Abstract
Most historians now agree that the United States won its independence not with citizen-soldiers but through the exertions of a small coterie of hardened military professionals. These men fought for eight years in George Washington’s Continental Army which, these historians maintain, was fundamentally different from contemporary European institutions. This article argues that this distinction is largely overstated. Continental officers and soldiers considered themselves as members of a military community which traversed national and institutional boundaries. Their adherence to a set of common norms, customs, and behaviours suggests that, far from unique, the Continental Army was an extension of ‘Military Europe’.
Highlights
Most historians agree that the United States won its independence not with citizen-soldiers but through the exertions of a small coterie of hardened military professionals
Described by one leading historian of the eighteenth century as ‘Military Europe’, this transnational vocational fraternity was based on the transfer of personnel, technology, strategy, and institutions, and underlined by a common commitment to the Eurocentric laws of war and an understanding of the conventions of military etiquette
From the very beginning of the war, the military men of the Continental Army endeavoured to demonstrate that their institution was, an extension of ‘Military Europe’
Summary
Most historians agree that the United States won its independence not with citizen-soldiers but through the exertions of a small coterie of hardened military professionals.
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