The Continental Congress in session in Philadelphia on June 14, 1775 voted to raise companies of riflemen. Six of these
companies were to be from Pennsylvania, however the response of the frontiersmen of Pennsylvania was so great the number was
increased to eight and then to nine. Collectively, the companies were originally called The Pennsylvania Battalion of Riflemen.
The battalion was better known as Thompson's Rifles, under the command of William Thompson of Carlisle, Cumberland County.
While other units in Lexington and Concord were militia units, The Pennsylvania Battalion enlisted directly to the Continental
Congress and the officers of the battalion were the first commissioned by the Congress. Therefore, the battalion can be referred
to as "the first army of the nation".
William Henry Engle gives the following account
of the beginning of the 1st. Pennsylvania.
"Within ten days... after news of the batle of Bunker's Hill had reached the Province od Pennslvania, her first
rifle regiment was officered and completed. Many of the eight companies numbering one hundred men. It was commanded by Colonel
William Thompson, of Cumberland County... the regiment... at once marched to the relief of Boston where they arrived about
the last of July... They were the first companies south of the Hudson to arrive in Massachusetts... They were stout and
hearty yeomanry, the flower of Pennsylvania's frontiersmen... Two companies of this battalion were subsequently ordered to
accompany General Arnold... to Quebec". (American and French Flags of the Revolution 1775-1783.)
At times, the regiment or companies of the regiment
fell undercommand of such notable Revolutionary War leaders as Benedict Arnold, during the ill-fated attack
on Quebec; General "Mad" Anthony Wayne; and even the direct command of George Washington.
The history of the regiment includes participation
in the fighting in all thirteen colonies, as well as Canada. The regiment served at such places as: Trenton, Brandywine,
Germantown, Monmouth, Stoney Point, Bergen Heights, Yorktown, Charleston, and was at the winter encampment at Valley Forge.
