The Continental Army was very disorganized from the start of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. After George Washington arrived at Boston to lead the army in a siege of the city, on July 4, 1775, it had taken him a week to produce an accurate count of the soldiers in the army, which was 16,600, far fewer than the 24,500 he had expected. Poorly trained and organized, by 1777, the army was, in Washington's opinion, in need of an inspector general. Members of the Continental Congress noted "the absence of a regular inspector," and on April 18, 1777, Congress requested the establishment of a position to "inspect the magazines of provisions under the care of Commissary Wharton."