The American and British Armies at the time of the American Revolution

Hi Everyone! This week in American History I was very privileged and got to study about the American Revolution. Naturally, I got to learn quite a bit about the American and British Armies. Here's an essay I wrote on the different armies. ~Photobug
P.S.--I forgot to mention that this is the 300th post on this blog! :D

Was there really any chance of America winning her independence from Britain? With uniforms, muskets, bayonets and very good training, the British army was understandably the best army in the world. And what did the rag-tag American army have? Virtually nothing—whatever the British did have, the Americans didn’t have. Just about the only thing going for the Americans is that they were fighting for their liberty, while the British were fighting for money.

What was the British army really like? First of all, they were failures. All the red-coated soldiers you’d see out on the battlefield were failures in their chosen professions of farming, selling or what not. A lot of times the front lines were made up of criminals and drunkards. (Hey, what would you want to do, go live in a prison or have an exciting life in the army??) Living in England, you just didn’t choose the army as a profession.

Sometimes England would use press gangs to fill the army. The gangs would come into a town, get a man drunk, and when he was not in his right mind convince him to join the army. Other times the gangs would skip the drinks altogether and just pronounce a man the newest member of the British Army.

While the officers would pay their way into the service, the really good soldiers were the sergeants. They made up the backbone of the Redcoat army, and if an officer was smart, he would listen to these men who often had many, many years of experience in combat. Most of the soldiers had 10 years experience of fighting.

Unlike the Americans, however, the British Army was well-equipped with everything it might possibly need. Uniforms, food, and weapons were all provided.

The Redcoats’ favored weapon was the Brown Bess musket. Unfortunately, it was not accurate at all past forty yards. To make up for this handicap, the British fought in linear fashion. Linear fashion went like this: the Redcoats would line up in 3 rows, one right behind the other. Let’s make an example. Say Line A is in the front. Line B is behind Line A and Line C is behind Line B. All the soldiers have their muskets ready to fire. Line A fires, then moves to the back and starts reloading their muskets. While Line A is reloading, Line B fires. After Line B fires, it falls back behind Line A to let Line C fire. While Line C fires, Lines A and B are reloading. By the time Line A gets to the front again, it has reloaded and is ready to fire again. Same thing with Lines B and C. This is fighting in linear fashion, and that is how the British fought. Since the British Army was extremely well trained, they could fight in linear fashion.

After a couple rounds of fighting and firing in linear fashion, the Redcoats changed strategy. With bayonets (knives) on their muskets, they charged on the enemy, firing and striking the bayonets into their opponents. With these resources and training, it is no wonder that the British Army was considered the best and most powerful army in the world.

And who do we have facing the most powerful army in the world? Thirteen little rag-tag colonies with a militia and army made up of mainly farmers, civilians. Of course there was some help, that of Indian volunteers, but that wasn’t much. And of course the Americans didn’t use press gangs. Unlike the English, the Americans wanted to fight. The Americans were fighting for their families and for liberty, not money.

The American army, also known as the Continental Army, didn’t have enough supplies. No uniforms were worn, and many times they didn’t have enough to fill their stomachs. However, they did have a superior weapon, the Pennsylvania Long Rifle. At least in accuracy, the Pennsylvania Long Rifle was superior to the Brown Bess musket. The Pennsylvania Long Rifle had an accuracy range of two hundred yards, not forty yards.

The Continental Army was patterned after the British Army. They both fought in linear fashion. Unlike the British Army, the Continental Army went without many items that the Redcoats enjoyed. No sure supply lines stood in place for the patriots, and that meant no uniforms and food was questionable. The Americans were also poorer, and more of the middle class in society. Another difference between the armies was age difference. While England’s commanders and soldiers were older, their American counterparts were much younger. Many American commanders were in their twenties, thirties, one even in his teens. On the whole, the American army was much younger than the British Army.

Why did the Americans go through such agony and fight, starve and die for their new nation? Because they felt that independence was the only way for them to have true liberty and decide on their own laws. It was a cause that they believed in, fought for, and many of them died in support of a land of liberty, one called America.