A few days ago, I did a thread on firepower in the Continental Army. On Friday, appropriately, I am going to do a thread on alcohol and the army. Americans (now and then) looked down on the "hireling and mercenary" troops from Europe. But their drinking habits were similar. 
This research comes from my forthcoming book on the Continental Army, particularly the chapter on battlefield cohesion and morale. Other topics in this chapter include: patriotism and loyalty to the cause, faith as a motivation, and threats from officers.
By and large in this book, I'm showing the ways that, in contrast to most Americans writing about the Continentals, that they were a fairly standard European-style force in the late eighteenth century. The book is mainly concerned the operations and tactics.
A Prussian in battle during the Seven Years War, recalled: "I saw the paleness that comes from fear of death on many faces...The brandy flasks carried by every soldier were thrown away empty, as the men drained them to the last, saying: “Courage today, no need it tomorrow!”
I haven’t found evidence that Continental soldiers drank more than those in European armies, but there is ample evidence that they liked to drink and were facilitated in doing so to calm their nerves before battle.
Recalling the Battle of Eutaw Springs in a letter, Otho Holland Williams wrote: "we halted and took a little of that liquid, which is not unnecessary to exhilarate the chimeral spirits on such occasions.”
His after action report is more clear: “Greene, wishing to have time for his raw troops to form with coolness and recollection, halted his columns and after distributing the contents of his rum casks, ordered his men to form in order of battle.”
Officers in the army saw alcohol as a means of encouraging the troops in hard times. Henry Knox wrote to Washington on January 3rd, 1778: “we have found by experience in the course of this campaign that a jill of rum will support the men through every difficulty.”
Likewise the men saw drawing ammunition and rum together as a sign they were going into battle, as a pensioner reported in 1783 that he was ordered "under arms, to draw ammunition as for battle and besides, full rations of rum."
Washington knew this. On August 16th, 1777, he wrote to John Hancock, saying:, “The benefits arising from the moderate use of strong liquor have been experienced by all armies, and are not to be disputed.”
A hostile source, loyalist soldier Joshua Pell claimed when describing the battle of Freeman's Farm: “The rebels were in general drunk, a piece of the policy of their general to make them fight.”
During the Battle of Fishing Creek, a pensioner recalled that recently captured rum produced predictable results: “the attack was so sudden and many of the men being drunk… could not succeed in making a successful resistance—and a total defeat ensued.”
Alcohol was also often a reward/plunder, as a pensioner recalled: "27,000 Guineas and 3 [casks] of Rum fell into the Hands of the Americans, one half a guinea only of the money fell to his share, but he had many hearty pulls at the rum.”
Otho Holland Williams, explained disaster at Camden in August of 1780, by implying that a lack of liquor, and substituting molasses for it, disabled the American Army:
As there were no spirits yet arrived in camp ; and as , until lately, it was unusual for troops to make a forced march, or prepare to meet an enemy without some extraordinary allowance, it was unluckily conceived that molasses, would, for once , be an acceptable substitute."
At drill, too much liquor had the potential to poleax the army. Joseph Plumb Martin recalled of a field day later in the war:
"[At] about one or two o'clock we ceased [drilling], and were supplied with a gill of rum each; having had nothing to eat since the night before , the liquor took violent hold , and there were diverse...tricks exhibited both by officers and men...
...saw a Pennsylvania soldier staggering off with three espontoons on his shoulder, that he had gleaned up after some of his officers. This day was nearly equal to the whiskey scrape at the Schuylkill, in 1777."
These experiences made Washington and Greene view alcohol as a wary ally. Before Eutaw Springs, after distributing the rum stores to his troops, “General Greene passed along the lines and directed the boys not to drink too much, that we would soon have something to do..."
Once again, we find a lot of similarities to Europe, rather than an indication things were radically different in the Continental Army.
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