Cadets reorganized as the Independent Company of Cadets. Since red uniforms were no longer appropriate, a black coat with red facings was adopted. The first parade was held on Boston Common on 9 September. Hancock, now President of the Continental Congress, was elected honorary colonel while Henry Jackson was elected captain. The strength of the company stood at 78. The Cadets wanted to take an active part in the Revolutionary War and petitioned the General Court for authority to raise a battalion for the Continental Army. Shortly thereafter, Capt. Jackson Henry Jackson (Continental Army general) was commissioned as colonel and commander of Jackson's Additional Continental Regiment on 12 January 1777. The Cadets provided the officer cadre for the new regiment, which organized in the spring of 1777. Jackson's Regiment fought at the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778 and later took part in campaigns in New Jersey and Rhode Island. The regiment was disbanded near West Point, New York on 31 December 1780. Because the Cadets were always made up of young men of officer material, the First Corps of Cadets began its tradition and secondary mission of providing officers for wartime regiments in 1777. This secondary mission continued through World War II (1941–1945). In the 1920s the War Department awarded the Corps three campaign streamers earned by Jackson's Regiment. In 1976 the Department of the Army awarded two additional Revolutionary War streamers. While many of its members were serving on active duty, the Cadets were mobilized for active service in April 1777 and marched to Rhode Island The Cadets entered active duty again in the spring of 1778 serving as a garrison at Dorchester Heights. The Cadets served under their former commander in July and August 1778, when Maj. Gen. Hancock commanded the Massachusetts Militia in a brief campaign against the British in Rhode Island Serving in the same campaign was the Cadets' offspring Jackson's Regiment. After their third tour of active duty, the Cadets were inactive unit 1785. In August 1786, the Cadets reorganized with 36 members. A white uniform was adopted in honor of a French Army regiment with which the Cadets served in Rhode Island in 1778. On 19 October 1786, the Cadets were formally reorganized as the Independent Company of Cadets and were given special privileges by the General Court of Massachusetts. The Cadets were accorded the honor of continuing to serve as the