Departments of The Continental Army - Departmental Organization

Departmental Organization

The Continental troops in a department constituted its garrison. If the garrison was sufficiently large, the units might be assembled into a field army. In this case the commander of the territorial department and the commander of the field army would be one and the same officer. Thus, the commanding general of the Northern Department was also commanding general of the Northern Army, and the commanding general of the Southern Department was also commanding general of the Southern Army. Armies did not, however, invariably receive a geographical designation. Because the field army under Washington's personal command contained the majority of Continental Army units it was, for obvious reasons, designated the Main Army. Each department had a semi-autonomous commanding officer, usually a commanding general, under the overall command of Washington as General and Commander-in-Chief. The Continental Congress dealt with and through the department commanders.