THE INDEPENDENT COMPANIES OF 1774 AND 1775 were organized as a sort of shadow militia to enforce the Virginia Articles of Association and suppress Tory activities. The militia were under the ultimate command of the Royal governor, so this avoided actually breaking with his authority before war broke out. They were to the militia what the Virginia Convention was to the House of Burgesses and what the county committees were to the county courts--extra-legal, but not yet in open defiance. They went by various names; the most descriptive, perhaps, was "independent company of gentlemen volunteers." Their memberships were, in fact, dominated by young gentlemen, many of whom went on to become officers in the Virginia Line. Their officers were elected (chosen for their popularity), they were over-enthusiastic, and they had little, if any, real training. They came across in every way as young men playing soldier.
The independent companies are best known for their response to the Williamsburg Powder Alarm, which (had level heads not prevailed) could have marked the start of war in Virginia. They were created at the suggestion of the Virginia Convention, which then ordered them disbanded as regional minute battalions were organized.
The terms "volunteer" and "independent" were used differently at different times. These companies were independent in the sense that they were formed by private citizens, independent of government authority. The term "independent" was later applied to unregimented companies of the Virginia Line, often serving on the frontier, and "volunteer" was used to describe units that would previously have been described as "independent." The word "volunteer" was also used, then as now, to describe an enlistee who was not drafted.
"Henry Nicholson & The Williamsburg Boys' Company" (Gabriel Neville, RV) - In 1775, Williamsburg’s boys organized themselves into a company and elected 14-year-old Henry Nicholson their captain. They bragged that they could “perform all the evolutions of manual exercise far better than the soldiers who were daily arriving.”
"Shenandoah County in the Revolution, Part 1: The Committee and the Powder Alarm" (Gabriel Neville, RV) The story of Dunmore (Shenandoah) County's pre-Revolutionary committee of safety and company of volunteers survives in surprising detail. Gabe Neville presents on Tory suppression and the Powder Alarm in the Shenandoah Valley.
"Reaction to the 1775 Gunpowder Episode by the Independent Company of Albemarle County" (Bill Reynolds, JAR) "Independent" companies of volunteers from all over Virginia responded to the the Powder Alarm by marching toward Williamsburg. Bill Reynolds tells the story of men from Albemarle County.