Washington takes command of Continental Army in 1775

On July 3, 1775, George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts. An excerpt from the article:

"The next day, June 15, 1775, Congress chose George Washington, a Virginian, to be commander in chief. Washington's military experience was perhaps greater than that of any other American, and he came from the largest and arguably the most important of the southern colonies. His impressive appearance, quiet and confident manner, and good work in the military committees of Congress had impressed his compatriots.

Washington himself recognized, when he accepted the command, that he lacked the requisite experience and knowledge in handling large groups of men. His entire military experience had been in frontier warfare during the French and Indian War, though he had commanded a brigade of troops from several colonies during the capture of Fort Duquesne. He was the only native-born American up to that time to command a force that size. Experience gained as a political leader in his native Virginia and in directing the business affairs of his large plantation at Mount Vernon also stood him in good stead.

Washington brought to command traits of character and abilities as a leader that in the end more than compensated for his lack of European military experience. Among these qualities were a determination and a steadfastness of purpose rooted in an unshakable conviction of the righteousness of the American cause, a scrupulous sense of honor and duty, and a dignity that inspired respect and confidence in those around him. Conscious of his own defects, he was always willing to profit by experience.

The Army of which Washington formally took command on July 3, 1775, he described as "a mixed multitude of people under very little discipline, order or government." Out of this mixed multitude, Washington set out to create an Army shaped in large part on the British image. Basing his observations on his experience with British regulars during the French and Indian War, he wrote: "Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak and esteem to all."

Washington and his staff made strenuous efforts to halt the random comings and goings of officers and men and to institute regular roll calls and strength returns. Suspicious of the "leveling" tendencies of the New Englanders, Washington made the distinction between officers and enlisted men more rigid. He introduced various punishments such as the lash, pillory, wooden horse, and drumming out of camp along with courts-martials.

While establishing discipline in the existing army, Washington had at the same time to form a new one enlisted directly in the Continental service. Out of conferences with a congressional committee that visited camp in September 1775 emerged a plan for such an army, composed of 26 regiments of infantry of 728 men each, plus one regiment of riflemen and one of artillerymen. In all, 20,372 men became uniformly paid, supplied, and administered by the Continental Congress and enlisted to the end of the year 1776. The general by his choice received no pay throughout the Revolution."