Department of Defense

1874

King Kalakaua organized an infantry company of native volunteers, named the Mamalahoas. Kalakaua took a deep interest in these two volunteer companies and frequently appeared personally at the armory to take part in the drill, himself acting as colonel.

– History of the Hawaii National Guard pp. 17

1884

The following year an attempt was made to reorganize and improve the army. The king was actively interested in the situation and instructed Major Robert Hoapili Baker, Commander of the Military Forces of the Kingdom of Hawaii, to submit a report to the legislature with recommendations for the improvement of the armed forces. The Major blamed the legislature for failure to appropriate sufficient funds. He said in his report:

“In reality we have none (militia). We have no head and no system . . . This state of things has been allowed to run on until the force is reduced to a mere skeleton. In Legislature after Legislature, certain sums have been voted, barely enough to eke out an existence for an institution representing only in name the military force of the Kingdom . . . . Something more has to be done beyond the appropriation of public funds to provide for the King’s Guard . . . The military force, as it now stands, is composed of one regularly paid company, the King’s Guard, consisting of 58 men, rank and file, and four volunteer companies exhibited on paper.”

The four volunteer companies referred to were the following:

• The Leleiohoku Guard (cavalry) with an enlistment f….. 84
• The Prince’s Own (artrilery) with an enlistment of………….105
• The Mamalahoas (infantry) with an enlistment of……………….. 75
• The Honolulu Rifles (infantry) with an enlistment of……….. 52

Major Baker recommended that a law be passed reorganizing the military forces of the kingdom, in view of the growing importance of Hawaii. He wished to enlarge the King’s Guard and to muster the Prince’s Own and the Mamalahoas into the regular service. The Honolulu Rifles and the Leleiohoku Guard were to remain as volunteer companies but were to be subsidized by the government. All organizations were to be paid and equipped by the government.

– History of the Hawaii National Guard pp. 19-20

1887

Kalakaua retained the King’s Guard but the other native military organizations, which had refused to come to his aid at this time, were allowed to die a natural death and went out of existence.

– History of the Hawaii National Guard pp. 21