NUMBERED PLATE BLOCK OF 12 STAMPS In 1975 the USPS issued this Se-tenant depicting the 4 uniforms of the early American military. On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress adopted a motion to create ten companies of infantry that became the Continental Army. On October 13, 1775, the Second Continental Congress authorized the formation of a Navy, which was initially composed of two ships with ten guns each. On November 10, 1775, Congress formed two battalions of Marines to fight at sea and on the adjoining beaches. The Militia, today called the National Guard, was America's original armed force against Great Britain, fighting at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill.