The Patriot cause suffered throughout the war from a chronic shortage of men. One of the fundamental problems with the Continental Army was that many Americans were reluctant to establish a European-style professional army with long-term enlistments for fear of a strong military leader seizing the government. Short-term enlistments were initially the standard, and these continued to some degree throughout the war. Without a professional attitude, soldiers were much more likely to be casual about remaining in ranks for the full term of their enlistment period.
Men were both hesitant to enlist and deserted for a number of reasons. One of these was the harsh punishments inflicted for relatively minor violations. Civilians refused to enlist as they heard stories from deserters and returning soldiers about the arrogance and severity of the Continental officers. Stories such as a man who received 50 lashes for cutting up his blanket, did nothing to encourage military service.
The average number of lashes in 1775 was 39, whereas British soldiers sometimes received 500 to 1,000. After Congress passed new Articles of War in 1776, the average penalty was 100 lashes, unless there were additional violations such as deserting to the enemy. Then they might be sentenced to serve for the duration of the conflict, to service on a Continental man of war after receiving 100 lashes, or to death.
Service in the Continental Army was indeed the stuff of legend for the fortitude and perseverance of those who stayed. Hardships due to poor or non-existent food and clothing, infrequent paydays, rampant monetary inflation, fear of combat, homesickness, family problems, crowded unsanitary life in camp, and rampant disease were all contributing factors to soldiers refusing to join or abruptly leaving military life. Washington wrote happily in June 1777 that, "By paying off the Troops and keeping them well supplied with provisions &ca. desertions have become much less frequent." Unfortunately, this was the exception not the rule.
Bounties, a cash bonus for enlisting, were offered by both the states and Congress. At one point Virginia offered 400 dollars and 300 acres of land to men who would enlist for the duration of the war. The "bounty war" resulted in states bidding against each other for the services of a potential soldier. This motivated some men to enlist, receive a bounty, and then desert and re-enlist in another unit, in order to get another bounty. A soldier who was executed in 1778 had been convicted of deserting seven times.
In America, for most of the war a skilled workman could earn far more than a soldier, and even common laborers could earn more. This was particularly true during the prime agricultural season when farmhands were in short supply. In July 1777, when private soldiers were paid 6 2/3 dollars a month, David Grier lamented to Anthony Wayne that laborers were being paid a dollar or more per day, "which Intirely Prevents any success in Recruiting therefore."
Some deserters went to the enemy, but more often they seem to have gone home. Though the army sent detachments out to get them, their friends and families sheltered them. In 1781 Washington wrote that in many instances, "Deserters which have been apprehended by Officers have been rescued by the People." Others moved to Vermont or west of the Alleghenies to avoid capture. In 1783 Washington wrote that the "Grants," a mountainous area between New Hampshire and Vermont, were "populated by hundreds of Deserters from this Army."
The most thorough study of the subject estimates the average desertion rate in the Continental Army at 20 to 25 percent. The desertion rate declined significantly in the latter years of the war, as the army became more professional. In 1777 the New Jersey line had a 42 percent rate of desertion, but after 1778 the rate averaged about 10 percent. It is likely that any compiled figures are too low, as the reports of sick absent soldiers contained many who had deserted.
The most severe penalty for desertion was death, usually by hanging. One study found that of 225 sentences of death only 40 to 75 were actually carried out. Last-minute reprieves were common. In May 1780 eleven men were scheduled to be executed, all but one for desertion. Their graves had been dug, eight were on ladders with the ropes around their necks, when a reprieve for ten of the men came from Washington. The one man who was executed, James Coleman, was considered more culpable than the others and was convicted of having forged discharges enabling more than 100 soldiers to leave the army, including himself.
In addition to the laws made by Congress, each state had its own law for dealing with deserters from state and militia units. But these do not seem to have been very effective either. And, of course, the British, Hessians, and French all had their codes and punishments.
Occasional mass pardons to deserters were not uncommon in armies of the period. Washington offered general pardons four times, the first on April 6, 1777. In 1782 a pardon was even made to deserters who joined the enemy.
The Americans tried to entice the Hessian mercenaries to desert, playing up the frictions between the British and German troops. After the French army arrived in America, they also tried to bolster their ranks from the enemy. In 1780 a proclamation "To GERMAN DESERTERS" promised "proper encouragement" for those who enlisted in the French regiments.
Both sides enlisted prisoners of war and deserters despite repeated bad experiences and various cautions. While the Continental Congress forbad enlistment of prisoners of war in 1778, the continual push to fill the ranks ensured that it still occurred. If a soldier was a prisoner of war and escaped from the usual loose security where he was being held, was he a still a POW, or a deserter? Recruiters hungry for cannon fodder were unlikely to discriminate." [END]
Editor's Note:
This article was excerpted from the Introduction to Joseph Lee Boyle's authoritative two-volume collection, "
He Loves a Good Deal of Rum': MILITARY DESERTIONS DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1775-1783"
. Mr. Boyle's book names 7,500 deserters whose identities were culled from advertisements printed in 38 newspapers published from Massachusetts to North Carolina from 1775 to 1783. Here is a representative example:
"Deserted from my company, in Col. Craft's battalion of colony train of artillery, Michael Carrick, 31 years of age, about 5 foot 8 inches high, with a cut over his right eye brow, well set, black hair, and buck skin breeches. He had on a grey out side jacket and striped waist coat, a new cotton shirt, and carried away with him a French musket and bayonet. Any person who shall stop said deserter and thief, shall have a reward of FOUR DOLLARS, and all charges paid by JOSEPH BALCH." The Boston Gazette and Country Journal, July 22, 1776; July 29, 1776.
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