Great Britain had, in 1778, in North America, about 50,000 well-trained soldiers, some 18,000 German mercenaries who hired for the race; they used half of their mighty fleet; He inflicted a series of initial defeats on the colonists, and faced an inexperienced army, but the war was not a "triumphal journey" for the British, as they predicted. The Americans were able to openly avoid battles and skirmish attacks; that made them more dangerous than “if they had a large regular army.” Key, for the revolutionaries, was the development of the Pennsylvania model of rifle, of great precision of more than 80 meters. It was a more effective weapon than the old, imprecise muskets.
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