WDS U.S. ARMY

WDS U.S. ARMY

Since its official establishment, June 14, 1775 more than a year before the Declaration of Independence the U.S. Army has played a vital role in the growth and development of the American nation. Drawing on both long-standing militia traditions and recently introduced professional standards, it won the new republics independence in an arduous eight-year struggle against Great Britain. At times, the Army provided the lone symbol of nationhood around which patriots rallied.

Battles of Lexington and Concord The Start of the Revolutionary War.

Upon learning that this extra-legal government was amassing stores of weapons in Concord, about 20 miles from Boston, Gage sent a military expedition, April 18, 1775, to seize and destroy all the munitions his men could find. This led to an exchange of musketry between local militia and British troops at the village green in Lexington and at the Old North Bridge in Concord, April 19, 1775, signaling the start of the Revolutionary War.

Militia units and other volunteers from Massachusetts and other New England colonies quickly converged on Cambridge. They formed what became known as the New England Army of Observation and put the British forces posted at Boston under siege. For the time being, the rebellion was a regional affair.

Convening of the Second Continental Congress

Now that the fighting had begun, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress looked to the Continental Congress, which convened on May 10 in Philadelphia, for assistance from the other 12 colonies of British America. After much discussion, the delegates resolved to create an army that would represent not just New England, but all of the British colonies on the continent of North America.

Establishment of the Continental Army

On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress passed the following resolution:

Resolved, That six companies of expert riflemen, be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia; and that each company, as soon as completed, shall march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry, under the command of the chief Officer in that army.

With this resolution, the Continental Congress adopted the New England Army of Observation, making it a continental army a united colonial fighting force that could represent all 13 colonies with the addition of the troops from the three middle colonies. The Continental Army thus became Americas first national institution.

June 15, 1775

Selection of George Washington as Commander in Chief

The next step was to select a commander in chief. George Washington of Virginia was the favored choice because of his celebrated military record and the hope that a leader from Virginia could further unite the colonies. Congress unanimously voted on the measure, and the next day presented Washington his commission. It read, in part:

We, reposing special trust and confidence in your patriotism, valor, conduct, and fidelity, do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you to be General and Commander in chief, of the army of the United Colonies, and of all the forces now raised, or to be raised, by them, and of all others who shall voluntarily offer their service, and join the said Army for the Defence sic of American liberty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof: And you are hereby vested with full power and authority to act as you shall think for the good and welfare of the service.

Thus the Continental Congress commissioned George Washington as commander in chief of the Continental Army, June 19, 1775.

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