The Colonies Build an Army: Lamb’s Artillery Company Takes Shape

Posted on September 1, 2025

The Colonies Build an Army: Lamb’s Artillery Company Takes Shape

250 years ago today—September 1, 1775—Labor Day had not yet become a holiday, but Captain John Lamb was laboring as his company of artillery prepared to join the war. On June 30, 1775, New York’s Provincial Congress had authorized a company of 100 artillery soldiers and commissioned Lamb as its captain. Authorizing a company was only the first step. The officers of the company were commissioned quickly, but 100 rank-and-file men and non-commissioned officers had to be found, paid, and clothed.

Lamb’s situation was complicated because his company was New York’s first artillery unit, and artillery companies traditionally had a different organization and more specialized tasks and equipment than regular infantry companies. He spent much of the next few months writing to the Provincial Congress, working out pay scales, uniforms, and recruiting methods for his unit. The Congress had ordered Lamb to raise his company by recruiting men who were already enlisted in New York’s battalions, but he obtained permission to recruit men from outside the army, arguing that it would allow him to find more skilled men with better characters.

By September 1, 1775, according to this pay roll, Lamb’s recruiting efforts were paying off. The roll lists 68 men who have enlisted, over two-thirds of the company’s intended strength. The first man on the list, bombardier John Mason, was enlisted on July 3, three days after the company was established. Recruiting was still going strong, with five men enlisting on August 31 and two more enlisting on September 1.

While the company needed to enlist about thirty soldiers to be at full strength, Lamb and his officers were running out of time. They had already begun carrying out military tasks on August 23, when they worked to remove cannon from a New York City battery so that they could be moved to a new fort in the Highlands. Several days after this pay roll was compiled, Lamb’s company was on its way north, under strength but ready to make its mark on the Canadian campaign.

Learn more about Lamb’s pay roll (object ID 2002.2087.001) on the Ticonderoga Online Collections database here.