The Real Story of the American Revolution 

U.S. Land Units in the American Revolution

Latest Changes: 07Nov13 - add link to SC units / 08Mar31 - add Wikipedia links, rearrange for clarity / 08May02 - Army units from myrevolution.com /

This page describes and lists U.S. Continental Army and state militia units
and notes where to find further information about them.

U.S. Continentals  Continental Regiments were raised to serve in the Continental Army. For the most part they were named for the states in which most of their soldiers were recruited, but the field grade (major and above) officers were appointed by the Continental Congress, and the soldiers' pay, equipment and food were provided by the Continental Congress. These regiments were on full-time duty, so they trained daily and often lived in camps outside their home state for months or years. At first the periods on enlistment were for a few months or a year, but they eventually became three years or the duration of the war. Further Study: The War of the Revolution, 2 Vols, by Christopher L. Ward, ed. by J. R. Alden (MacMillan, NY 1952)] American Revolutionary War Units [myrevolutionarywar.com] The number of enlistments was not nearly enough to fill the quotas. In September of 1776 (after the disastrous battle of Long Island) Congress authorized the formation of 88 Continental Regiments to be raised by the states, but paid and equipped by the Congress from funds obtained through the states. (Note: Regiments were often called battalions.) After the further disasters at Harlem Heights, White Plains, and Fort Washington Congress authorized another 16 Continental Regiments (12,528 men), three artillery regiments (2,000 men), and 3,000 cavalry (dragoons). These quotas were never filled, even after the number of authorized regiments was reduced to 80 (60,240 men) in 1779 and 58 (45,414 men) in 1781. The numbers in the column labeled "Full Quota" are for regiments, each with eight companies of 80 privates and 16 non-commisioned officers -- plus 15 commissioned officers at the regimental level -- for a total of 783 men. The names and troop levels of the U.S. Contionental regiments are given on pages 3 to 19 of The Sinews of Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army, Charles H. Lesser, ed. (University of Chicago Press, Chicago IL, 1976). In 1787, well after the war was over, the Paymaster of the Continental Army reported to Congress the following numbers of enlistments in the Continental Army (see "Enlisted" below). These numbers are somewhat higher than the Full Quota because the periods of enlistment were very short at the start of the war and the Paymaster counted each enlistment as a separate event, so the same person would be counted several times if he enlisted several times during the war. Continental Army Enlistment by State State Authorized Battalions Men Needed to Fill Battalions Number of Enlistments (some multiple times) NH  3  2,349  12,497 MA 15 11,745  67,907 RI  2  1,566   5,908 CT  8  6,264  31,939 NY  4  3,132  17,781 NJ  4  3,132  10,726 PA 12  9,396  25,678 DE  1    783   2,386 MD  8  6,264  13,912 VA 15 11,745 _26,678 NC  9  7,047   7,263 SC  6  4,698   6,417 GA  1    783   2,679 Net 88 68,904 231,771 Land and Retirement Incentives for Continental Officers and Enlistees Land Bounties In 1776 December, as the initial one-year enlistments were about to run out -- leaving the army with no troops -- the Continental Congress voted to give land bounties to those who enlisted in the Continental Army for the duration of the war. Rank Acres of Land Generals 500 Colonels 500 Lt Cols 450 Majors 400 Captains 300 Lts 200 Ensigns 150 NonComm Officers 100* * = plus $20 on enlisting plus each year either $20 or a suit of clothes (two pairs of shoes, two pairs of hose (stockings), two pairs of overalls, a pair of breeches, two shirts, a leather or wool waistcoat with sleeves, and a hat or leather cap Using the estimated 1778 payroll numbers from the table of enlistments by date and a ratio of 85 officers and 250 noncomms per 1,000 privates (and assuming all stayed on duty to the end of the war) this provision raised the cost of the war by requiring that the government acquire about 1,700 square miles of land (about 3/4 the size of Delaware) to give out as bounties. Pensions By 1778 May the increasing number of experienced Continental officers who resigned prompted Congress to grant all officers who served to the end of the war half-pay for seven years after the war, providing they held no state or national political office and remained in the United States. Retirement pay for generals was limited to half that of colonels. [Note: In the late 1700s Great Britain was providing half pay for life to its its retired officers, but the Continental Congress did not wish to establish a privileged class.] Non-commissioned officers and soldiers who served to the end of the war would get a bounty of eighty dollars (about a year's pay for a private). Using the estimated 1778 payroll numbers, excluding pensions for the officers, and assuming all stayed enlisted to the end of the war this provision raised the cost of the war by about $2,500,000 (30,500 years of wages). Neither side was satisfied by the provisions, but the continuing resignations (160 in the first eight months of 1780) and ill-will among the officers led Congress to grant (in 1780 Aug) to generals a retirement pay proportional to their actual pay and to extend pensions to the widows (or surviving children) of officers who died in service. Finally Congress granted (in 1780 Oct) the officers half pay for life. Ref. Administration of the American Revolutionary Army, by Louis Clinton Hatch -- full text is available online through Google Books Even with these bonuses states had trouble recruiting and fielding the required numbers of Continental soldiers throughout the war. During the war the actual numbers were often concealed and inflated in an attempt to make the U.S. position look stronger than it really was. In 1787, well after the war was over, the Paymaster of the Continental Army reported to Congress the following numbers as the strength of the Continental army. Numbers on the Continental Army Payroll by Year Year Strength 1775 27,443 1776 46,891 1777 34,820 1778 32,899 1779 27,699 1780 21,015 1781 13,292 1782 14,256 1783 13,476 The Continental Army, by Robert K. Wright, Jr. of the Center for Military History (U.S. Govt Printing Office, Washington DC, 1983) Most of this 450-page book has been posted on the Web at www.army.mil/cmh-pg/boks/RevWar/ContArmy/CA-fm.htm Chapters: 1. The Army of Observation: New England in Arms 2. The Continental Army: Washington and the Continental Congress 3. The Continental regiments of 1776: Boston and Quebec 4. An Army Truly Continental: Expanding Participation 5. An Army for the War: 1777 6. Professionalism: New influences from Europe 7. Perseverence to Victory Lineages for the State Regiments [pp 195-355, is not yet on-line -- very valuable information] Bibliography [not yet on-line] Appendices A. [obsolete; not included] B. Department Commanders C. Principal Staff Officers D. Engagements [really campaigns] Tables 1. Massachusetts Artillery Regiment 1775 2. Infantry Regiment 1776 3. British Infantry Regiment 25 August 1775 4. Artillery Regiment 1776 5. South Carolina Artillery Regiment 12 November 1775 6. Hesse-Cassel Infantry Regiment 1776 7. Light Dragoon Regiment 1777 8. Infantry Regiment 27 May 1778 9. Light Dragoon Regiment 27 May 1778 10. Infantry Regiment Deployed in Two Battalions 1779 143 11. Infantry Regiment 1781 158 12. Artillery Regiment 1781 159 13. Legionary Corps 1781 160 14. Partisan Corps 1781

Areas assigned to each Army Department: Eastern, Northern, Western, Southern.
This map also shows the state boundary claims of that era, with several western boundaries
claimed by the states in defiance of The Proclamation of 1763 and The Quebec Act of 1774.
from www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/RevWar/ContArmy/Map-Depts.jpg [Center for Military History]

The structure of the Continental Army is described in The Evolution of the Continental Army, by Staff Sgt. Kenneth Lane [PDF file, Empire State Soc. Newsletter, SAR] and A Brief Profile of the Continental Army [Rev War '75] Further Study in Print: Encyclopedia of Continental Army Units, by F. A. Berg (Stackpole Books, Harrisburg PA, 1972) The various types of lists (muster rolls, for example) that provide the names of soldiers in various military units are described at www.RevWar75.com This lists all of the regiments of the Continental Line and the catalog numbers of the microfilms containing their muster rolls, as well as naming the repositories at which these microfilms may be viewed or CDs of the images may be purchased.

Flying Camps  After Lexington and Concord some states (including PA and DE) formed Flying Camps. These units were expected to serve outside the home state under a national command staff. They recruited men from the militia for short terms (several months) of service. The Flying Camps were not effective and were soon replaced by Continental Regiments.

State Militia  The militia had existed for local defense long before the colonists decided to fight to secure their liberty. The militia were raised (recruited) by towns and were led by prominent individuals in the town and state. They were reluctant or prohibited from participating in extended duty outside their own state. State law typically specified the militia to be all able-bodied white men from age 18 to age 50 -- excluding women and some men who were willing and able to fight, while including Quakers and others who refused to participate in military service. The men were organized in a series of "classes". Classes made up of the younger men would be send out to fight a distant threat while the older units remained behind as a home guard. The militiamen lived at home, mustered for regular drills, and typically had only muskets without bayonets. The militia units were valuable during the Revolution because: #1 -- They contained the largest number of people who participated in armed resistance to British authority, so their widespread presence and high mobility generally prevented British intrusions more than a day's march from the coast unless done by a very large force. #2 -- Many of the officers and enlisted men in the Continental Regiments got their first field experience in the state militia units. The numbers of militia in the various states were estimated in Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution, April 1775, to December, 1783 revised ed., by F.B. Heitman (Washington D.C., 1914). Militia Estimate State Number NH   4,000 MA  20,000 RI   4,000 CT   9,000 NY  10,000 NJ   7,000 PA  10,000 DE   1,000 MD   9,000 VA  30,000 NC  13,000 SC  20,000 GA   8,000 Net 145,000 Further Study Online: The American Colonial Militia, 1606-1785, 5 Vols, by James B. Whisker (Edwin Mellen Press, 1997):    Vol 1. Introduction to the American Colonial Militia    Vol 2. The New England Militia    Vol 3. The Pennsylvania Colonial Militia    Vol 4. The Colonial Militias of New York, New Jersey,      Delaware and Maryland    Vol 5. The Colonial Militia of the Southern States Further Study in Print: -- Encyclopedia of the American Revolution by M.M, Boatner III (Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg PA, 1994) -- "A Note on New York City’s Independent Companies, 1775–1776”, by Alan C. Aimone and Eric I. Manders in New York History, LXIII, no. 1 (January 1982): 59–73. Minutemen were more highly trained and skilled in battle than the militia. They were expected to be ready to leave home on very short notice to respond to a call to arms. Several states had organizations of Minutemen, but the most notable were the ones in New England, who responded to the Lexington alarm and drove the British raiding party pack to Boston..

Support Units  Militia unitrs require little support since they were typically called out in small numbers for only a few days of action to deal with problems close to home. Militiamen could carry enough food to last a few days, could sleep in a makeshift shelter, and could carry enough powder and balls to fight a brief, small-scale battle. However, the care and feeding of a standing army was an entirely different matter. An army that may move a hundred miles, camp outside a besieged city for months, and fight several day-long battles must have warehouses of supplies, many wagons to carry the supplies to the battlefront, an organized re-supply network, and specialized units for health care, communications, spies, building fortifications, destroying fortifications, cavalry, making and reparing armaments, etc. The specialized support units for the Continental Army included Artillery [Noah Lewis' site] The mounted units were either Cavalry -- highly mobile troops who fought while riding or Dragoons -- troops that used horses to move to a battlesite, but who dismounted to fight. The Quartermaster Corps supplied specialized services such as Artificers to build and repair forts, barracks, and river obstructions Armorers to build and repair weapons and projectiles Chemical Manufactury to make the ingredients for and to formulate gunpowder, fuses, naval stores (tar, pitch, turpentine) Mapmakers to provide guidance for regiments to reach distant objectives and for officers to plan the details of attacks Military Engineers to design fortifications with fields of fire to suit the local terrain and to provide plans for the artificers Further Study: Engineers of Independence -- A Documentary History of the Army Engineers in the American Revolution, 1775-1783, by Paul K. Walker (US Govt Printing Office, Washington DC, 1981) Sappers and Miners to dig trenches (using the dirt for breastworks) and temporary fortifications from logs and fashines (bundles of brush) Teamsters [Noah Lewis' site]

Patriot / Allied Soldiers from Amerindian Nations Nimham's Indian Company of 1778, by Richard S. Walling [Scholar's Showcase]

Patriot / Allied Soldiers from Canada In response to the widespread urge for liberty and independence in the British colonies of North American two regiments were formed in 1776 in the colony of Canada: The First Canadian Regiment (under Col. James Livingston) had about 350 soldiers and served at Fort Stanwix and Saratoga. By July 1781 it had become depleted and was merged into Hazen's Regiment (The Second Canadian Regiment). The Second Canadian Regiment (under Col. Moses Hazen) -- "Hazen's Regiment" -- was authorized to recruit from regions outside Canada and was thus sometimes known as "Congress' Own Regiment". It had about 750 soldiers and served at Quebec, Long Island, Brandywine, and Germantown, as well as at Yorktown. Ref: Canadians who fought at Yorktown [Colonial National Historic Park]