Description
©2025 John A. Bonin
Although 1775 is indisputably the birth year of the US Army, two events occurred on June 14 of that year to which the Army can credit its birthday. One is the adoption by the Continental Congress of the collective militia forces from several colonies outside Boston to form a Continental Army, of which Congress appointed George Washington the commander in chief on June 15, 1775. In addition, the US Regular Army officially dates its beginning to June 14, 1775, when the Second Continental Congress directed 10 companies of expert riflemen to be raised immediately in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
William Thompson’s commission as the colonel of the Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion was dated June 25, 1775, and made him the first colonel of what would eventually become, through George Washington’s Continental Army, the US Regular Army. But William Thompson has not found a prominent place in the American pantheon of revolutionary heroes for a variety of reasons. In addition, Thompson’s Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion later became the 1st Continental Regiment and ended the American Revolution as the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment, but its lineage has not continued in the modern US Army.
ISBN
ISBN 1-58487-866-5
Publication Date
4-22-2025
City
Carlisle Barracks, PA
Keywords
American Revolution, George Washington, William Thompson, Pennsylvania riflemen, Continental Army, militia, provincials
Disciplines
Defense and Security Studies | Military History | Military, War, and Peace | Other American Studies | United States History
Recommended Citation
John A. Bonin,
Thompson’s Rifle Battalion: The Original Unit of the Army of the United Colonies (Now the United States Regular Army) (Carlisle Barracks, PA: US Army War College Press, 2025),
https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/977
Included in
Defense and Security Studies Commons, Military History Commons, Military, War, and Peace Commons, Other American Studies Commons, United States History Commons
