United States Army

United States Army. , The United States Army was established on June 14, 1775, in Philadelphia as the Continental Army by Resolution of the Second Continental Congress which authorized the drafting of the rules for the direction of the New England troops that had gathered around Boston after the battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, and further authorized the enlistment of ten companies of riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. The Army was confirmed as a military service on September 29, 1789, in New York City, by an Act of the First Session, First Congress of the United States. The Continental Army was preceded by colonial militia and other forces created by patriot conventions, assemblies, and Committees of Safety in the various colonies., As Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United Colonies, General George Washington of Virginia is considered the first military leader of the Army, whose current title is Chief of Staff, United States Army, with the rank of General., The Department of the Army was established as an Executive Department of the United States government on August 7, 1789, in New York City as the Department of War by an Act of the First Session, First Congress of the United States. It was incorporated into the National Military Establishment by the National Security Act of July 26, 1947, of the First Session, Eightieth Congress of the United States, and changed to its present posture as a military department within the Department of Defense by the National Security Act Amendments of August 10, 1949, by the First Session, Eighty-First Congress of the United States. The Department of War was preceded by several agencies of the Continental Congress -- a Board of War and Ordnance established in 1776, a Board of War in 1777, and a War Department in 1781, of which Major General Benjamin Lincoln of Massachusetts was appointed Secretary of War., As Secretary of War during the First Administration of George Washington, Henry Knox of Massachusetts is considered the first civilian leader of the Army, now known as the Secretary of the Army., National Blue is the color of the Army, and "The Army Goes Rolling Along" its song. It has no anthem or motto.