| Provisional Army of the United States | |
|---|---|
| Founded | May 1798 |
| Disbanded | June 1800 |
| Country |  United States |
| Type | Army |
| Size | 12 regiments of infantry 6 troops of cavalry Note: only 7 officers actually commissioned |
The Provisional Army of the United States was a rump military force maintained by the United States of America between May 1798 and June 1800.
The Provisional Army of the United States was created as a second standing army to exist simultaneously with the United States Army, mainly because of political concerns about increasing the size of the latter force. [1] [2] Raised following the outbreak of an undeclared war between the United States and France, its term of enlistment, unlike that of the United States Army, was only for the duration of the "existing differences between the United States and the French Republic". [1] [3] Further, despite being a federal force, it had soldiers who were not permitted to serve outside the states in which they were recruited; in that respect, it was it similar to the state militias. [4] [ dubious ]
The Fifth Congress authorized US President John Adams to raise the Provisional Army between its 1798 summer recess and its reassembly the following winter. [5] However, Adams had commissioned only seven officers before his authority to recruit personnel to the Provisional Army expired. [5] No meaningful recruiting had occurred and new legislation was enacted to create yet another army, the Eventual Army of the United States, to which all of the Provisional Army's empty regiments were transferred. [5] [lower-alpha 1]
The Provisional Army of the United States was officially dissolved on June 15, 1800. [2]
The commanding officer of the Provisional Army was George Washington, who was commissioned at the rank of lieutenant general and to the post of "Commander in Chief of all the Armies of the United States," which gave him titular authority over both the Provisional Army of the United States and the United States Army. [7] The aging Washington accepted the appointment conditional to his ability to remain in secluded retirement at Mount Vernon until he was actually needed. [1] The Provisional Army's other officers included Major General Alexander Hamilton (Inspector General), Brigadier General William North (Adjutant General), and Dr. James Craik (Physician General). [2]
On paper, the Provisional Army was organized into one cavalry regiment and twelve infantry regiments. [2]
By the beginning of 1799 the officers had been appointed and in May 1799 recruiting began. By the time the Provisional Army was disbanded in June 1800, about 4,100 men had been mobilized, assembled in camps, and given from six to twelve months' training. Hamilton directed the preparation of new drill regulations to replace Steuben's, but before the task was finished the French crisis had ended and the Provisional Army was discharged.[ dubious ]
The Mid Atlantic 12th, 13th and 14th regiments were organized into the Union Brigade and encamped in huts they erected in Plainfield New Jersey in the fall of 1799 until the disbandment in June 1800. The New England regiments were similarly encamped in Massachusetts and the southern regiments at Harper’s Ferry.
The Quasi-War was an undeclared naval war fought from 1798 to 1800 between the United States and the French First Republic, primarily in the Caribbean and off the East Coast of the United States.
The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775 by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia after the war's outbreak. The Continental Army was created to coordinate military efforts of the colonies in the war against the British, who sought to maintain control over the American colonies. General George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and maintained this position throughout the war.
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Charles Cotesworth Pinckney was an American statesman, military officer and Founding Father who served as United States Minister to France from 1796 to 1797. A delegate to the Constitutional Convention where he signed the Constitution of the United States, Pinckney was twice nominated by the Federalist Party as its presidential candidate in 1804 and 1808, losing both elections.
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The West India Regiments (WIR) were infantry units of the British Army recruited from and normally stationed in the British colonies of the Caribbean between 1795 and 1927. In 1888 the two West India Regiments then in existence were reduced to a single unit of two battalions. This regiment differed from similar forces raised in other parts of the British Empire in that it formed an integral part of the regular British Army. In 1958 a new regiment was created following the creation of the Federation of the West Indies with the establishment of three battalions, however, the regiment's existence was short-lived and it was disbanded in 1962 when its personnel were used to establish other units in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Throughout their history, the regiments were involved in a number of campaigns in the West Indies and Africa, and also took part in the First World War, where they served in the Middle East and East Africa.
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Events from the year 1798 in the United States.
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The Windsor Foresters, or more formally the Berkshire Fencible Cavalry, was a British regiment of cavalry raised for home defence in 1794. It served in Lincolnshire and Scotland on coastal defence and anti-smuggling duties until 1800. A second regiment, the Berkshire Provisional Cavalry was converted into fencible cavalry in 1799. Both regiments were disbanded in 1800, when a number of members transferred to a new Yeomanry Cavalry Troop at Wargrave.
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