Fort McIntosh always was under the control of the national government and as a result its garrisons always were companies of Continental Line regiments during the Revolution.
Both the 8th Pennsylvania and the 13th (9th) Virginia were recruited in Western Pennsylvania to protect the frontier. Six companies of the 8th from Westmoreland County and one from Bedford were recruited in the fall of 1776, and the 13th from what is now northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania including the southern part of Beaver County, in the spring of 1777.
When Washington was desperate for troops in December of 1776, the 8th was ordered east, losing 55 men and both its commanding officers on its epic march over the Alleghenies in mid-winter. A little more than half of the 13th Virginia followed in the spring, the remainder being held at Fort Pitt. Rifle companies of the 8th comprised the largest contingent from any state in Morgan's Rifle Corps, the heroes of the battle of Brandywine and Germantown. The refusal of General Sullivan to accept a report by a patrol of the 8th of Cornwallis's flanking movement was a contributing factor in the defeat at Brandywine.
After going through the ordeal of Valley Forge, both regiments were ordered back to the frontier, against Washington's wishes, as he referred to the 8th as "choice troops". After the march to the Tuscarawas, companies of the two regiments served at various times as the garrisons of Fort McIntosh, Fort Henry at Wheeling, and Fort Laurens, and at two smaller posts, Reardons; Bottom and Holidays Cove on the Ohio.
In 178 1, the 13th was ordered to join Von Steuben in Virginia and became part of the reorganized 7th Virginia. Some of its troops might have been with Greene in the Carolinas as one of its officers was wounded at Eutaw Springs. In 1783, the remnants of the 8th, (those who had enlisted for the war), were consolidated into two companies as a detachment of the Pennsylvania Line under their old second-in-command, Lt. Col. Stephen Bayard.
Among the first troops to arrive at Cambridge in 1775 as Washington assembled the first Continental Army, were hunting-shirt clad riflemen from the Virginia and Maryland mountains. One of these regiments was Col. Hugh Stephenson's regiment, mostly of Virginians, but which included a contingent of Maryland troops under Col. Moses Rawlings. The latter was formed into a separate regiment, which, after protecting the retreat at Long Island, was almost wiped out at the battle of Fort Washington. There it had held off three Hessian regiments for four hours while under heavy fire from the Hessians and from the guns of a British frigate. It took part in the victories of Princeton and Trenton, but when Rawlings found it impossible to recruit enough men to restore it to its original strength, the 70 remaining troops were merged with the remnants of the 1st through 8th companies of the Maryland Line as the Maryland Corps.
In the late spring of 1779, Washington ordered the two companies then based at Fort Frederick to Fort Pitt, warning Colonel Brodhead not to expect too much from this "shattered corps". After doing garrison duty at Fort Laurens and Fort McIntosh they were ordered to join Layfayette in Virginia in 1781.
Some of the militia who helped build Fort McIntosh and took part in the Tuscarawas campaign came from as far away as the Natural Bridge area in the Shenandoah Valley and from the headwaters of the Greenbrier in Virginia. Most, however, came from counties now in West Virginia; Berkely, Monongalia, and Ohio, plus Yogahania, which included what is now all of southwestern Pennsylvania, including the southern side of Beaver County. Enlisted for only six months, by the time they had been assembled at their muster point, equipped and taken the long march to Fort McIntosh, they had little time left for campaigning.
In June 1784 Congress disbanded the last of the Continental Army that had won the Revolution, except for the 2nd Company of the 2nd Regiment of Continental Artillery, which comprised 55 men at what is now West Point and 20 at Fort Pitt. With the vast territories of the northwest to be protected, however, it was necessary to establish a new army. After bitter debate, (for Congress was not yet willing to admit the necessity of a standing army), a force of 700 men, enlisted for one year, was authorized. Pennsylvania was to furnish four companies, inluding one of artillery, and Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York one company each. The four Pennsylvania companies arrived at Fort McIntosh on December 4, 1784, and the others were on duty by the early spring of 1785. The one year enlistment was extended to three in 1785, and then by successive Congressional Resolves, this First American Regiment became the 1st Regiment of Infantry, the ist United States Infantry, the 1st Sub Legion, again the 1st Infantry, and in 1815, with the reorganization of the Army, was combined with other regiments as the Third Infantry. This regiment, on the basis of its first service at Fort McIntosh, has the distinction of being the oldest in the Regular Army.
Artillery played a minor role at Fort McIntosh during the Revolution. There are brief mentions; in 1778 Lt. Col. Cambray issued orders for the placing of guns in the artillery "parr" and for the storage of ammunition; in British Intelligence reports of six-pounders being taken to Fort McIntosh; and in mention of two cannons belonging to the United States in 1783.
The early history of the United States Artillery and of the last years of Fort McIntosh are tied together. In 1784 all that remained of the Continental Army was Captain John Doughty's Company of the Corps of Artillery, formerly the 2nd Company of the 2nd Regiment of Continental Artillery. The lineage of this company began as the Alexander Hamilton Company of Provincial Artillery in 1776 and has been traced through all of America's wars to its present identity as the 1st Battalion, 5th Artillery Regiment at Fort Riley.
In July 1785 Doughty's company was reorganized as the 1st Company Artillery, 1st American Regiment (Major John Doughty Commanding). In September it was redesignated the 2nd Company Artillery, 1st American Regiment (Captain William Ferguson commanding). In 1785 it was reorganized again as the 2nd Company, United States Battalion of the Artillery. It, or part of it, remained as the garrison of Fort McIntosh from late 1785 until the fort's dismantling in 1788.
Doughty and Ferguson, both of whom served as post commanders at Fort McIntosh became successively the first two commanders of the United States Artillery. After Ferguson's death in St. Clair's defeat, the two companies were consolidated as Captain Ford's Company of Artillery of the Ist Sub Legion. Ford was the last commander at Fort McIntosh.