The Army's Birthday and Flag Day

The U.S. Army annually commemorates June 14, 1775, as the date when the Continental Congress adopted "the American Continental army" after reaching a committee consensus in the early days of the American War of Independence. The record indicates only that Congress undertook to raise 10 companies of riflemen, approved an enlistment form for them and appointed a committee (Generals George Washington and Philip Schuyler) to draft rules and regulations for the administration of the new Army. The Congress also accepted responsibility for the existing New England troops around Boston, and the forces requested for various points around New York. The former were believed to total 10,000 men; the latter, both New Yorkers and Connecticut men, another 5,000.

The "expert riflemen," authorized June 14, were the first units raised directly by Continental troops. Congress intended to have the 10 companies serve as light infantry for the siege of Boston. It allocated six of the companies to Pennsylvania, two to Maryland, and two to Virginia. Each company would have a captain, three lieutenants, four sergeants, four corporals, a drummer (or horn player), and 68 privates.

The enlistment period was set at one year, the norm for the earlier Provincials, a period that would expire on July 1, 1776. In Virginia, Daniel Morgan raised one company in Frederick County, and Hugh Stephenson raised another in Berkeley County. The two Maryland companies were both raised in Frederick County. All 10 companies were raised in June and July 1775, and then raced to Boston, where their frontier attitudes created disciplinary problems.

Within days after June 14, the Congress also made a number of other important decisions. On June 15, Congress unanimously chose Washington as commander-in-chief. In strictly military terms, he was, in fact, the best-qualified native American for the job.

On the following day, Congress authorized a variety of other senior staff officers for the new Army. Between 17 and 22 June, it finally decided on four major generals, each having two aides, and eight brigadier generals.

However, in retrospect, the June 1775 decision of the Continental Congress to create the Continental Army seems remarkably free from political strife. Delegates of all shades of opinion supported each step, and arguments largely concerned technical details.

Unanimity resulted from a conviction that British actions required swift defensive measures, and from carefully worded compromises among the delegates from each former colony.

June 14 is also the official Flag Day in America. Two years after the formation of the Continental Army, the Second Continental Congress authorized a new flag on June 14, 1777, to symbolize the new nation. George Washington explained the symbolism of the components of the star-spangled banner as follows, "We take the stars from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating by white stripes showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to prosperity representing liberty."

The Stars and Stripes first flew in a Flag Day celebration in Hartford, Conn., in1861, during the first summer of the Civil War.

The first national observance of Flag Day occurred June 14, 1877, the centennial of the original flag resolution. By the mid-1890s, the observance of Flag Day each June was a popular event. Mayors and governors began to issue proclamations in their jurisdictions to celebrate this event.

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling for a nationwide observance of Flag Day on June 14. In 1937, Pennsylvania became the first (and only) state to declare Flag Day as an official state holiday. It was not until 1949 that Congress made this day a permanent observance by resolving "that the 14th Day of June of each year is hereby designated as Flag Day." The measure was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman.

Although Flag Day is not celebrated as a federal holiday, Americans everywhere continue to honor the history and heritage it represents. Certainly, military personnel feel a special connection to our national flag. It is the symbol that they have served here in American and all over the world.

This year on Monday, June 14, our military community will not only celebrate the 235th birthday of the Army, but also the 233rd birthday of our National Flag. The formal observances at Fort Belvoir are in front of Abbot Hall, Post Headquarters, at 10 a.m.

Editor's note: Information for this article was gathered from Robert K. Wright, Jr.'s The Continental Army (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1983); and published information about Flag Day.