A Short History of the US Military: The US Army

How did the United States of America develop into the most powerful nation in history? This is the first of a series on the history of the US Armed Forces that will answer that question. In this, the first part of the series, we look at the early days of the US Army, often referred to as the “Senior Service” because it is the oldest US Military Department. It was established in 1775. Future articles will focus on each of the other Services.

Official US Army History Tells a Great Story

According to the US Army’s official history, before there was a Declaration of Independence or the US Constitution, the early colonists tried to establish a viable economic presence in the 13 Colonies. However, the British Parliament imposed what were considered at the time oppressive regulations. The first was the Boston Port Act, closing the port of Boston on March 25, 1774, and the second was the Massachusetts Government Act on May 20, 1774, which took away any notion of sovereignty the colonies might have claimed. These were known as the “Intolerable Acts.” The colonists decided to make their dissatisfaction with these unreasonable acts of oppression known and took up arms.

Born as a rag-tag team of volunteer militiamen from Massachusetts and the other colonies, the gathering of troops took on British soldiers with muskets at two Massachusetts locations, the Old North Bridge in Concord and Lexington Commons in Lexington, on April 19, 1775. The Revolutionary War then began. Realizing the militia needed a more organized structure, the soldiers formed what they called the New England Army of Observation. This new, more formal military force engaged England’s Army bivouacked in Boston, expanding the conflict and engaging in more than just “observation.”

With the conflict between the American colonists and the British occupiers joined, the colonies needed a larger army with more capable leadership. On June 14, 1775, just three months after hostilities began, the Continental Congress passed a resolution establishing the Continental Army. The resolution read:

“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. That each company, as soon as completed, 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.”

According to History.com, “One day after issuing the resolution, Congress unanimously selected George Washington, a Virginian with a strong military record, as commander-in-chief of the new army.” Within six months, all of the necessary branches of the Army were established, including the Infantry, Adjutant General’s Corps, Corps of Engineers, Finance Corps, Quartermaster Corps, the Artillery, the Cavalry, Army Medical Department, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and the Chaplains. By the beginning of 1776, the Army had formed.

After the war was won and the nation was, for a time, secure, an internal conflict arose. Congress wasn’t passing spending bills in a timely fashion, which means the Army wasn’t getting the funding it was promised. In 1783, an anonymous memorandum made its rounds at the Army encampment at Newburgh, New York. The paper called on the officers to pressure Congress by force, essentially taking over the new government. The memo called for a meeting on March 16 to finalize the plans.

The Senior Service Needed Adult Guidance

When the officers had assembled, there was a surprise guest speaker. General George Washington, their commander-in-chief, joined the group. He provided a dressing down disguised as a motivational speech that called the original memo “something so shocking in it that humanity revolts at the idea,” the US Army historian recorded. The conspiracy was abandoned. Washington’s words reiterated the principle that the military is under civilian control. This concept would be enshrined in the US Constitution and the law of the land six years later.

From an undisciplined and poorly equipped selection of volunteer soldiers to the most capable and professional military force in the world has been a journey for the US Army. Ranging from problems with acquiring canons and ammunition as well as recruiting troops in the nation’s early days to challenges with getting enough helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles and recruiting soldiers today, only the magnitude of the problems has changed. The US Army has consistently met those challenges. Americans can be proud of their Senior Service.

The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.

Takeaways:

1. The US Army, often called the Senior Service, is the oldest branch of the US Military.
2. The Army grew out of militia groups during the Revolutionary War and predates the Constitution itself.
3. The problems faced by the Army today are much the same as the issues the early Army had to deal with, just on a lager, more technologically advanced and expensive scale.