The Life of a Patriot Soldier
The Fighting Men of the Continental Army
The Continental Army was established by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington and Concord . Most men who served in the Continental Army were between the ages of 15 and 30. Those who served in the Army were merchants, mechanics, and farmers. By 1780, close to 30,000 men served in the Continental Army, and by joining, they were required to serve anywhere from a year to the entirety of the war.
Here's what your typical day would be like if you were a Continental soldier...
Your day would begin when the sun came up, which could be as early as 5 a.m. From there, your day would actually be fairly boring and repetitive, since most days, soldiers were not in active combat. You would be doing manual labor like digging latrines (trenches that served as bathrooms for the army), clearing land of trees and brush, or building defensive fortificaitons to keep your side safe. Plus, you would have occasional guard duty and marching drills, so there was no real down time!
You would have a break for your one meal of the day at around 3 p.m. You got a specific amount of food each day (called rations), and your meal consisted of 1.5 pounds of meat and a pound of bread. Doesn't sound too bad right? The problem was, the meat included bones, fat, and the tough cartilege, called gristle. Not exactly a high-quality steak.
When you traveled with the army, you would carry forty-five pounds of gear on your back.
At the end of the month, you would be paid you $6.23 for your four weeks of service. If you were lucky and got promoted, you might be paid more or get more food rations during mealtime.
That was a pretty good day. Sometimes things didn't go so well...
Army camps were not clean places, and for every soldier that died on the battlefield, nine died from disease in the camp. You could get really sick at any time.
If you decided that the hours of hard work and gross food weren't worth $6.23 per month, you might not be able to quit. If you had chosen to enlist for three years, you had to stay in the army for that whole time. Violating your enlistment and leaving (which was called deserting) could result in anything from whipping to death. You would have to endure these punishments in public so that other people would not make the same mistakes.
So what do you think? Would you be able to make it as a Continental soldier?
Adapted from https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/fighting-man-continental-army
The Continental Army was established by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington and Concord . Most men who served in the Continental Army were between the ages of 15 and 30. Those who served in the Army were merchants, mechanics, and farmers. By 1780, close to 30,000 men served in the Continental Army, and by joining, they were required to serve anywhere from a year to the entirety of the war.
Here's what your typical day would be like if you were a Continental soldier...
Your day would begin when the sun came up, which could be as early as 5 a.m. From there, your day would actually be fairly boring and repetitive, since most days, soldiers were not in active combat. You would be doing manual labor like digging latrines (trenches that served as bathrooms for the army), clearing land of trees and brush, or building defensive fortificaitons to keep your side safe. Plus, you would have occasional guard duty and marching drills, so there was no real down time!
You would have a break for your one meal of the day at around 3 p.m. You got a specific amount of food each day (called rations), and your meal consisted of 1.5 pounds of meat and a pound of bread. Doesn't sound too bad right? The problem was, the meat included bones, fat, and the tough cartilege, called gristle. Not exactly a high-quality steak.
When you traveled with the army, you would carry forty-five pounds of gear on your back.
At the end of the month, you would be paid you $6.23 for your four weeks of service. If you were lucky and got promoted, you might be paid more or get more food rations during mealtime.
That was a pretty good day. Sometimes things didn't go so well...
Army camps were not clean places, and for every soldier that died on the battlefield, nine died from disease in the camp. You could get really sick at any time.
If you decided that the hours of hard work and gross food weren't worth $6.23 per month, you might not be able to quit. If you had chosen to enlist for three years, you had to stay in the army for that whole time. Violating your enlistment and leaving (which was called deserting) could result in anything from whipping to death. You would have to endure these punishments in public so that other people would not make the same mistakes.
So what do you think? Would you be able to make it as a Continental soldier?
Adapted from https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/fighting-man-continental-army