National_Guard

It was this same Colonial militia who fired the “shots heard round the world” which began the War of the Revolution at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. Several National Guard units today can still claim that their lineage can be traced back to militia regiments raised for service during the American Revolution, such as Company A of the 69th Infantry Regiment (New York National Guard), the 115th Infantry Regiment (Maryland National Guard), or Troop A, 104th Cavalry (Pennsylvania National Guard). The Tennessee Guard had it’s beginning during the Revolutionary War, when volunteers were sought from Sullivan and Washington Counties to fight General Cornwallis in his drive through North Carolina, some four hundred volunteers crossed the mountain to fight the British.

The regulation of the militia was codified by the Second Continental Congress with the Articles of Confederation, creating a full-time regular army—the Continental Army. Because of manpower shortages, the militia provided support to the regulars in the field throughout the war. By war’s end more than 164,000 of militiamen, from the original 13 colonies, would ultimately serve under General George Washington, himself a former militia colonel.

Twenty-eight of today’s Army National Guard units still carry battle streamers on their colors embroidered with the names of Lexington, Boston, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Cowpens, Monmouth, Guilford Court House and Yorktown. These militia units, often fighting alongside their Continental Army counterparts, gradually earned the grudging respect of the enemy using both frontier tactics and the traditional European style of fighting. The frontier hit-and-run type of warfare, in part, helped to wear down the British regulars and contributed to Lord Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.

California's National Guard

Our Heritage - American Revolution (1775-1783)