William L. Shea of the University of Arkansas at Monticello wrote The First American Militia essay in February, 1982. The article talks about the “origin and the evolution” of the militia in the New World (Shea, 1982). Officers of the Virginia Company of London were sent to the New World knowing they would face many dangers and enemies to include French and Spanish settlers as well as Native Americans and pirates. Without having “resources to establish a mercenary corps or some type of military power,” and with the lack of formal training, they were left to their own devices on how to defend, build, and fortify the fort at Jamestown. (Shea, 1982).
