This book contains rosters of New York militia and other soldiers in each county, mainly during the American Revolution. Both enlisted men and officers are noted for reported regiments.

A work of considerable historical value, Roberts compiled these records of men who served in the Revolutionary War from the old muster and pay rolls of the different military organizations. These records indicate that New York furnished 41,633 men during the Revolutionary War, considerably more than the 17,781 General Knox, the first secretary of war, had originally reported to Congress. The entries include the names, rank and organization for the soldiers listed. The military forces at the time were divided into three classes: the Line-regiments in the US Service under General Washington, the Levies-drafts from the different militia regiments, and eligible civilians, called to serve outside the State during their entire term, and the Militia-who could only be called out of State for three months at a time. This work is divided into sections for each of these groups. From the Line, soldiers are listed from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th regiments, as well as the Privateers and the 'Green Mountain Boys.' The section entitled the Levies lists the officers' names, their rank and the names of the enlisted men in these groups. The section on the militia includes groups from the following counties: Albany, Charlotte, Cumberland, Dutchess, Orange, Suffolk, Tryon, Ulster and Westchester. Three indices are included: an index to illustrations, an index by organization and counties, and an index to commanding officers.

Second only to Massachusetts in furnishing troops for the Revolutionary War, New York put at least 43,645 men in the field, all of whom are identified in this work from original muster rolls and payrolls in the State Comptroller's Office, as well as from records concerning regiments of the "Line" in rolls on file in the old War Department in Washington. New York forces were divided into Lines, Levies, and Militias, and these units, combined with men from coastal privateers, totaled 43,645, but if we add the 8,237 men named in the Land Bounty Papers in this second edition, a total force of nearly 52,000 men is arrived at, all of whom are conveniently located in the index to the first volume. Some three years after the publication of the second edition of "New York in the Revolution," the State Comptroller's Office published a second volume, or Supplement, of "New York in the Revolution," in effect, a compilation of the documents and records in the Comptroller's Office that were used in compiling the rolls and rosters in the first volume. In the reprint edition that we are now offering, these two scarce volumes have been combined into one, and New York's contribution to the Revolutionary War is finally enshrined in a single, accessible, and affordable volume--one we are confident anyone with an interest in New York history and genealogy will appreciate.