 Well, this was the situation Washington faced at the end of 1776. It was a situation compounded by the fact that he was leading a ragtag group of men and boys. These were farmers, cobblers, shop owners, tailors, with very little military experience. And they were fighting against the king's hardened regular soldiers. So even if he did get another chance at the Redcoats, would they even stand a chance to defeat them? The results so far were not promising.