At the outbreak of the Revolution, the American colonies had no navy. It was quite impossible for them to form a navy that could contend with that of England, which was the best in the world. But the Americans of that time were a seacoast people, who did nearly all their trading and traveling by water. They quickly fitted up some ships, that did good execution. At the outbreak of the war, the American army lacked powder, arms, and clothing. While powder factories were building, daring American seamen, North and South, put to sea and captured supplies of powder from British ships. In 1776, ten thousand suits of winter uniform, on their way to Burgoyne's army, were captured. These were sent to clothe the destitute American soldiers. But the little navy rendered other and more important services.

Captain Nicholas Biddle gained much renown by his brilliant successes in a small ship. John Paul Jones, a Scotchman, had entered the American navy, and he soon proved himself one of the best sea men and one of the most unconquerable fighters that ever sailed the sea. He scoured the English and Irish coasts - a terror to sea and land. In the Bonhomme Richard [bon-om rish-ar'] he encountered the English man-of-war Ser'-a-pis, and, finding no other chance for victory, he ran alongside the enemy and lashed the two ships together. After a bloody battle, lasting two hours, the English ship surrendered. But the Bonhomme Richard was so badly cut to pieces that Jones was forced to transfer his crew to the Serapis, leaving his own ship to sink.

A great deal of destruction was done to English commerce by privateers—vessels of war fitted out by private individuals. The profits made, even by common seamen, from prizes taken in this kind of war, drew many men into it, and prevented enlistments in the army. There was always a difficulty about raising soldiers, because the troops suffered much from a scarcity of the necessaries of life. Then, too, a private soldier in that day was liable to punishment by flogging and other degradations not relished by most Americans. But many of the people were always ready to fight in an irregular way. The armies were often broken, but the people were not subdued. The farmer-militia usually wore brown tow-shirts and carried long fowling-pieces. Their ammunition was carried in a powder horn and shot-bag.

Bayonets were often lacking. At the battle of Saratoga one of the divisions of the Americans had but one bayonet to every three men. It is said that they often put one bullet and two buck-shot in a gun together. There were many men among the Americans whose aim was very deadly. The riflemen from the frontier were capable of incredible accuracy in Double-barreled guns were almost, though not quite, unknown at that time. The percussion-cap had not yet been invented, but the old firelocks, touched off by a burning fuse, had all disappeared. The small-arms were probably all flintlocks—guns and pistols that were set off by a flint striking a piece of steel. There were no breech-loaders and no revolvers. Firing was much slower and less effective than now. The bayonet was more important then than in recent warfare.

The American troops suffered extreme hard ships. The paper money issued by Congress to pay the soldiers declined in value until it was almost worthless. In more than one campaign the barefoot soldiers left blood on the ground when they marched. To relieve the necessities of the soldiers, patriotic women collected blankets and sent them to the army.

When the Revolution broke out, there were nearly three million people in the American colonies. During the war the population increased, and, notwithstanding the interruption of business and the destruction of property, the wealth also increased. The loss of credit and the inefficiency and suffering of the army were principally due to the weakness of the government. There were, indeed, thirteen governments, bound together very loosely. Congress had no way of making each State pay its proportion of the expense of the war, and so one State waited for another. It was not until some years after the peace that a strong government was formed.