Contrary to the popular militia myth, the Continental Army consisted of
regular army regiments, supplemented by local militia units. The militia
with some exceptions, was not even expected to stay and fight, they were
instructed to fire the first volley , in front of the regular army and then
withdraw behind the regulars. A number of "levies" from each militia unit
was expected to train and be part of the regular army. They did it by
rotation and a number of them enlisted. There were exceptions where some
militia units gave a very good account of themselves in battle.
The Continental Army had some victories, even before France decided to
help - they wouldn't have agreed to jump into the fray without the
Continental Army showing some successes and the potential for more.
I'm fairly well versed in Revolutionary War history - I'm a member of the
Brigade of the American Revolution (a national organization devoted to the
research and recreation of the life of the Revolutionary War soldier), 3rd.
NY Regiment of 1775.
(Yes, Regular Army regiments were already being recruited a year before the
Declaration of Independence...)
Meir
-----Original Message-----
From: Military Vehicles Mailing List [mailto:mil-veh@mil-veh.org] On
Behalf Of Daniel Terp
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2001 8:45 PM
To: Military Vehicles Mailing List
Subject: Re: [MV] Terrorist Attack
I have. And it says that the British were winning until the French
arrived.
And while there were professionals on the colonial side, there were
many more on the British and Hessian side, that is until the French
showed up.
Also, while George Washington did have military training, he made most
of his early career as a surveyor and farmer. He intended to go back
to farming when he was "drafted" as President.
On Wed, 12 Sep 2001 17:28:24 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:
>George Washington was a career military officer
>trained by the British as a colonial "regular" army
>officer.
>
>There was a professional colonial army that fought
>against the royalists, they got their experience
>fighting the Indians, the French in northern NY, and
>probably the Dutch, also in NY.
>
>Fort Niagara has flown the flags of four different
>countries!
>
>History!! Read the history of your country!!
>
>Joe
>
>--- Daniel Terp <dterp@tallcity.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, 12 Sep 2001 03:42:53 -0500, you wrote:
>>
>> > The Red Coats were trained professionals also.
>> > Ed Morgan
>>
>> True, and they were beating the crap out of the
>> civilian "militias"
>> until the French regulars arrived to reinforce the
>> colonials.
>>
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