The Illinois Naval Militia was a naval militia created by the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

in 1893, and finally dissolved in 1988. The naval militia was reauthorized by

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Rod Blagojevich Rod R. Blagojevich ( ; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago", is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked ...

through an executive order in 2006. As a naval militia it was a

state defense force In the United States, state defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under the sole authority of a State governments of the United States, state government. State defense forces are authorized by state and federal law and are unde ...

and not part of the Illinois National Guard or

National Guard of the United States National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

Formation

In September 1892 a meeting was called by Lieutenant-Commander B. M. Shaffner, attended by more than 20 graduates of the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. List of naval academies See also

* Military academy {{Authority control Naval academies, Naval lists ...

at Annapolis who were resident in Chicago, which proposed the formation of a State Naval Militia. The following year a bill was finally passed, and approved by Governor Altgeld, which provided for the creation and establishment of the Illinois Naval Militia, to consist of two battalions, each having a maximum strength of 400 men, and a minimum of 140. The 1st Battalion was based in Chicago, and the 2nd Battalion in Moline on the Mississippi. The 1st Battalion initially had 225 men, divided into four divisions, while the 2nd Battalion, had 176 men at its foundation, soon rising to 206. The 1st Battalion met one evening each week and practiced boat-drill, both sail and oar, and were trained in the use of torpedoes, for which a steam-launch was specially fitted; and in the use of artillery, the

cutlass A cutlass is a short, broad sabre or slashing sword with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. It was a common naval weapon during the early Age of ...

, and

small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

. The Navy Department presented the First Battalion with a complete stand of Hotchkiss rifles, cutlasses and revolvers, a Hotchkiss Rotary Gun and a battery of four 3-inch breech-loading

field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artillery ...

s. Each summer there was a three-week cruise, for which the Militia was loaned a ship, usually obsolete, by the Navy. Up until 1901 this was usually the . The officers of the militia were all former naval men, and several were veterans of the Civil War. There was also an associate membership, composed of many of the leading merchants, bankers and professional men of Chicago, including

Marshall Field Marshall Field (August 18, 1834January 16, 1906) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of Marshall Field's, Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores. His business was renowned for its then-exceptional level of qua ...

, Lyman J. Gage, and

Charles Deering Charles Deering (July 31, 1852 – February 5, 1927) was an American businessman, art collector, and philanthropist. He was an executive of the agricultural machinery company founded by his father that became International Harvester. Charles's ...

. Further, honorary memberships were awarded to Shelby M. Cullom, J. Frank Aldrich, and Colonel Leroy P. Stewart, Inspector General of the First Brigade of the Illinois National Guard. Following the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

, there were plans to move the replica battleship ''Illinois'' to a pier near Van Buren Street, where the ship would have become the headquarters of the militia. By 1896, the Illinois Naval Militia had five divisions: three in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, one in Moline, and one in Alton, of approximately 250, 100, and 50 men respectively. At that time, it received $25,000 in federal funds annually, and operated several boats and a steam launch.

World War I

In late 1916 the Illinois Naval Militia was federalized into the National Naval Volunteers, created by an act of Congress and approved on August 29, 1916, under which the President was permitted to call them up for active duty with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. Detailed plans for mobilization were prepared, and within forty-eight hours of the declaration of war on April 6, 1917, the entire Illinois Naval Militia had left Chicago by train for the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Some were actually at sea within a week of the declaration of war, and many more on the first group of ships that left the United States bound for Europe. At that time the Illinois Naval Militia consisted of 579 men organised into: * Headquarters and staff, Chicago, 38 men under the command of Captain Edward A. Evers, including medical staff, paymaster and

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

* 1st Division, Chicago, 40 men, Lieutenant John A. Mulholland * 2nd Division, Chicago, 45 men, Lieutenant James D. Davidson * 3rd Division, Chicago, 59 men, Lieutenant Glen G. Meade * 4th Division, Chicago, 58 men, Lieutenant George H. Melvin * 5th Division, Chicago, 54 men, Lieutenant Fred B. Orr * 6th Division, Chicago, 38 men, Lieutenant Walter E. Davis * 7th Division, Moline, 21 men, Lieutenant Otis W. Howard * 8th Division, Peoria, 44 men, Lieutenant Benjamin R. Belsley * 9th Division, Alton, 28 men, Lieutenant Josiah B. Maxfield * 10th Division, Quincy, 55 men, Lieutenant William A. Johnson * Marine Company, Chicago, 41 men, Captain Franklin T. Steele

Later history

World War I marked the high-point of the Illinois Naval Militia. The

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

was formed in 1915, and those states that maintained Naval Militias received very little federal aid, and then only if the members of their state Naval Militia were also members of the Naval Reserve, which offered more benefits. There was also competition for personnel from the

Marine Corps Reserve The Marine Forces Reserve (MARFORRES or MFR), also known as the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve, is the reserve force of the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Corps Reserve is an expedi ...

and

Coast Guard Auxiliary The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary (USCGAUX, CGAux, or USCG Aux) is the uniformed, civilian volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard. Congress established the military organization, unit on 23 June 1939, as the United States Coa ...

. Inevitably, the Naval Militia's popularity began to decline. By the 1970s, the Illinois Naval Militia had become little more than a social club located on the Chicago waterfront. When the city annexed the property, the militia effectively ceased to exist, but was not formally dissolved until 1988. However, on January 19, 2006, it was reauthorized, though never re-established, by an

executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of the ...

of Governor

. Senate Republicans disputed the governor's authority to resurrect the militia.

Ships

* (1893–1901) * (1901–1909) * (1909–1911) * (1911–1914) * (1914–1917) * (1914–1918) * ''Patrol'' (1915-unknown)

References

{{State Defense Forces Military in Illinois State defense forces of the United States Military units and formations established in 1893