Rather than a citizen-solder, Martin and Lender stress that for most of the war, the majority of the colonial army had a relatively small percentage of landed farmers. The vast majority of the army's core was made up of poor men with little hope of employment elsewhere, who sought land and hopefully money and perhaps some social respectability as a result of the suffering they endured under Washington's command. They did not enlist for …show more content…
However, almost as soon as their fortunes begin to turn, around the time of Washington's retreat through New Jersey in 1776, desertion immediately became a problem. These volunteer soldier-farmers were disheartened that victory was not coming as easily as they had hoped. They had opposed the British because of personal, economic reasons, and now they were facing difficulties and worried about preserving their land, which was after all the reason that they were rebelling in the first place. Thus, they returned to their harvests and the predicted victory of the superior British, professional seemed