Fallout 4: Who Are the Minutemen?

During your adventures in Fallout 4, you’ll stumble upon numerous factions, including the Brotherhood of Steel, Railroad, Raiders, The Institute, and others. But it’s the Minutemen that I, personally, find myself drawn to you during the majority of my playthroughs. I’m sure many of you are the same way, too.

Perhaps also like you, I’ve always been curious about the lore surrounding the Minutemen. After all, finding an entire faction in The Commonwealth — or anywhere in the wasteland — that aims to rebuild and genuinely help survivors comes across as extremely rare.

So, together, why don’t we delve into the lore behind the Minutemen and find out more about this crumbling yet optimistic faction.

“To Protect the People at a Minute’s Notice”

In 2287, small communities across the Commonwealth find themselves at the mercy of raider gangs, ghouls, and other monsters that wreak havoc on their simple way of life. In response, The Commonwealth Minutemen, an all-volunteer militia, forms to protect the people against threats big and small.

As you may have guessed, the inspiration for The Minutemen stems from the historical minutemen of the American Revolution — everyday settlers who took up arms to defend themselves and others against the British.

Diamond City and Fort Independence

In 2180, Diamond City found itself at the receiving end of a super mutant attack. All hope was lost, as the Diamond City security force was lackluster at the time. The Minutemen gained recognition by successfully defending Diamond City from the attack, thereby solidifying their role in the Commonwealth.

Following the defense of Diamond City, the Minutemen acquire resources and recruits, allowing them to assume control over Fort Independence, which they renamed “The Castle.” With a little work, the historic fort became the Minutemen’s base of operations, complete with radio towers and firepower to tackle most threats from the wasteland.

One of their first actions at The Castle was to form ‘Radio Freedom,’ a radio station broadcast from the central courtyard with the intent of notifying roaming Minutemen of attacks against communities across the Commonwealth.

Shortly thereafter, the leadership attempted to establish the ‘Commonwealth Provisional Government’. Their goal was to bring the settlements across the land together to form a superpower. Unfortunately, in the late 2230s, an Institute synth infiltrated the talks and killed the representatives. This slew of killings became known as the ‘CPG Massacre‘.

Abandoning The Castle in 2240

Following the CPG Massacre, the Minutemen found their luck taking yet another turn for the worse. In 2240, due to a mirelurk infestation, which the player will later eradicate, the faction abandoned The Castle.

However, believing the attack was brought on by super mutants, General McGann locked himself in the armory, well behind the defenses, to protect the weaponry within from falling into the hands of the mutants. Sadly, no such attack came, and General McGann died due to dehydration, brought on quickly by copious amounts of wine. To his credit, no mirelurk made it inside the armory bastion.

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General Becker’s Appointment

Following the untimely death of General McGann, General Becker became the elected leader of the Minutemen, who were now homeless. The group continued with its goals of helping the Commonwealth until internal conflict tore the faction apart. Some groups turned to the raider lifestyle, while others simply disbanded and went home.

The Quincy Massacre occurred shortly after, with the Gunners assaulting the settlement of Quincy. Due to their lack of manpower and firepower, the Minutemen, who responded quickly to the settler’s calls for help, under General Becker, stood little to no chance against the heavily-armed and experienced mercenary company.

Preston Garvey, along with a handful of loyal Minutemen and the remaining civilians, fled Quincy and wandered the Commonwealth, moving from city to city, losing men and women along the way, until we find them in Concord.

The General of The Minutemen

Upon rescuing Preston Garvey and his not-so-merry band of survivors from the raiders’ grasp, the player, assuming they choose to side with the Minutemen, help Garvey regain control over the land by allying with settlements in and around Boston.

In time, Garvey, now the highest-ranking officer in the Minutemen, appoints the player character as General of the Minutemen. It is an honor and, as your character puts it, “quite the promotion.”