Colonial government Crown Clothing Militiaman himself Volunteer himself Colonial government Crown Arms and equipment Militiaman himself Volunteer himself Colonial government; Crown from 1758. Crown Subsistence Militiaman himself Volunteer himself Colonial government; Crown during conjoint operations with the British Army. Crown Source:Coakley & Conn 1975, pp. 11–12.McConnell 2004, p. 23, 58.Anderson 1984, pp. 13. 27, 50–52.Brumwell 2002, p. 23.Cox 2004, pp. 7–11.Newland 2002, pp. 36–45.
King William's War The first provincial forces in British North America were organized in the 1670s, when several colonial governments raised ranger companies for one year's paid service to protect their borders.Shrader 1991, p. 6.
Port Royal 1690 Port Royal in French Acadia was taken in 1690, by one provincial regiment of foot from Massachusetts under William Phips. The regiment was organized in seven companies and contained 446 officers and men at the time of the French surrender, although it had a strength of about 700 when leaving Boston."Here followeth a List of the Names of all the Superiour Officers under the Command of the Honurable Sr. William Phipps, Knight; General of their Majesties forces for this present Expedition, against Nova Scotia or L'Accadie• and also the Number of all the Inf••••• Officers Sea-men and private Centinels belonging to the said Forces both by sea and Land." Evans Early American Imprint Collection. Retrieved 2017-3-01.Watkins 1898, p. 2.
Quebec 1690 The land forces of the Quebec Expedition 1690 were entirely composed of provincial troops from Massachusetts under William Phipps. The 2,300 foot soldiers were organized in four regiments and one Indian company:Watkins 1898, pp. 26–28. Essex Regiment Middlesex Regiment Suffolk Regiment Plymouth Regiment
Queen Anne's War Carolina and Florida Most combat operations of the province of Carolina during Queen Anne's War were conducted by Indian allies, such as the Yamasee and the Creeks, although Carolinians participated in the St. Augustine expedition 1702 and defense of Charles Town 1706. The militia, which in war time included armed slaves, was supplemented by a small provincial full-time force of garrison troops and rangers.Ivers 2016, pp. 19–20.
Port Royal 1707 The expeditions to Port Royal in 1707 were made up entirely of provincial troops from Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island:Drake 1897, p. 227.Waters, Goodhue & Wise 1917, p. 36.Parkman 1983, p. 420. The First or Red Regiment, twelve companies in red uniforms, under Colonel Francis Wainwright of Ipswich, Massachusetts. The Second or Blue Regiment, eleven regiments in blue uniforms, under Winthrop Hilton of Exeter, New Hampshire.
Port Royal 1710 The expedition to Port Royal in 1710 contained both regular troops from the British Army, and four provincial regiments from Massachusetts Bay, Connecticut, and New Hampshire:Drake 1897, p. 259. Hobby's Regiment (Massachusetts Bay), a Boston regiment under Colonel Sir Charles Hobby of Boston, Massachusetts.Dalton 1904, p. 283. Tailer's Regiment (ditto), under Colonel William Tailer of Dorchester, Massachusetts.Dalton 1904, p. 285. Whiting's Regiment (Connecticut), under Colonel William Whiting of Hartford, Connecticut.Dalton 1904, p. 284. Walton's Regiment (New Hampshire), under Colonel Shadrach Walton of New Castle, New Hampshire.Dalton 1904, p. 286.
Quebec 1711 In addition to the regular troops of the British Army, the expedition to Quebec 1711 contained two provincial regiments from Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire:Dalton 1904, p. 293.Lyons 2010, p. 202. Vetch's Regiment (Massachusetts Bay), under Colonel Samuel Vetch of Boston, Massachusetts. Walton's Regiment (Rhode Island-New Hampshire), under Colonel Shadrach Walton of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
War of Jenkins's Ear The militia was the ultimate line of defense for the province of Georgia. Yet it was too small, and its members too occupied in civil pursuits, to efficiently protect the colony. James Oglethorpe therefore created a small paid provincial force of "soldiers recruited for combat," containing a Highland company and some 130 rangers, as well as boatmen manning scout boats and some smaller ships.Johnson 2002, pp. 8–10. During Oglethorpe's offensive against Spanish Florida, the siege of St. Augustine, and the battle of Fort Mose, the British force contained the Georgia provincials and a provincial regiment from South Carolina, as well as Oglethorpe's own regiment of the British army.Gallay 1996, p. 518. The South Carolina regiment had a strength of 500 soldiers, and was partly recruited in North Carolina and Virginia.Larned 1901, vol. 2, p. 1458.
King George's War