They hoped that British military strength would crush the minority rebellion and free the colonies to renegotiate their return to the empire. Despised by the rebels as enemies or as British appendages, New York’s refugees hoped to partner with the British to restore peaceful government in the colonies.

At Valley Forge, there were shortages of everything from food to clothing to medicine. Washington’s men were sick from disease, hunger, and exposure. The Continental Army camped in crude log cabins and endured cold conditions while the Redcoats warmed themselves in colonial homes.

After defeating the British in the siege of Boston on March 17, commander-in-chief George Washington relocated the Continental Army to defend the port city of New York, located at the southern end of Manhattan Island….

Most American colonists, however, did choose sides. Most Patriots supported independence because they felt that recent British laws on the American Colonies violated their rights as British citizens (e.g. taxing without consent, quartering soldiers in citizens’ homes, and denying colonists the right to a trial).

Grand Union Flag

Origins. The Continental Army consisted of soldiers from all 13 colonies and, after 1776, from all 13 states. When the American Revolutionary War began (at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775) the colonial revolutionaries did not have a standing army.

Life in the Continental Army was difficult. It was mundane and monotonous. Generally, when not engaged in combat, soldiers in the Continental Army served three duties: fatigue or manual labor, such as digging vaults (latrines), clearing fields, or erecting fortifications.