When first organized in Sept. 1774, the company agreed to limit its number to 100 men, to elect its own officers, to drill from time to time, and to supply its own ammunition. Each volunteer was to carry “a good Fire-lock and Bayonet, Sling Cartouch-Box, and Tomahawk” and to dress in “a regular Uniform of Blue, turn’d up with Buff” (MASON [2] description begins Robert A. Rutland, ed. The Papers of George Mason, 1725–1792. 3 vols. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1970. description ends , 1:211).

Although most of the Virginia county committees that had been formed before the Continental Association transferred their authority to meet and act from the Virginia Association to the Continental Association in the fall of 1774, there was strong sentiment to hold new elections for county committees as called for by the 11th article of the Continental Association. Many counties simply reelected the old committees or changed them slightly; some other counties took advantage of these new elections to expand the membership of their committees.