CIRCA 1910, NAVAL MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER MILITIA, RIFLE, MARKSMAN, MEDAL for Sale

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CIRCA 1910, NAVAL MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER MILITIA, RIFLE, MARKSMAN, MEDAL For Sale

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CIRCA 1910, NAVAL MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER MILITIA, RIFLE, MARKSMAN, MEDAL:
$400.00

CIRCA 1910, NAVAL MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER MILITIA, RIFLE, 1st CLASS, MARKSMAN, MEDAL

Naval Militia, Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, Rifle, 1stClass Marksman, Medal with 1910 insert in suspension bar. Pinback with open loop closure. Hallmarked “The Hayes Bros. Co” on the reverse of the brooch. Beautifully toned.

This medal was issued to State Volunteer Militia Sailors for Rifle & Pistol efficiency during the early years of the 20th Century.

As the Navy began to grow in the 1880s and early 1890s, there were repeated calls to establish and train a national naval reserve. But for a variety of reasons, both fiscal and philosophical, Congress voted down every proposal. Concerned and believing that in time of war the Navy would require trained fighting men to serve, a number of Navy veterans joined by a lesser number of non-veteran volunteers formed autonomous state naval militias.

Beginning with the Massachusetts Naval Militia, founded in 1888, coastal states and those with access to major waterways founded naval adjuncts to their state militias and National Guards. Throughout the 1890s, the naval militia movement grew, generally driven by the enthusiasm of popular local commanders with funding from state legislatures.

Under Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, the Naval War Board selected only the most developed state militias to serve together as a unit. Those rated the best: New York, Massachusetts, and Michigan, were assigned blue-ocean fighting vessels captained by regular Naval officers. The newer and less efficient militias manned coastal monitors or were assigned to the Coast Signal Service and given command of signal stations.

Prior to 1909 the Massachusetts Naval Brigade, as it was then called, utilized the Standard Awards of the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia. The Awards of the Massachusetts Naval Brigade/Militia were Standardized in 1909 then in 1915 the issuing of U. S. Navy awards to the Massachusetts Naval Brigade/Militia began.