At the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War, Congress largely disbanded the Continental Army. At one point in 1784, all regiments had been disbanded, and the regular army consisted of only two detachments to guard military supplies. By 1785, however, a cash-strapped Congress authorized 700 new recruits for the First American Regiment to serve in the Western territories, both to expel illegal settlers and to protect those who had purchased their lands from the United States. Many in the nascent United States still feared a standing army at this time, so the United States relied primarily on volunteer state militias.