Minutemen (Wasteland Wanderings)

"'Protect the people, at a minute's notice.' - Preston Garvey"The Minutemen, formerly known as The Commonwealth Minutemen (prior to their expansion beyond The Commonwealth), are a faction dedicated to protecting the people, "at a minute's notice".

History
Much of the following information is taken directly from Nukapedia, and all credit (where due) goes to Nukapedia. The Minutemen were originally an alliance of civilian militias founded as a result of the efforts by various small communities to protect themselves against the numerous threats present within the Commonwealth. Inspired by the historical minutemen of the American Revolution, settlers armed and trained themselves and pledged to help defend each other. As the organisation expanded, acquiring dividends in both soldiers and resources, they first gained recognition after successfully defending Diamond City from a super mutant attack in 2180.

Upon gaining enough resources, the organisation eventually assumed control of Fort Independence, transforming it into their main base of operations. Renamed as "The Castle," the group repurposed a large portion of the fort into an armory; in addition, they erected a large radio tower in the courtyard to broadcast the signal for 'Radio Freedom,' a radio station with the purpose of notifying all members of the Minutemen about communities in distress.

After operating for a significant amount of time, the Minutemen made attempts to establish the 'Commonwealth Provisional Government' by uniting the various settlements of the Commonwealth. Unfortunately, these talks ended in the 2230s when an Institute synth infiltrated a meeting and killed all of the settlements' representatives. This event would later be dubbed the 'CPG Massacre'.

Later, in 2240, the Minutemen were forced to abandon the fort, the reason being mirelurks suddenly assaulting the Castle with the intent to nest in and around it. Thinking it was a super mutant attack, General McGann locked himself deep into the armory behind a myriad of defences. With this last-ditch effort to protect the armory from being entered, he effectively doomed himself to die by dehydration, a demise hastened by his consuming a fair portion of the bottles in a case of wine. Despite this, his act of defiance prevented the mirelurks from nesting within the armory bastion, preserving it well until the 2280s.

The next leader of the Minutemen, General Becker, was killed at some point after his elected appointment as leader. Upon his death, the Minutemen began to experience internal strife, as the various groups couldn't agree upon a successor. The loss of the Castle only exacerbated the problem, and this disagreement on a new leader caused the political landscape to become incredibly fragile. The entire situation came to a head following the Quincy Massacre, many of the militias making up the group disbanding in disgust or turning to banditry, following the almost inevitable loss of popular (and its attendant material) support.

Following the whole ordeal, only remnants of the Minutemen and their supporters remained. With the exception of Preston Garvey, one of the few survivors to escape the massacre thus still loyal to the cause of the organisation, the Minutemen had effectively ceased to exist as a cohesive group, save for Garvey and a group of settlers. End of information taken from Nukapedia. In the year 2287, Elijah Clarkson aided he remains of the Minutemen against a group of raiders in Concord, and gave them safe passage to Sanctuary Hills, where they set up what would become a vibrant community. Clarkson helped to build up the group form the ground up, strengthening them into a powerful and just militia (of which he was now elected general), with bases and settlements all across The Commonwealth.

Later that year, the Minutemen, with the help of The Railroad, destroyed both the Brotherhood of Steel, and The Institute (which they also stole lots of technology and research papers from.

The Minutemen would go on to, by 2291, expand their forces into The Pine Tree Wasteland, The Beehive, The Capital Wasteland, The Island and Nuka-World.

Interests
The main goal of The Minutemen is to protect and restore peace to the post-war world. They do also have other ambitions, such as The Minutemen Scientific Division, which focuses on scientific research.

The Commonwealth

 * Abernathy Farm
 * Boston Airport
 * Bunker Hill
 * The Castle
 * Coastal Cottage
 * County Crossing
 * Covenant
 * Croup Manor
 * Egret Tours Marina
 * Finch Farm
 * Graygarden
 * Greentop Nursery
 * Hangman's Alley
 * Diamond City
 * Jamaica Plain
 * Kingsport Lighthouse
 * Murkwater Construction Site
 * Nordhagen Beach
 * Oberland Station
 * Outpost Zimonja
 * Red Rocket Truck-Stop
 * Sanctuary Hills
 * The Slog
 * Sommerville Place
 * Spectacle Island
 * Starlight Drive-In
 * Sunshine Tidings Co-op
 * Taffington Boathouse
 * Tenpines Bluff
 * Warwick Homestead
 * The Mechanist's Lair
 * Vault 88
 * Goodneighbour

Pine Tree Wasteland

 * TO BE ADDED

The Island

 * Longfellow's Cabin
 * Dalton Farm
 * National Park Visitor's Centre
 * Echo Lake Lumber
 * Far Harbor

Nuka-World

 * Nuka-World Red Rocket
 * Galactic Zone
 * Dry Rock Gulch
 * Nuka-Town USA

The Beehive

 * TO BE ADDED

The Capital Wasteland

 * TO BE ADDED

Notable Members

 * Elijah Clarkson (general)
 * Preston Garvey
 * Robert Joseph MacCready
 * Ronnie Shaw
 * Brian Virgil
 * Cait
 * Codsworth
 * Curie
 * Lieutenant Danse
 * Dogmeat
 * John Hancock
 * Nick Valentine
 * Piper Wright
 * Strong
 * Old Longfellow
 * X6-88
 * Ada
 * Jun Long
 * Marcy Long
 * Mama Murphy
 * Sturges

Organization
TO BE ADDED

Appearances
NONE, AS OF YET.

Trivia

 * TO BE ADDED