Andrew Smeathers
Prof. Geib
American Military History
February 3rd 2013
The Beginning of the American Army
As the American Colonies began to grow in population and in size there came
a need to protect its citizens. While the 30 Years’ War raged on in Europe, America
was beginning to establish its legitimacy as a nation, with the start of what crudely
resembled an army. Being descendants of Europeans the gold standard at the time
was to replicate what the British Military was doing. After many years of debates,
battles and wars an American Army would be shaped into something that, in one
way, resembled the British Military, but was also very unique.
“From the time of their initial settlement in Virginia and Massachusetts,
English colonists became entangled in a paradoxical trinity of trade, alliance, and
warfare that resulted in frequent conflict with Native Americans throughout the
seventeenth century.” (Allison 2). During the early 17th century the American Army
was not fully understood or thought of. The first example of a military outpost was
located in Jamestown, where, Captain John Smith was sent to train a militia
company for the town’s defense. These original defenses were very simple. Most
were comprised of either a stockade fence or a central blockhouse to defend against
Indian raids. The militiamen were a mixture of farmers and local men, who, in an
emergency, would be called to defend the city. These original militias were there to
defend settlements, act as a police force, and provide a training pool from which a
colony could draw soldiers for extended campaigns. Each state and city would have
their own militias with little cooperation from other one another.
During these early years of small battles with the Native American forces
many European concepts of warfare were beginning be transformed into the
American idea of war. The American mindset turned into an emphasis of destruction
and annihilation of noncombatants as well as combatants. “As the various colonies
of North America matured and became more profitable, integral cogs in the imperial
machines of England and France, they would be drawn into the wars of empire.”
(Allison 18). As the economic value of America rose so to did the want for its riches.
What came to be known as the Great War for Empire was the battle for America
between the French and British. The American army was able to, with a great deal of
help from the British, defeat the French regulars. With the successful campaigns
along side with British troops the American Army began to resemble the British
style once again.
“While the Great War for Empire had left Great Britain as the primary global
imperial power, the cost of the war and now defending a larger empire placed even
greater demands on a nearly empty British treasury.” (Allison 47). The British, in
order to profit from the colonies, stationed British soldiers permanently in the
American Colonies. This along with the increase of taxes would come back to haunt
British Parliament. With the Americans budding military knowledge and confidence
it was only a matter of time until the inevitable would happen. The thirteen original
colonies were able to unify themselves to build an army and take on the British for
their independence.
During this time period the American Military was still nothing more than
groups of state militias. The Continental Congress was left in charge to try and
develop a form of a national military. The congress elected George Washington as
the commanding general to form both militias and lead a new army. The general
idea to fight the war was to center the militia in Boston and take control of colonial
forces. One problem with this was that militiamen signed their contracts to fight for
their state, not the country. Thus, George Washington could only draw from people
in Massachusetts to fight in Boston.
At the time of the initial battles in Boston a Continental Army was beginning
to take shape. After struggling to gain enlistments to the army, Washington was able
to take almost 20,000 soldiers to New York to defend New York City. With a mixture
of Continentals and militiamen, Washington was not able to keep the city and was
pushed back to New Jersey. The use of geographical positioning started to play a
large role in the success that the Americans would have as the war moved forward.
New York City was still one of the main fighting grounds for the entire war. With
America’s lack of a navy, the Royal Navy was able to blockade much of the Atlantic
seaboard. Even while being severely outnumbered by both men and naval abilities
the American militias and Continentals managed to hold of the British forces. After
gaining their independence from Great Britain, Congress decided to disband the
Continental Army that gained them their freedom.
“With independence won, many in Congress saw no need for a permanent
military establishment.” (Allison 63). They thought that the state militias could ably
defend the United States against foreign enemies, as they had done in the past. With
different thoughts on the topic Congress appointed a committee to study the issue of
a permanent standing army. This committee came to the conclusion that the militia
was an inadequate way to protect the country. In a report to Alexander Hamilton
from George Washington he offers his ideas for the new army. Washington
recommended that the traditional militia system should be transformed to help
improve training and improve the quality of officers for the new American Army.
Hamilton proposed to that Congress rather than the states appoint officers, recruit
and pay the troops, and supply the army. Lastly he recommended that the new
national army be an army of citizen volunteers rather than made up of a state
militia. The national government did not yet have the legal structure, political will,
or the money to form this new national army. Instead Congress came up with the
idea to have 700 state militiamen defend the colonies from the vast frontier to the
west. A year later the first regular army unit, the 1st American Regiment, was
created.
During the summer of 1787 the Constitutional Convention would frame the
ideals that would help lead a growing nation. Within the new Constitution there was
a focus of creating a national military. The powers that would run this new military
would be split among the new Congress and president. “Article 1 authorized
Congress to establish an army and navy and collect taxes to provide for the
maintenance of both. It could also regulate and provide for militia and use state
militia in national service.” (Allison 67). The states would reserve the right to
maintain their own militias, but they lost all other sovereign uses of military power.
As states became more accepting of a standing army enlistment numbers would
slowly rise. In 1790 the United States Army consisted of the 1st American Regiment
and an artillery battalion totaling just over 1,200 soldiers. By 1808, there were four
sub legions of 1,800 troops each. The army was slowly growing into a viable force.
A handful of events helped propel the legitimacy of the United States Army.
The first was the founding of the United States Military Academy at West Point. This
served as the headquarters for the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers. Second was
the development of an American Navy. With the addition of a competitive Navy
America could now defend the American shores much easier. Third was the
realization that protecting this new nation was going to be a challenge. The more
trained soldiers that could protect the expanding empire allowed for growth at a
tremendous rate. A legitimate United States Army had finally been developed by the
19th century.
Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries there was a development of an
American way of war. This new way of warfare branched away from the traditional
British militaristic ideas. America had learned from Great Britain in the early years
of its founding, but as time went on, different needs and battles brought a different
ideas of how to conduct war. America dropped the traditional English idea of a
militia as well as the latter acceptance of a standing army. America continued to
define its new definition of war by emphasizing the use of destruction and
annihilation of noncombatants as well as combatants. The United States Army used
both brains and strength to outmaneuver and overwhelm its enemies. What became
the United States Army was built through years of hands on experimentation,
learning on the go and trying new tactics helped define the unique way of warfare
that was used during the American Revolution and many more years after.
Works Cited
Allision, William T., Jeffrey Grey, and Janet G. Valentine. American Military History.
Second ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2007. Print.