The Continental Army

“This We'll Defend”

The U.S. Army's official motto, "This We'll Defend," has been in use since 1775. This phrase signifies the Army's unwavering commitment to safeguarding the nation's freedom and democracy against all threats, both foreign and domestic. It serves as a constant reminder to soldiers of their duty to protect not only themselves but also the safety and democratic values of every American. Over time, while "This We'll Defend" remains the enduring motto, additional expressions such as "No mission too difficult" and "Duty – Honor – Country" have been adopted to encapsulate various facets of Army life and values. These mottos collectively embody the core principles outlined in the Army Creed, including loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.

Explore These Topics

• Establishment of the Continental Army
• Selection of George Washington as Commander in Chief
• Life of the Continental Soldier
• Current U.S. Army Unit and Branch Lineage
• Weapons
• Tactics
• Revolutionary Women and Families
• Rations
• Ship’s Biscuit Recipe

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:

“I ___ have, this day, voluntarily enlisted myself, as a soldier, in the American continental army, for one year, unless sooner discharged: And I do bind myself to conform, in all instances, to such rules and regulations, as are, or shall be, established for the government of the said Army.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The typical Continental soldier should have received the following in November 1775:

• 1 pound bread or flour per day
• 1 pound beef, 1 pound fish, or ¾ pound pork per day
• 3 pints peas or beans, or vegetable equivalent, per week
• 1 pint milk per day
• ½ pint rice or Indian meal (cornbread) per day
• 1 quarts spruce beer or cider per day, or 9 gallons of molasses per company per week
• 3 pounds candles per company per week
• 24 pounds soft or 8 pounds hard soap per company per week

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.

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.