“A System concise, easy and efficient”: John Dickinson and the Defense of the Delaware State, 1782

In late 1781, John Dickinson was elected President of the Delaware State. At that time, the state faced significant threats from Royal Navy blockading vessels, and active and tactically adept Loyalist privateers and Refugee raiders. Dickinson and other American leaders also faced the possibility of a renewed, vigorous campaign by Crown forces in the Mid-Atlantic region. With Continental Army resources stretched thin, the state’s primary military defense would have to rest upon its militia, a body in need of reform and rejuvenation. From the outset of his administration, Dickinson began transforming his citizen-soldiers into a more effective combat force capable of confronting these military realities.

Through a small manual he produced, Dickinson instituted a system of regularized practices and standardized drills drawn directly from the 1779 Regulations developed by Baron von Steuben for the Continental Army. This presentation will discuss the state of military affairs in Delaware when Dickinson was elected, analyze his manual, and show the process by which he wanted his men trained, his understanding of the complexity of military affairs, and the effectiveness of his efforts. It will further demonstrate Dickinson’s philosophical approach to the concept of “defensive war,” and his perspective on the military responsibilities of citizenship in the early Republic. John Dickinson is generally not considered a military leader during the American Revolution; this presentation will demonstrate that this view requires significant revision.

Presented by Charles H. Fithian, Curator of Archaeology (ret.)