Continental Army Advantages

The American Revolution resonated with all classes of society, as it stood to divide a nation’s loyalties and recreate the existing fabric of society. During the 1770s to mid 1780s, no group living in the British American colonies was left unaffected. For blacks enslaved in America, the war presented the fleeting possibility of freedom in a nation that was still dependent on an economic structure of oppression and bondage. For those blacks that were free, they chose their alliances wisely in hopes of gaining economic opportunities and improving their status in the American colonies. The American Negroes, whether free or enslaved, could be found on either side of the battlefront. They took on many different roles, some fighting on the

It was not looking good for the Americans. The army was heavily decreasing in numbers. The men who joined the army a year ago were either dead physically or dead inside. It was so bad that George Washington, the leader of this monolithic mess had to come down personally, and beg, plead, beseech the soldiers into staying. Do to countless hours of imploring and the countless nights of praying he finally got what he wanted on December 26, 1776. The Battle of Trenton inspired the colonists. This victory meant the colonists still had a chance. Imagine the surge of excitement the colonists were felling pumping through their veins when they read that new paper headline “America Counters, Defeat of the Hessians.” People were signing up left and right. The enlisting stands that only had tumbleweeds for customers, now was swarmed by young entranced colonists looking to make a difference. The George Washington that dropped down on his hands and knees pleading for these men to not leave now had way more than enough troops then he knew what to do

During the revolutionary war, slaves were not treated the way that they were treated in the movie. Also the scene it showed a message by George Washington stating that "slaves who fought one year in the war for the continental cause were freed and paid five shillings a month"3 This was fictional and speaking of fictional, in the Patriot only one black man fought for the continental army, in reality there were many black man fought against the British army.1

The Revolutionary War was fought by two sides, those being the British and the American colonists, fighting for whether the colonies would remain under British rule, or become their own independent country, and they both had advantages and disadvantages over the other. The Americans were eventually victorious, forming what is known today as the United States of America. It will be discussed in this essay just what advantages and disadvantages each side had, and how these played into the eventual outcome of victory for the colonists.

As the war began, it seemed that the British possessed a greater advantage over the unprepared American rebels. The population odds alone were about three British to every one American rebel with around 7.5 million British soldiers against around 2.5 million American colonists. When it came to wealth and military power, the British were in favor. In addition to having a much greater amount of soldiers, the British soldiers were professional trained when compared to the minute amount of poorly trained American militia. While numerous and highly trained, the British also had the necessary money to equip their soldiers with the necessary ammunition, clothes, training, etc. The American soldiers, on the other hand, suffered from lack of supplies, lack of money, no leadership, and the difficult weather conditions. Recruiting, supplying, training, equipping, and paying soldiers were monumental challenges, especially for a nation that was barely forming its first governments. Due to the lack of money, there was a lack of supplies for the soldiers who rarely received their pay

It seemed as if it would be impossible to defeat Great Britain. George Washington was leading an army that consisted of 20,000 men. Some men were young, poor and did not have land or any skills, Women were also a part of this rebellion by helping those who were hurt from fighting, sick, and simply by cooking and cleaning up after one another. Slaves were also participants in the war. While Great Britain had about 50,000 volunteers

The British were over confident and made poor decisions, whereas George Washington carefully thought out his tactics. The colonists used Guerilla Warfare, and militia were quick and often popped out from behind trees to attack. Using this type of warfare was very beneficial to the Colonists, as it did not give the British enough time to shoot the colonists before they were killed. Guerrilla Warfare was known to “weaken the enemy” (McDougal,210). By focusing on winning small battles, in their own land, the colonists were able to keep enough supplies, food and men to eventually win the war. In the battle of Yorktown, “British general Cornwallis set up his base, located on a peninsula” (McDougal, 209), which was a bad move on their part. Washington saw the opportunity and made the smart decision to block the one land entrance, so that the British could no longer get any supplies that they needed. Washington’s plans along with the Colonists motivation were the were the reason they won the

Prior to the historic Battle of Yorktown, General Washington had experienced a number of losses. These battles where along the upper east cost of the colonies in fairly strategically important places, such as New York and Boston. This is partly the reason why the British underestimated the strength and resiliency of the American forces. Additionally, they believed that the Americans would diplomatically end their rebellion, which unintentionally aided the American effort. Up until the Battle of Yorktown, the frustrations by the American forces were building up and a change in tactics was needed. Instead of the conventional combat tactics, General Washington began to use a guerrilla warfare methodology. Consequently, British forces were not expecting nor were accustomed to this type of attack and rapidly became exhausted.

The British may have been able to capture Bunker Hill, but the continental army was able to kill more men then the suppressive “strongest army in the world”. But, the British army does not have General George Washington, who has and will, successfully avoid any British attempt to capture him. Parliament cannot even agree on what to do in this war! Large groups of Loyalists have already been flocking to rebel behind the Patriot cause! The British army will fall in on itself before they can stomp out the roaring fire that is

- British had nearly 10,000 soldiers while the Continentals had merely 5,000 soldiers, half of those being militiamen.

Voice 3: It’s 1775. Colonial Americans and the British have now entered into a global war that grew from the battles at Lexington and Concord. Espionage was conducted for the first time by General George Washington.

This week I decided to tackle the Battle of Moultrie that occurred n June 28th, 1776. This battle is also named the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, which occurred between the British and American Continentals and militia.1 The British were led by General Sir Henry Clinton and the Americans were under the overall command of General Lee and his subordinate, General William Moultrie.2 The British began make preparations for their southern operations during the war in January 1776 and assigned General Clinton as overall commander.3

On June 26, 1778, Washington chose to send 4,000 men as an advance force to strike at the British rear guard as they departed Monmouth Courthouse, in order to delay the British withdrawal until the main American force could give battle.

There are a lot of things that are similar and different about both armies. Here are some of the advantages that the union army did that the confederate army did not. The union army had a bigger army. They had better access to railroads. They had better weapons. They also had the government on their side. They had factories which meant that they could get a lot more supplies. Those are just some of the advantages the union army had.

The British had very few, but significant disadvantages/weaknesses. Since America was large and unfamiliar territory for them, it was troublesome to conquer and to hold territory. The British were 3,000 miles from home so it often took months for military orders, troops, and supplies to arrive from Britain after it was is sent out. And also due to distance, they couldn’t communicate with their leaders, reinforcements, and supply lines. They didn’t send their top military leaders, which caused problems. Their Red Coats and militant style made them easy targets to identify in the wilderness or on open fields. Their soldiers were fighting for a King, not for their own cause. They lacked motivation to crush the opposition from the onset of the war. They were also over-confident and cocky. Their goal was persuade the Americans to give up their claims of independence, which was an extremely rigorous objective. Also, the country had been at war for years and citizens were tired of war and war taxes.