7. By the end of 1776 the Continental Army almost ceased to exist
In the early years of the war American soldiers enlisted for a term of one year. The approach of the Christmas holiday and the end of the year meant for Washington that his army was about to dissolve due to expiring enlistments. The year 1776 was one of a series of defeats for the Americans, with the gains achieved in Canada the preceding year wiped out by ill-supply and British-Canadian counterattacks, and the main army under Washington defeated in New York. As the Americans retreated across New Jersey morale among the men plummeted. By the time Washington reached the relative safety of Pennsylvania, with the Delaware River between his men and pursuit, most of the troops were determined to go home.
Washington appealed personally to the regiments, thanking them for enduring the travails of the preceding campaign and asking them to remain for an extra six weeks in a last ditch attempt to prevent his army from dissolving at the end of 1776. The men regarded their crumbling footwear, tattered clothing, bad food, and the months of constant defeat as they considered their commander’s words. At the end, some agreed to stay; they were the troops which won the Battle of Trenton at the end of 1776, and the Battle of Princeton in the first week of 1777, victories which saved the Revolution. Other men did not, trekking home on their own as 1777 began. One such man was a New England patriot named Joseph Plumb Martin.