Some tidbits from the American Revolution.

The American Revolution is a delight to study. A few tidbits from Edward Lengel and the contributing authors in The 10 Key Campaigns of the American Revolution are relevant to this blog. Some fun stuff:
- Perseverance in face of ongoing reversals.
- Paying Continental soldiers in specie, that means silver.
Next post will discuss What is a “militia?”
Paying Continental soldiers in specie, i.e. silver
Over the winter of 1780-1781 discontent in the army about not having been paid grew worse, reportedly resulting in either a near mutiny or open mutiny in January 1781. While marching troops from New York to contain Cornwallis at Yorktown, Washington borrowed about 20 million livres from the French to provide one months paid to the continental soldiers. Author says this is the only time troops were paid with silver.
Let’s ponder that amount of pay.
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