When the American Revolution began, in April 1775, the Thirteen Colonies could count only on their militias to fight against the British regulars who were stationed on their territory. In the early phase of the conflict the American militiamen were able to obtain some incredible victories over the British redcoats, by using the effective hit-and-run guerrilla tactics that were typical of the “minutemen”. Very soon, however, it became clear that the conflict with Great Britain would be a very long and difficult one; as a result, the Americans needed to form a regular military force that could be used for large-scale conventional operations. From the beginning George Washington supported the idea of creating a “common army”, which would be made up of units recruited from all the Thirteen Colonies. Initially there was some strong resistance to this proposed plan, since most of the colonies were jealous of their autonomy and did not want to replace their militias with a permanent military organization; in the end, however, the famous Continental Army was formed. This book is an illustrated history of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, a full-color edition that examines the organization, uniforms and equipment of the American military forces that fought the British during 1775-1783. It includes details on all the troop types involved in the war: “continentals”, cavalry, artillery and technical corps, militiamen, state troops, partisan corps, foreign units and naval contingents. The volume is Part 1 of a three-part series on the American Revolution illustrated with contemporary pictures, photos of reenactors and color plates specially created for this publication. - Paperback