An Army of Servants: The Pennsylvania Regiment during the Seven Years' War

Abstract

WARFARE WAS CENTRAL TO COLONIAL AMERICA, witnessed by each generation from the founding of Jamestown. In the past ten years historians have closely examined the social composition of the colonial armies that fought those conflicts, in particular the Seven Years' War. Once viewed as the repository of the "low-lifes" of colonial society, recent work has suggested that the colonial armies were composed of men who were more representative of their society. The studies of Fred Anderson and Harold Selesky of the New England forces reveal armies formed predominantly of the young sons of farmers awaiting their inheritance and independence. The composition of the Virginia forces has been more controversial, in part because it is impossible to determine the composition of Virginia society in the mid-eighteenth century. However, John Ferling concludes that most of the men who served in the Virginia Regiment came from what he terms the "respectable" classes, "yeomen" and "tradesmen." The forces of Pennsylvania, however, have escaped scrutiny. The creation of these colonial armies required much experimentation.