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<\/a><\/center><\/p>\nWASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 5, 2014) \u2014 When the American Revolutionary War broke out in 1775, the original 13 colonies did not have a shared army, but instead, a collection of independent colonial militias.
\nThe first battles of that war were fought April 19, 1775, in Middlesex County, Mass., by patriots of the Massachusetts militia. They were the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first hostilities between the colonies and Great Britain.
\nFollowing the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and as British troops moved back across Massachusetts toward Boston, colonial militia from around New England began massing around that city. Within days, thousands of militia members under the leadership of Artemas Ward of Massachusetts had Boston under siege.
\nBy May 10, just weeks after hostilities began in Massachusetts, the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia. On the agenda: creating a common army to defend the colonies.
\nA month later, on June 14, the Congress approved the creation of that army, the Continental Army. The new force was made of those militiamen already gathered outside Boston, some 22,000 of them, plus those in New York, about 5,000.
\nThe following day, the 15th, the Congress named Virginian George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, and named Ward his second in command the following day.
\nThe Congress also resolved to form a committee \u201cto bring in a draft of rules and regulations for the government of the Army,\u201d and voted $2 million to support the forces around Boston, and those in New York City.
\nCongress authorized the formation of 10 companies of expert riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, which were directed to march to Boston to support the New England militia. These were the first troops Congress agreed to pay from its own funds, and the units later became the 1st Continental Regiment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nFacts About the United States Army:<\/p>\n
Twenty-four U.S Presidents served in the United States Army
\nGeorge Washington chose the colors of the modern U.S Army uniform
\nThe U.S Army is older than the United States
\nOver the past 10 years, Green Berets have been deployed in over 135 countries worldwide
\nThe U.S Army is the second largest employer in the U.S
\nIn 2011, the U.S Army estimated it used 1 billion gallons of gasoline<\/p><\/blockquote>\n