Between 1775 and 1783, an estimated 230,000 men served in the Continental Army with another approximately 145,000 men serving in state militia units.
Who were the men who served in these military ranks? What motivated them to take up arms and join the army? And what was their military experience like?
In this episode of the Doing History: To the Revolution series, we explore the development of the Continental Army, partisan militia groups, and Native American scouting parties. Our guides for this exploration are Fred Anderson, Randy Flood, and Brooke Bauer.
About the Series
The mission of episodes in the Doing History: To the Revolution series. is to ask not just “what is the history of the American Revolution?” but “what are the histories of the American Revolution?”
The Doing History series explores early American history and how historians work. It’s produced by the Omohundro Institute.
Be sure to check out Doing History season 1, Doing History: How Historians Work.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.
Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.
Episode Summary
In this episode, we continue our exploration of the men who served in the revolutionaries’ military forces by exploring the development of the Continental Army, partisan militia groups, and Native American scouting parties. Our guides for this exploration are Fred Anderson, Randy Flood, and Brooke Bauer.
During our exploration our guest scholars reveal what motivated the men who served to take up arms and join the army; Soldiers’ experiences in the Continental Army and militia units: And the participation of Native Americans in the revolutionaries’ fighting forces.
What You’ll Discover
- Tradition of militias and provincial armies in British North America
- Provincial forces
- Regional variation in militia forces
- Organization and training of provincial forces
- How provincial units fit within the regular British Army
- Minute companies
- How provincial units informed the formation of the Continental Army
- Washington, Commander and Chief of the Continental Army
- Organization of the Continental Army
- Continental enlistments and training
- Differences between militia and Continental service
- Everyday life in the Continental Army
- Continental Army military tactics
- Specialized military units in the Continental Army
- The Southern Campaign, 1778-1781
- The Catawba people
- Catawba culture, trade, and diplomacy
- How the American Revolution and Revolutionary War confronted the Catawba
- Catawba military experience
- Catawba scouting parties
- Cherokee War of 1776
- Cost of the Revolutionary War
Links to People, Places, and Publications
- Fred Anderson
- A People's Army: Massachusetts Soldiers & Society in the Seven Years' War
- Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
- Randy Flood
- American Revolution Museum at Yorktown
- American Revolution Roundtables
- Brooke Bauer
- The Indians' New World: Catawbas and Their Neighbors From European Contact Through the Era of Removal
- Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Sponsor Links
- Omohundro Institute
- William and Mary Quarterly
- OI Reader
- Episode 128: Alan Taylor, American Revolutions
- William and Mary Quarterly-Journal of the Early Republic joint issue on the American Revolution special discount
Complementary Blog Posts
Complementary Episodes
- Episode 010: Don Hagist, British Soldiers, American War
- Episode 048: Ken Miller, Enemy Captives During the War for Independence
- Episode 056: Daniel J. Totora, The Anglo-Cherokee War, 1759-1761
- Episode 060: David Preston, Braddock’s Defeat
- Episode 102: William Nester, George Rogers Clark
- Episode 122: Andrew O’Shaughnessy, The Men Who Lost America
- Episode 123: Revolutionary Allegiances
- Episode 129: J.L. Bell, The Road to Concord
- Episode 130: Paul Revere’s Ride Through History
- Episode 132: Coll Thrush, Indigenous London
- Episode 153: Committees and Congress: Governments of the American Revolution
- Episode 157: The Revolution’s African-American Soldiers
Questions, Comments, Suggestions
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Get in Touch! Send me an e-mail, tweet, or leave a comment.
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