Had this force acquired the discipline and been hardened by the service which made Washington's troops later in the war a most trusty and effective body, the campaign of 1776 would have shown another record. But not the less are we to respect it, with all its failings and defeats. If not all the men were "patriots;" if some lost faith in the cause; if others deserted it entirely and joined the enemy; if some entered the army from mercenary motives and proved cravens in the field; if still others who were honest enough in their intentions were found to be wretched material for the making of good soldiers—this was only the common experience of all popular struggles. As a body, it fairly represented the colonists in arms; and as an army, it did its share in bringing about the final grand result.
To recapitulate: Washington's army, at the opening of the campaign on August 27th, consisted of seventy-one regiments or parts of regiments, twenty-five of which were Continental, aggregating in round numbers twenty-eight thousand five hundred officers and men. Of these, Massachusetts furnished seven thousand three hundred; Rhode Island, eight hundred; Connecticut, nine thousand seven hundred; New York, four thousand five hundred; New Jersey, one thousand five hundred; Pennsylvania, three thousand one hundred; Delaware, eight hundred; and Maryland, nine hundred. Between eight and nine thousand were on the sick-list or not available for duty, leaving on the rolls not far from nineteen thousand effectives, most of them levies and militia, on the day of the battle of Long Island.[93] As officered and brigaded at this date the army stood as follows:
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
Aides-de-Camp.
Colonel William Grayson, of Virginia; Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Cary, Jr., of Massachusetts; Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel B. Webb, of Connecticut; Lieutenant Tench Tilghman, of Pennsylvania.
Secretary.
Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Hanson Harrison, of Virginia.