Continental Army Born: The Revolution's First Army

The Continental Congress established the Continental Army, transforming scattered colonial militias into a unified fighting force to confront the British Empire. This act created the institutional foundation for American military power, and the army's survival through years of defeat and deprivation proved as essential to independence as any battlefield victory. The resolution passed on June 14, 1775, two months after the battles of Lexington and Concord and two days before the Battle of Bunker Hill. Congress authorized the raising of ten companies of riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia and took command of the militia forces besieging the British garrison in Boston. The following day, Congress appointed George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, selecting him partly for his military experience in the French and Indian War and partly because, as a Virginian, his appointment would bind the southern colonies to what had been a primarily New England rebellion. Washington assumed command of approximately 16,000 men outside Boston on July 3, finding an army that lacked uniforms, standardized weapons, military discipline, and reliable supply lines. The Continental Army would endure devastating defeats at Long Island, Brandywine, and Germantown, the brutal winter at Valley Forge, and chronic shortages of food, clothing, ammunition, and pay throughout the war. Soldiers frequently deserted, and reenlistment was a constant crisis. Yet the army survived, and its survival was the war's most important strategic fact: as long as Washington kept a force in the field, the British could not claim victory. The Continental Army's existence on June 14, 1775, marks the birthday of the United States Army.