Continental Soldier

The
Continental Army

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Establishment of the Continental Army

On 14 June 1775, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the New England Army of Observation, making it a “continental” army — a united fighting force — that could represent all 13 colonies with the addition of the troops from the three middle colonies. The Continental Army thus became America’s first national institution.

The Continental Congress further:

“Resolved, that six companies of expert riflemen [sic], be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia; … [and] that each company, as soon as completed [sic], shall march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry, under the command of the chief Officer in that army.”

The U.S. Army also recognizes this resolution as establishing the Infantry branch, making it the oldest branch in the Army.

Selection of George Washington as Commander in Chief

The next step was to select a commander in chief. George Washington of Virginia wanted the job. He had extensive experience, had commanded units from other colonies in the field, and was a delegate to Congress. On 15 June 1775, Congress unanimously voted on the measure, and the next day presented Washington his commission. It read, in part:

“We, reposing special trust and confidence in your patriotism, valor, conduct, and fidelity, do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you to be General and Commander in chief, of the army of the United Colonies, and of all the forces now raised, or to be raised, by them, and of all others who shall voluntarily offer their service, and join the said Army for the Defence [sic] of American liberty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof: And you are hereby vested with full power and authority to act as you shall think for the good and welfare of the service.”

Thus, the Continental Congress commissioned George Washington as commander in chief of the Continental Army, 19 June 1775.

Life of the Continental Soldier

Continental soldiers came from many different backgrounds and included Black people and Native Americans. By 1780, persons of color made up as much as 10 to 15 percent of the Continental Army.

Some estimates range as high as 30 percent.

The average age of the Continental soldier was 22, although the general age range fluctuated from ages 15 to 70s.
The first oath of enlistment for the Continental Army adopted on 14 June 1775 ran as follows:

On the march, the Continental soldier carried 45 to 60 pounds of gear, including musket, bayonet, knapsack, haversack, ammunition, blanket, and other mission-critical items.

Continental Army uniforms varied by state and branch of service. In 1779, the Continental Congress established the blue uniform coat as the color for the Army, but shortages of dye meant that many regiments wore brown or green coats until the end of the war.

The Continental Army often employed women to provide important services such as nursing, laboring, laundering, and other logistics functions.

To fill vacancies in the Continental Army, Congress assigned yearly quotas to each state, which offered recruiting inducements such as bounties and land grants. States that were unable to fill positions with volunteers resorted to drafts from the state militia.

In 1778, Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben designed the first drill regulation for the Continental Army. Known as the “Blue Book,” it synthesized European and British tactical doctrine and shaped the Continental Army into a professional fighting force.

The Continental Army provided soldiers with daily rations of meat, bread, vegetables, sugar or molasses, and beer or cider, with weekly allowances of candles and soap. However, shortages were common, and most soldiers received well below the authorized ration.

Most Continental soldiers carried the British Short Land Service Musket (“Brown Bess”), or a locally made copy or the French Infantry Musket (“Charleville” muskets), both of which ranged between .80- to .69-caliber and weighed just over 9 pounds (12 with the addition of a bayonet). Infantry soldiers were expected to fire three rounds per minute.

Weapons

The weapons of this period consisted of firelocks for infantry; pistols, firelocks, and sabers for mounted troops; and cannons for artillery.

Firelocks included flintlock muskets, carbines, fusils, rifles, and a few other, less common arms. The musket, by far the most common arm, was loaded using a paper cartridge containing a 1-ounce ball and black powder rammed down the barrel.

A musket required thirteen steps to load and fire. A good soldier could manage about three shots per minute and reliably hit a target within 100 yards. Rifles were accurate out to about 300 yards but took up to a minute to load. The spent black powder created enough white smoke to obscure a battlefield in a matter of minutes.

Armies often closed to less than 50 yards before firing and used the bayonet to decide the outcome of the battle. Mounted troops, called dragoons or light horse, scouted for the army, delivered messages, and sometimes closed in with sabers to follow up a bayonet charge. Artillery softened up the enemy line or fortifications or knocked out enemy cannons.

All of these weapons required sophisticated tactics to maneuver the lines of highly disciplined troops into range to use their weapons effectively. Infantry soldiers of all ranks had to learn and understand the complex movements explained in works such as British army Lt. Col. Humphrey Bland’s Treatise of Military Discipline; The Manual Exercise, as Ordered by His Majesty in 1764; and later General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben’s Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, or the Blue Book.

By maintaining tightly ordered ranks, soldiers could concentrate their fire or bayonets to maximum effect. Mastery of these intricate maneuvers gave the Army of the United States the tactical proficiency to prevail on the battlefields of the Revolutionary War.

Tactics

The Continental Army waged war using linear tactics. It fought in closely formed lines or ranks of soldiers, usually two but sometimes three deep. The soldier in the front rank and the soldier in the rank behind him formed a file. Soldiers typically stood between 18 inches and 4 or 5 feet apart, depending on the type of combat.

If facing enemy infantry or mounted troops in an open field, they might form at closer order to better concentrate their fire. If fighting in woods or if facing artillery, they might open their files—increasing the distance between soldiers—in order to get around trees and bushes or to make themselves less of a target. Commanders sometimes ordered independent fire by files, with each pair of soldiers shooting in turn. Light infantry troops often practiced this tactic.

When firing as part of a platoon or battalion, officers gave the command to march, load, and fire. To communicate information over the noise of the battle, drummers used different drumbeats that conveyed commands and enabled soldiers to fire in near-perfect unison.

Any missed step or unheard command could put soldiers in the wrong place and open them up to severe injury or death. Commanders therefore demanded strict discipline to execute linear tactics. Corporals ensured that privates knew and understood their drill and kept order within the ranks. Sergeants kept the ranks and files together on the battlefield, protected the officers, and helped them to evacuate the wounded and resupply ammunition.

Both corporals and sergeants wore an epaulette or strip of cloth on their right shoulder to show rank. Those of the corporals were green, those of the sergeants were red. After 1779, the epaulettes were white cloth, one for corporals, and two for sergeants. Sergeants usually carried swords in addition to muskets, and early in the war sometimes carried a polearm known as a halberd.

Drummers, who also played fifes, often wore uniforms of opposite colors so that their officers could find them in the heat of battle. Officers wore uniforms in the color of their regiments, with a sword, sash, and epaulettes to denote rank, or a long polearm called a spontoon. Immediate recognition was critical in the heat of battle, and armies of the day often wore brightly colored uniforms, if they were available, to distinguish friend from foe.

At other times, soldiers wore simple linen hunting shirts. Few thought about the need for camouflage, as the capabilities of the weapons that soldiers carried meant that most battles were fought in the open at relatively close range.

Revolutionary Women
and Families

Thousands of women and children followed the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The exact number is not known, but official records, letters, and diaries note the presence of these “camp followers.” Most of the women were family members or wives of soldiers, although some were refugees, single women, and enslaved women.

Revolutionary War: Women and Families Essay

The Revolutionary War disrupted society in ways that brought new pressures and responsibilities to women, children, and families. In the eighteenth century, women generally had few independent economic opportunities and no political rights. Despite these limitations, many women contributed to the war effort by sharing their opinions in publications; supporting communication networks; and participating in protests. If they favored the patriot cause, they might join in boycotts of British goods. Even though women could not serve in the armies or militia, they found ways to support the soldiers and cause, whether by choice or necessity.

Women’s economic and racial backgrounds influenced how the war changed their lives and those of their children, especially those whose husbands and fathers went off to war. Upper-class and middling women could continue to live at home or with family and friends during the war, but less financially secure women often had little choice but to follow their soldier fathers and husbands to remain safe and avoid starvation. Many women and children operated family businesses and farms while their husbands and fathers were away fighting in the war. Black women’s connections with the Continental Army came in different forms of freedom and unfreedom. Some Black women followed their soldiering husbands. Others went as enslaved servants to Army officers, as enslaved persons working toward freedom, and some as free women being paid for their labor as servants. Hannah Till, an enslaved cook leased by George Washington, worked towards earning her freedom during the war. Native American women also played important parts within their nations as fighters and negotiators.

Women found ways to support the soldiers whether they followed the Army or not. Some women organized to raise funds in their local communities for soldiers in need of supplies and food. Other women served as messengers. Memorizing messages or sewing correspondence in their clothing, the women traveled to deliver important information between Army locations. They risked being caught and imprisoned or publicly humiliated. Some women even served as spies, relaying intelligence they learned during social events or overheard in conversations. Other women may have posed as men to serve as soldiers, although they were dismissed once their gender was revealed.

Women who traveled with the Army helped the soldiers within the camps. Officers often arranged for their wives and children to stay at homes of friends and families close to the camps, allowing for more comfort and distance from battles. Well-to-do women like Martha Washington and Lucy Knox, both married to high-ranking officers, hosted elaborate parties and dances that officers and local people attended. These events improved soldier morale and offered a break from Continental Army camp life. Their lives differed greatly from those of the less wealthy women who lived outside of the camps in tents with their children. They sewed, mended, and laundered uniforms; served as nurses; and brought water and food to soldiers during labor at the camps. In battles, women brought buckets of water for drinking and for cooling down cannons. At times, women even took up weapons to replace husbands who had been injured or killed in battle. Margaret Corbin, later nicknamed “Captain Molly,” took her husband’s place at a cannon during the defense of Fort Washington on 16 November 1776. Mary Ludwig Hays likewise took her husband’s place at a cannon at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778. Their stories gave rise to the legend of Molly Pitcher. The Continental Army gave women money and rations in exchange for their labor. Women and children filled vital logistics roles in the Continental Army that today are filled by specialized branches and units.

Native American women supported the Continental and state armies in many different roles.
Tyonajanegan (Oneida), or Two Kettles, fought alongside her husband during the Battle of Oriskany in August 1777. She also performed other vital services for the Army. Polly Cooper (Oneida), brought corn to the starving soldiers at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in the winter of 1777–1778. She taught the soldiers how to prepare the corn and cooked for George Washington.

Children also helped the Continental Army in many of the same ways as their mothers. Some soldiering fathers took children along with them to serve as their assistants, such as by delivering messages or caring for animals. Boys who followed the Army without their families performed as fifers and drummers to relay commands. As these young men aged, they would join the Continental Army as soldiers.

The success of the Continental Army required the help of all those in society, help that often came from many women and children.

Rations

The Continental Army had two types of rations. The rations issued in a garrison, such as a fort, generally included freshly baked bread, fresh meat, and fruits and vegetables.

Rations in the field consisted of dried bread (often called ship’s biscuit); salted beef (also known as corned beef) or pork; and dried peas. Commissaries either issued beer to the soldiers or provided an allowance to buy it.

An amended ration from 24 December 1775 authorized “corned beef or pork four days in a week, salt fish one day, and fresh beef two days.” In lieu of milk during the winter, General Headquarters increased the meat ration to 1½ pounds beef and 18 ounces of pork.

The rice and cornmeal ration became a weekly rather than a daily ration. A ration of 6 ounces of butter or 9 ounces of lard per week also was added. To cope with food shortages, General Phillip Schuyler issued a general order authorizing substitutions for various foods.

For example, when only bread and pork were available, a soldier’s full daily ration was 2 pounds of bread and 1 pound pork. Cooking equipment was equally simple.

On 21 December 1775, Congress authorized 100 haversacks, a camp kettle for every six soldiers, as well as a cord of hickory “or other wood in proportion,” and forty iron pots for cooking at the barracks.

Not much detail is known about eighteenth-century field cooking. Soldiers generally cooked their rations in tin camp kettles, initially with six soldiers to a “mess”— the term for a group of soldiers who all ate together.

There is some evidence that some soldiers may have roasted their meat over open fires, but it is more likely that most used kettles to boil the meat. Some states, such as Pennsylvania, issued skillets when camp kettles were not available.

Ship’s Biscuit: An Essential Food for Colonial Soldiers These cracker-like circles were a staple for American soldiers, made with the basic recipe that militaries around the world had used for centuries.

A simple mixture of flour and water, these crackers were sturdy, filling and would last a long time if kept dry.

Ship’s Biscuit Recipe

To make a single bread ration, preheat an oven to 375°F (190°C).
Take 2 cups of flour and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of water and mix into a stiff dough. Let the dough rest for at least 10 minutes. Knead the dough well, turning it inside out, until it is smooth and even.
Form dough into 3 to 5 balls.

Roll each out into discs that are 1⁄2-inch thick and about 33⁄4 inches in diameter. If the discs crack at the edges, roll the dough back together and knead them again. Once the discs are of the right size and consistency, poke holes in a grid pattern about 3⁄4-inch apart.

Place the discs on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, opening the oven periodically to let out the moisture. Let the baked bread stand for several days in the open air to continue drying, and store in a dry place. To eat the bread, soak it in water, milk, soup, or stew for 10 to 15 minutes.

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