1st Pennsylvania Regiment The 1st Pennsylvania Regiment , also known as the Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment and 1st Continental Regiment , was raised under the command of Colonel William Thompson for service in the Continental Army . History . The Congressional resolution of June 14 , 1775 authorized ten companies of expert riflemen to be raised for one - year enlistments as Continental troops . Maryland and Virginia were to raise two companies each , and Pennsylvania six . Pennsylvania frontiersman , however were so eager to participate that on June 22 Pennsylvania ' s quota of companies was increased to eight , organized as a regiment known as the " Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment . " A ninth company was added to the regiment on July 11 . All thirteen companies were sent to Washington ' s army at Boston for use as light infantry and later as special reserve forces . Seven companies of the regiment ( 1st , 2nd , 3rd , 4th , 5th , 8th , and 9th ) were made up of mostly Scots - Irish ; the 6th and 7th companies were mostly German , from Berks and Northampton counties . Their standard weapon was the long rifle , which had greater range and accuracy than the muskets used by most of the British Army and Continental Army , but less weight of shot , slower rate of fire , and were without bayonets , making the regiment unsuitable for line - of - battle . Doctor James Thacher , a young doctor from Barnstable who observed the regiment during many of its battles , provided this description of the riflemen : They are remarkably stout and hardy men ; many of them exceeding six feet in height . They are dressed in white frocks or rifle shirts and round hats . There men are remarkable for the accuracy of their aim ; striking a mark with great certainty at two hundred yards distance . At a review , a company of them , while in a quick advance , fired their balls into objects of seven inches diameter at the distance of 250 yards . . . their shot have frequently proved fatal to British officers and soldiers who expose themselves to view at more than double the distance of common musket shot . In 1776 , when a new army was raised following the expiration of enlistments at the end of 1775 , the rifle regiment , whose term of enlistment did not expire until July 1 , as the first troops to enlist as Continentals , received the honor of being named " 1st Continental Regiment " . The regiment saw action during the New York Campaign , Battle of Trenton , Second Battle of Trenton , and Battle of Princeton . At the Battle of Brandywine the regiment was led by Colonel James Chambers and assigned to Colonel Thomas Hartley ' s 1st Pennsylvania Brigade . Under the direction of acting division commander Brigadier General Anthony Wayne , the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment fought near Chadds Ford where it held the " post of honor " , the far right flank of the division . At the Battle of Germantown the regiment was brigaded with the 2nd , 7th , and 10th Pennsylvania Regiment s . The unit again fought on the extreme right flank of the division just east of Germantown Road . Afterward , the regiment ' s Major Henry Miller boasted to his family about how the division routed the British troops opposed to them and overran their camp . The 1st was in action at the Battle of Matson ' s Ford on December 11 , 1777 . The unit also fought at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778 and the Battle of Springfield in 1780 . Two companies , those of Captain William Hendricks and Captain Matthew Smith , accompanied Arnold ' s expedition to Quebec and were captured in the Battle of Quebec . The regiment was furloughed June 11 , 1783 at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and disbanded on November 15 , 1783 . Company C of the 337th Engineer Battalion claims lineage from Captain Michael Doudeis Company of York , Pennsylvania of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment .