commander in chief of the continental army

Commander in chief of the continental army full#

The Eastern Department was formally established on Ap when the Main Army under Washington moved from Boston to New York City. For the first year of the war, the field army associated with this department, under the command of General Washington, was variously designated as the Continental Army, Grand Army, or Main Army. This was essentially the New England department, and included the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts (including the present state of Maine), Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The Eastern Department was formed around those states that had originally sent troops to support the Siege of Boston, and in that sense it even existed before the Continental Army. The Canadian Department was officially discontinued on July 8, 1776. After the Invasion of Canada failed, all troops were withdrawn to Fort Ticonderoga, New York. The Canadian Department was formally established from the New York Department on January 17, 1776. Although the Americans captured Montreal in November 1775, and established their headquarters at Château Ramezay, the region was never entirely under the control of the Continental Army.

The establishment of the Canadian Department reflected the aspirations of the Continental Congress and some Americans to annex the British province of Quebec, then often referred to as 'Canada', but the effort was ultimately unsuccessful.

In general there were seven territorial departments, although their boundaries were subject to change and they were not all in existence throughout the war.

Commander in chief of the continental army full#

Washington as a full general was the ranking general officer in the Continental Army throughout the war. Ordinarily departments were commanded by major generals. At first these were the ad hoc provisional governments developed in 17, but the practice continued after 1776 when the states replaced their Provincial Congresses and Conventions with permanent governments operating under written constitutions. The department commanders and their staffs also worked directly with the governments of the states within their department. Relations between the departments and the states This practice, along with control of the Continental Army and Navy through the war and marine committees of the Continental Congress, established the precedent for civil control of military affairs later embodied in the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. Many of these temporary department commanders were then confirmed and formally appointed by the Congress. In practice, when an urgent need arose, a temporary commander was just as frequently appointed by George Washington or the executive power of one of the states, pending the approval of the Continental Congress. Throughout the war, the Continental Congress retained exclusive authority to appoint or remove department commanders. The Continental Congress dealt with and through the department commanders.Īppointment of department commanders Each department had a semi-autonomous commanding officer, usually a commanding general, under the overall command of Washington as General and Commander-in-Chief. Because the field army under Washington's personal command contained the majority of Continental Army units it was designated the Main Army. Armies did not, however, invariably receive a geographical designation. Thus, the commanding general of the Northern Department was also commanding general of the Northern Army, and the commanding general of the Southern Department was also commanding general of the Southern Army. In this case the commander of the territorial department and the commander of the field army would be one and the same officer. If the garrison was sufficiently large, the units might be assembled into a field army. The Continental troops in a department constituted its garrison. ( June 2020) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources.