Fighting broke out in other places along the way as the British soldiers in their bright red uniforms returned to Boston. More than 250 "redcoats" were killed or wounded. The Americans lost 93 men. Colonial representatives hurried to Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. More than half voted to go to war against Britain. They decided to form one army from the colonial forces. George Washington of Virginia became the commander - in - chief. At the same time, they sent King George III a peace resolution to try to avoid a war. The king rejected it. On August 23, 1775, the king said the American colonies were in rebellion. The desire for independence increased in the next few months. Thomas Paine, a radical political thinker, argued for independence and against hereditary monarchy in his pamphlet common sense.