Establishment of the First Regular Army

Shortly after the establishment of the government under President George Washington in 1789, Congress reestablished the War Department as a civilian agency to administer the field army under the president as commander-in-chief and the secretary of war. A legacy record, not corroborated by any supplied passage, dates the department's establishment of the nation's first regular army to 29 September 1789 at Federal Hall and describes its initial strength as several hundred men; no supplied passage states a date, location, or troop figure, so these details remain unsourced here. The War Department, also called the War Office in its early years, was the Cabinet department responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army.