<P> Soldiers from Hanover also formed part of the garrisons at Gibraltar and Minorca, and two regiments participated in the Siege of Cuddalore . </P> <P> Other than mercenary troops, the Company army serving in India consisted of regular British troops alongside native Indian Sepoys . Foreigners were also present among the regular British officer corps . The Swiss - born Major - General Augustine Prévost commanded the successful defense of Savannah in 1779 . The former Jacobite officer Allan Maclean of Torloisk, who had previously held commission in the Dutch service, was second in command during the successful defense of Quebec in 1775 . Another Swiss - born officer Frederick Haldimand served as Governor of Quebec in the later stages of the war . Huguenots, and exiled Corsicans also served amongst the regular and officers ranks . </P> <P> "The rebels have done more in one night than my whole army would have done in a month ."--General Howe, March 5, 1776 </P> <P> British troops had been stationed in Boston since 1769 amid rising tensions between colonial subjects and the parliament in Great Britain . Fearing the impending insurrection General Thomas Gage dispatched an expedition to remove gunpowder from the powder magazine in Massachusetts on 1 September 1774 . The next year on the night of April 18, 1775, General Gage sent a further 700 men to seize munitions stored by the colonial militia at Concord . The Battles of Lexington and Concord were fought . The British troops stationed in Boston were inexperienced, and by the time the redcoats began the return march to Boston, several thousand militiamen had gathered along the road . A running battle ensued, and the British detachment suffered heavily before reaching Charlestown . The British army in Boston found itself under siege by thousands of colonial militia . On June 17, British forces now under the command of General William Howe attacked and seized the Charlestown peninsula in the Battle of Bunker Hill . Although successful in his objective, the British forces suffered heavy casualties in taking the position . Both sides remained at stalemate until guns were placed on the Dorchester Heights, at which point Howe's position became untenable and the British abandoned Boston entirely . </P>

Which of the following is true of soldiers who fought for american independence