In December, 1774, a patriotic address by the committee on the state of the Province was accepted by the Provincial Congress, and a copy thereof sent to all the towns and districts in the Province. In this address after a recital of the grievances and oppressions laid upon the people, and of the necessity of guarding their rights and liberties, it was recommended that particular care should be taken by each town and district to equip each of the minute-men not already provided therewith with an effective firearm, bayonet, pouch, knapsack, thirty rounds of ball cartridges and that they be disciplined three times a week and oftener, as opportunity might offer. The militia in general were also not to be neglected, and their improvement in training and drill was strongly recommended. Thus early before open hostilities were declared did the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts take prompt and energetic measures to place themselves upon a military footing, so as not to be taken at a disadvantage when the shock of armed strife should occur. The second Provincial Congress in February, 1775, confirmed the powers of the Committee of Safety, to whom all military matters were directly intrusted, repeated the recommendations of the previous Congress relative to the militia, and appointed four general officers. The commanding officer of each regiment of minute-men, as well as the colonels of the militia regiments, were recommended to review their respective commands and to make return of their number and equipment. Six days before the 19th of April the Committee of Safety was authorized to form six companies of the train artillery already provided by the Colony, to immediately enter upon a course of discipline and be ready to enter the service whenever an army should be raised. The events of the historic 19th of April, 1775, brought matters to a crisis more rapidly than had been anticipated; and, following that incursion of the British troops (_excursion_ it is sometimes called in the quaint language of the day, although one would hardly term it a pleasant one), the Provincial Congress resolved that an army of 13,600 men should be raised immediately by the Province of Massachusetts Bay. A few days later it was moved and passed that the companies in each regiment should consist of fifty-nine men, including three officers, and that each regiment should consist of ten such companies.