This is the last day of the old enlisted soldiers’ service

From 1776 by David McCulough. Page 67.

On December 24, a storm swept across the whole of the province. In the vicinity of Boston, temperatures dropped to the low twenties, and a foot of snow fell. Christmas Day, a Monday, was still bitterly cold, but clear, and the troops continued with their routine as on any day.

On December 30, several British ships arrived in the harbor, presumably bringing reinforcements.

“This is the last day of the old enlisted soldiers’ service,” wrote a greatly distressed Nathanael Greene to Congressman Samuel Ward the following day, December 31. “Nothing but confusion and disorder reign.”

We have suffered prodigiously for want of wood. Many regiments have been obliged to eat their provisions raw for want of firing to cook, and notwithstanding we have burned up all the fences and cut down all the trees for a mile around the camp, our suffering has been inconceivable…. We have never been so weak as we shall be tomorrow.

Across the eight years of the Revolutionary war, manpower needs were a constant struggle, exacerbated by the widely varying terms of enlistment in various states.  Some enlisted for the duration.  Others enlisted for time periods as long as three years and as short as a month.  Yet others fought without enlisting.  Trying to plan and manage a campaign with little knowledge of deployable military units and with occasions when 25% or more of the units might leave on the same date was a huge challenge.