As far as medicine, they had leeches for bleeding, and amputations for bad wounds. They suffered from smallpox, typhus, and dysentery. Prisoners of the British faced starvation and disease on the dreaded prison ships.

Discipline was spotty at first, but became harsher as the war went on and Washington needed a more disciplined army. Hanging offenses included striking an officer and desertion. Flogging was a common form of punishment.

The Battle of The Waxhaws was an unimportant skirmish of the American Revolution, fought at the border of the Carolinas in 1780. The results of that battle would have consequences for the Loyalists not long after at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Tarleton's 'British Legion' was sent to prevent the last American Army in the Southern Theater from escaping into North Carolina. On the other side, Colonel Buford, the commander of the Third Virginia Regiment, made two huge mistakes.

Upon learning that Tarleton was closing in on him, he sent his wagons and artillery ahead into North Carolina to prevent their capture. Instead, they could have stopped Tarleton's force.

When Tarleton brought the Virginian's to bay, Buford gave the order to hold fire until the Legion had come within thirty yards. The Virginians would have no time to reload their muskets in the face of charging cavalry. That was an inexcusable blunder that led to defeat. The British Legion refused to accept the surrender of the defeated Americans. After that battle the cry of 'Tarleton's Quarter', meaning 'No surrender accepted!' became a rallying cry. It would be heard in many places in the south after that.

Of course, the Americans defeated the British in this war for Independence from Great Britain.

My other book tells the story of the French and Indian War in the late 1750's through 1763. The American colonists and British fought the French and their Indian Allies for control of the Ohio Valley. That war spread worldwide and British victory over the French resulted in the loss of Canada to the British Empire, as well as India. It also aroused feelings of independence and American pride in the colonists, which would later lead to the Revolution. Many who fought in that war would later fight in the Revolution on both sides.