Two months after the War of the Revolution officially ended with the
signing of a peace treaty on September 3, 1783, General Washington
directed the Army to turn in its arms and disband.[3] Since the
Continental Congress had made no provision for a permanent
establishment, Washington retained in service one infantry regiment
and a battalion of artillery to guard military stores and take over
posts to be evacuated by the British.[4] Early in June 1784 Congress
ordered these units disbanded except for detachments to guard stores
at Fort Pitt and West Point; then, in order to secure the frontier
against Indian unrest, it immediately authorized a regiment to be
raised from the militia of four of the States to comprise eight
companies of infantry and two of artillery.[5] This unit, called the
First American Regiment, gradually turned into a regular organization.
[Footnote 3: _Writings of George Washington_, vol. 27, p. 222.]
[Footnote 4: Ibid., pp. 256-258; also letter dated January 3, 1784,
from Henry Knox, Commander in Chief of the Army, to President of the
Continental Congress (in Knox papers).]
[Footnote 5: Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. 27, p. 524;
also, UPTON, p. 69.]
The failure of an expedition commanded by Col. Josiah Harmar of the
First American Regiment against the Indians in 1790 awakened the
Congress somewhat to the threat in the Northwest and resulted in the
organization of another infantry regiment, which was designated the 2d
Infantry Regiment; the First American Regiment was redesignated the
"1st".[6] Trouble with the Indians continued, and after another severe
reverse Congress authorized the raising of three additional infantry
regiments and, at the same time, empowered the President to organize
the Army as he might see fit.[7]
[Footnote 6: Act of March 3, 1791 (_Military Laws_, pp. 90-91).]
[Footnote 7: Act of March 5, 1792 (_Military Laws_, pp. 92-94).]
Under this discretionary power, the Army was reorganized into the
Legion of the United States. This was a field army in which the three
combat branches--infantry, cavalry, and artillery--were combined. The
Legion was in turn broken down into four sublegions, with each
containing infantry, cavalry, artillery, and riflemen; thus, the
sublegions were the fore-runners of the modern combined arms team. The
1st and 2d Infantries became the 1st and 2d Sublegions. Of the three
additional infantry regiments authorized, only two were organized,
these becoming the 3d and 4th Sublegions.[8] Under the forceful
leadership of Gen. Anthony Wayne the Legion reversed the record on the
frontier and decisively defeated the Indians at the Battle of Fallen
Timbers. The temporary peace which followed turned attention to the
problem of protecting the Atlantic seaboard, and in 1794 Congress
authorized a large increase in the artillery, assigned engineer
officers, and designated the new organization the Corps of
Artillerists and Engineers.[9] The Legion was continued until it was
replaced in 1796 by the 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th Infantry Regiments, which
were constituted from the four sublegions, two troops of light
dragoons, and the above-mentioned Corps.[10]
[Footnote 8: _American State Papers_, pp. 40-41.]
[Footnote 9: Act of May 9, 1794 (_Military Laws_, p. 104).]
[Footnote 10: Act of May 30, 1796 (_Military Laws_, p. 114).]
The threat of war with France in 1798 brought further expansions. In
April of that year an "additional regiment" of artillerists and
engineers was authorized, with the Corps created in 1794 becoming the
1st and the new unit being designated the 2d Regiment of Artillerists
and Engineers.[11] In the following July, 12 more regiments of
infantry and 6 troops of light dragoons--to be combined with the two
troops in existence to form a regiment--were authorized; an additional
24 regiments of infantry, plus units of other arms, authorized the
following winter made a total of 40 regiments of infantry.[12]
Actually, the greatest part of this force remained on paper. Only the
1st and 2d Infantries ever attained their required strength, and only
3,400 men were enlisted for the 5th through the 16th. There were no
enlistments at all for the other regiments. Officers were assigned to
the six troops of light dragoons, but no enlisted personnel were
raised and no horses were bought.[13]
[Footnote 11: Act of April 27, 1798 (_Military Laws_, pp. 119-120).]
[Footnote 12: Acts of July 16, 1798, and March 2, 1799 (_Military
Laws_, pp. 127-128).]
[Footnote 13: _American State Papers_, p. 137.]
More quickly than it had arisen, the threat of a war with France
abated. Early in 1800 action was suspended under the two acts creating
the paper regiments, and the Army was reduced to the regular
establishment of four regiments of infantry, two regiments of
artillerists and engineers, and two troops of light dragoons.[14] Two
years later the antipathy of the new Jefferson administration to a
standing army further reduced this establishment to two regiments of
infantry and one of artillery. The Corps of Artillerists and Engineers
was abolished; a Corps of Engineers was organized to be stationed at
West Point and "constitute a military academy"; and the light dragoons
were disbanded.[15]
[Footnote 14: Acts of February 20 and May 14, 1800 (_Military Laws_,
pp. 139, 141); also, _American State Papers_, p. 139.]
[Footnote 15: Act of March 16, 1802 (_Military Laws_, pp. 141-149).]
The Jeffersonian theories regarding a strong militia and a small
professional army were rudely shaken in 1807 by the _Chesapeake-Leopard_
affair. With war seeming imminent, Congress added to the Regular
Establishment, though cautiously "for a limited time," five regiments of
infantry, one regiment of riflemen, one of light artillery, and one of
light dragoons. The new regiments of infantry were numbered the 3d
through the 7th.[16] There was no further preparation for a fight with
England until just before war was actually declared. In January 1812, 10
regiments of infantry, two of artillery, and one regiment of light
dragoons were added; three months later a Corps of Artificers was
organized; and in June provision was made for eight more infantry
regiments, making a total of 25.[17] In January 1813, following the
discouragements of the early campaigns in the Northwest, Congress
constituted 20 more infantry regiments, bringing the total to 45, the
largest number in the Regular Establishment until the 20th century.[18]
A year later three more regiments of riflemen, designated the 2d through
the 4th, were formed.[19]
[Footnote 16: Act of April 12, 1808 (_Military Laws_, pp. 200-203).]
[Footnote 17: Acts of January 11, April 23, and June 26, 1812
(_Military Laws_, pp. 212-215, 222-223, 230).]
[Footnote 18: Act of January 1813 (_Military Laws_, pp. 238-240).
There is some confusion as to just how many infantry regiments were
organized and actually came into being. The Act of January 29, 1813,
authorized the President to raise such regiments of infantry as he
should see fit, "not exceeding twenty." It seems that 19 were actually
formed, made up partly of 1-year men and partly of 5-year men. There
are 46 regiments listed in the Army Register for January 1, 1815, and
it is known that several volunteer regiments were designated as units
of the Regular Establishment and that a 47th and a 48th were
redesignated as lower numbered units when several regiments were
consolidated because of low recruitment rate. Mahon (in "History of
the Organization of the United States Infantry") is not clear on this
point. There is an organizational chart of the Army for this period in
the files of the Office of the Chief of Military History, Department
of the Army.]
[Footnote 19: Act of February 10, 1814 (_Military Laws_, pp.
251-252).]
In March 1814 Congress reorganized both the artillery and the
dragoons. The three artillery regiments, which had never operated as
such, but rather by company or detachment, were consolidated into the
Corps of Artillery; and the two regiments of dragoons, which had never
been adequately trained and generally had given a poor account of
themselves, were merged into one.[20] The Regiment of Light Artillery
remained untouched.
[Footnote 20: Act of March 30, 1814 (_Military Laws_, pp. 252-255);
JONES, p. 58; "History of the Organization of the United States
Cavalry."]
Almost as soon as the war ended, Congress moved to reduce the Army[21]
by limiting the peacetime establishment to 10,000 men, to be divided
among infantry, artillery, and riflemen, plus the Corps of Engineers.
The number of wartime infantry units was reduced to eight, and the
rifle units to one. The Corps of Artillery and the Regiment of Light
Artillery were retained, but dragoons were eliminated.[22]
[Footnote 21: Act of March 3, 1815 (_Military Laws_, pp. 266-267).]
[Footnote 22: The reorganization of 1815 is treated by MAHON "History
of the Organization of the United States Infantry" (pp. 11-12), JONES
"History of the Organization of the United States Field Artillery"
(pp. 59-60), and WIKE, unpublished study.]
By 1821 the prospects of a prolonged peace appeared so good that
Congress felt safe in further reducing the Army. Consequently, in that
year the number of infantry regiments was cut to seven; the Rifle
Regiment was disbanded; the Corps of Artillery and the Regiment of
Light Artillery were disbanded, with four artillery regiments being
organized in their stead; and the Ordnance Department was merged with
the artillery,[23] an arrangement that continued until 1832.
[Footnote 23: Act of March 2, 1821 (_Military Laws_, pp. 303-309).]
The opening of the West in the decades following the War of 1812
brought an important change in the organization of the Army.
Experience having shown that infantry were at a distinct disadvantage
when pitted against the fleetly mounted Indians, in 1832 a battalion
of mounted rangers was organized to quell disturbances on the
northwest frontier,[24] but this loosely knit force was replaced by a
regiment of dragoons the following year.[25] The mounted arm had come
to stay in the Army.
[Footnote 24: Acts of April 5 and June 15, 1832 (_Military Laws_, pp.
322-323, 325-326).]
[Footnote 25: Act of March 2, 1833 (_Military Laws_, pp. 329-330).]
When the second Seminole War broke out in 1836, a second regiment of
dragoons was organized.[26] And, as the war dragged through another
inconclusive year, a reluctant Congress was forced to increase the
size of existing line units and to authorize an additional regiment of
infantry, the 8th. Meanwhile, increasing demands for surveying and
mapping services resulted in the creation of the Corps of
Topographical Engineers as a separate entity.[27]
[Footnote 26: Act of May 23, 1836 (_Military Laws_, pp. 336-337).]
[Footnote 27: Act of July 5, 1838 (_Military Laws_, pp. 341-349).]
Meanwhile, the responsibilities of the Army in the opening of the West
continued to increase, and in 1846 the Regiment of Mounted Riflemen
was organized to consolidate the northern route to the Pacific by
establishing and manning a series of posts along the Oregon Trail.[28]
However, the outbreak of the War with Mexico postponed this mission.
[Footnote 28: Act of May 19, 1846 (_Military Laws_, pp. 371-372).]
At the start of the War with Mexico Congress leaned heavily on
volunteer units, with the hard core of the Regulars remaining
unchanged. But early in 1847 it was found necessary to add nine
regiments of infantry and one regiment of dragoons.[29] Of the
infantry unit's, eight were of the conventional type; the ninth was
formed as the Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot Riflemen. Theoretically,
only half of this latter regiment was to be mounted. Each horseman was
to be paired with a foot soldier who was to get up behind and ride
double when speed was needed. In practice, however, none of the
Voltigeurs were mounted; the entire unit fought as foot riflemen.[30]
[Footnote 29: Act of February 11, 1847 (_Military Laws_, pp.
379-382).]
[Footnote 30: MAHON, "History of the Organization of the United States
Infantry," p. 16.]
All of these new units proved merely creatures of the war, and the
coming of peace saw a reduction to the old establishment of eight
regiments of infantry, four of artillery, two of dragoons, and one
regiment of mounted riflemen.[31] This organization remained
substantially unchanged until 1855.[32]
[Footnote 31: Official Army Register, 1848.]
[Footnote 32: UPTON, p. 223.]