On June 14, 1775, the Continental Army is formed to fight for American independence in the American Revolutionary War. After the war, the new American government formally established the US Army in 1784, though it continues trace its legacy to that of the Continental Army and thus June 14 is officially recognized as the US Army's birthday. The US Army serves as the main land-based service of the US military and is the largest branch with a strength of approximately 1,018,000 uniformed personnel (including 476,000 Regular Army, 343,000 National Guard, and 199,000 Reserves). From the fields of Gettysburg in the American Civil War to the freezing cold of Arkhangelsk during the Russian Civil War and from the hedgerows of Normandy to the deserts of Iraq in the Global War on Terror (GWoT), the US Army has been at the forefront of American military might for nearly two-and-a-half centuries.