As in previous wars of defence or of adventure, the separate colonial forces were again brought together into one army. On their assembling at Cambridge, in July, 1775, they were mustered into one service under General Washington. As was recorded in a local paper, "None of the men who have been raised by this (Massachusetts) and several other colonies are in future to be distinguished as the troops of any particular colony, but as the forces of 'The United Colonies of North America,' into whose joint service they have been taken by the Continental Congress."[105] [105] _New England Chronicle_, July 6, 1775. As early as October, Washington found the necessity of having some "continental flag" which should identify the whole of the forces of "The United Colonies of North America" thus assembled together under his command, instead of having the military detachment from each colony continuing to use its own individual flag. An existing ensign used by the Colony of Pennsylvania was at first proposed by him for this purpose, having a white ground with a tree in the middle, and the motto, "Appeal to Heaven."[106] [106] "Washington Letters," Vol. I., p. 84. This was succeeded by a new design, devised for the Continental Union flag (39), which, to the accompanying salute of thirteen guns, was raised by Washington over the camp of his army at Cambridge, Massachusetts, on the 1st January, 1776, being the occasion of its first appearance. [Illustration: 39. THE FIRST UNION FLAG, 1776.] This flag was called "The Grand Union" (Pl. VI., fig. 1). It was composed of thirteen stripes of alternate white and red--one for each colony--and in the upper corner was the British Union Jack of that period, displaying the two crosses of St. George and St. Andrew, as introduced in 1707. There existed at the time a flag which had been carried by the English East India Company over their British possessions in India since 1704. This was composed of thirteen stripes, red and white alternately, and had the single red cross of St. George upon a white ground (the old English Jack) in the upper corner. This flag might have been seen on the vessels trading to America and exchanging products between the English East Indian and the American colonies, and thus being recognized as a "colonial flag" it may, with the change of form of the Union Jack, have suggested the new ensign. [Illustration: PLATE VI. 1 GRAND UNION 1776 2 UNITED STATES 1777 3 UNITED STATES 1909] There is no direct evidence as to the flag which had been raised by General Putnam at the outbreak of hostilities at Bunker Hill, June 17th, 1775, but tradition reports[107] that it was the ensign of the colony of New England (37), which, like the East India ensign, had the St. George's cross on a white ground in the upper corner; but the whole fly of the flag was red. [107] Lossing.