Minnesota Home Guard
The Minnesota Home Guard was a volunteer state defense force of the state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Home Guard, along with the Minnesota Motor Corps were originally organized in 1917 with the purpose of replacing the Minnesota National Guard in protecting the state of Minnesota while the National Guard was deployed during World War I. Both the Home Guard and Motor Corps were created by the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety to defend the state's resources and perform both civil and military duties including riot control, emergency management, funerals, and honor guards. The Minnesota Home Guard also acted as special deputized military police. The Home Guard operated under the command of Minnesota Adjutant General Walter F. Rhinow and was under the ultimate authority of the Governor of Minnesota Joseph A. A. Burnquist. The Home Guard was utilized as riot police during the 1917 Twin Cities streetcar strike.
History
The Home Guard
The Minnesota Commission of Public Safety was created on April 16, 1917 shortly after the American entry into World War I as a way for the state of Minnesota to manage its resources to provide for the ongoing war effort. Likewise, on April 28, 1917 the MCPS created the Minnesota Home Guard. The Home Guard was unofficially created by the MCPS in order to enforce the MCPS’s orders, many of which infringed on the rights of citizens and were considered in some circumstances to be unconstitutional. The Minnesota Home Guard was an entirely volunteer force as opposed to a conscripted force. Volunteers in Home Guard service were not paid unless they committed to extended active duty. Only men over the age of 26 were recruited for the Home Guard. Battalions of the Minnesota Home Guard were based upon cities and counties, for example Company B of the 6th Battalion was recruited almost entirely from Fairmont, Minnesota. Over the course of the war, the Home Guard eventually consisted of 23 battalions with more than 7,000 personnel.16th Battalion, Minnesota Home Guard
The Minnesota Home Guard was also the only military unit in the state of Minnesota that provided an African American unit, the 16th Battalion of the Minnesota Home Guard during a time when the military was still racially segregated in April 1918. The 16th Battalion, also called the Colored Home Guards of Minnesota, became the first Minnesota-recruited African American military unit in state history. The 16th Battalion was created by Clarence W. Wigington after petitioning Governor Burnquist to create a similar organization for black Minnesotans who also wanted to serve their state. The 16th Battalion of the Minnesota Home Guard was commanded by Wigington and consisted of two total companies, Company A and Company B. According to the Ramsey County Historical Society "Wigington himself commanded Company A; Dr. Earl Weber, a dentist, was first lieutenant, and J. Homer Goins was second lieutenant. Fred McCracking served as the unit’s recruiting officer. Captain Jose H. Sherwood, St. Paul’s first African American postal supervisor, commanded Company B. Serving under him were Orrington Hall as first lieutenant; J. W. Stepp, the city’s first black electrician, as second in command, and attorney Hammond Turner as recruiter".Minnesota Motor Corps
Similar to the Home Guard, the Minnesota Motor Corps was founded in 1917 and formed under the sponsorship of the MCPS. The Minnesota Motor Corps was founded by local businessman Roy B. Simming, the secretary of the Minneapolis Automobile Trade Association. The Minnesota Motor Corps essentially acted as a more mobile version of the Home Guard and double over as traffic police and were under the shared authority of both local sheriffs and the state military. The Motor Corps was authorized in May of 1918 under the authority of Adjutant General of Minnesota Walter Fred Rhinow. although the two organizations often blended together and provided many of the same services, the Home Guard was created by law while the Motor Corps was not.The Motor Corps was organized into a brigade of 10 battalions, numbering roughly 2,583 officers and enlisted personnel from Minnesota. The corps’ headquarters was at Colonel Stephens’ car dealership in Minneapolis. The motor battalions were supplemented by three additional units; a Medical Corps commanded by Major Thomas Warham, an Aero Division commanded by Captain John P. Ernster, and a Red Cross auxiliary unit of the Motor Corps.