Recruiting and Training the 3rd New York Regiment

This chapter assesses the process of recruiting and training the 3rd New York Regiment. The 3rd New York Regiment would organize at two locations about eighty miles apart, creating a challenge to building a unified, well-trained regiment in which men would feel proud to serve. Colonel Peter Gansevoort took post at Albany to work with Major Robert Cochran and Captain Aaron Aorson to recruit men, while Lieutenant Colonel Marinus Willett took post at Fishkill to build and train the other companies. Continually sending out company officers to recruit at scattered locations increased the normal difficulties officers experienced in organizing, training, and building cohesive units at both locations. Although many officers and certainly some enlisted men were true philosophical “patriots,” the reality was that Patriot leaders were hiring an army to fight for them and their ideals. Many recruits considered their enlistment to be an employment contract in which they pledged to serve faithfully for a stated time period in exchange for pay, bonuses, and land, along with the clothing, food, shelter, and equipment necessary to do their job. In addition, retaining the men in the army and maintaining proper behavior after their enlistment proved to be a persistent problem.