This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Delaware in the American Revolution is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
State Lines of the Continental Army
The Delaware Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term "Delaware Line" referred to the quota of one infantry regiment which was assigned to Delware at various times by the Continental Congress. This, together with similar contingents from the other twelve states, formed the Continental Line. The concept was particularly important in relation to the promotion of commissioned officers. Officers of the Continental Army below the rank of brigadier general were ordinarily ineligible for promotion except in the line of their own state.
Not all Continental infantry regiments raised in a state were part of a state quota, however. On December 27, 1776, the Continental Congress gave Washington temporary control over certain military decisions that the Congress ordinarily regarded as its own prerogative. These “dictatorial powers” included the authority to raise sixteen additional Continental infantry regiments at large.
Early in 1777, Washington offered command of one of these additional regiments to John Patton of Pennsylvania, who accepted. McLane’s Company, originally in Patton’s Regiment, was drawn from Delaware.1
Grayson’s, Hartley’s, and Patton’s Regiments were also partially drawn from Delaware.2
Still other Continental infantry regiments and smaller units, also unrelated to a state quota, were raised as needed for special or temporary service.
The Delaware Regiment was a part of the Continental Army.
References
- Wright, Robert K. The Continental Army. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, 1983. Available, in part, online.
External links
 |
This Delaware related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 30 November 2008, at 06:06.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Delaware in the American Revolution".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.