The significance of the Continental Army compared to the militia in the Revolution cannot be overstated. It is roughly comparable today to the difference between full time service in Army and part time service in the National Guard.
From the outset of the Revolution, George Washington understood that securing the independence declared on July 4, 1776 depended on victory in the field. He was assembling an army from scratch, to resist the army of the pre-eminent, global superpower, who also controlled the sea lanes. Only a full-time, trained, professional army would give the new-born country a chance of survival.
For State Assemblies whose members had grave concerns about standing armies, it was a tough sell to require them to contribute their sons and brothers to be part of a new standing army. After July 4, 1776, harder still was the prospect that a state’s soldiers might leave the state to fight elsewhere for the Union, leaving the home front vulnerable. The success of the Continental Army was crucial to the question whether there could be a “United” States of America and not simply the “Independent States of America”, as originally celebrated in Williamsburg in May 1776.
George Washington depended on the state militias, which at times were key to victory. He also understood their part-time, voluntary nature and lack of professional training could make them a liability. In his letter of September 1776 to John Hancock and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia from Harlem Heights as he retreated up Manhattan, Washington urges Hancock to send more supplies for the army and notes why reliance on volunteer militia is not enough.
“To place any dependance upon Militia, is, assuredly, resting upon a broken staff. Men just dragged from the tender Scenes of domestick life—unaccustomed to the din of Arms—totally unacquainted with every kind of Military skill, which being followed by a want of Confidence in themselves when opposed to Troops regularly traind—disciplined, and appointed—superior in knowledge, & superior in Arms, makes them timid, and ready to fly from their own Shadows. Besides, the sudden change in their manner of living (particularly in the lodging) brings on sickness in many; impatience in all; & such an unconquerable desire of returning to their respective homes that it not only produces shameful, & scandalous Desertions among themselves, but infuses the like spirit in others—Again, Men accustomed to unbounded freedom, and no controul, cannot brooke the Restraint which is indispensably necessary to the good Order and Government of an Army.”
The Continental Army, and later the French Army and Navy, would be the key to the strategic victories in the Revolution – with essential support from state militias, native American allies, and other European allies.