26th Continental Regiment

The 26th Continental Regiment was an infantry unit of the Massachusetts Line of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. It emerged in January 1776 from the remaining personnel of Gerrish's Regiment, a Massachusetts formation associated with the 1775 army establishment and also identified as the 25th Massachusetts. The regiment was commanded by Loammi Baldwin, a Massachusetts officer from Woburn who had led the 25th Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment during the Siege of Boston. Its creation reflected the Continental Army's early wartime reorganization, which reduced infantry regiments from ten companies to eight and established a standardized structure of field officers, company officers, noncommissioned officers, musicians, and enlisted soldiers. The regiment's lineage began amid controversy. Colonel Samuel Gerrish, its earlier commander, was court-martialed in August 1775 after being accused of conduct unbecoming an officer during the Battle of Bunker Hill. He was found guilty, dismissed from the army, and barred from future military employment. Baldwin subsequently assumed command and was promoted colonel when the new regiment was organized. Many of the soldiers carried forward from Gerrish's Regiment had already experienced combat around Boston, and the reorganized unit participated in efforts that culminated in the British evacuation of Boston in March 1776. In April 1776, the regiment moved with the main Continental Army to New York City, where it served successively in Heath's Brigade and Clinton's Brigade. Its recorded strength in September 1776 was 318 officers and men, illustrating the chronic difficulty of keeping Continental units at authorized strength. During the New York campaign, the regiment fought on Long Island and at Throg's Neck and Pell's Point. Its resistance at Pell's Point helped delay a larger British force and supported Washington's withdrawal from Manhattan toward White Plains. The unit subsequently took part in the Battle of White Plains and joined Washington's army during the December 1776 campaign in New Jersey, including the crossing of the Delaware River and the Battle of Trenton. The regiment was notable for its equipment and visual identity. Early descriptions associate it with brown coats, buff facings, white waistcoats, and white breeches. It was among the first Continental regiments to field a grenadier company. Captain Thomas Mighill's grenadiers used a traditional miter cap bearing the Roman numeral XXVI and George Washington's cipher, GW. The surviving cap contributed to the later nickname 'George Washington Regiment.' Uniform research remains unsettled, however, and later interpretations propose blue coats with light facings, green or plaid waistcoats, buff trousers, and buckled shoes. The 26th Continental Regiment did not continue as an independent unit after the 1777 Continental Army reorganization. Its remaining personnel were consolidated with those of the 21st Continental Regiment to form the 9th Massachusetts Regiment. Colonel Baldwin retired because of ill health, while James Wesson became commander of the successor regiment. The lineage continued through campaigns and assignments associated with Fort Stanwix, Saratoga, Valley Forge, and the Northern Department. The original wartime regiment is therefore best understood as a historical military unit rather than a commercial brand. A modern reenactment organization known as the Ninth Massachusetts Regiment preserves aspects of its Revolutionary-era identity, but it is a separate contemporary group.

The 26th Continental Regiment developed from the Massachusetts forces raised during the opening phase of the Revolutionary War. Its immediate predecessor, Gerrish's Regiment, was associated with the 1775 Massachusetts establishment and was also identified as the 25th Massachusetts. Colonel Samuel Gerrish's command ended after a court-martial in August 1775. He was convicted of conduct considered unworthy of an officer following accusations connected with his behavior during the Battle of Bunker Hill. General George Washington approved the sentence, which removed Gerrish from the army and prohibited him from holding another American military appointment. The surviving personnel were reorganized in January 1776 as the 26th Continental Regiment. Loammi Baldwin, formerly associated with the Massachusetts provincial forces and the Siege of Boston, became colonel. The new Continental establishment generally provided for eight companies, each with officers, musicians, noncommissioned officers, and enlisted soldiers. A fully manned infantry regiment could contain more than seven hundred officers and men, although field units commonly operated below authorized strength. A January 1776 report from Cambridge recorded the regiment's officer structure and noted that it lacked a chaplain. The regiment remained in the Boston area during the final phase of the siege. The placement of American artillery on Dorchester Heights in March 1776 compelled the British evacuation of Boston. The main army then shifted toward New York, and Baldwin's regiment moved there in April. It was assigned first to Heath's Brigade and later, in August, to Clinton's Brigade. A September strength return listed 318 personnel, including officers, staff, noncommissioned officers, and privates. The New York campaign brought the regiment into several major engagements. It fought on Long Island and later at Throg's Neck and Pell's Point. At Pell's Point, the regiment helped delay a substantially larger British force, contributing to the Continental Army's movement away from Manhattan and toward White Plains. It then participated in the Battle of White Plains. In December, after Washington's army retreated across New Jersey, the regiment took part in the difficult nighttime crossing of the Delaware River and the attack at Trenton on December 26, 1776. The unit's appearance and equipment have attracted continuing historical and reenactment interest. Descriptions of its early uniform emphasize brown coats with buff facings, white waistcoats, and white breeches, though later research has proposed alternative combinations involving blue coats, light facings, colored waistcoats, and buff trousers. The regiment fielded a grenadier company under Captain Thomas Mighill. A surviving grenadier miter cap bears the designation XXVI and George Washington's cipher, supporting the association with the nickname 'George Washington Regiment.' Mighill's grenadiers were later equipped with British Short Land Pattern muskets and bayonets captured during the war. The Continental Army reorganized its regiments in 1777. The remaining men of the 26th were consolidated with those of the 21st Continental Regiment to create the 9th Massachusetts Regiment. Baldwin retired because of poor health, and James Wesson became the successor unit's commander. The 9th Massachusetts served in Learned's Brigade and was associated with the Northern Department, including operations at Fort Stanwix, Saratoga, and Valley Forge. At Valley Forge during the winter of 1777–1778, it was incorporated into Major General Johann de Kalb's division. Wesson commanded until 1781, when Henry Jackson succeeded him; the successor regiment continued until 1783. A modern reenactment group using the name Ninth Massachusetts Regiment was established in Massachusetts in the 1970s and later participated in public Revolutionary War commemorations. One member subsequently founded the End Zone Militia, a separate reenactment group that has appeared at professional sports events in Massachusetts. These modern activities preserve selected aspects of the regiment's historical image but should not be confused with the original Continental Army formation.

1. 1975Modern reenactment lineage established

   A Massachusetts reenactment organization that later used the name Ninth Massachusetts Regiment was formed under an earlier militia name.

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2. 1777Consolidation into the 9th Massachusetts Regiment

   The 26th was combined with the remnant of the 21st Continental Regiment during the Continental Army reorganization.

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3. 177626th Continental Regiment organized

   The remnant of Gerrish's Regiment was reorganized as the 26th Continental Regiment under Colonel Loammi Baldwin.

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4. 1776Transfer to the New York campaign

   The regiment moved from the Boston area to New York and served in Heath's and later Clinton's Brigade.

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5. 1776Engagements in the New York campaign

   The unit fought on Long Island and at Throg's Neck, Pell's Point, and White Plains.

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6. 1776Delaware crossing and Battle of Trenton

   The regiment participated in Washington's December crossing of the Delaware and the subsequent attack at Trenton.

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7. 1775Gerrish's Regiment serves in the Massachusetts forces

   The predecessor formation, Gerrish's Regiment, also associated with the 25th Massachusetts, participated in the early fighting around Boston, including the Battle of Bunker Hill.

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8. 1775Samuel Gerrish is dismissed

   Gerrish was court-martialed in August and removed from Continental service after being found guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer.

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Historical Continental Army infantry regiment and predecessor formation of the 9th Massachusetts Regiment; not a commercial brand.

• 1777Consolidation into the 9th Massachusetts RegimentM&A

  Continental Army restructuring combined understrength formations into larger operational units.

  What changed. The remaining personnel of the 26th Continental Regiment were merged with those of the 21st Continental Regiment.

  Aftermath. The successor 9th Massachusetts Regiment continued service through the Revolutionary War and was later commanded by James Wesson and Henry Jackson.

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• 1776Reorganization as the 26th Continental RegimentStrategy

  The Continental Army reorganized its Massachusetts formations after the 1775 campaign and reduced the predecessor regiment's company structure.

  What changed. The remnant of Gerrish's Regiment was constituted as the 26th Continental Regiment under Loammi Baldwin.

  Aftermath. The new regiment served in the Boston and New York campaigns before being consolidated into the 9th Massachusetts Regiment in 1777.

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1. 26th Continental Regiment