Editing Second Continental Congress (section)

== Creating an Army ==

The Congress's most urgent task was to transform the militia forces besieging Boston into a Continental Army capable of sustained operations against British regulars. On June 14, 1775, Congress voted to adopt the New England militia as a continental force and to raise rifle companies from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. The following day, Congress appointed George Washington of Virginia as commander-in-chief, a choice that reflected both Washington's military experience and the political necessity of placing a Southerner at the head of what was initially a New England army. Washington departed for Massachusetts immediately, arriving at Cambridge on July 2 to assume command of the forces investing Boston.<ref name="lengel">{{cite book |last=Lengel |first=Edward G. |title=General George Washington: A Military Life |year=2005 |publisher=Random House |location=New York}}</ref>

Building an army proved extraordinarily difficult. The Congress lacked the authority to conscript soldiers, depending instead on state quotas and voluntary enlistment. It could not levy taxes, relying on requisitions from the states and loans that proved increasingly difficult to secure. The resulting army was perpetually undersupplied and underpaid, plagued by short enlistments and chronic desertion. Yet somehow Washington and the Continental Army endured, winning enough victories to sustain the revolution and losing enough battles to learn from their mistakes. The relationship between Congress and the military was often strained, but the civilian control of the army established during these years became a fundamental principle of American government.<ref name="rakove"/>