for whose cause he was making sacrifices so
heavy. In the backward parts of the colonies the population was densely
ignorant and had little grasp of the deeper meaning of the patriot
cause.

The army was, as Washington himself said, "a mixed multitude." There
was every variety of dress. Old uniforms, treasured from the days of the
last French wars, had been dug out. A military coat or a cocked hat was
the only semblance of uniform possessed by some of the officers. Rank
was often indicated by ribbons of different colors tied on the arm. Lads
from the farms had come in their usual dress; a good many of these were
hunters from the frontier wearing the buckskin of the deer they had
slain. Sometimes there was clothing of grimmer material. Later in the
war in American officer recorded that his men had skinned two dead
Indians "from their hips down, for bootlegs, one pair for the Major,
the other for myself." The volunteers varied greatly in age. There
were bearded veterans of sixty and a sprinkling of lads of sixteen.
An observer laughed at the boys and the "great great grandfathers" who
marched side by side in the army before Boston. Occasionally a black
face was seen in the ranks. One of Washington's tasks was to reduce the
disparity of years and especially to secure men who could shoot. In
the first enthusiasm of 1775 so many men volunteered in Virginia that a
selection was made on the basis of accuracy in shooting. The men fired
at a range of one hundred and fifty yards at an outline of a man's nose
in chalk on a board. Each man had a single shot and the first men shot
the nose entirely away.

Undoubtedly there was the finest material among the men lounging about
their quarters at Cambridge in fashion so unmilitary. In physique they
were larger than the British soldier, a result due to abundant food and
free life in the open air from childhood. Most of the men supplied their
own uniform and rifles and much barter went on in the hours after
drill. The men made and sold shoes, clothes, and even arms. They
were accustomed to farm life and good at digging and throwing up
entrenchments. The colonial mode of waging war was, however, not that
of Europe. To the regular soldier of the time even earth entrenchments
seemed a sign of cowardice. The brave man would come out on the open to
face his foe. Earl Percy, who rescued the harassed British on the day of
Lexington, had the poorest possible opinion of those on what he called