List of Continental Forces in the American Revolutionary War

The Continental Army was the national army of first the Thirteen Colonies, and then the independent United States, during the American Revolutionary War, established by a resolution of the Congress on June 14, 1775, three days before the Battle of Bunker Hill, where it saw its first action under that title.. The Continental Congress took a number of steps in the spring of 1775 to create the army in response to the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April and the seizure of Fort Ticonderoga in May. The units composing the Continental Army changed frequently, especially in the first two years of the war. From 1777 to the close of the war, the organization of the Continental Army became progressively more systematic and sophisticated. The Continental Army that served at Yorktown in 1781 bore very little resemblance to the Continental Army that blockaded Boston in 1775.

The Continental Congress was hostile to maintaining standing armies. Under the Articles of Confederation the Congress did not have the power to raise national troops by means of a draft. Enlistment in the Continental Army was voluntary; and throughout the war there were Americans who elected to fight for King George III rather than for Congress. Further, under the Articles of Confederation, the Continental Congress could not raise its own revenue directly. Because of the resulting shortages in money and manpower, the Continental Army was often expected to work in conjunction with state-controlled militia units. These units were called out as needed for short periods. On several occasions the militia performed well, but Washington frequently noted the inefficiency of the militia in his correspondence.

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