On June 14, 1775, one day before it made George Washington Commander-in-Chief of the American army surrounding Boston and three days before the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Continental Congress passed a resolution calling for the raising of six companies of expert rifleman from Pennsylvania, two from Maryland and two from Virginia.  By a resolution of June 22, the colony of Pennsylvania was directed to raise an additional two companies followed by a third, and with the six already authorized they were to form into a Battalion and be commanded by such officers as the Assembly or Convention should so recommend.  It should be noted that the Battalion was raised and officered by an act of the Continental Congress, not an act of Pennsylvania. The Regiment can thus fairly be called the first “Regular” regiment of what was soon to become the Army of the United States.

Colonel William Thompson of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, was appointed to command the Pennsylvania Rifle Battalion which, following the ancient British practice of calling a regiment after its commander, became known as “Thompson’s Rifle Battalion.  With the reorganization of the army on January 1, 1776, the Battalion was renamed the First Continental Regiment of Foot.  When the army was once again reorganized, with each state directed to supply a quota of line regiments for Continental service, Pennsylvania claimed the First Continental regiment as one of its own and on July 1, 1776, they were listed as the First Pennsylvania Regiment of the Continental Line.

Most of the Battalion arrived in Cambridge on August 7, 1775, and the remaining men soon thereafter.  Being regarded as elite troops, Washington did not assign the riflemen to regular camp duties as were the rest of the troops besieging Boston.  The riflemen instead busied themselves in long range shooting at Redcoats and in mischief.  The mischief resulted in a major riot with Colonel Glover’s Regiment, which was composed of Marblehead Massachusetts fishermen.  Washington himself had to break up the riot.  Shortly after this incident, the two Lancaster companies of Thompson’s Battalion were found guilty of insubordination and near mutiny, causing them to fall into disfavor.  At this point, Washington assigned the Battalion to regular camp duties.             

In the fall of 1775, Colonel Benedict Arnold was sent on an expedition through the Maine wilderness to attack Quebec and bring Canada into the war on the side of the other American Colonies.  Hendricks’ and Smith’s companies of Thompson’s Battalion were detached and sent on the expedition.  In overall command of the riflemen was Captain Daniel Morgan.  Doing most of the scouting for the expedition was a small party from Smith’s company led by Lieutenant Archibald Steele.  After extreme hardship, the army reached and laid siege to Quebec.  On the evening of December 31, 1775, under cover of a blizzard, the combined forces of Colonel Arnold and General Montgomery attacked the city. The assault failed.  Montgomery was killed, and Arnold was wounded. The riflemen of the First Continental regiment who were among those who advanced farthest into the town were compelled to surrender.  Among others who were killed or wounded were Captain Hendricks, who was shot through the heart, and lieutenant Steele, who had three fingers shot off.

Following Colonel Thompson’s promotion to Brigadier General, Lt. Colonel Edward Hand was given command of the Regiment on March 7, 1776.  Colonel Hand wrote a letter from Prospect Hill, near Boston, on March 8, 1776, describing the Regiment’s new flag.  The motto is Domari Nolo - “I refuse to be subjugated”- a motto which proved to be most prophetic.

After the evacuation of Boston by the British, the Regiment moved on to New York where it was engaged in heavy fighting and covered the retreat of the Army following its defeat in the Battle of Long Island.  It was the last regiment to leave Long Island and was rowed off in boats manned by its old fighting friends in Glover’s Marblehead Regiment.  Additional duty in the New York area caused the Regiment to stay with the Army and it was frequently engaged as Washington was forced back through the battles at Harlem Heights, White Plains, Fort Washington, and then into beaten, despairing retreat across New Jersey until they reached the Delaware.  The tide turned, however, and Washington conceived a daring attack.  The Marblehead men once again manned the boats as the Regiment re-crossed the Delaware, and in the Christmas Day attack on the Hessians encamped in Trenton it was the First Pennsylvania Regiment which cut off their retreat and caused them to surrender.  Shortly after this, the Regiment helped delay Cornwallis before the Battle of Princeton.   

On April 1, 1777, Colonel Hand was made a Brigadier General and left the Regiment.  Command of the First Pennsylvania Regiment then fell to Colonel James Chambers, who was to lead the Regiment through the rest of the war.  After wintering with the Continental Army at Morristown, New Jersey, the Regiment started the spring campaign of 1777 in the First Pennsylvania Brigade in General Anthony Wayne’s Division.  By this time, the First Pennsylvania was considered an elite regiment and was given the post of honor on the right of the line.  In the 1777 campaign, the Regiment went in two directions: some north with the rifle corps under Captain Parr to fight with General Gates at the Battle of Saratoga, and the balance, now mostly battalion soldiers armed with muskets they received over the past winter, south to fight with the main army under Washington in Pennsylvania.  This latter portion of the Regiment fought well at Brandywine, covered the American retreat at Paoli, attacked at Germantown, skirmished around Whitemarsh, and then finally went into winter quarters at Valley Forge. 

In the spring of 1778, the Continental Army, retrained and drilled by Von Steuben, followed the British out of Philadelphia, across New Jersey and attacked.  In the Battle of Monmouth the First Pennsylvania Regiment, along with the rest of the Pennsylvania Division, saw limited action but fought well.

The Regiment continued its career in 1778 and 1779.  A detachment was with the light infantry in the storming of Stony Point in New York, July 15, 1779.  The First Pennsylvania fought hard at Bergen Neck on July 21, 1779, and a detachment of the Regiment’s riflemen served with General Sullivan in his campaign against the Iroquois in western Pennsylvania.

In January of 1780, the First Pennsylvania Regiment, after suffering long and hard service which was accompanied with poor pay, poor food, poor equipment, and indeed often total lack of all, finally joined the other Pennsylvania regiments in a mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line at Morristown, New Jersey.  The mutiny failed and resulted in many of the men of the Pennsylvania Line receiving their discharges, which many were seeking.

Now even more under strength than before, the Pennsylvania regiments were reorganized.  The regiments numbered 1 to 6 were retained on paper, but for tactical purposes, the remaining men were regrouped into three Provisional Battalions.  For all intents the Regiment ceased to exist.  Men who served with the Regiment and continued in the service saw action at Yorktown in 1781 and in the mopping up operations in South Carolina in 1782.  On November 3, 1783, after a distinguished career, the First Pennsylvania Regiment was officially mustered out in Philadelphia, then the United States capital.

Submitted by George Kusel

Edited by Joseph Lessman                                                            

About Our Colors

The origin of the colors (flag) of the 1st Continental Regiment can be traced back to the beginning of 1776. On 20 February 1776, general orders were issued by General Washington from his headquarters at Cambridge (outside Boston) requiring that every regiment should be furnished with colors. The 1st Continental Regiment was one of the first to comply with Washington's orders.

The Standard of the 1st Continental Regiment is a deep green background, in the center on a crimson field a tiger is shown, enclosed in toils attempting to pass a hunter armed with a spear. The motto "Domari Nolo" is Latin for "I refuse to be subjugated".

• For a detailed article on our colors, please see the "Resources" section.