SALEM’S FIRST MUSTER, AND AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY (SPRING 2026)

 

The First Muster, by Don Troiani. Source: Wikipedia 

In 1626 Roger Conant and his companions settled at what was to become Salem — meaning ‘City of Peace’ — in the Indian fishing village of Naumkeag. 

 Ten years passed. More settlers arrived. On 13 December 1636, the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony laid the foundations of America’s Army National Guard.  

The Colony’s militia companies were organised into the North, South and East Regiments. What has become known as the First Muster took place on Salem Common, though the exact date is not known. The colonists had adopted the English militia system which obligated all males between the ages of 16 and 60, to possess arms and participate in the defense of the community. The early colonial militia drilled once a week and provided guard details each evening to sound the alarm in case of attack. 

 Reenactments of the First Muster have taken place annually on Salem Common. This year’s event on Saturday 11 April 2026 at 12.00 midday will be the 389th Anniversary and is listed in the calendar for Salem 400+. 

 Commemorations of the First Muster are occasions for patriotism and remembrance as well as being a colorful spectacle. In 2013, President Barack Obama signed a bill officially designating Salem, Massachusetts as the birthplace of the National Guard, recognizing the historic First Muster of the East Regiment that occurred in Salem. 

 The First Muster has been seen traditionally in a positive light. However some Americans have expressed unease about the event’s association with the East Regiment for its involvement in the 1636-38 Pequot War, a conflict between the Native American Pequot nation and an alliance of colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narragansett and Mohegan nations. The War concluded with the decisive defeat of the Pequot following the Mystic Massacre of 26 May 1637 in which between 400 and 700 members of the tribe were killed. This event is debated by scholars and historians, but many now argue that it fits the definition of genocide laid out in the 1948 United Nations Convention. 

 Last year, Benjamin Shallop, author of the book The Founding of Salem, City of Peace gave vent to his feelings as the occasion approached. ‘The first muster will once again be commemorated in Salem tomorrow,’ he wrote on Facebook. ‘I’ve never felt comfortable with this event and I won’t be attending, but I do hope there is a plan to acknowledge the genocide of the Pequot during it.’ 

 Benjamin Shallop had previously given his views in April 2024, both in a letter to Salem News and in a news column for American publisher CNHI. He admitted that the East Regiment did not participate in the Mystic Massacre, as it was men from the Connecticut colony who were responsible. However, he stressed, it was the Pequot War in which the East Regiment was fighting. 

 ‘I think it must be noted that most of the history of the Massachusetts National Guard is indeed honorable and something to be proud of,’ he emphasised. ‘Overall, the Massachusetts National Guard has arguably a far more honorable history than probably any other military unit in the world. But none of that proud history of the Massachusetts National Guard means that this horrible act of genocide shouldn’t be acknowledged, both by the Massachusetts National Guard and the city of Salem.’ 

 Not everyone in Massachusetts agrees. In April last year, a member of the Saving Our Heritage in Salem, MA group dismissed such views as ‘a propagandist agenda’, blaming the Pequot for their misfortunes. ‘The truth is that the Pequot nation initiated aggressive offensive conflict with the settlers AND the surrounding indigenous tribes,’ he wrote. 

 ‘The Pequots sought to dominate the region and saw the alliance of other indigenous tribes with the settlers as a threat. In the end it was the surrounding indigenous tribes that enslaved the surviving Pequots after they were defeated.’ 

 A 19th century wood engraving showing the destruction of the Pequots and their fort near Stonington (Connecticut) by the English colonists under the command of Captain John Mason, May 1637. Source: Wikipedia