Seal of the Board of War.
The Board of War was a special standing committee created by the Second Continental Congress to oversee the administration of the Continental Army during the North American Rebellion.
The organization of the Board of War underwent several several significant changes after its initial creation. The original board, made up of several members of the Congress and a permanent secretary, could not keep up with the volume of work required of it. In April 1777 the Board recommended that it be altered into a permanent administrative body plus a clerical staff, a change which went into effect in October.
The defeats suffered by the Continental Army at the Battles of Saratoga and Germantown in that month led to a further reorganization. In February 1778 the Board was given direct control over the Continental Army and its membership was made up of the army's senior generals, with General Artemas Ward appointed chairman of the Board and the remaining members being Philip Schuyler, Nathanael Greene, Horatio Gates, and Charles Lee.
The Board of War was dissolved along with the Continental Congress on 12 June 1778 after Joseph Galloway and the Earl of Carlisle signed an armistice ending the Rebellion and returning the colonies to British rule.