Finally, in 1802, the federal military academy at West Point was established. In a letter to General Alexander Hamilton he writes, “The establishment of a military academy upon a respectable and extensive basis has ever been considered by me as an object of primary importance to this country and while I was in the chair of government, I omitted no proper opportunity of recommending it to my public speeches, and otherwise to the attention of the legislature.”īeing mindful of the country lacking a strong unified military army, President Washington repeatedly warned Congress of these military short-comings throughout his administration and up until his death in 1799. Another major problem was the inadequate field training for officers and engineers.

The various state militia units were only a loose knit affiliation of citizens that lacked the necessary military discipline. The experience of unifying and leading a citizen based state militia system demonstrated to Washington that our country in time of war would have a major weakness compared to other countries who would have a well trained and disciplined army. The first use of a semi federal-army was in 1794, when George Washington raised and led 13,000 state militia to quell the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania. 1799-1810 Massachusetts Artillery MilitiaĮven though the Militia existed in the colonies before the battle of Lexington & Concord, I think it best to begin after 1789 when George Washington was elected President and the new US government formed under the Constitution.

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