About 250,000 men served as regulars or as militiamen for the Revolutionary cause in the eight years of the war, but there were never more than 90,000 total men under arms at one time.
Armies were small by European standards of the era; the greatest number of men that Washington personally commanded in the field at any one time was fewer than 17,000. This could be attributed to tactical preferences, but it also could be because of lack of powder on the American side.[4]
*snip*
Early in 1775, the British Army consisted of about 36,000 men worldwide, but wartime recruitment steadily increased this number.
Additionally, over the course of the war the British hired about 30,000 soldiers from German princes; these professional soldiers were generically called "Hessians" because many came from Hesse-Kassel.
*snip* Germans made up about one-third of the British troop strength in North America.
By 1779, the number of British and German troops stationed in North America was over 60,000, although these were spread from Canada to Florida.[10] About 10,000 Loyalist Americans under arms for the British are included in these figures.[11]"
Gee...I wonder why “shadow government” keeps popping into my mind! Hmmm...
It didn’t look good for Washington and his men but in the end the good guys won. America was worth the fight. It still is.