This book is a study of the militia's role in both the military defense and the internal affairs of Virginia from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the end of that century. Working closely with the records that survived, the author reconstructs the history of the Virginia militia as a fighting force, telling in particular of the long, often brutal struggle to subdue the surrounding Indian tribes. The author also recounts the frenzied attempts to defend the colony during two raids by the Dutch navy and explores the militia's central involvement in the tangled events and shifting loyalties of Bacon's Rebellion.