Pennsylvania State Archives describes Associators
According to the Pennsylvania State
Archives:
The Military Association, 1775-1777:
At the beginning of 1775, Pennsylvania, founded under Quaker auspices, differed
from other American colonies in being totally devoid of military organization.
Early in that year, as tension mounted, there appeared spontaneously in certain
localities volunteer companies of Associators patterned essentially upon
groups which had existed briefly in 1747-1748 and again after Braddock's defeat
in 1755. These volunteer companies made up the Military Association, a
civilian reserve designed to repel invasion. On June 30, 1775, the Provincial
Assembly gave official recognition to the Associators and grouped their
companies into battalions. Organization was territorial, so that normally a
company consisted of men from a single township, while a battalion included all
the Associators of several neighboring townships. Ages ranged from sixteen to
sixty years. Provision was made for recruiting from the ranks of Associators in
each county a small corps of Minute Men, on call for special duty at
short notice, but no evidence of the existence of such a corps in Pennsylvania
survives. It is notable, however, that during the summer campaign of 1776,
thousands of Pennsylvania Associators saw active service in New Jersey. During
the winter of 1776-1777 the Association collapsed, and the Assembly replaced it
with a militia system which, though imperfect, proved better adapted to
Pennsylvania's needs. With no radical changes, the new militia system served the
Commonwealth through war and peace until 1842.
BACK