THE 250th ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

As we commemorate the 250th anniversary of American independence, the story of the Revolutionary War would be incomplete without recognizing Virginia’s county militias.

Long before the Continental Army was created, these local Citizen-Soldiers trained, mustered, and defended their communities.

During the war, they continued to serve alongside Continental forces by guarding military stores, protecting supply routes, responding to invasions, reinforcing battlefield armies, and defending Virginia’s rivers, roads, and towns.

Their service reminds us that American independence depended not only on national armies, but also on local communities organized for common defense.

That tradition continues today through the Virginia National Guard.

Like Virginia’s Revolutionary-era militias, today’s Guard serves both community and country: responding to emergencies at home while also standing ready to serve alongside the United States Armed Forces.

From local defense in colonial times to modern missions across the Commonwealth, the nation, and overseas, the Virginia National Guard carries forward the enduring idea of the Citizen-Soldier: trained locally, rooted in community, and prepared to answer when called.

Across generations, that legacy has remained constant: Virginians leaving civilian life when called, serving their communities and nation, and carrying forward a tradition older than the United States itself.