Description
During the American Revolutionary War, most Continental army regiments represented individual states. But at the close of 1776, the Continental Congress authorized "16 Additional battalions" whose officers recruited in multiple states. Spencer's Regiment, led by Colonel Oliver Spencer of New Jersey, stands out as the longest-serving of these at-large infantry units. In this sweeping history—the first in-depth examination of the role of the Additionals within the Continental army—Timothy B. Abbott tells the story of Spencer's Regiment during the core years of the war, from its formation in 1777 to its disbandment in 1781. Abbott shows how Spencer's emerged as the most successful of the Additional regiment serving with distinction at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Connecticut Farms. Operating without benefit of state support, the regiment, like all the Additionals, struggled to remain viable. Lacking sufficient manpower and supplies, it often labored in thankless obscurity: the quintessential "ragged Continentals." Drawing from a wealth of unpublished primary sources, Abbott introduces new voices from the regiment's ranks as well as its officers, who emerge in this narrative as a Revolutionary "band of brothers." He explores the motivations of these soldiers in choosing to go to war, the trials they endured on the battlefield, and their experiences of civilian life in the new Republic. The Additionals brings to light the experiences of a uniquely American unit during the core years of the Revolutionary War. Masterfully interweaving the stories of individual soldiers, the inner workings of the Continental Army, and relevant social and historical contexts, the volume offers a wider lens for understanding the collective significance of the Additionals and the founding of the Continental Army as an early national institution.