On June 14, 1775 the Second Continental Congress voted to adopt the various militia groups that had been laying siege to Boston since the battles at Lexington and Concord the previous April.  They knew that without a unified effort from the colonies, there was no hope of bringing the war–whatever kind of war it was, exactly, at that point–to a successful conclusions.  A continental army would become the symbol of that unified effort, and ultimately, the living embodiment of the revolution itself.

Congress appointed George Washington to go to Boston and take command of the militia units and do what he could to transform them into a fighting force that could beat the army of Great Britain.  Just three days later, on June 17, before Washington arrived, the US Army fought its first battle at Breed’s Hill/Bunker Hill.  It was not until a year later that Congress decided to declare independence.