A flying camp was a military formation employed by the Continental Army in the second half of 1776, during the American Revolutionary War.
After the British evacuation of Boston in March 1776, General George Washington met with members of the Continental Congress to determine future military strategy.
Faced with defending a huge amount of territory from potential British operations, Washington recommended forming a "flying camp", which in the military terminology of the day referred to a mobile, strategic reserve of troops.
[1] They were to serve until December 1, 1776, unless discharged sooner by Congress, and to be paid and fed in the same manner as regular soldiers of the Continental Army.
The town of Christiana Bridge is located on Old Kings Road, which was one of the first major inland routes in the colonies between Baltimore, Maryland, in the South, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the North.
The soldiers from Delaware, fighting alongside the 1st Maryland Regiment, may well have prevented the capture of the majority of Washington's army, an event that might have ended the colonial rebellion.
Colonel Patterson tallied the number of men remaining during the retreat across New Jersey at 461 (officers included) when the flying camp battalion arrived at Perth Amboy on October 5, and at 480 of all ranks five days later.