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The U.S. Army turns 250

A heroic, proud, and glorious history.

On June 14, 1775, 250 years ago, the Second Continental Congress “Resolved, That six Companies of expert Riflemen be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia; that each Company consist of a Captain, three Lieutenants, four Sergeants, four Corporals, a Drummer or Trumpeter, and sixty-eight Privates,” and “That each Company, as soon as completed, march and join the Army near Boston, to be there employed as Light-Infantry, under the command of the chief officer in that Army.”

It marked the inception of a heroic, proud, and glorious history — the chronicles of the United States Army.

Those early patriots enlisted with the following words: “I, ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙, have this day voluntarily enlisted myself, as a Soldier, in the American Continental Army, for one year, unless sooner discharged. And I do bind myself to conform, in all instances, to such Rules and Regulations as are, or shall be established for the government of the said Army.”

At the time, they were not fighting for national survival — they were not an independent nation yet — but to protect their rights. Many still hoped for reconciliation with the motherland, but recent conflicts had forced Congress to prepare for war. A preexisting militia in New England had already confronted the British Army at the battles of Lexington and Concord. Three days after the formation of the new army, on June 17, they would face off again at Bunker Hill. Adopting the New England army as an official American army, the delegates in Philadelphia urged the colonists to send troops to assist the soldiers who held the British under siege.

The American colonies, though, were largely unaccustomed to working as a single sovereign body, a fact Benjamin Franklin, editor of the Pennsylvania Gazette, bemoaned two decades earlier in his “Join or Die” cartoon. Originally designed to unite the colonists against the French in the French and Indian War, the image of the severed snake became a popular symbol of the Revolutionary War and pre-war Era. Repurposed to galvanize the 13 colonies against the Crown, the cartoon may have derived from the popular myth that “a snake cut into pieces could come back to life if its various parts were reunited before sunset.”

Indeed, the once disparate regions were coming to life as one with the birth of the American Army. Over the next eight months, the newly formed ragtag militia entrapped the world’s most formidable fighting force in the provincial town of Boston. Under General George Washington’s leadership, the twenty-five-year-old Henry Knox secured 59 cannons from Fort Ticonderoga in New York, which he then dragged 300 miles back to Boston. In a move that caught the British off guard, Washington’s troops moved these cannons overnight to Dorchester Heights south of the city, where they overlooked British Commander William Howe’s army. Upon discovering the artillery the following morning, the general reportedly exclaimed, “These fellows have done more work in one night than I could make my army do in three months.”

Forced to evacuate, Howe moved to capture New York City for his next military headquarters. By the end of August 1776, the red coats had taken the city, which they would occupy for the next seven years. Although New York City would serve as a better command post than Boston (New York, John Adams cautioned, acted as “a kind of key to the whole continent,” for which “no effort to secure it ought to be omitted”), the Americans’ survival in Massachusetts helped solidify the new Continental Army as a legitimate, respectable fighting force.

“Had the Americans blundered and been beaten at Boston … in all likelihood, the rebellion would have collapsed, and American independence would have evaporated before it could gain serious momentum,” one historian surmised.

Nevertheless, it seemed Washington’s Army could only do one thing: survive. Saved by “providential” changes in the weather, the Americans became known for their uncanny propensity for last-minute escapes. Even so, they were often on the run. As 1776 drew to a close, Washington knew he needed to hand his men, backers in Philadelphia, and the American people a victory.

His plan: transport thousands of troops across the Delaware River during an intense winter storm.

The plan appeared doomed from the start. But when, on December 26, 1776, the Continental Army defeated a garrison of Hessian mercenaries hired by the British in the battle of Trenton, inflicting nearly 1,000 casualties and losing zero lives, Washington’s men claimed their first official victory. One week later, they clinched a second stunning win at the Battle of Princeton.

As David McCullough concludes his book 1776, “Especially for those who had been with Washington and who knew what a close call it was at the beginning—how often circumstance, storms, contrary winds, the oddities or strengths of individual character had made the difference—the outcome seemed little short of a miracle.”

But those improbable victories were only the beginning. The patriots at Boston, Trenton, and Princeton were the first in a long line of patriots who, from 1777 to the modern day, have risked their lives to protect us.

The U.S. Army has designated the theme “This we’ll defend” to celebrate its 250th birthday, and it’s a fitting reminder of how much we owe our Army veterans — past and present. For two and a half centuries, they have defended liberty, self-governance, and the American way of life. Now, it's our turn. As we honor their heroic, proud, and glorious legacy, may it inspire us to take action today to ensure that the next 250 years are no less worthy of remembrance.

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Created:	2024-06-14 07:46 GMT
Updated:	2025-06-20 07:00 GMT
Published:	2025-06-13 07:00 GMT
Converted:	2025-11-11 12:03 GMT
Change Author:	Jakob Fay
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