Cresap's Rifles

At the dawn of the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress requested ten rifle companies from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland to join Washington and the continental forces outside Boston. Congress made this request on the auspicious date of June 14, 1775, which the US Army celebrates as its official birthday. In response to this request to join Washington's army, Michael Cresap's men made an epic march of more than 550 miles from Oldtown, Maryland, to Boston, Massachusetts, covering a marathon distance of more than 20 miles a day on the "Upper Road," a backdoor inland route to Boston that proved important to the success of the American Revolution. Through the eyes of Captain Michael Cresap and other riflemen, this extraordinary story relates the invaluable contributions made by the elite riflemen who served as "George Washington's Continental Army Shock Troops." These backwoods men saved Washington's army when unfavorable conditions threatened failure for the colonial troops, who were at their weakest militarily during the summer of 1775. Cresap's Rifles remembers, appreciates, and celebrates these long-forgotten men who helped change the course of American history and secured the freedoms and liberties we enjoy today as Americans. During the writing of this book, the authors made numerous field trips that retraced the route Captain Michael Cresap took from the Ohio River near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Boston, Massachusetts. Forty photographs and maps accompany this story. The authors also drew information from the journals of riflemen and from hard-to-find contemporary sources as well as visiting and obtaining many historical documents from libraries across the eastern quadrant of the nation from Pittsburgh to Boston. The end result of these efforts is this narrative, which relates the compelling story of ten rifle companies that included Captain Michael Cresap and his company of riflemen during the summer of 1775. These patriots-many of their personal sacrifices grievously overlooked in the annals of history-helped save General Washington's army and, most importantly, aided in the winning of the American Revolution.