On April 5, 1775, The Provincial Congress resolved to publish the Rules and Regulations for the Massachusetts Army, the army of 15,000 for which the supplies were being gathered. The preface notes that “the great Law of Self-Preservation may suddenly require our raising and keeping an Army of Observation and Defence, in order to prevent, or repel any farther Attempts to enforce the late cruel and oppressive Acts of the British Parliament.”

Image description: Front page of Rules and Regulations for the Massachusetts Army

Image credit: Concord Museum, Gift of the Cummings Davis Society; Gift of the Neil and Anna Rasmussen Foundation; Gift of the Philip and Betsey C. Caldwell Foundation; Gift of Charles and Frances Grichar; Anonymous Gift; Gift of the Society of Colonial Wars the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2006), 2006.229.

This story was submitted by the Concord Museum as part of the program, Revolutionary Stories: The Enduring Legacies of the American Revolution in the Freedom’s Way National Heritage Area.