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. 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.

The Continental Army of 1776, was reorganized after the initial enlistment period of the soldiers in the 1775 army had expired.

Major General Philip Schuyler's ten regiments in New York were sent to invade Canada. The Continental Army of 1775, comprising the initial New England Army, was organized by Washington into three divisions, six brigades, and 38 regiments.As a result, the army went through several distinct phases, characterized by official dissolution and reorganization of units.īroadly speaking, Continental forces consisted of several successive armies or establishments: Some Americans had a general aversion to maintaining a standing army but on the other hand, the requirements of the war against the British required the discipline and organization of a modern military.

Supporting Washington as commander-in-chief were four major generals ( Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam) and eight brigadier generals ( Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, David Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathanael Greene) 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. On June 15, 1775, Congress elected by unanimous vote George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, who accepted and served throughout the war without any compensation except for reimbursement of expenses. It also raised the first ten companies of Continental troops on a one-year enlistment, riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia to be used as light infantry, who became the 1st Continental Regiment in 1776. On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress decided to proceed with the establishment of a Continental Army for purposes of common defense, adopting the forces already in place outside Boston (22,000 troops) and New York (5,000). New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut soon raised similar but smaller forces. On April 23, 1775, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress authorized the raising of a colonial army consisting of 26 company regiments. Colonists such as Richard Henry Lee proposed forming a national militia force, but the First Continental Congress rejected the idea. Training of militiamen increased after the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774. 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. Previously, each colony had relied upon the militia (which was made up of part-time citizen-soldiers) for local defense or the raising of temporary provincial troops during such crises as the French and Indian War of 1754–1763.

The American 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. The Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all the Thirteen Colonies and, after 1776, from all 13 states. The Continental Army's 1st and 2nd Regiments went on to form what was to become the Legion of the United States in 1792, which ultimately served as the foundation for the creation of the United States Army.įurther information: George Washington in the American Revolution George Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army on Jby the Second Continental Congress. Most of the Continental Army was disbanded in 1783 after the Treaty of Paris formally ended the war. The Continental Army was supplemented by local militias and volunteer troops that were either loyal to individual states or otherwise independent. General George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and maintained this position throughout the war.

The Continental Army was created to coordinate military efforts of the colonies in the war against the British, who sought to maintain control over the American colonies. It was formed on Jby a resolution passed by the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia after the war's outbreak. The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War.

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