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A History | The Continental Army | Life of a Revolutionary War Soldier
Life of a Revolutionary War Soldier
Although many Americans turned up from miles away to fight the British, the Continental Army had continual
trouble keeping its enlistment up. In times of need, the army might resort to recruiting slaves, pardoned
criminals, British deserters, and prisoners of war. The lack of enthusiasm for enlisting occurred for a number
of reasons. The colonists' previous experience with a regular army was that with the British, who were not very
well liked, as the Boston Massacre had shown. Farmers did not want to leave their fields untended for long
periods of time. States competed with the Continental Congress to keep men in the militia. The pay was low and
uncertain, especially in a period of inflation. No pension system existed to compensate a soldier or his family
for injuries or deaths in the line of duty.
Life as a soldier was not very pleasant, either. Disease was common; it would often spread through entire camps.
The soldiers often slept under the stars, or when they did have tents, the soldiers might not have a blanket.
They sometimes awakened from a night of sleeping only in their summer clothing and would see frost on the
ground. Food was frequently scarce, although sometimes when there had been casualties, strange-tasting meat
would become plentiful. In order to fill their bellies, soldiers often resorted to eating sheep heads or other
animal parts which were not commonly eaten. Salt and other seasonings were amenities soldiers would almost
always do without. When there was no food at all, soldiers went hungry for days at a time before finding
turnips, nuts, or other subsistence. When soldiers did receive real beef or other meats, they rarely had
cooking utensils to use. Nevertheless, raw meat was preferable to nothing at all. It is a wonder that the
American side won the war at all.
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