Military leadership in the American Revolutionary War

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A great number of military leaders played a role in the American Revolutionary War.

Contents

[edit] United States

When the war began, the American colonists did not have a regular army (also known as a "standing army"). Each colony had traditionally provided for its own defenses through the use of local militia.

[edit] Continental army

Seeking to coordinate military efforts, the Continental Congress established (on paper) a regular army—the Continental Army—in June 1775, and appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief. The development of the Continental Army was always a work in progress, and Washington reluctantly augmented the regular troops with militia throughout the war.


Detail from Washington and his generals at Yorktown (c. 1781) by Charles Willson Peale. Lafayette (far left) is at Washington's right, the Comte de Rochambeau to his immediate left.
Detail from Washington and his generals at Yorktown (c. 1781) by Charles Willson Peale. Lafayette (far left) is at Washington's right, the Comte de Rochambeau to his immediate left.

[edit] American militia

[edit] Frontier

[edit] International leaders allied with the American Patriots

[edit] British Empire

[edit] Government officials

[edit] British army

[edit] Commanders in chief in North America

[edit] Other military officers

[edit] Rangers and Indian Department officials

[edit] French & Spanish leaders

[edit] Native Americans

Chief Cornplanter portrait by F. Bertoli, 1796
Chief Cornplanter portrait by F. Bertoli, 1796

[edit] References

  • Black, Jeremy. War for America: The Fight for Independence, 1775–1783. St. Martin's Press (New York) and Sutton Publishing (UK), 1991. ISBN 0-312-06713-5 (1991), ISBN 0-312-12346-9 (1994 paperback), ISBN 0-7509-2808-5 (2001 paperpack).
  • Boatner, Mark Mayo, III. Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. New York: McKay, 1966; revised 1974. ISBN 0-8117-0578-1.

[edit] Further reading

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