As the United States Army prepares to celebrate its 242d birthday on 14 June of this year, it is quite easy to look back idyllically to the early days of the Republic without understanding some of the interesting challenges that the new army would face.
Indeed, from 19 April 1775 to mid-June, much of the newly begun struggle that became known in North America as the War for Independence had gone largely the Colonists' way. Colonial militias had managed to harass and force back a British contingent that had raided Concord and Lexington. Militia units saw their ranks quickly swell, and by early May the British force in Boston was besieged by over 15,000 militiamen drawn from throughout much of New England.
Even as British troops were bottled up in Boston, a group of Vermont militia under the command of Ethan Allen captured Fort Ticonderoga, New York by surprise, while another group of militia from Maine under Jeremiah O'Brien captured a British armed cutter at Machias Bay. While the latter marked the first naval action of the war, the former was particularly important for as it deprived the British control of an outpost that guarded the crucial access route between Canada and New England. In addition, Fort Ticonderoga provided the Colonists with a complement of badly needed heavy artillery that would be later used at Boston.
During those heady few months, it was decided by the Continental Congress to raise six regular companies of "expert riflemen" from the colonies of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and "that each company consist of a captain, three lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, a drummer or trumpeter, and sixty-eight privates." It was by this resolution that the Congress raised the first official combat forces of the Colonies, setting the pay for the captains at $20 per month (about $550 today), while privates were to receive $6 2/3 per month (about $180 today).
But while the nature of the first enlistments and pay of the new units are of interest, it is of particular significance as to why then-Colonel George Washington, a militia officer from Virginia was selected as the first commander of the new Continental Army. His accession was not a foregone conclusion. After all, Charles Lee (no relation to Robert E. Lee) had a more professional claim to the Commander in Chief's post. And while Washington had reasonable talent for command, his real claim to the position came largely because of political considerations.
When John Adams, a congressional delegate from Massachusetts pushed Washington's nomination, his primary concern was not to allow the war to devolve into a regional conflict of New England standing alone against the might of the British Empire. In order to unite the colonies against Britain, it was necessary to bring in a Soldier from either the southern or middle colonies to lead the new army. Thus, the first Commander in Chief of the U.S. Army was by and large a political appointment, rather than determined by purely military factors. And as such an appointee, Washington would soon enough find himself making many decisions colored by political considerations, balancing these with pressing military concerns. And thus, in the first days of the American Revolution, the U.S. Army's new leadership found itself embroiled in politics.
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