Provincial & State Troops - Revolutionary Virginia

Provincial and State Troops

PROVINCIAL TROOPS WERE FULL-TIME PROFESSIONALS ORGANIZED TO PROTECT VIRGINIA. The Virginia Regiment commanded by Col. George Washington in the French and Indian War was a provincial regiment. A second one, commanded by Lt. Col. William Byrd, was raised in 1758 to support the Forbes Campaign against Fort DuQuesne. Because "standing armies" were feared, both regiments were stood down after that war. In 1775, with the outbreak of war in New England, Virginia recreated the 1st and 2nd Virginia Provincial Regiments. Then, when fighting broke out in Virginia, seven more were authorized. Additional companies of independent Provincials were raised to protect the frontier, mainly against Shawnee incursions across the Ohio River into what are now Kentucky and West Virginia (then part of the Old Dominion).

Provincial troops are often confused with militia, but they were definitely not the same. They operated under different rules and took orders from different levels of government.

The first nine Provincial regiments were taken into the Continental Army in the spring of 1776, but the Independent companies remained on Provincial status. Then, after the Declaration of Independence, the "provinces" (colonies) became states, and the terminology changed: formerly Provincial units were called "State" units. The term "Provincial" remained in use to refer to Loyalist units fighting for the Crown, which can be confusing.

Provincial/State Regiments and Battalions remained in service throughout the Revolution. They were, by definition, tasked with defending their own colony/state. Nevertheless, the 8th Virginia was taken into the Carolinas in 1776 to help protect Charleston. This resulted in a number of desertions, and the folks at home thought they were justified in quitting because it wasn't what they had signed up for. The 1st Virginia State Regiment was embedded into Gen. Peter Muhlenberg's brigade after the entire 9th Virginia was captured at the Battle of Germantown. George Rogers Clark's famous "Illinois Regiment," tasked with conducting operations in Illinois County (everything across the Ohio that is now the upper midwest east of the Mississippi) was also on what was called "state establishment."

1775 Authorization of Troops

"Virginia's Independent Frontier Companies, Part 1." (Gabriel Neville, JAR). At the start of the Revolution, Virginia had not just one, but four adversaries to worry about and created several independent state companies to counter the three we don't remember.

“Virginia's 1775 Regular Company-Level Military Force Structure," (Patrick H. Hannum, JAR) A look at early Virginia provincial company organization.

1st Virginia Regiment* (Col. Patrick Henry)

2nd Virginia Regiment* (Col. William Woodford)

1st West Augusta Company* (Capt. John Neville)

2nd West Augusta Company* (Capt. John Stephenson)

Southwest Frontier Company (Capt. William Russell)

Point Pleasant Company (Capt. Matthew Arbuckle)

Wheeling Company (Lt. Ebenezer Zane)

*Taken into Continental service

1776 Authorizations of Troops

"Virginia's Independent Frontier Companies, Part 2." (Gabriel Neville, JAR) Because of its vast western claims, the western front of the Revolutionary War was largely a Virginia operation.

3rd Virginia Regiment* (Col. Hugh Mercer)

4th Virginia Regiment* (Col . Adam Stephen)

5th Virginia Regiment* (Col. William Peachey)

6th Virginia Regiment* (Col. Mordecai Buckner)

7th Virginia Regiment* (Col. William Daingerfield)

8th Virginia Regiment* (Col. Peter Muhlenberg)

9th Virginia Regiment* (Col. Thomas Fleming)

Fort Pitt Independent Frontier Company* (Capt. Andrew Waggener)

1st Point Pleasant Independent Frontier Company (Capt. Matthew Arbuckle)

2nd Point Pleasant Independent Frontier Company (Capt. William McKee)

Little Kanawha Independent Frontier Company* (Capt. Michael Bowyer)

Wheeling Independent Frontier Company* (Capt.-Lt. Stephen Ashby)

*Taken into Continental service. Third through Seventh in Provincial service only briefly during formation.

October 1776 Authorization of Troops

1st Virginia State Regiment (Col. William Grayson)

2nd Virginia State Regiment (Col. James Duncanson)

3rd Virginia State Regiment (Col. George Gibson)

1778 Six-Month Volunteer Battalions

1st Battalion (Lt. Col. Edward Stevens)

2nd Battalion (Lt. Col. George Slaughter)

3rd Battalion (Lt. Col. Lewis Burwell)

4th Battalion (Lt. Col. Nicholas Cabell)

1779 Frontier Corps

A List of Officers of the Illinois Regiment, and of Crockett's Regiment (John H. Smith, 1833). An important state report that distinguishes between George Rogers Clarks' volunteers who took Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and Vincennes in 1778 and 1779 and his Illinois Regiment of state troops that protected the region thereafter.

Illinois Regiment† (Col. George Rogers Clark)

Crockett's Western Battalion (Lt. Col. Joseph Crockett)

Knox's Western Battalion (Lt. Col. James Knox

†Previously in volunteer service