Founding the Nation

In July 1775, the Continental Congress, acting on a recommendation from George Washington, authorized chaplains for regiments in the Continental Army. The volunteer chaplains were an important factor in maintaining the Army’s morale. Caldwell was one of many members of the clergy who served as volunteer chaplains.

Pushmataha was chief of the Mississippi Band of the Choctaw Nation, one of three regional chiefs of the major divisions of the Choctaw. Pushmataha turned down the offer of alliance by Tecumseh—the Shawnee chief who formed a confederation of Indian nations allied with the British—and led the Choctaw to fight on the side of the United States in the War of 1812. In 1824, he traveled to Washington to petition the government to cease further demands of Choctaw land.

Knox was active in the Massachusetts militia and joined the Continental Army in 1775 at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. During the winter of 1775–76, he transported cannons, mortars, and howitzers using sleds, some 300 miles from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. Knox, then a brigadier general, capably commanded artillery at the Battle of Monmouth in the Philadelphia Campaign of 1778, and ultimately directed the American artillery at the Siege of Yorktown. Knox succeeded George Washington as commander of the Continental Army in December 1783, and a few years later was appointed secretary of war.

Eastman was an Army officer and noted painter who served on the western frontier and during the Civil War. After his retirement he completed two series of paintings for Congress, one of nine American Indian scenes and one of 17 Army forts.

On June 16, 1775,  the Continental Congress authorized a “quartermaster general for the grand army” to keep Soldiers supplied with weapons, ammunition and other materiel. In March 1778, Washington turned to his ablest subordinate, Nathanael Greene, to bring order out of administrative chaos. Greene reorganized the supply system after Valley Forge and established the first Army depot system.