From Camps to Battlefield:
Soldiers in Colonial America
Milei Sagawa Colonial Research Paper
Humanities 2016
Imagine staying in an uncomfortable space and getting low portions of food even though you’re serving your company and country. This was one of the many challenges for soldiers in the Continental Army. Soldiers would help defend their country and utilize different strategies and drills to succeed in battle. In Colonial America, soldiers had various roles within the army. They had many jobs to learn and many commands to practice. Commands and drills were very important to know because they were essential tools for battle. Soldiers in the army had arduous lives, but without all these organized systems the army wouldn’t have been able to thrive to fight the British.
In Colonial America being a soldier was a very important job that required you to learn different strategies. Music was an important tool that soldiers used to learn drills. If you were a soldier, knowing all of your routines was mandatory. Soldiers would spend lots of time practicing these different drills because when in battle the soldiers would have to reference the different routines they went through and practiced. Music and instruments enabled soldiers to do different drills. The most common instruments used in the army during drills were a drum, a fife and a bugle. The drum was used more than any other instrument. Music would be played to lead a whole company or army while on the march. Music was used for marching, commands, and announcements, so the job of a musician was very important. The drummer would also have to repeat a rhythm to the whole military. The bugle was used only in cavalry, and the fife was usually an essential for every soldier to have. Musical instruments played a big role in marching because they maintained organization.
Cavalry was used as a major tool especially during battle. Cavalry was a major position that had lots of strategies. In Europe only large men would usually be the ones riding the horses, but in the countryside of America, light men would be riding swift horses for dismounted or mounted service. These light men were known as dragoons. “ The mobility and speed of the light dragoons allowed them to spy out enemy movements, gallop from forest parties.” This quote shows that dragoons were really important. They rode horses in a different way than most soldiers did. This was smart of how the soldiers used people with a smaller height as an advantage. Dragoons were a traditional position that was given. Cavalry had many positions that helped a lot within battle and they were also known as one of the most interesting battle tactics. They were put on very advanced positions to keep watch of surprise attacks. When the army would be on the march they would usually be put as an advanced guard. Occasionally, horses would be used while soldiers would be doing practice drills. Sometimes the horses would be so disciplined that when it was time to stop practicing, without being told they would start doing their positions or advanced steps. Usually anybody can be doing cavalry because height didn’t matter. Since there were two jobs for both small and big soldiers. Big men on big horses would usually be the ones carrying cargo while on the march. The dragoons would usually be the ones doing the advanced steps since it was easier for the swift horses to do that.
The militia’s drills were much more complicated than the regular continental army drills. Since the militia was for more skilled soldiers they made their drills more advanced and confusing. They would usually bring these arrays of drills from their home town. If you were in the militia, soldiers would also have to prepare for a standardized drill. They would take this drill in order to get in the British charge. There were only between 16 and 60 members of the militia so there weren’t as many soldiers as the continental army. Militiamen who were part of the militia were very precise when it came to weapons. They were especially good at loading and firing guns. Another big essential in the militia was also discipline. The militia was very strict and made sure that every soldier was ready and good for combat. In battle, most militia soldiers were able to do this complicated battle tactics in the American forests on their own. The soldiers worked better on their own and not in big groups.
Marching drills were very important for the Continental Army and were different from marching drills in militias. The militia was different from the continental army because the militia was more advanced. The continental army was as advanced and had more soldiers than the militia. “Marching drills were also important. When in battle, the soldiers had to march quickly and in an orderly fashion to signals beat on on a drum.” This quote shows that the Continental Army drills took time to perfect their drills and valued discipline, organization, and efficiency. The drum would usually be played while the soldiers would march in a specific order. They would also often stand shoulder to shoulder when practicing with muskets. These drills were very important to learn because if you were in the battlefield, just one mistake on doing one of the planned strategies can cause a lot of problems.
Marching was also a long process. The transportation was not that advanced so the army had different jobs for different people. These jobs included, taking care of transportation and how they got to their destination. The army would take wagons and use them to carry weapons and other tools. The wagons the army used were made in a special way. Wagons were made out of sturdy wood for the different types of roads in America. Also soldiers knew that in America the roads there were really rugged and rocky. The designs for the wagons came from the Pennsylvania Dutch settlers.
African American soldiers sometimes didn’t want to be part of the army in the first place. “Some slaves were placed in the army as substitutes for their owners, who did not wish to serve themselves.” This quote shows that African Americans were forced to be part of the army. Sometimes they would be bribed to join. Their owners would sometimes promise them their freedom if they served in the army. In 1778, was when there were nearly a thousand African American soldiers that spread across every regiment of the continental army. African american soldiers often took the British side in the war, but hundreds also took the Patriots side. Some African Americans chose to be in the army to serve their own rights and just to represent. African Americans were also somewhat divided in the army. Most black regiments with white officers were located in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. There were many different roles in the army and it was mandatory for everyone to have one.
Women also had a role in the army. They would mostly do the cooking, make shelter, and help injured soldiers. “Today, women who followed the army are referred to as ‘camp followers.’Even though the term was not used in the eighteenth century, it is applicable to women in the army then. Females who followed Washington’s army were seeking safety, shelter, food, and work.” This quote shows that women didn’t fight in the army. Instead, women helped with the chores and other work that didn’t really involved being in the middle of the battlefield. Women were mistreated in the army and they were also misunderstood. The soldiers thought that women in the military was a distraction. According to some soldiers they would say women got in the way of work as being a soldier. They also said that women made the army and camps look unprofessional. But they did know that if women were to not be working in the military, they would lose a pretty big number of soldiers. Both women and African Americans had something in common. They were both dehumanized within the army and treated like tools or objects.
Soldier camps was another big thing within the army because it was basically shelter, but the quality was very uncomfortable for most soldiers. “The men resided in camps, usually living in tents that could be unbearably cold, wet, and drafty in the spring and fall, but which turned to ovens in the the summer.” This quote shows that camps in the army were difficult and harsh to live in. Different seasons made the camps even harder to live in. It also shows that tents were hard to live in too. Since there was a large amount of men in the army, none of them could really fit in the tents all together because the tents were small. The soldiers didn’t get the best shelter or materials/tools either for the army. Men in the army used to complain a lot about the low supply of some stuff. Food portions were also really short in the army and even though it was the law for the army to be stored with lot’s of food, each soldier was only limited to a little bit of food every day. The food was usually pork or beef, bread, peas, beans and rice, rum/beer, and butter. While on the march, each soldier would usually just be given a pound of beef and flour. Each soldier would be assigned to have a job/duty to do every day. It was called fatigue duty which included digging trenches, gathering hay, cleaning the grounds, etc. All of these jobs were part of the men’s daily routine. The weather would often be so bad that some soldiers would get sick or were just really affected by it and couldn’t work.
It was mandatory for soldiers to wear the army uniforms because soldiers of the continental army never had a one signature uniform because they would switch uniforms every year. Soldiers also use to wear armor but they stopped by the eighteenth century. Soldiers stopped because it used to weigh them down during battle and it was heavy. Some navy officers would sometimes still wear some armor but it was a breastplate and/or a backplate.
Being in the army was very important in Colonial America and it still is to this day. Being organized and having a certain system was an essential part of life in the army and during battle. Without these drills the army would be in total chaos and wouldn’t know what to do in battle. The three cultures were influenced a lot in the army too. The Africans were
