Provisional Army of the United States

U.S. military force from 1798 to 1800

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

Military unit

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.

## History

[edit]

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 - discuss]

George Washington was the commanding general of the Provisional Army of the United States.

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][a]

The Provisional Army of the United States was officially dissolved on June 15, 1800.[2]

## Organization

[edit]

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 - discuss]

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.

## See also

[edit]

* Army of the United States

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ The Eventual Army of the United States itself existed simultaneously with the Additional Army of the United States, which, unlike the Provisional Army and the Eventual Army, was not separate from the United States Army but was an expansion of the regular forces with personnel recruited for limited duration. The confusing proliferation of "armies" resulted in their frequent misidentification, occasionally even by Hamilton himself.[1][6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Murphy, William (June 1979). "John Adams: The Politics of the Additional Army, 1798–1800". The New England Quarterly. 52 (2): 234–249. doi:10.2307/364841. JSTOR 364841.
2. ^ a b c d Godfrey, Carlos (1914). "Organization of the Provisional Army of the United States in the Anticipated War with France, 1798–1800". Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 38 (2): 129–132. JSTOR 20086163.
3. ^ "The Formative Years: 1783–1812". US Army Center of Military History. United States Army. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
4. ^ Maass, John (2013). Defending a New Nation 1783–1811 (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army Center of Military History. p. 36.
5. ^ a b c "Introductory Note: To James Gunn, [22 December 1798]". Founders Online. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
6. ^ McDonald, Forrest (1977). "The Papers of Alexander Hamilton. Volume XXII: July 1798 – March 1799; Volume XXIII: April 1799 – October 1799". Journal of Southern History. 43 (3): 448–450. JSTOR 2207665.
7. ^ McCullough, David (2008). John Adams. Simon and Schuster. p. 507. ISBN 978-1416575887.

* v
* t
* e

United States Armed Forces

Legend
A = Army
MC = Marine Corps
N = Navy
AF = Air Force
SF = Space Force
CG = Coast Guard

Leadership|

* President of the United States
* Secretary of Defense
* Deputy Secretary of Defense
* Secretary of Homeland Security
* Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
* Joint Chiefs of Staff:
* Chairman
* Vice Chairman
* Committees on Armed Services
* Senate
* House
* Active duty four-star officers
* Active duty three-star officers
* United States military seniority
* National Security Act of 1947
* Goldwater–Nichols Act

Components|

| Military departments|

* Department of Defense
* Secretary
* Department of the Army
* Secretary
* Department of the Navy
* Secretary
* Department of the Air Force
* Secretary
* Department of Homeland Security
* Secretary

|

Service branches and heads|

* Chief of Staff of the United States Army
* Commandant of the Marine Corps
* Chief of Naval Operations
* Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
* Chief of Space Operations
* Commandant of the Coast Guard

Reserve components|

* Reserves:
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* CG
* National Guard:
* A
* AF

Civilian auxiliaries|

* Military Auxiliary Radio System
* Marine Corps Cyber Auxiliary
* Merchant Marine
* Civil Air Patrol
* Coast Guard Auxiliary

Unified combatant command|

* Africa
* Central
* European
* Indo-Pacific
* Northern
* Southern
* Space
* Cyber
* Special Operations
* Strategic
* Transportation

Structure|

* United States Code
* Title 10
* Title 14
* Title 32
* Title 50
* The Pentagon
* Installations
* Units:
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* SF
* CG
* Logistics
* Media
* Unit mottoes

Operations
and history|

* Budget
* Current deployments
* Conflicts
* Wars
* Civil affairs

History|

* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* SF
* CG

Timeline|

* Colonial
* World War II

By ancestry|

* African Americans
* Asian Americans
* Buddhist Americans
* Jewish Americans
* Muslim Americans
* Sikh Americans
* Hispanic Americans
* Civil War
* Air Force
* Coast Guard
* Marine Corps
* Navy
* Academy

History centers|

* Army Center of Military History
* Marine Corps History Division
* Naval History and Heritage Command
* Air Force Historical Research Agency

War artists|

* Army Art Program
* Air Force Art Program

Personnel|

| Training|

* Service academies:
* A (prep)
* MC/N (prep)
* AF/SF (prep)
* CG
* Merchant Marine
* ROTC
* A
* MC/N
* AF/SF
* Officer candidate/training school:
* A
* MC
* N
* AF/SF
* Warrant officer:
* A
* MEPS
* ASVAB
* The Basic School (MC)
* Enlisted recruit training:
* A
* MC
* N
* AF/SF
* CG
* Other education

|

Uniforms|

* Uniforms:
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* SF
* Awards & decorations:
* Inter-service
* A
* MC/N
* AF/SF
* CG
* Foreign
* International
* Devices
* Badges:
* Identification
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* SF
* CG

Ranks|

* Officer:
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* SF
* CG
* Warrant officers
* Enlisted:
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* SF
* CG

Other|

* Oath:
* Enlistment
* Officer
* Creeds & Codes:
* Code of Conduct
* NCO
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* CG
* Service numbers:
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* CG
* Military Occupational Specialty/Rating/Air Force Specialty Code
* Pay
* Uniform Code of Military Justice
* Judge Advocate General's Corps
* Military Health System/Tricare
* Separation
* Veterans Affairs
* Conscription
* Chiefs of Chaplains:
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* CG

Equipment|

* A (Designations)
* MC:
* vehicles
* weapons
* other
* N
* AF
* CG

| Land|

* Individual weapons
* Crew-served weapons
* Vehicles (active)

|

Sea|

* All watercraft
* Ships:
* A
* N
* active
* future
* AF
* CG
* MSC
* Weapons:
* N
* Reactors

Air|

* Aircraft
* World War I
* active
* future
* Aircraft designation
* Helicopter arms

Other|

* WWII equipment
* Nuclear football
* Electronics (designations)
* Flags:
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* SF
* CG
* Ensign
* Jack
* Guidons
* Food
* WMDs:
* Nuclear
* Biological
* Chemical

* Category
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* SF
* CG
* Navboxes
* A
* MC
* N
* AF
* SF
* CG

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template