The Continental Army was an army founded on June 14, 1775, by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to coordinate the mutual defense of the United Colonies against the Kingdom of Great Britain during the Revolutionary War. It was periodically supplemented by state troops and volunteer militia. George Washington served as the Commander in Chief.
The army was disbanded on June 2, 1784, by Congress; with the exception of 25 privates at Fort Pitt and 55 privates, with a small artillery detachment, at West Point and other magazines.
Background The Continental Army was composed of soldiers from the United Colonies and, after 1776, the United States. The Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, on April 19, 1775, at a time when the colonial revolutionaries had no standing army. Previously, each colony had relied on colonial militias, which were made up of part-time citizen-soldiers for local defense, or the raising of temporary provincial troops, as was done during the French and Indian War between 1754 and 1763. As tensions with Great Britain increased in the years leading to the war, colonists began to reform their militias in preparation for the perceived potential conflict. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774. Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea.Wright, 1983, pp. 10–11 On April 23, 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of a colonial army consisting of 26 company regiments. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut soon raised similar but smaller forces.
History On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in present-day Independence Hall in Philadelphia, voted to establish the Continental Army to provide for the common defense of the colonies, and incorporate the New England Army of Observation already in place outside Boston (22,000 troops) and New York City (5,000). It also raised the first ten companies of Continental Army troops on a one-year enlistment, including riflemen from the Province of Pennsylvania, Province of Maryland, and Colony of Virginia, which were used as light infantry. The Pennsylvania riflemen became the 1st Continental Regiment in January 1776. On June 14, 1775, Congress unanimously elected George Washington Commander in Chief of the Army of the United Colonies. Washington accepted and departed immediately for Boston, where he led the successful Siege of Boston.
Washington served as the army's Commander in Chief throughout the Revolutionary War without any compensation except for reimbursement of expenses. As the Continental Congress increasingly adopted the responsibilities and posture of a legislature for a sovereign state, the role of the Continental Army became the subject of considerable debate. Some Americans had a general aversion to maintaining a standing army, but the requirements of the Revolutionary War against the British was seen as requiring the discipline and organization of an organized central military. As a result, the Continental Army evolved throughout the war, routinely reorganizing its units and ultimately seeking and obtaining support from France, which sought to counter British influence in North America.
By the end of 1775, during the first year of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress operated as a de facto war government, authorizing the creation of the Continental Army, the Navy, and the Marines. A new flag was needed to represent both the Congress and the United Colonies. It is believed that the Continental Union Flag, representing the soldiers and sailors unified as the armed forces of the United Colonies, was raised by George Washington's army on January 2, 1776, at Prospect Hill in Charlestown (present-day Somerville), near his headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts."Newbern (N. Carolina), Feb. 9". The Virginia Gazette. No. 1282. Williamsburg, Virginia. March 2, 1776
Evolution The Continental Army's forces included several successive armies or establishments: The Continental Army of 1775, comprising the New England Army of Observation, was organized by Washington into three divisions, six brigades, and 38 regiments. Major General Philip Schuyler's ten regiments in New York were sent to invade Canada.Wehmann 1989, pp. 191. The Continental Army of 1776, was reorganized after the initial enlistment period of the soldiers in the 1775 army had expired. Washington had submitted recommendations to the Continental Congress almost immediately after he had accepted the position of commander in chief, but the Congress took time to consider and implement these. Despite attempts to broaden the recruiting base beyond New England, the 1776 army remained skewed toward the Northeast both in terms of its composition and of its geographical focus. This army consisted of 36 regiments, most standardized to a single battalion of 768 men strong and formed into eight companies, with a rank-and-file strength of 640. The Continental Army of 1777–1780 evolved out of several critical reforms and political decisions that came about when it became apparent that the British were sending substantial forces to put an end to the American Revolution. The Second Continental Congress passed the "Eighty-eight Battalion Resolve", ordering each state to contribute one-battalion regiments in proportion to their population, and Washington subsequently received authority to raise an additional 16 battalions. Enlistment terms extended to three years or to "the length of the war" to avoid the year-end crises that depleted forces, including the notable near-collapse of the army at the end of 1776, which could have ended the war in a Continental, or American, loss by forfeit. The Continental Army of 1781–1782 saw the greatest crisis on the American side in the war. Congress was bankrupt, making it very difficult to replenish the soldiers whose three-year terms had expired. Popular support for the war reached an all-time low, and Washington had to put down mutinies both in the Pennsylvania Line and in the New Jersey Line. Congress voted to cut funding for the Army, but Washington managed nevertheless to secure important strategic victories. The Continental Army of 1783–1784 was succeeded by the United States Army, which exists to the present day. As peace was restored with the British, most of the regiments were disbanded in an orderly fashion, though several had already been diminished.
Organization
Board of War and Ordnance Military affairs were at first managed by the Continental Congress in plenary session, although specific matters were prepared by a number of ad hoc committees. In June 1776 a five-member standing committee, the Board of War and Ordnance, was established in order to replace the ad hoc committees. The five members who formed the Board fully participated in the plenary activities of Congress as well as in other committees and were unable to fully engage in the administrative leadership of the Continental Army. A new Board of War was therefore formed in October 1777, of three commissioners not member of Congress. Two more commissioners, not members of Congress, were shortly thereafter added, but in October 1778, the membership was set to three commissioners not members of Congress and two commissioners members of Congress. In early 1780, the Quartermaster General, the Commissary General of Purchase, and the Commissary General of Issue were put under the direction of the Board. The Office of the Secretary at War was created in February 1781, although the Office did not start its work until Benjamin Lincoln assumed the office in October 1781.Wehmann 1989, pp. 189–190.
Commander in Chief
On June 14, 1775, delegates to the Second Continental Congress, convening in present-day Independence Hall in Philadelphia, unanimously elected George Washington as Commander in Chief of the Army of the United Colonies. Washington accepted the position, and served throughout the Revolutionary War without any compensation except for reimbursement of expenses.
Washington, as commander-in-chief, was supported by a chief administrative officer, the Adjutant General. Horatio Gates held the position (1775–1776), Joseph Reed (1776–1777), George Weedon and Isaac Budd Dunn (1777), Morgan Connor 1777, Timothy Pickering (1777–1778), Alexander Scammell (1778–1781), and Edward Hand (1781–1783).Lesser 1976, p. xiii.
An Inspector General assisted the Commander in Chief through periodically inspecting and reporting on the condition of troops. The first incumbent was Thomas Conway (1777–1778), followed by Baron von Steuben 1778–1784, under whom the position became that of a de facto chief of staff.Wright 1983, pp. 142, 144–145.
The Judge Advocate General assisted the Commander in Chief with the administration of military justice, but he did not, as his modern counterpart, give legal advice. William Tudor was the first appointee.Bell 2012, pp. 154–157. He was followed by John Laurance in 1777 and Thomas Edwards in 1781
The Mustermaster General kept track by name of every officer and man serving in the army. The first mustermaster was Stephen Moylan.Bell 2012, pp. 150–151. He was followed by Gunning Bedford Jr. 1776–1777 and Joseph Ward.Wright 1983, p. 432.
Territorial departments
Units of the Continental Army were assigned to any one of the territorial departments to decentralize command and administration. In general there were seven territorial departments,Wright, Continental Army, map, 83. although their boundaries were subject to change and they were not all in existence throughout the war. The Department of New York (later the Northern Department) was created when Congress made Philip Schuyler its commander on June 15, 1775. The Southern and Middle Departments were added in February 1776. Several others were added the same year. A major general appointed by Congress commanded each department. Under his command came all Continental Army units within the territorial limits of the department, as well as state troops and militia – if released by the governor of the state.Clay 2018, p. 5.
Tactical formations
All troops under the department commander were designated as an army; hence troops in the Northern Department were called the Northern Army, in the Southern Department the Southern Army, etc. The department commander could be field commander or he could appoint another officer to command the troops in the field. Depending on the size of the army, it could be divided into wings or divisions (of typically three brigades) that were temporary organizations, and brigades (of two to five regiments) that in effect were permanent organizations and the basic tactical unit of the Continental Army.Clay 2018, pp. 5–6.
An infantry regiment in the Continental Army typically consisted of 8 to 10 companies, each commanded by a captain. Field officers usually included a colonel, a lieutenant colonel, and a major. A regimental staff was made up of an adjutant, quartermaster, surgeon, surgeon's mate, paymaster, and chaplain. Infantry regiments were often called simply regiments or battalions.Wehmann 1989, pp. 191–192. The regiment's fighting strength consisted of a single battalion of 728 officers and enlisted men at full strength.Clay 2018, p. 6. Cavalry and artillery regiments were organized in a similar manner. A company of cavalry was frequently called a troop. An artillery company contained specialized soldiers, such as bombardiers, gunners, and matrosses. A continental cavalry regiment had a nominal strength of 280 officers and men, but the actual strength was usually less than 150 men and even fewer horses.Clay 2018, p. 8. Artificers were civilian or military mechanics and artisans employed by the army to provide services. They included blacksmiths, coopers, carpenters, harnessmakers, and wheelwrights.
Logistical organization