In May of 1775 the Second Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia. On the docket were the growing hostilities between the Colonies and Britain.
Boston was besieged by a force of locals, bottling up the Redcoats stationed there. Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point had been taken by colonists under Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold.
During the course of the Congress, it was decided that an army would be needed to meet the upcoming military crisis. On June 14, 1775, the Continental Congress passed the following resolution:
Resolved, That six companies of expert riflemen [sic], be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia; … [and] that each company, as soon as completed [sic], 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 America’s first national institution.
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 republic’s independence in an arduous eight-year struggle against Great Britain.
Today, 247 years later, the United States Army boasts over one million soldiers on duty, with an additional 800,000 Reserve- and National Guard members.