“six of our regt lived together …”: mess groups, carrying food … (and a little bit of...
DESCRIPTION
A compendium of material on bit on Continental Army mess squads, carrying rations in knapsacks versus haversacks, and the issue of beef tongue to the troops. Some of the information below is excerpted from several of my military food columns in Food History News, as well as a longer work, published in Military Collector & Historian, titled: "’To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.’: Soldiers' Food and Cooking in the War for Independence” Subheadings: "The manner of messing and living together": Continental Army Mess Groups “Who shall have this?”: Food Distribution "A hard game ...": Continental Army Cooks“ On with Kittle, to make some hasty Pudding …”: How a "Continental Devil" Broke His Fast 1. The Army Ration and Cooking Methods. 2. Eating Utensils. 3. The Morning Meal.TRANSCRIPT
“Six of our regt lived together …”
Mess Groups, Carrying Food … (and a Little Bit of Tongue)
in the Armies of the Revolution
John U. Rees
Contents
Mess Groups
Food Distribution
Carrying Food
The Burden of Rations
And, Tongue
____________________
This monograph was inspired by a November 6-8 2009 Welbourne, Virginia,
immersion picket (living history) event. My experience that weekend provided a few
insights and led me to share a bit on Continental Army mess squads, carrying rations in
knapsacks versus haversacks, and the issue of beef tongue to the troops. Some of the
information below is excerpted from several of my military food columns in Food
History News, as well as a longer work, to be published in Military Collector &
Historian, titled:
"’To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.’: Soldiers' Food and Cooking in the War
for Independence”
Subheadings:
"The manner of messing and living together": Continental Army Mess Groups
“Who shall have this?”: Food Distribution
"A hard game ...": Continental Army Cooks
“On with Kittle, to make some hasty Pudding …”:
How a "Continental Devil" Broke His Fast
1. The Army Ration and Cooking Methods.
2. Eating Utensils.
3. The Morning Meal.
4. Other Likely Breakfast Fare.
Mess Groups. Enlisted men formed themselves into mess or cooking groups, usually based
around those soldiers assigned to a single common tent. Mess groupings in the American
Civil War sometimes gave themselves fanciful or humorous appellations; here are a few
examples, circa 1861, “Screws,” "Hard Corner Sharps," “Bristol Boys," "Happy Crew,"
"Montgomery Guards," "Punch Bowl Hotel,” "Kensington Boys," and “Happy Family”
messes.1
Information is sparse on names for Continental Army mess squads, but two references
indicate that some did have special monikers and how they were awarded. Fifer Samuel
Dewees Captain Ross’s company, 11th Pennsylvania Regiment (then 10
th and finally 6
th
Pennsylvania) described the apportionment of food to messes, and two ways those groups
were identified:
The Orderly Sergeant of each company divided the meat into as many messes as were in
each company (six men constituting a mess) and then a soldier was made to turn his back to
the piles. The Sergeant would then put his hand upon or point to each pile separately and
ask, “Who shall have this?” The soldier with his back to the mess piles then named the
number of the mess or the soldier that was always considered as head of the mess, and in this
way they proceeded until all was dealt out.2
So, Continental Army mess groups could be known by the name of the soldier who acted
as leader or by an assigned number. Pvt. Samuel Hallowell, a soldier of Col. Rufus
Putnam’s Massachusetts Regiment in 1777, told of at least once instance of a facetious
designation being used, writing in his memoirs, “Respecting being lowsey [Lt.] Colo.
[Ezra] Newhall observed one time it was Difficult for him to keep clear of them for they
likt clean clothes. Six of our regt lived together called the ‘Lowsey Mess,’ whether by
themselves or others is unsure.”3
Food consumption involved more than just filling troops’ bellies. On an administrative
level there was a real need to regulate and oversee the distribution and preparation of
provisions, while for the common soldiers it was often better to spread the daily cooking
duties among the group rather than relying upon one individual. To make these tasks easier,
and taking advantage of the natural tendency among the men to band together, mess squads
were formed, these being generally comprised of six men, the usual number allotted to
occupy a single soldiers' tent.4
Maj. Gen. Friedrich Wilhelm de Steuben’s 1779 Regulations gave some rules each mess
was to follow:
The utensils belonging to the tents are to be carried alternately by the men ... The soldiers
should not be permitted to eat in their tents, except in bad weather; and an officer of a
company must often visit the messes; see that the provision is good and well cooked; that the
men of one tent mess together; and that the provision is not sold or disposed of for liquor.5
Each six–man mess was allotted a kettle, sometimes with a wooden bowl, they had to
carry with them when on the march (the tents and tent–poles were put in wagons). A 19
June 1778 army order directed, "In future the Camp Kettles are always to be carried by the
Messes; each soldier of the Mess taking it in his turn, and no man is on any Account to
presume to put the Camp Kettle belonging to the Mess in a Waggon." This stipulation was
reiterated at intervals during the war. Other items were sometimes assigned each mess, as
evidenced by 10 June 1777 army orders, “Such regiments as have not already drawn
Tomahawks, are immediately to provide themselves with at least one or two to a mess. The
Quarter Master General is to charge those to the regiments, and each mess charged with
what is delivered to it, that they may be returned when called for, or pay for them, if lost."6
Soldiers of Capt. Andrew Fitch’s company, 4th Connecticut Regiment, in their mess
groups preparing an evening meal. (Model Company event, Putnam Park, Redding,
Ct., 25 to 27 September 2009. Photograph courtesy of the recreated Corps of Sappers
and Miners: http://thecorpsofsappersandminers.org )
______________________________
Optimally, the creation of scores of these close–knit groupings served as a basis by which
companies and regiments were welded together. They also served to emphasize the
distinctions between the rank and file and those who commanded them. Orders at "Boston
June 28. 1777” refer to that separation: “A Sergeant & Ten private Men are to barrack in a
Room, the Men in each Room will form themselves into two Messes & the Quarter Master
Sergeant will draw Provisions accordingly; the Serjeants will form into a Mess & Diet by
themselves ..."7 The distinction between commissioned officers and their men was strictly
enforced: General Orders, 13 July 1777,
Lieut. Cummings of the 1st. Virginia regiment charged with 'Messing with common soldiers
[among other charges] ...' The Court ... are of opinion, considering the peculiar
circumstances of the matter (as to the charge of his messing with private soldiers) related by
the prisoner, and having no evidence to prove the contrary, that he should be reprimanded by
the commanding officer of the regiment he belongs to, at the head of the regiment.8
Messmates shared cooking responsibilities, as well as the task of finding extra food to
supplement the official allotment or replace missing items. Hopefully, they could also be
counted on to look out for each other's welfare, too. Joseph Plumb Martin recounted that at
White Plains, New York, in autumn 1776
One day after roll call, one of my messmates with me sat off upon a little jaunt into the
country to get some sauce [vegetables, roots, or greens eaten or cooked with meat.] of some
kind or another. We soon came to a field of English turnips … and … pulled and cut as
many as we wanted … [Shortly afterwards Martin took sick and] was sent back to the
baggage to get well again ... When I arrived at the baggage … I had the canopy of leaves for
my hospital and the ground for my hammock. I found a spot where the dry leaves had
collected between the knolls. I made up a bed of these and nestled in it ... I had nothing or eat
or drink, not even water, and was unable to go for any myself, for I was sick indeed. In the
evening, one of my messmates found me out and soon after brought me some boiled hog's
flesh (it was not pork) and turnips ... I could not eat it, but I felt obliged to him
notwithstanding. He did all he could do. He gave me the best he had to give, and had to steal
that, poor fellow.9
A portion of Gen. George Washington's 4 August 1782 order alludes to the mess squad as
a social grouping: "… the mode of cooking and manner of living are objects which require
attention. Officers should every day visit the tents and kitchens, observe and regulate the
Cookery, see the soldiers at their meals and take care that they mess and live properly
together." Sgt. Andrew Kettell seconded this when he wrote with some emotion of the bond
that could grow between men who messed together. 21 September 1780, "I had the
Unwelcome News at the Death of W. Lite which was as Greate a Shock as I ever met with
in my life as [he] was [an] agreable Mess Mate and a obliging Companion ..."10
Non-commissioned officers’ mess eating in their tent. (Capt. Andrew Fitch’s company,
4th Connecticut Regiment, Model Company event, Putnam Park, Redding, Ct., 25 to
27 September 2009. Photograph courtesy of the recreated Corps of Sappers and
Miners: http://thecorpsofsappersandminers.org )
Often mess groups would be formed among men from the same town or region, but
occasionally soldiers who did not know each other were thrown together. J.P. Martin wrote
of such a situation during the summer of 1780, when he was drafted out of his regiment into
the newly–raised Corps of Sappers and Miners.
I immediately went off with … the other men drafted from our brigade, and joined the corps
in an old meetinghouse at the Peekskill [in New York]. ... I had now got among a new set,
who were, to a man, entire strangers to me. I had, of course, to form new acquaintances, but
I was not long in doing that. I had a pretty free use of my tongue, and was sometimes apt to
use it when there was no occasion for it. However, I soon found myself at home with them.
We were all young men and therefore easy to get acquainted.11
While these connections could be made with some ease, it seems that messes were not
formed in an off–hand manner. Two days after his joining the Corps the first issue of food
was made to Martin and his comrades: "We then drew, if I remember right, two days rations
of our good old diet, salt shad, and as we had not, as yet, associated ourselves into regular
messes, as is usual in the army, each man had his fish divided out by himself."12
Ties to old comrades were not soon forgotten. Soon after Martin joined the Sappers and
Miners, the army moved down towards Tappan. "Just before arriving at our encamping
ground, we halted in the road an hour or two. Some four or five of our men, knowing that
the regiments to which they formerly belonged were near, slipped off for a few minutes to
see their old messmates." The army being ready to move again, and the men not having
returned, Martin was detailed "to remain with their arms and knapsacks till they came [back]
... I accordingly waited an hour or two before they all returned."13
Despite such connections, problems with theft occasionally cropped up. During the 1779
Indian Expedition Maj. Gen. John Sullivan Campaign wrote,
It is with great Grief and Astonishment the Comdr. in Chief is informed that some of the
Soldiers steal the stores of the Army and even the private allowance of their Messmates,
while others are so vile as to throw away their own provision. this discovers an unjust and
ungenerous disposition as well as an inattention to their own comfort and safety ... [To
remedy this, he decreed] that as the Army have drawn provisions to a certain period [and] he
will not suffer the Army to return thro' want of Provision untill that period be expired ... 500
lashes [are] to be inflicted when any person [is] detected in the before mentioned offences
and in addition thereto to draw only one lb. of Flour and Meat pr. week during the
Campaign.14
Soldiers did occasionally waste their food or consume it too quickly. In June 1777
General Sullivan attempted to persuade his troops to conserve their provisions to last the
allotted time. "Flemington [New Jersey] 18th June 1777 The Genl orders that all the troops
be immedietly furnished with 3 days Provision to have it Cook'd Dirictly & that no Soldier
make any plea after the 3 Days is expired, that he has no provisions As the Genl is
Determined None Shall be Drawn till that time is Expired ..." This tendency was not limited
to American forces. An officer serving under Lt. Gen. John Burgoyne in summer 1777
noted that campaigning British soldiers carried on most marches not "less than four days
provision ... [which] added to his accoutrements, arms, and sixty rounds of ammunition,
make an enormous bulk, weighing about sixty pounds."15
If some of this equipment had
been dispensed with
they might have carried more provision. Admitting this it would not remedy the evil, it being
with difficulty you can prevail on a common soldier to husband his provision, in any
exigency whatever. Even in a settled camp, a young soldier has very short fare on the fourth
day after he receives his provision; and on a march, in bad weather and bad roads, when the
weary foot slips back at every step, and a curse is provoked by the enormous weight that
retards him, it must be a very patient veteran, who has experienced much scarcity and
hunger, that is not tempted to throw the whole contents of his haversack into the mire,
instances of which I saw on several of our marches. When they thought they should get fresh
provision at the next encampment, and that only when they were loaded with four days
provision: soldiers reason in this manner: the load is a grievous incumbrance – want but a
little way off – and I have often heard them exclaim, 'Damn the provisions, we shall get
more at the next encampment; the General won't let his soldiers starve.16
Food Distribution. A primary purpose of mess squads was to regulate food preparation; the
first step in that process was the distribution of provisions, an operation that could be quite
time consuming. The following orders illustrate some common aspects of food issuance.
Delaware Regiment orders, "Lincoln Mountain [New Jersey] July 1st 1777 … an Off[icer].
of each Company constantly [to] attend the Drawing of Provisions for their Respective
Companies and take Care that no unsound Provision be delivered to them." Jackson’s
Additional Regiment orders, "Boston Augt 13. 1777... An orderly Corporal must be
appointed to each Company – whose Duty will be to receive the Provisions of the Quarter
Master for the Company to which he belongs & equally divide it to the different Messes in
the Company." 1st Pennsylvania Regiment orders, 25 February 1783, "Camp on James
Island," South Carolina, "The Officer of Police reports that the provisions are cut up in
several of the huts, this practice will soon render the Encampment very filthy, it must
therefore be immediately put a stop to – In the rear of the huts, and no place else, the
soldiers are ordered in future to cut up and Divide their Provisions –"17
Fifer Samuel Dewees described in detail the issue of rations at West Point, New York:
To each regiment there was a Quarter Master attached, who drew the rations for the
regiment … [and] a Quarter–Master's Sergeant that drew the rations for and dealt them out
to the companies ... The Quarter Master's Sergeant at a proper hour would take [the]
Sergeants and as many men as might be necessary, and repaired to the store–house and
slaughter–house, which were built at the edge of the North River and extending some
distance into the river ... These men always took poles with them that were kept for the
purpose ... of carrying meat upon to the camp. They also took camp kettles with them for to
carry Vinegar, Whiskey, &c. into the camp. These men on their return, were marched in
front of their respective companies. The Roast Beef [a drum call signifying food
distribution] would then 'be beat up,' and the men ... would hasten ... and stand ready to
receive their quota. The Orderly Sergeant of each company divided the meat into as many
messes as were in a company (six men constituting a mess,) ... I have been down at our
slaughter–house at times for the purpose of assisting in carrying the provision to camp, and
have seen a great many cattle drove into it at one time. I recollect that, once we had to wait
until the butchers would kill. They drove upwards of a hundred sheep into the slaughter–
house, and as soon as the doors were closed, some of the butchers went to work and knocked
the sheep down in every direction with axes, whilst others followed and stuck or bled them,
others followed them, skinned them, hung them up and dressed them. A very short time
elapsed from the time they commenced butchering them until our meat was ready for us. I
recollect having been there at another time when they were killing bullocks ... I have known
very great numbers of very fine and fat cattle slaughtered there … [and] I have seen many
very poor and indifferent ones killed there also ... But with these we had to be content in the
absence of better ...18
In the same vein, Gen. George Washington’s 4 June 1777 orders at Middlebrook, New
Jersey, noted some field camp considerations: "The Commissary General to have his
slaughter–house, at least a mile in the rear of the camp ... He must be provided with
waggons, to convey the meat to places near each Brigade, for the more commodius
distribution of it; and must see no relicts are left in those places, through carelessness."19
As Fifer Dewees noted, music regulated the soldiers’ day.
… the musicians knew at once when a particular roll or march was named, what tune to
play, and the soldiers all knew at all times what duty was to be performed upon the hearing
of the musicians “beat up” … There was always a great difference manifested in the manner
of attending the calls, “Fatigue’s March,” and “Roast Beef.” The soldiers at the Fatigue’s
call generally turned out slowly and down hearted to muster upon fatigue parade. When an
officer would sing out, “Orderly Drummer, beat up the ‘Roast Beef,’” and the musician
fairly commence it, the soldiers would be seen skipping, jumping and running from their
tents and repair to where the rations were to be issued out. That there would be a difference
manifested will not be wondered at when it is stated that the Fatigue Men had to muster for
the purpose of going to labor, chop, dig, carry timber, build, etc., etc., whilst the others
would turn out voluntarily to learn what they were to draw for breakfast, dinner, etc.20
“Jonas,” an anonymous soldier in the British 68th Regiment, described a similar
process in an encampment on the Isle of Wight in 1758. After cooking the meal for his
messmates, they had him,
bring the dinner to the tent, where … I found my comrades all placed on the grass … in a
circle, and I had orders to fix the kettle in the center. Some had knives, while others had
none; as to spoons and forks, we were all in one case, destitute, and no porringers or
bowls, but to supply the want of the last, we took the kettle lid; one who was the best
skilled in carving, was, by consent ordered to carve the flesh into six equal shares, and
lay them abroad on the grass with the greens; when this was done, another received
orders to call them; which is, one points his finger to one of the lots and cries, ‘who shall
have this?’ the man whose back is turned names one of the mess, and so proceeds till
every man’s lot is called … After the meat was divided and called, every one took up his
lot, and then proceeded to eat the broth in the best manner we could, with our canteen
tops instead of spoons. We all put an equal share of ammunition bread into the kettle,
which bread is delivered to us on set days, and stopped out of our pay, it is as black as our
hats, in general, and quite sour.21
Like “Jonas” and his comrades, Continental troops had to make do with insufficient
supplies of eating utensils, as we shall see below.
The process of issuing rations seems generally to have resulted in the men receiving
less than their due proportion. As Private J.P. Martin described the situation when he and
his comrades received their food: "... what was it? A bare pound of fresh beef and a bare
pound of bread or flour. The beef, when it had gone through all its divisions and
subdivisions, would not be so much over three quarters of a pound, and that nearly or
quite half bones." Martin's recollections are seconded by Brig. Gen. Jedediah
Huntington’s comments, "Brigade Commissaries have no Allowance for Wastage in
dealing out Provisions, they are therefore under a strong Necessity of giving short Weight
to the Regiments or be liable to account for the Wastage in the same Way, the Iniquity
proceeds to the Men, after the Provisions are divided and subdivided to Companies and
Messes the Pound is often reduced to 12 Ounces. the Commisaries ought to deal the full
Quantity to each Company." Pilfering also played a part. Regimental orders, 28 February
1783, "Camp on James Island,” "Corporal Young was tried upon the following Charge
Viz. In defrauding the men ... of their provisions when Distributing of it – pleads guilty –
but says the quantity he took was so small as not to exceed 1/2 lb – and that he took it for
the purpose of greasing his Gun."22
An order for the 4th Pennsylvania Battalion serving in northern New York illuminated
additional concerns surrounding the ration issue. 17 April 1776,
It is once more recommended to the Weekly officers and Serjents that they see that their
men do not Waste their provisions nor devide them after they receive them for their
Messes. The major took notice that some men when they receive their provisions took
and cut peices from their meat and put them on sticks to broil them on the fire and if they
do this they will certainly not have provision enough, but will always be some that will
suffer with hunger. The provision must be kept and cooked together and the men who are
in messes must eat together and no division to be made except for those on Guard, which
their comrades are to bring them their Provision when cooked. The Provisions must be
divided for every day what they will cook as allso the Bread.23
This 1776 order was echoed by General Washington's 10 October 1777 directive: "The
General being informed, that much provision is wasted by the irregular manner in which
it is drawn and cooked, does ... exhort the officers ... to look into and prevent abuses of
this kind ..."24
We will close this chapter by looking at ration issues aboard a British troop transport
crossing the Atlantic, and during the American Civil War (1861–1865), revealing both
similarities and differences with Continental Army practice.
Hessian Pvt. Johannes Reuber, Rall Grenadier Regiment, noted on shipboard, 12 April
1776,
Every morning six men receive four pounds of ship's zwieback [hard bread, "twice–
baked"] or bread, one and one–half as salted biscuits. On Sunday six men, as a group
receive peas and four pounds of pork. Monday a gruel is cooked from oats, butter, and
cheese. Tuesday six men receive four pounds of beef, three pounds of flour, one–half
pound of raisins, and an equal amount of beef fat, from which a pudding is made. Six
men receive a numbered pouch in which the pudding is served. Wednesday again a
cooked gruel, plus butter and cheese. Thursday six men receive four pounds of cooked
pork and peas. Friday again oatmeal gruel, plus butter and cheese. On Saturday again a
pudding as on Tuesday. Every day six men receive four measures of small beer to drink
and every morning a can of rum. These are served at eight o'clock. The officers have their
own victuals cooked by our cook in the German manner and eat together.25
A month and a half later Reuber wrote:
29 May [1776] – Here I shall note our [shipboard] housekeeping. In the morning at eight
o'clock, bread, meat, butter and cheese are issued by a sailor who is called the steward, in
the presence of an officer ... Each man receives a small can of rum and vinegar. When it
is cooked and is done, every six men have a wooden bowl with a number thereon
representing the berthing spaces, from number one to the end. The cook calls first and
fills it, and so until the last. And what we receive each day, I have previously noted. The
soldiers must stir the pudding themselves, and for every six men, a bag is provided on
which is the number of their berthing place, also. When it is ready, the cook calls the
number and the six men divide the pudding. The same procedure is used with the meat –
one piece for six men, which is then divided into six pieces. The one who divides it
points with his fork and asks who should have it. Another [of his mess], who has turned
away, gives the answer. It would be a great pleasure to watch this activity if the portion
of meat were not so small. Often a piece of meat is served which consists of more bone
than meat.26
While coffee and sugar were rarely issued to Revolutionary soldiers, Union
artilleryman John Billings’ 1860’s description of dividing rations mirrored Continental
Army practice:
It would have interested a civilian to observe the manner in which this ration was served
out when the army was in active service. It was usually brought to camp in an oat–sack, a
regimental quartermaster receiving and apportioning his among the … companies … then
the orderly–sergeant of a company … must devote himself to dividing it. One method of
accomplishing this … was to spread a rubber blanket on the ground, – more than one if
the company was large, – and upon it were put as many piles of the coffee there were
men to receive rations; and the care taken to make the piles of the same size to the eye, to
keep the men from growling, would remind one of a country physician making his
powders, taking a little from one pile and adding to another. The sugar which always
accompanied the coffee was spooned out at the same time on another blanket. When both
were ready, they were given out, each man taking a pile, or, in some companies, to
prevent any charge of unfairness or injustice, the sergeant would turn his back on the
rations, and take out his roll of the company. Then, by request, some one else would point
to a pile and ask, ‘Who shall have this?’ and the sergeant, without turning, would call a
name from his list … This process would be continued until the last pile was disposed of.
There were other plans for distributing rations; but I have described this one because of
its being quite common.27
Carrying Food. Optimally, soldiers were issued haversacks (a coarse linen bag) to carry
rations on the march. The haversack was slung it over a man’s right shoulder, hanging
under his left arm. One surviving British example measures 13 1/2 inches high by 16 3/4
inches wide, with a two-inch linen strap (for photographs see,
http://www.najecki.com/repro/misc/Nannos/HaversackBody.html ). On at least one
occasion Continental soldiers were directed to construct their own. "College Camp [
Williamsburg , Virginia ] October the 11th. 1775 ... [A] Captain of Each Company is to
Apply to the Quartermaster for Linnen Cloth to make a habersack for Each Soldier one
yard of Oznabrigs is Supposed to be Sufficient for the purpose of making the sack ...
Each Soldier to make his own sack ... as near one General Size & patern as Possible.
Thread Sufficient for the purpose must be Drawn ..." (Haversacks could be multi-
purposed. In November 1757 British troops at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, went to an apple
orchard and "filled bags, haversacks, baskets and even their pockets with fruit." When in
Pennsylvania , soldiers of the 64th Regiment were ordered to convey a ration issue to
camp: "Ashtown Camp 14th September 1777 ... The Men are to go with their
Haversacks for flour to Hills Milles.")28
Detail of Continental soldier wearing a haversack and canteen. (Artwork by George
C. Woodbridge.) For photographs of original haversack see,
http://www.najecki.com/repro/misc/Nannos/HaversackBody.html .
Bennett Cuthbertson noted in his 1768 military treatise, "a Soldier cannot conveniently
get through the Duties of a Campaign, without a Haversack of strong, coarse, grey linen
(which is always issued as part of the Camp-equipage) to carry his bread and provisions
on a March..." With that said, Continental soldiers were often without haversacks due to
supply shortfalls. For example, an "Abstract of the Arms & Accoutrements deliverd out at
Philadelphia to the Continental Troops by the Commissary Genl. of Military Stores” for the
period from 1 April 1777 to the beginning of August the same year show only 3,135
haversacks issued as opposed to 13,297 knapsacks. This at a time when the army under Gen.
George Washington’s immediate command numbered approximately 14,000, leaving at
least three quarters of the troops without haversacks.29
(See next page for caption.)
(Photo on previous page)
Linen haversacks were the preferred receptacle for carrying food. (One surviving
British example measures 13 1/2 inches high by 16 3/4 inches wide, with a two-
inch linen strap; the haversack’s flap is closed with two buttons.) Here we see a
typical Continental soldier’s haversack, with boiled beef and hard biscuit in a wooden
bowl. Linen bags inside the haversack were used for storing meat, flour, biscuits,
bread, and other rations. Also shown are a tin cup, horn spoon, and tin canteen with a
wool cover. (Photograph by the author.)
_______________________
Whether or not haversacks were available, soldiers transported food other ways, too.
Portions of a mess squad's food were occasionally carried in a camp kettle, each man
taking his turn with the burden. Connecticut soldier Joseph Martin wrote of this occurring
autumn 1777, when his regiment halted in Burlington, New Jersey , "where we procured
some carrion beef, for it was not better. We cooked it and ate some, and carried the
remainder away with us. We had always, in the army, to carry our cooking utensils in our
hands by turns, and at this time, as we were not overburthened by provisions, our mess
had put ours into our kettle, it not being very heavy, as it was made of plated iron."30
Other items were specifically intended to hold food or converted to that purpose. In
May 1779, the colonel of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment directed his officers that the
"Compys will have the [new] Knapsacks delivered, that the men may appear with their
Cloathing in them this afternoon. The old Knapsacks the men have in their Possession,
they will keep to carry their Provisions in them." In February 1776 a "new invented
Knapsack and Haversack" was advertised to Maryland. The manufacturer touted it as
already “adopted by the American regulars of Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Virginia ..." The
truth of that assertion is open to doubt, but the item is interesting in that it was a dual
purpose knapsack intended to carry a soldier's clothing as well as food.31
Soldiers also packed food in their primary knapsacks along with clothing and other
necessaries. Orders for Jackson 's Additional Regiment, " Boston Oct 4. 1777 The
Regiment to hold themselves in readiness to embark ... it is expected that every Non
Commissioned Officer & Soldier, will have his Cloathing & Necessaries put up in their
Knapsacks this afternoon, together with two days provisions Cook'd ..." The same month
a private with General Horatio Gates' Northern Army noted, "at night we drew rations
and were notified to be ready early on the next Morn' to march to Stillwater, so we boiled
our Meet and had our provisions all in our Paiks ready ... early in the Morn' [we] were
paraded and marched off ..." Joseph Martin wrote of returning to the Valley Forge camp
in early spring of 1778, carrying "two or three days' rations in my knapsack," and in July
1779 the troops on Sullivan's Expedition were issued rations and ordered "to take [them]
in their packs ..."32
Using equipment unsuited for carrying food increased the troops' burden considerably,
and without adequate containers to carry provisions they were easily spoiled or lost, thus
wasting the extraordinary effort expended to obtain it. Unfortunately, in the Continental
Army haversacks, canteens, and camp kettles had a high rate of attrition. Prior to each
campaign large supplies of each were needed to complete the men adequately, but often
sufficient quantities had not been received even after the army marched. This remained true
until the war's end. While preparing to take the field in 1782, Quartermaster General
Timothy Pickering informed General Washington that nothing more was needed "except
knapsacks, canteens & camp kettles." He particularly mentioned canteens as "an article so
frequently lost & broken."33
Following a time-honored tradition soldiers were forced to improvise and suffer the
inconvenience. Orders for the attack on the British at Germantown (4 October 1777)
directed soldiers to "take their provision in their habersacks [sic], such as have not
habersacks are to take their provision in their pockets, or in such manner as may be most
convenient." Writing after the battle, Timothy Pickering, then Washington's adjutant
general, noted that "Haversacks ... are exceedingly wanted for carrying the men's provisions.
In the last action the men having no other way tied their provisions up in their blankets and
shirts some of which were left in consequence thereof." (In a similar manner Sgt. Jeremiah
Greenman, travelling to Valley Forge in 1778, "toock sum provision in a hankerchife.")
When the New Jersey Brigade had a large influx of drafted men in June 1778, their
commander wrote, "There is about 450 of the new Leveys come in. I do not know what we
shall do for want of Haversacks, should we March, to carry their Provisions. Coll. Cox has
given orders to the first and 2d Regts. to get as much cloath from his agent here as will make
them [haversacks] but he says there is no more therefore the 3d and 4th [Regiments] must be
served from camp."34
Every locale saw shortages. In May 1778 a two-thousand man expedition was sent against
British held St. Augustine, East Florida. From "Camp at Fort Howe on Alatamaha" River,
Georgia, an American officer complained to William Moultrie, "you have been much too
parsimonious in your fitting us out for this expedition ... what is more inconvenient than to
have only one camp-kettle to ten, twelve or fifteen men? and in this hot climate to have one
small canteen to six or eight men? we think no expense too great to procure men, but we do
not think after we have got them, that we ought to go to the expense of preserving their
health ... the Gen. requested me to desire you to send round in a boat ... 500 canteens, 100
camp-kettles, and 35 or 40 tents ..."35
Units earmarked for John Sullivan's 1779 Indian Expedition experienced similar
difficulties. General Edward Hand wrote in March, from Minisink on the New York/New
Jersey frontier, that he "wish[ed] to know where we may be supplied with ... Camp Kettles
& Canteens all which we are destitute of ..." (The units under his command were the 2nd
New York Regiment, German Regiment, Spencer's Additional Regiment, Armand's Legion
Infantry, and Captain Schott's Independent Company.) A series of receipts made early in
1779 show severe shortfalls in numbers of canteens and knapsacks needed by the New
Jersey Brigade for the year's campaign. On 29 January, 301 knapsacks and 175 canteens
were issued to the 2d New Jersey Regiment; four months later on 25 May an additional 50
knapsacks, 229 canteens, and 35 camp kettles were issued to the same unit. (Thirty five
kettles would supply 210 common soldiers; during this period the overall strength of the 2d
New Jersey ranged from 431 non-commissioned officers and rank and file in January, to
356 three months later.) In April, when the entire Jersey Brigade numbered 1,011 men, "86
Canteens 581 Knapsacks ... [and] five Hund. Canteen Straps" were issued to supply a
deficit. Haversacks were also wanted. General orders at Wyoming, 27 July 1779, stipulated
that "The Comdg. officers of regiments & corps will forthwith ... furnish their troops with
knapsacks, haversacks and canteens complete." On 23 August 1779, after the troops under
Sullivan had already marched great distances in difficult country, General Sullivan, at
Tioga, Pennsylvania, ordered "The different Corps ... immediately to call on the Qr.Mr Genl
For ... Knapsacks, haversacks, & Canteens."36
A 21 August 1779 return for Sullivan’s army
still shows shortages of much-needed food-related equipment, including knapsacks and
haversacks (see below):37
"A General Return of Stores in The Quarter Master General's Department with the Army under the
Command of ... Major General John Sullivan on the Western Expedition Fort Sullivan, Tioga," 21
August 1779.
Camp
Kettles Bowls
with Camp Iron and
Covers Kettles Cups Dishes Canteens
Maxwell's Brigade 184 26 80 957
Poor's Brigade 213 19 869
Hand's Brigade 109 555
Proctor's Artillery 13 39 180
Knapsacks Haversacks
Maxwell's Brigade 1044 765
Poor's Brigade 851 535
Hand's Brigade 625 526
Proctor's Artillery 100
Unit strength August 1779:
Present Officers N.C.O.'s and Privates
Fit for Duty and Staff Present, Fit for Duty
Maxwell's Brigade 1225 83 1142
(1st, 2d, 3d New Jersey Regiments, and Spencer’s Additional Regiment)
Poor's Brigade 1049 85 964
(1st, 2d, 3d New Hampshire Regiments, 2d New York Regiment)
Hand's Brigade 800 66 754
(4th and 11th Pennsylvania Regiments, German Regiment, Morgan’s Rifle Corps,
Schott’s Rifle Corps)
Procter's Artillery 147 16 131
(4th Battalion, Continental Artillery)
In another example, in June 1778, just before the Monmouth Campaign, the 1st
Pennsylvania Brigade had 840 non-commissioned officers, and rank and file, but only 505
knapsacks and 24 haversacks. Returns for other Continental Army units show severe
shortages of haversacks and knapsacks as well. (See endnote for equipment returns for
several brigades and a single Massachusetts company, spanning the period from 1778 to
1782.)38
(See next page for caption.)
(Photo on previous page) Mess groups occasionally carried provisions in camp kettles. Connecticut soldier
Joseph Martin wrote of this autumn 1777; his regiment halted in Burlington, New
Jersey, "where we procured some carrion beef, for it was not better. We cooked it
and ate some, and carried the remainder away with us. We had always, in the army,
to carry our cooking utensils in our hands by turns, and … as we were not
overburthened by provisions, our mess had put ours into our kettle …" This
photograph shows a small sheet-iron kettle, with rations of beef, rice, dried peas,
and chocolate. Also pictured are a camp hatchet and soldier’s brimmed wool hat.
Joseph Plumb Martin, Private Yankee Doodle: A Narrative of Some of the Adventures,
Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier (Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown
and Co., 1962), 81. (Photograph by the author.)
__________________________
The Burden of Rations. The amount of food a haversack could hold depended upon its
size, which may have varied even in the British army. A 1762 listing of equipment carried
by British troops in America included "A Haversack, with a Strap Containing Six Days
Provisions." (The weight of the soldier's entire burden given in this list was slightly over
sixty-three pounds, at least twelve of which was comprised of foodstuff.) Ens. Thomas Glyn
noted orders for the British Guards, 19 August 1776, “When the Brigade disembarks two
Gils of Rum to be delivered for each mans Canteen which must be filled with Water,
Each Man to disembark with a Blanket & Haversack in which he is to carry one Shirt one
pair of Socks and Three Days Provisions …” A British officer with General John
Burgoyne, writing in August 1777, told of soldiers carrying an "enormous bulk, weighing
about sixty pounds" including "four days provision ... [which] load is a grievous
incumbrance."39
Continental troops often carried a similar quantity of food in their haversacks or
knapsacks. Here are several examples: General Washington's "Head-Quarters, Smithe's
Clove, June 10th, 1779. The Rum and whiskey in the maggazine to be Delivered amongst
the Brigade Commissaryes, and a Gill Pr man to Be Issued to the whole army this Day. Four
Days' flour to be Issued to the Troops, so that the whole Army will be supplyed up to
Sunday Next Inclusive. Two Days' fresh Beef to be Issued this Day, and Cattle Eaquel to
two Days' supply to be with each Brigade Commissary, Redy to be slaughtered when
wanted." "Head Quarters, New Windsor, July 20th, '79. ... If the maggazines will afford it,
the Brigade Commissary will allway[s] have about them, Redy to Issue at a Moment's
warning, tow Days' salt Provisions and a Larger Quantity of Bread or flour. The troops are
allways to have two Days' [meat] Cooked ... that they may be Redy to march at a moment's
warning." On 30 July 1779 Maj. Gen. John Sullivan's soldiers in Pennsylvania were ordered
"to take in their packs ten days bread, part hard & part soft, also two days' salted meat." (The
allotment of these articles had been set on 11 July at "1 1/4 pound of soft bread or flour or 1
pound of hard bread per day [and] 1 1/4 [pounds] of fresh or salt beef ...")40
And … Tongue. The scenario for the November 2009 progressive event at Welbourne
Plantation, near Middleburg, Virginia, was to portray a company of the York County,
Pennsylvania militia during the autumn 1777 Philadelphia campaign. Learning of the
event impression, I remembered the memoirs of York County militia Private John Adlum
(then serving with the Flying Camp), who recalled that while posted at Fort Lee, New
Jersey,
Just after dusk in the evening [of 12 November 1776] the drum beat to arms ... [and] were
informed that the enemy were landing on our side of the river ... I immediately tied up a shirt
and a pair of stockings in my blanket and a piece of bread and the greater part of a neat's
tongue that my mother gave me when I left home, and I kept the greater part of it with great
care for an emergency. I left my knapsack in our hut; I encumbered myself as little as
possible ...41
With that in mind, when I packed for the weekend my knapsack contained half a cooked
and cured beef tongue. I don’t know how the tongue would have fared in warmer weather,
but the 27 to 50 degree Fahrenheit temperatures at Welbourne were certainly proof against
spoilage, and while the appendage certainly looked as if it had recently graced a bovine
mouth, the meat was quite good to taste.
Beef tongue is not only suited to home-supplied American militia, Continental and British
soldiers were occasionally issued them on a small scale. Thomas Simes noted army rations
in his 1768 Military Medley:
American Weekly Allowance of Provisions for one Person.42
Seven pounds of bread or flour.
Seven pounds of beef or pork.
Half a pound of rice.
Three pounds of peas; and
Six ounces of butter.
Following this recital, Simes further explains, “When they receive fresh meat, each person is
to have one pound of beef a day; and one pound of flour; a bullock's head is to be issued for
eight pounds, a tongue for three pounds, and a heart for its weight."43
Orders for Jackson's Additional Regiment, "Boston Oct 4. 1777 The Regiment to hold
themselves in readiness to embark ... it is expected that every Non Commissioned
Officer & Soldier, will have his Cloathing & Necessaries put up in their Knapsacks this
afternoon, together with two days provisions Cook'd ..." Continental soldiers often
carried provisions in their knapsacks when haversacks were not available. Pictured
is a two-strap design, based on the British model, with separate bags holding flour
and a beef (neat’s) tongue. Also shown are a horn cup and spoon, and wooden bowl
and canteen. Private John Adlum, York County, Pennsylvania militia, volunteered to
defend Fort Washington, New York, in November 1776, taking "a shirt and a pair of
stockings in my blanket and a piece of bread and the greater part of a neat's tongue
that my mother gave me when I left home [in July], and I kept the greater part of it
with great care for an emergency." Continental troops were occasionally issued
tongue; campaigning against the Iroquois, New Hampshire Capt. Jeremiah Fogg wrote
on 28 August 1779, "This morning we had a dainty repast on the fruits of the savages
... sitting at a dish of tea, toast, corn, squash, smoked tongue, &c." Howard H.
Peckham, Memoirs of the Life of John Adlum in the Revolutionary War (Chicago, Il.,
1968), 49. Jeremiah Fogg, 2nd New Hampshire Regt., Journals of the Military
Expedition of Major General John Sullivan Against the Six Nations of Indians in 1779
(Glendale, N.Y.: Benchmark Publishing Co., 1970), 94. (Photograph by the author.)
_______________________________
While tongues were certainly issued at times other than winter camp, to date the only
ration returns I have located mentioning them date from the 1777-78 Valley Forge
cantonment. First, "A General Return of Provisions & Stores Issued in Camp ... [to
Washington's Army] for the Month of December 1777" lists large quantities of flour and
beef, with lesser quantities of bread, pork, fish and "Veal or Mutton." Two hams and a small
amount of tongue are also noted.44
A Commissary return dated 30 January 1778 includes a
surprisingly small quantity of barreled beef, but does show “3 barrels tongues”:
January 30, 1778, “Commissarys Office” 45
“The Commissaries Magazine”
525 barrels flour
37 barrels biscuit
47 barrels salt provision
½ barrel shad
8 barrels soap
3 barrels tongues
1 hogshead spirit
7 hogsheads rum
3 hogsheads “Ginn”
4 hogsheads whiskey
2 hogsheads bacon
1 hogshead beef
2 hogsheads molasses
9 hogsheads salt
2 tierces dried Gammon
2 tierces fresh pork
½ tierce rice
90 head of cattle
“The Bake House”
35 Bls Flour
254 Bls Biscuit
2000 loaves of bread - weighing 10,000 pounds
4 hogsheads of biscuit
1 tierce of biscuit
Two provision returns for the New Jersey troops also show tongue being handed out. The
first is for a single regiment, the 2d New Jersey, giving rations issued at camp January to
May 1778. The document is included in its entirety to show proportions of different
foodstuff. It must be noted that the 2d Jersey left Valley Forge at the end of March to a new
station in and around Haddonfield, New Jersey; the small amounts of food issued in April
and May was likely for men detached from the regiment or left behind in Pennsylvania.46
2d New Jersey Provision Issues, January to May 1778 47
January 1778 February 1778 March 1778
6062 pd of flour 3930 pd of flour 3871 pd of flour
2614 pd of bread 3963 pd of bread 3118 pd of bread
8325 pd of beef 4974 pd of beef 4426 pd of beef
269 pd of pork 636 pd of pork 112 pd of pork
15 pd of fish -------- 289 pd of fish
-------- 210 pd of biscuit -------
-------- 150 pd of gammon -------
-------- 28 pd of tongues -------
39 pd of soap 63 pd of soap 12 1/2 pd of soap
7 pd of candles 25 pd of candles 19 1/4 pd of candles
-------- 8 pd of tallow -------
-------- -------- 256 gills of rice
-------- -------- 200 pd Indian meal
April 1778 May 1778
267 pd of flour 208 pd of flour
261 pd of bread --------
317 pd of beef 64 pd of beef
27 pd of pork 30 pd of pork
-------- 36 pd of fish
Rations issued to the New Jersey Brigade at Valley Forge (having at the time only two of
four regiments present) for the month of May were as follows:48
7,827 pounds of flour
9,782 pounds of bread
8,064 pounds of beef
4 barrels of "Gams. Bacon or Gammo." *
26 barrels of salt pork
6 barrels of fish
2 barrels of salt
247 pounds of soap
341 pounds of candles
5 gallons of brandy
108 gallons of rum
52 1/3 gallons of whiskey
10 gallons of vinegar
2 bushels of peas or beans
48 pounds of tongue
56 pounds of sugar
6 firkins of butter
14 pounds of cheese
3 barrels of Indian meal
* “Gammo” is likely gammon, i.e., "Smoked ham."
Several accounts, one from the War for Independence and two from the American Civil
War, indicate that tongue was a treat for soldiers used to coarser fare. Commanding a
company of the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment campaigning under Maj. Gen. John Sullivan
against the Iroquois, Capt. Jeremiah Fogg wrote on 28 August 1779, “This morning we had
a dainty repast on the fruits of the savages. Our friends at home cannot be happier amid their
variety of superfluities, than we were while sitting at a dish of tea, toast, corn, squash,
smoked tongue, &c." Some eighty years later, on 17 July 1861, 2nd Lt. Eugene Carter, 8th
U.S. Infantry, noted after sleeping "in a field by the roadside" he awoke and "ate a
sumptuous breakfast, composed of hard bread and half-boiled tongue." His brother Walter,
serving with the 22nd Massachusetts Volunteers, Warrenton, wrote in mid-November 1862
that during a visit to Eugene, he treated Walter and brother Bob to "a royal meal, composed
of roast beef, pickled tongue, sweet and Irish potatoes (the latter mashed in butter and milk),
bread and butter, and sherry wine ... We had a gay dinner and a gay time."49
Finis. So, next time you go out for a living history event, give some thought to alternate
ways of carrying provision, trying some tongue (no, not that way), and naming your mess
squad … who wants to be the “Lowsey Mess”?
Endnotes
1. One memoir gives the names of over a hundred mess appellations. At the end of May
1861 the newly-recruited companies of several regiments of the Reserve Volunteer Division
of Pennsylvania moved to their camp at a fair grounds about one and a half miles west of
Easton, a town on the Delaware River. Their accommodations were “long rows of bunk
rooms, three of which were assigned to each company.” As Adjutant E.M. Woodward of the
2nd Regiment, Pennsylvania Reserves, noted,
Among the first things that agitated the brains of the men, was to devise quaint names and
mottoes to place over the doors to their quarters, and although they were not purely classical,
some of them were typical of those who adopted them.
Commencing on the extreme south of the eastern side, was Captain McDonough’s
company, with “Fourth Ward, City of Philadelphia;” “Fort McCandless, Sergeant Dillon
commanding;” "Fort Mann, Lieutenant John J. Gill commanding;" "Fort , Lieutenant J. D.
Schock commanding" On the right of this was "The Quaker City Head Quarters;" "Camp
McClare;" "Fort Wm. T. Blundin;" "Quaker Bridal Chamber;" "Calahan Hall;" "Live and
let live."
Next, "Fort James N. Byrnes;" "Screws;" "Hibernia Fire Engine Company;" "Bird in
Hand;" "Finney House." Next, "Continental Hotel," "The Rose Cottage;" "Dart's Head
Quarters:" "Hard Corner Sharps;" "The Old House at Home;" "Independent Rangers;"
"Nailer's Head Quarters;" "Gay Rooster;" "Diamond Hall;" "Don't Tread on me;"
"Minerva Hall;" "Git up and Git;" "Old Lebanon Garden, Captain Mealey."
Next, "Happy Home of the Constitutional Rangers, Captain William Knox;" "Punch
Bowl Hotel;" "Black Horse Hotel;" "Astor House;" "Ellsworth Hotel;" "The Government
keeps us, and we will keep the Government ;" "Cohocksink Hotel;" "District Attorney's
Office;" Notice, "Upon any, liquors being brought in, the moral character of applicants to
practice at the Bar, must be strictly inquired into."
Next, "Bristol Boys, Captain Wm. S. Thompson;" "Bower of Love;" "Happy Crew;"
"The Old School House;" "The Old Spring House;" "Hole in the Wall;" "Montgomery
Guards;" Next, "Einwechter's Head Quarters;" "Tenth and Eleventh Street Depot,
Exchange Tickets, Seven cents;" "The Serious Family ;" "Out for a Day's shooting."
Next, "Ontario House, Captain Horatio G. Sickel;" "Donaghy's Inn;" "Bill Pool Club;"
"We Respect all, and Fear none;" "Never Sink;" "Live Oak;" "Kensington Boys;" "Hike
out and Simmer down." Next, "Balmoral Castle;" "Scotch Rifles, Captain J. Orr Finnie;"
"Wallace's Cave, Lieutenant J. B. Fletcher;" "De Korponay;" "Struther's Retreat;" "Pony
Hall."
Next, "Penn Rifles, Captain George A. Woodward;" "De Korponay;" "The Flag
Wyoming." Next, "Taggart Guards;" "De Korponay Bricks;" "Sunday Mercury, Captain
E. M. Woodward;" "Spicket's Head Quarters;" "Railroad House;" "The abode of Virtue."
Next, "Consolidation Guards, Captain P. I. Smith;" "De Korponay Pidgeon Box;" "Gay
and Happy;" "Fort Defiance."
Next, "Flatborough Guards, Captain I. W. Kimble;" "Free and Easy;" "Happy Family."
Next, "Wide Awake Hall, Captain Wm. D. Curtis;" "Long Island, of Reading;"
"Keystone Hook and Ladder Company;" "Elephant Guards."
Next, "The Star of North Birdsboro', Captain Jacob Lenhart;" "Fort Sumter;" "Japanese
Hotel;" "Arctic Circle;" "Death to Traitors;" "Jeff Davis at the Sheriff's Ball;" "The Blue
Eyed Stranger;" "Moonlight Assassinators;" "Mount Vernon;" "Washington and
Lincoln;" "Victory or Death;" "White Hall, Newtown, Captain David V. Feaster;"
"Traitor Hunters;" "Love and Glory;" "Game Chickens;" "Ellsworth Avengers;" "Rebel
Killers;" "Hard Scrabble Rangers;" "Chester County Volunteers ;" "Never Surrender;"
"The Wheat Field;" "The Red Curtin;" "Susquehanna Tigers;" "Gloria Dei;" "Ellsworth's
Heart," etc.
E.M. Woodward (adjutant, Second Penna. Reserves), Our Campaigns; or, the Marches,
Bivouacs, Battles, Incidents of Camp Life and History of Our Regiment During Its Three
Years Term of Service (Philadelphia: John E. Potter, 1865), 34-36.
2. Samuel Dewees, A History of the Life and Services of Captain Samuel Dewees ... The
whole written (in part from a manuscript in the handwriting of Captain Dewees) and
compiled by John Smith Hanna (Printed by R. Neilson, 1844), 163–165; see also Dillon
Music (World Wide Web),
http://www.dillonmusic.com/historic_fifes/sammy_the_fifer.htm
See also Samuel Dewees, pension file (W9405), Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty -
Land - Warrant Application Files, National Archives Microfilm Publication M804, reel
266.
3. Henry Hallowell in 1777 was a private in Capt. Ebenezer Winship’s Company, Col.
Rufus Putnam’s Massachusetts Regiment. Howard Kendall Johnson, ed., Lynn in the
Revolution Compiled from Notes [by Carrie May Sanderson], two volumes (Boston:
W.B. Clarke Company, 1909), part 1, 163.
4. “As soon as a regiment has taken the field, the soldiers composing it should be divided
into regular messes, consisting of not more than five or six men each. The usual was of
dividing them into messes of ten, twelve, or even sixteen men each, is liable to many
objections. It is seldom, indeed, that a sufficient degree of harmony prevails among so
many men to render their mess comfortable; to which may be added, that a large mess is
always productive of less comfort, and more dirt, than a small one; when these
circumstances are maturely considered, the balance will be found to lean considerably to
the side of small messes.” Quoted from Robert Sommerville "Memoir on Medical
Arrangements" (date unknown, but prior to 1798); cited in William Blair, A.M. (Surgeon
of the Lock Hospital and Asylum and of the old Finsbury Dispensary, London), The
Soldier's Friend, or the Means of Preserving the Health of Military Men; Addressed to
the Officers of the British Army (London: “Published by Mr. Longman; Messrs. Vernor
and Hood; Messrs. Hookham and Carpenter Sold also by Messer. Mudie & Sons,
Edinburgh; and by all other booksellers. 1798"), 25–26 (Excerpts courtesy of Mike
Williams, Detached Hospital, Brigade of the American Revolution, Senior Surgeon, 1323
Shoreline Trail, Graham, NC 27253–9731).
5. Friedrich Wilhelm de Steuben, Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of
the United States Part I. (Philadelphia: Stymer and Cist, 1779), 83–84.
6. General orders, 19 June 1778, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George
Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, vol. 12 (Washington, DC:
GPO, 1934), 93–94; General orders, 19 June 1781, ibid., 22 (1937), 233. General orders, 10
June 1777, ibid., 8 (1933), 211–212.
7. Orders, 28 June 1777, Orderly Book, possibly belonging to Lt. Col. William Smith of
Jackson's Additional Regiment, 1777–1780, target 3, Numbered Record Books Concerning
Military Operations and Service, Pay and Settlement Accounts, and Supplies in the War
Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records (National Archives Microfilm
Publication M853, reel 3, vol. 17, 7–8) RG 93, NA.
8. General orders, 13 July 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 8 (1933), 400–
401.
9. Joseph Plumb Martin, Private Yankee Doodle: A Narrative of Some of the Adventures,
Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier (Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown and
Co., 1962), 52–53, 55, 100.
10. General orders, 4 August 1782, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 24 (1938),
463; General orders, 10 February 1783, reiterated this sentiment: "The greatest regularity
and good order [is] to be observed by the men, as to the mode of cooking their victuals and
the time of eating; as well as in the manner of messing and living together ...," ibid., 26
(1938), 111–112; Journal of Sgt. Andrew Kettell of Massachusetts, May 1780–March 1781
(W13568), reel 1477, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application
Files, Record Group 15.
11. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 194–195.
12. Ibid., 195.
13. Ibid., 197.
14. General orders, 27 August 1779, Orderly book of Col. Oliver Spencer's Regt., 27 July
1779 – 28 September 1779, Early American Orderly Books, 1748–1817, Collections of the
New–York Historical Society (Microfilm edition: Woodbridge, N.J., 1977), reel 9, item 93,
112–113.
15. Joseph Brown Turner, ed., The Journal and Order Book of Captain Robert Kirkwood of
the Delaware Regiment of the Continental Line (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press,
1970), 86; Thomas Anburey, Travels Through the Interior Parts of America in a Series of
Letters by an Officer, vol. I (New York: The New York Times & Arno Press, 1969), letter
XXXVI, 8 August 1777, 378–381.
16. Ibid., 378–381.
17. Turner, The Journal and Order Book of Captain Robert Kirkwood, 93; Orders, 13
August 1777, Orderly Book, possibly belonging to Lt. Col. William Smith of Jackson's
Additional Regiment, 1777–1780, target 3, Numbered Record Books (National Archives
Microfilm Publication M853, reel 3, vol. 17, 10–11). "Lieutenant Colonel Harmar's Orders
for the First Pennsylvania Regiment [Book] No. 1.," 6 November 1782 to 28 March 1783,
Harmar Papers, Clements Library, microfilm, vol. 27, reel 10.
18. Samuel Dewees, A History of the Life and Services of Captain Samuel Dewees ... The
whole written (in part from a manuscript in the handwriting of Captain Dewees) and
compiled by John Smith Hanna (Printed by R. Neilson, 1844), 163–165; see also Dillon
Music (World Wide Web),
http://www.dillonmusic.com/historic_fifes/sammy_the_fifer.htm In describing "the Different Beats of the Drum," de Steuben's 1779 Manual gives the
signal to go for provisions as "roast beef." de Steuben, Regulations for the Order and
Discipline of the Troops of the United States, 91–92; see also, Raoul F. Camus, Military
Music of the American Revolution (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1976),
103–104.
"A Song in Praise of Old English Roast Beef" by Richard Leveridge (Lyrics by William
Chappell). Popularly known as the "Roast Beef of Old England." Musical score available in
Camus, Military Music of the American Revolution (see above).
(Words supplied courtesy of Kim Newell)
"When mighty roast beef was the Englishman's food,
It ennobled our hearts, and enriched our blood;
Our soldiers were brave and our courtiers were good
Oh, the roast beef of old England!
And oh, for old England's Roast Beef!
But since we have learned from effeminate France,
To eat their ragouts, as well as to dance,
We are fed up with nothing but vain complaisance,
Oh, the roast beef ...
Our fathers of old were robust stout and strong,
And kept open house with good cheer all day [long]
Which made their plump tenants rejoice in this song;
Oh, the roast beef ...
When good Queen Elizabeth sat on the throne,
Ere coffee and tea and such slip slops were known,
The world was in terror if e'en she did frown,
Oh, the roast beef ...
In those days when ships did presume on the main,
They seldom if ever returned back again,
As witness the vaunting Armada of Spain,
Oh, the roast beef ...
Oh, then we had stomachs to eat and to fight,
And when wrongs were cooking, to set ourselves right,
But now we're a––hm!–– I could but good night.
Oh the roast beef ..."
19. General orders, 4 June 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 8 (1933),
181–182.
20. Dewees, A History of the Life and Services of Captain Samuel Dewees, 163–165.
21. Anon., A Soldier’s Journal, Containing a particular Description of the several
Descents on the Coast of France last War, With an entertaining Account of the Islands of
Guadaloupe, Dominique, &c., And also of the Isles of Wight and Jersey, To which are
annexed, Observations on the present State of the Army of Great Britain (London:
Printed for E. and C. Dilly, in the Poultry, 1770) (Courtesy of Steve Rayner). Here is the
entire relevant passage:
(Memoir of a soldier of the 68th Regiment of Foot, on his first days in camp on the Isle of
Wight in 1758) “The morning after I was joined to the company, I had to put my quota of
money into the mess; that some of us might go to market to buy provisions, which, when brought
home, we drew lots who should cook, and the lot fell upon Jonas. Now I began to commence
cook; in the first place I lighted my fire, then filled my kettle with water, then put in my meat,
which was a shoulder of mutton[;] the vegetables were some long coleworts and I had
instructions to make broth: But I managed this affair very indifferently; it was the first attempt
indeed I ever had made in the art of cookery. I often asked my neighbour cooks if they thought
my contents were sufficiently dres’d? Some replied yes, and others no. At length some of my tent
mates came, and gave me orders to bring the dinner to the tent, where when I arrived, I found my
comrades all placed on the grass, without [i.e., outside] the tent, in a circle, and I had orders to fix
the kettle in the center. Some had knives, while others had none; as to spoons and forks, we were
all in one case, destitute, and no porringers or bowls, but to supply the want of the last, we took
the kettle lid; one who was the best skilled in carving, was, by consent ordered to carve the flesh
into six equal shares, and lay them abroad on the grass with the greens; when this was done,
another received orders to call them; which is, one points his finger to one of the lots and cries,
‘who shall have this?’ the man whose back is turned names one of the mess, and so proceeds till
every man’s lot is called. The bone fell to my share, and did so every day; the reason of which I
discovered by degrees. When they called the allowances, they began ‘who shall have this?’ John
T––––; ‘who shall have this?’ Thomas I––––; ‘–and– who shall have this?’ Jonas; which was sure
to be the worst lot. Thus my share was distinguished by –and– prefixed: “And who shall have
this?’ After the meat was divided and called, every one took up his lot, and then proceeded to eat
the broth in the best manner we could, with our canteen tops instead of spoons. We all put an
equal share of ammunition bread into the kettle, which bread is delivered to us on set days, and
stopped out of our pay, it is as black as our hats, in general, and quite sour.”
Researcher Steve Rayner also provided the following. Lieutenant William Bligh,
somewhere between Tahiti and Timor, after the Bounty mutiny: “Monday the 25th. [May, 1789.] At noon some noddies came so near us, that one of them was
caught by hand. This bird was about the size of a small pigeon. I divided it, with its entrails, into
18 portions, and by a well–known method at sea, of, –Who shall have this?*– it was
distributed…” *One person turns his back on the object that is to be divided: another points
separately to the portions, at each of them asking aloud, 'Who shall have this?’ to which the first
answers by naming somebody. This impartial
method of division gives every man an equal chance of the best share.”;
William Bligh; The Mutiny on Board H. M. S. Bounty, N. R. Teitel, ed. (First printed
1792. Reprinted New York: Airmont Books, 1965), 143–144;
From Thaddeus Weaver:
“’Who Shall Have This? An impartial sea method of distributing the shares of short
commons. One person turns his back on the portions, and names some one, when he is
asked, ‘Who shall have this?’ [We are glad to learn that this matter is impartially managed
afloat. In barracks, the recruit usually finds it the reverse, which is managed by merely
laying a stress on the word ‘shall.’ – ‘Who shall have this?’ when Johnny Raw is named as a
matter of course.]” Annie Barnes, The United Services Magazine, (H. Colburn, 1867), 550.
Original at the University of Michigan, digitized 9 May 2006 (World Wide Web),
http://books.google.com/books?id=m–yDhirnqWAC&pg=RA1–PA550&lpg=RA1–
PA550&dq=%22who+shall+have+this%22&source=web&ots=mFGpa8kd–
G&sig=y9I3ky7CBZTUkcjckWOll63lJ20
22. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 286. Jedediah Huntington to George Washington,
concerning observations on the army, 1 January 1778, George Washington Papers,
Presidential Papers Microfilm (Washington: Library of Congress, 1961), series 4 (General
Correspondence. 1697–1799), reel 46. "Lieutenant Colonel Harmar's Orders for the First
Pennsylvania Regiment [Book] No. 1.," Harmar Papers, Clements Library, vol. 27, reel 10.
23. "Orderly Book, Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion, Col. Anthony Wayne, 1776,"
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 30 (1906), 95–96.
24. General orders, 10 October 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 9 (1933),
347.
25. Bruce E. Burgoyne, Enemy Views: The American Revolutionary War as Recorded by the
Hessian Participants (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Book, Inc., 1996), 22–23.
26. Ibid., 23–24.
27. John D. Billings, Hardtack and Coffee or The Unwritten Story of Army Life (Boston:
George M. Smith & Co., 1887), 122–123.
28. British haversack pattern (1992), Brigade of the American Revolution. Haversack kit
available from Roy P. Najecki, Sutler, 1203 Reynolds Rd., Chepachet , RI 02814; based
on an original in the collections of J. Craig Nannos (World Wide Web),
www.najecki.com . Brent Tarter, ed., "The Orderly Book of the Second Virginia
Regiment, September 27, 1775-April 15, 1776", The Virginia Magazine of History and
Biography, vol. 85, no. 2 (April 1977), no. 3 (July 1977), 165-166. "Plan for the
Cloathing of the Infantry", 1779, George Washington Papers, Presidential Papers
Microfilm (Washington, D.C., 1961), series 4, reel 63. John Knox, captain, 43rd
Regiment, The Siege of Quebec and the Campaigns in North America, 1757-1760, Brian
Connell, ed., (Edinburgh, U.K., 1976, originally published 1769), 50. Order Book of the
64th Regiment of Foot, George Washington Papers, series 6B, vol. 3, p. 2.
29. "Abstract of the Arms & Accoutrements deliverd out at Philadelphia to the Continental
Troops by the Commissary Genl. of Military Stores from the 1st. of April 1777 to the 1st of
August following ...," (enclosure) Board of War to Washington, 18 October 1777, GW
Papers, series 4, reel 43. Bennett Cuthbertson, System for the Compleat Interior
Management and Oeconomy of a Battalion of Infantry (Dublin, 1768), 85.
30. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 81.
31. Regimental Orders, 26 May 1779, The Orderly Book of the First Pennsylvania
Regiment, Col. James Chambers, 23 May 1779 to 25 August 1779, John B. Linn and
William H. Egle, eds., Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution, Battalions and Line.
1775-1783, II (Harrisburg, Pa., 1880), 442. "Philada Feby 10th 1776
Dear Sir
Inclosed you receive a proposal to furnish our Troops with the new invented Knapsack and
Haversack & of Cartouch Boxes &c ...
Your obedt Servant
Saml Chase"
Samuel Chase to Thomas Jenifer, 10 February 1776, "Journal of the Maryland
Convention, July 26-August 14, 1775/Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland
Council of Safety, August 29, 1775-July 6, 1776," William Hand Brown, Archives of
Maryland, vol. 11 (Baltimore, Md., 1892), 150. A "rough draft of the new Invented
napsack and haversack in one that is adopted by the American regulars of Pennsylvania,
New Jersey & Virginia ...", Samuel Chase to J. Young, 9 February 1776, (includes a
rough sketch of new invented knapsack and haversack, Maryland State Papers, (Red
Books), Archives of the State of Maryland, access. no. MdHR 4561, loc. 1-6-3-38, 4,
item 13.
32. Orders, 4 October 1777, Orderly Book, possibly belonging to Lt. Col. William Smith
of Jackson's Additional Regiment, 1777-1780, Numbered Record Books Concerning
Military Operations and Service, Pay and Settlement of Accounts, and Supplies in the
War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Record Group 93, National
Archives Microfilm Publication M853, reel 3, vol. 17, target 3. M.M. Quaife, ed.,
"Documents - A Boy Soldier Under Washington : The Memoir of Daniel Granger",
Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XVI, 4 (March 1930), 546. Martin, Private Yankee
Doodle, 117. General orders, 30 July 1779, Order Book of Lt. Col. Francis Barber, 26
May 1779 to 6 September 1779, Louise Welles Murray, ed., Notes from Craft Collection
in Tioga Point Museum on the Sullivan Expedition of 1779, (Athens, Pa., 1929), 55.
33. Timothy Pickering to George Washington, 8 February 1782, Nod. Record Books, NA,
roll 26, vol. 83, 72-73. George Washington, 8 July 1777, "Canteens, Tomhawks and other
camp-utensils must be very beneficial to the troops; but unless more care be taken to
preserve, it will be impracticable to supply them," General orders, Fitzpatrick, Writings of
George Washington, vol. 8 (1933), 369-371.
34. John F. Reed, Campaign to Valley Forge: July 1, 1777-December 19, 1777
(Philadelphia, Pa., 1965), 214. "Return of Cloathing wanting in the Brigades ... Camp at
Towamensing", 13 October 1777, The Papers of the Continental Congress 1774-1789,
(National Archives Microfilm Publication M247 roll 38); Record Group (RG) 360, National
Archives (NA), Washington, DC, 117-118. Robert C. Bray and Paul E. Bushnell, eds.,
Diary of a Common Soldier in the American Revolution: An Annotated Edition of the
Military Journal of Jeremiah Greenman, (DeKalb, Il., 1978), 119. William Maxwell to
George Washington, 5 June 1778, Washington Papers, series 4, roll 49.
35. Kenneth Coleman, The American Revolution in Georgia 1763-1789 (Athens, Ga.,
1958), 106-108. Charles Pinckney to William Moultrie, 24 May 1778, William Moultrie,
Memoirs of the American Revolution. vol. I (reprint, New York, N.Y., 1968), 212-214.
36. Edward Hand to George Washington, Washington Papers, series 4, reel 56. Receipts for
equipment, New Jersey troops, 29 January, 27 April, 25 May 1779, James Abeel Receipt
Book 1778-1779, Lloyd W. Smith Collection, Morristown National Historical Park Library
(microfilm edition), reel 1. For unit strengths see Charles H. Lesser, Sinews of
Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army (Chicago, Il. and London,
1976), 100, 112. Orderly book of Col. Oliver Spencer's Regt., 27 July 1779 - 28 September
1779, Early American Orderly Books, roll 9, item 93, 31.
37. Thomas Armstrong to Nathanael Greene, 21 August 1779, "A General Return of Stores
in The Quarter Master General's Department with the Army under the Command of ...
Major General John Sullivan on the Western Expedition Fort Sullivan, Tioga,"
Miscellaneous Numbered Records (The Manuscript File) in the War Department Collection
of Revolutionary War Records 1775-1790's, National Archives Microfilm Publication
M859, Record Group 93 (Washington, D.C., 1971), reel 94, no. 27523.
July 1779 strength return, Lesser, 124-125.
Procter's Artillery Battalion, October 1779 return, 138 (N.C.O.'s and privates)
38. “A Return of officers and men Camp Equipage now Present in the 1st. Penna. Brigade Commanded by
Coln. William Irvine” [included the 1st, 2
nd, 7
th, and 10
th Pennsylvania Regiments. The original return is broken
down by regiment.]
June 3, 1778
Field Officers 10
Commissioned Officers 79
Staff Officers 14
Non Commissioned Officers 111
Rank and File 729
Marqueas 2 Wooden Bowls 4
Horsemans Tents 4 Axes 13
Common Tents 74 Hatchets 0
Knapsacks 505 Tomahawks 44
Haversacks 24 Spades 9
Camp Kettles 128 Shovels 6
Canteens 112 Pickaxes 0
Buckets 11 Bell Tents 24
“A Return of officers and men Camp Equipage now Present in the 1st. Penna. Brigade Commanded by Coln.
William Irvine” (Included the 1st, 2
nd, 7
th, and 10
th Pennsylvania Regiments. The original return is broken down
by regiment.) Thomas Alexander, Brigade Quartermaster, 3 June 1778, General William Irvine Papers,
Historical Society of Pennsylvania. (Courtesy of Lee Boyle)
_______________________________________________
With Sullivan's Army, 21 August 1779
Present Officers N.C.O.'s and Privates
Fit for Duty and Staff Present, Fit for Duty
Maxwell's Brigade 1225 83 1142
Poor's Brigade 1049 85 964
Hand's Brigade 800 66 754
Procter's Artillery 147 16 131
(4th Battalion, Continental Artillery)
Camp
Kettles Bowls
with Camp Iron and
Covers Kettles Cups Dishes Canteens
Maxwell's Brigade 184 26 80 957
Poor's Brigade 213 19 869
Hand's Brigade 109 555
Proctor's Artillery 13 39 180
Leather
Knapsacks Haversacks Portmanteaus
Maxwell's Brigade 1044 765 85
Poor's Brigade 851 535 80
Hand's Brigade 625 526 41
Proctor's Artillery 100 22
Felling Fascine Fascine
Axes Shovels Spades Picks Knives Hatchets
Maxwell's Brigade 56 8
Poor's Brigade 96 4 11 3
Hand's Brigade 22 5
Proctor's Artillery 10 5 8 6 6
Thomas Armstrong to Nathanael Greene, 21 August 1779, "A General Return of Stores in
The Quarter Master General's Department with the Army under the Command of ... Major
General John Sullivan on the Western Expedition Fort Sullivan, Tioga," Miscellaneous
Numbered Records (The Manuscript File) in the War Department Collection of
Revolutionary War Records 1775-1790's, National Archives Microfilm Publication M859,
Record Group 93 (Washington, D.C., 1971), reel 94, no. 27523. _______________________________________________
Col. Clark’s North Carolina Brigade (1st and 2
nd NC), Col. Bailey’s 4
th Massachusetts
Brigade (2nd
, 8th, 9
th, Mass.), and General Patterson’s Brigade (10
th, 11
th, 12
th, 14
th, Mass.).
NC Brigade (126 officers, 541 rank and file present, fit for duty; 128 rank & file sick, on command, and on
furlough)
2 marquees
21 horseman’s tents
168 common tents
123 tent poles
122 camp kettles
495 knapsacks
98 haversacks
26 pails
185 canteens
31 leather portmanteau
12 leather valises
1 canvas valise
1 cutting box
1 cutting knife
1 broad axe
14 narrow axes
2 handsaws
6 chisels
2 augers
2 hammers
4 shovels
4 spades
3 picks
2 covered wagons
16 open wagons
64 wagon horses C.P.
8 ditto P.P.
6 riding horses C.P.
8 ditto P.P.
4th Mass. Brigade (164 officers, 628 rank and file present, fit for duty; 229 rank & file sick, on command, and
on furlough)
4 marquees
26 horseman’s tents
173 common tents
10 tent poles
25 tent lines
136 camp kettles
132 knapsacks
22 haversacks
19 wooden bowls
58 pails
559 canteens
65 leather portmanteau
4 canvas valise
30 iron cups
26 narrow axes
1 handsaw
1 drawknife
2 chisels
1 gouge
1 iron square
1 compass
1 gimblet
1 file
5 shovels
7 spades
1 picks
23 wagon horses C.P.
1 riding horses C.P.
16 ditto P.P.
Patterson’s Brigade (223 officers, 981 rank and file present, fit for duty; 147 rank & file sick, on command,
and on furlough)
3 marquees
22 horseman’s tents
192 common tents
23 tent poles
27 tent lines
174 camp kettles
346 knapsacks
64 wooden bowls
76 pails
797 canteens
84 leather portmanteau
6 canvas valise
32 iron cups
26 narrow axes
8 shovels
11 spades
6 picks
1 covered wagon
4 wagon horses C.P.
1 riding horses C.P.
6 ditto P.P.
"A Return of Quarter-Master-General's Stores in The Brigades at West Point &
Constitution Island," 1 August 1779, The Papers of the Continental Congress 1774-1789,
(National Archives Microfilm Publication M247, 1958, vol. 3, reel 192, 145), NA. _______________________________________________
“Return of the Pennsylvania Division in the service of the United States, Commanded by
The Honble Major General Arthur St: Clair. October 1st. 1779.”
4,032 rank and file (not including officers, staff, and non-commissioned officers)
Good Wanting repair
Clothing
coats 293 1632
waistcoats 364 1566
breeches 171 834
linen overalls 2586 560
stockings 149 632
neckstocks 112 3
hunting shirts 10
shoes 887 967
hats 9 1545
caps 407 176
blankets 546 570
Camp Equipage
marquees 9 2
horseman’s tenst 66 5
wall tents 14 2
common tents 315 98
valises 21 2
leather portmanteau 17
knapsacks 1692 86
covered kettles 60 common kettles 389 41
canteens 967 38
bowls 51 5
spoons 84
axes 96 21
spades 22
shovels 8
picks 6
Woolen overalls and axe slings are returned as zero.
“Return of the Pennsylvania Division in the service of the United States, Commanded by
The Honble Major General Arthur St: Clair. October 1st. 1779.” Returns transcribed by
Mathew Grubel Oct 6, 2003 from photostats at Morristown National Historical Park filed
unded United States Army Returns. Original manuscripts at the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania _______________________________________________
3rd
, 5th, 6
th, 9
th Pennsylvania Regiments, plus “Brigadier and others.”
The brigade returned 4 covered camp kettles (two with the 5th Regiment, two with the brigadier general), 196
camp kettles (61 (3rd
), 48 (5th), 41 (6
th), 44 (9
th), and two with the “Brigadier and others”), 36 wooden bowls
(10, 17, 2, 6), and 20 iron spoons (12, -, -, 8).
Total brigade strength was:
3rd
(55 officers, 240 rank and file present, fit for duty; 80 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
5th (51 officers, 201 rank and file present, fit for duty; 78 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
6th (41 officers, 162 rank and file present, fit for duty; 42 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
9th (40 officers, 138 rank and file present, fit for duty; 51 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
(Lesser, July 1779 return, 124)
3rd
(55 officers, 240 rank and file present, fit for duty; 80 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
1 marquee
10 horseman’s tents
61 common tents
1 wall tent
50 tent poles
61 camp kettles
208 knapsacks
10 wooden bowls
215 canteens
12 leather portmanteau
3 canvas valises
12 iron spoons
18 espontoons
1 scythe
1 scythe stone
17 narrow axes
1 adze
1 handsaw
2 chisels
1 auger
1 gimblet
1 file
1 plane
1 shovel
1 spade
2 picks
4 open wagons
21 wagon horses C.P.
8 riding horses P.P.
5th (51 officers, 201 rank and file present, fit for duty; 78 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
1 marquee
7 horseman’s tents
57 common tents
3 wall tents
41 camp kettles
224 knapsacks
17 wooden bowls
229 canteens
15 leather portmanteau
3 canvas valises
12 narrow axes
7 shovels
6 spades
5 picks
1 covered wagon
4 open wagons
20 wagon horses C.P.
1 riding horses C.P.
7 riding horses P.P.
6th (41 officers, 162 rank and file present, fit for duty; 42 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
1 marquee
9 horseman’s tents
42 common tents
2 wall tents
50 tent poles
41 camp kettles
166 knapsacks
2 wooden bowls
126 canteens
17 leather portmanteau
1 scythe
10 narrow axes
1 shovel
1 spade
1 pick
1 covered wagon
4 open wagons
21 wagon horses C.P.
4 riding horses C.P.
2 riding horses P.P.
9th (40 officers, 138 rank and file present, fit for duty; 51 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
8 horseman’s tents
33 common tents
2 wall tent
45 tent poles
44 camp kettles
144 knapsacks
6 wooden bowls
84 canteens
12 leather portmanteau
2 canvas valises
8 iron spoons
11 espontoons
1 scythe
1 scythe stone
10 narrow axes
1 gimblet
2 shovela
3 spades
4 picks
1 covered wagon
4 open wagons
20 wagon horses C.P.
3 riding horses C.P.
3 riding horses P.P.
“Brigadier and others”
4 marquees
1 horseman’s tents
3 common tents
5 tent poles
2 covered camp kettles
2 camp kettles
1 wooden bowl
1 canteen
2 leather portmanteau
2 canvas valises
1 espontoon
3 narrow axes
1 chisel
1 iron square
1 ruler
1 gimblet
4 shovela
4 spades
4 picks
2 covered wagon
8 open wagons
1 riding horse C.P.
2 riding horses P.P.
3d, 5th, 6th, 9th Pennsylvania Regiments, plus “Brigadier and others.”
The brigade returned 4 covered camp kettles (two with the 5th Regiment, two with the brigadier general), 196
camp kettles (61 (3d), 48 (5th), 41 (6th), 44 (9th), and two with the “Brigadier and others”), 36 wooden bowls
(10, 17, 2, 6), and 20 iron spoons (12, –, –, 8).
Total brigade strength was:
3d (55 officers, 240 rank and file present, fit for duty; 80 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
5th (51 officers, 201 rank and file present, fit for duty; 78 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
6th (41 officers, 162 rank and file present, fit for duty; 42 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
9th (40 officers, 138 rank and file present, fit for duty; 51 rank & file sick, on command, and on furlough)
"A Return of Quarter–Master–General's Stores in the Second Pennsylvania Brigade ... at
Camp West Point," 4 August 1779
Papers of the Continental Congress (NA Microfilm Publication M247, vol. 3, reel 192, 3,
145, 153); Lesser, Sinews of Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental
Army, 124, July 1779 return.
"A Return of Quarter-Master-General's Stores in the Second Pennsylvania Brigade ... at
Camp West Point," 4 August 1779
The Papers of the Continental Congress 1774-1789, (National Archives Microfilm
Publication M247, 1958, vol. 3, reel 192, 153), NA. _______________________________________________
(Lesser, May 1781 return, 202)
“Return of Quarter-Master General Stores on hand in the first Connecticut Brigade Commanded by J
Huntington B.G.,” “Camp Highlands,” 25 May 1781.
1st. Regiment (45 officers, 147 rank and file present, fit for duty; 224 rank & file sick, on command, and on
furlough)
1 marquee tent
2 horsemen’s tents
1 wall tent
42 camp kettles
161 knapsacks
7 wooden bowls
4 pails
34 canteens
31 portmanteaus
3 iron wedges
1 broad axe
10 narrow axes
1 handsaw
1 hammer
5 spades
2 picks
1 covered wagon
22 espontoons
1 set of wagon gears
3rd
Regiment (42 officers, 187 rank and file present, fit for duty; 144 rank & file sick, on command, and on
furlough)
2 horsemen’s tents
1 wall tent
73 camp kettles
138 knapsacks
18 wooden bowls
15 canteens
27 portmanteaus
9 canvas valises
1 iron pot
1 brass kettle
2 iron wedges
1 grindstone
1 broad axe
25 narrow axes
1 adze
1 handsaw
1 drawknife
1 auger
3 pincers
1 hammer
1 gimblet
6 spades
3 picks
1 covered wagon
18 espontoons
1 set of wagon gears
5th Regiment (39 officers, 118 rank and file present, fit for duty; 177 rank & file sick, on command, and on
furlough)
2 horsemen’s tents
4 common tents
1 wall tent
54 camp kettles
43 knapsacks
23 wooden bowls
2 pails
21 canteens
27 portmanteaus
6 canvas valises
1 broad axe
14 narrow axes
1 handsaw
1 drawknife
1 hammer
3 spades
2 picks
1 covered wagon
12 espontoons
B[rigadier]. & staff
3 horsemen’s tents
4 common tents
1 wall tent
4 camp kettles
1 pail
3 portmanteaus
2 canvas valises
1 grindstone
3 narrow axes
1 adze
2 hammer
2 covered wagons
18 espontoons
1 set of wagon gears
Also listed are 112 “Bad” knapsacks, 3 covered wagons “wanting Repair,” and 8 “Bad” espontoons
“Return of Quarter-Master General Stores on hand in the first Connecticut Brigade
Commanded by J Huntington B.G.,” “Camp Highlands,” 25 May 1781, Miscellaneous
Numbered Records (The Manuscript File) in the War Department Collection of
Revolutionary War Records 1775-1790's, National Archives Microfilm Publication M859,
Record Group 93 (Washington, D.C., 1971), reel 94, no. 27553. _______________________________________________
In July 1782 Captain Rufus Lincoln's company, 7th Massachusetts Regiment, contained
one sergeant, three corporals, and forty-three privates. An April company equipment return
listed 4 knapsacks, 1 haversack, and 5 canteens; in May knapsacks increased to 40 and
canteens to 37. Eventually during 1782 (April to October) 41 canteens, and 43 knapsacks
were issued, but no haversacks. James Minor Lincoln, The Papers of Captain Rufus Lincoln
of Wareham, Mass. (New York: Arno Press, 1968; reprint of 1904 edition), 125, 136, 137,
138, 140, 154, 162, 172, 175, 176, 197.
39. Arthur Baillie, lieutenant, to Henry Bouquet, colonel, 28 August 1762, Henry
Bouquet, Papers of Col. Henry Bouquet, series 21648, part 2 (Harrisburg: Pennsylvania
Historical Commission, 1940), 77-78. (Courtesy of R. Scott Stephenson, "'The Camp
Looks So Pretty With all the Lanterns': Thoughts on Reconstructing the Physical World
of the British Soldier on Campaign in North America", Standing Orders: A Newsletter
for Researchers of the British Army in North America, 1739-1765, vol. 3, no. 1
(November 1990)). Thomas Glyn; "The Journal of Ensign Thomas Glyn, 1st Regiment of
Foot Guards on the American Service with the Brigade of Guards 1776-1777," p. 7
(transcribed by Linnea Bass, Palatine, Il., 1987). See also Howe Orderly Book, orders, 20
August 1776, Howe Orderly Book; "Howe, William Orderly Book, June 30 - October 4
1776." "General Orders from 30th June to 5th. Octr. 1776:" "General orders by His
Excellency the Honble. Wm. Howe From 30th. June & ending 5th. October 1776."
Collection of Morristown National Historical Park. Wisconsin Historical Society
microfilm #P79-3244 (transcribed by Stephen Gilbert, 1992). Thomas Anburey, Travels
Through the Interior Parts of America in a Series of Letters by an Officer, vol. I (New York:
The New York Times & Arno Press, 1969), letter XXXVI, 8 August 1777, 378–381.
40. The Orderly Book of the First Pennsylvania Regiment, Col. James Chambers, 23 May
1779 to 25 August 1779, John B. Linn and William H. Egle, eds., Pennsylvania in the War
of the Revolution, Battalions and Line. 1775-1783, II (Harrisburg, Pa., 1880), 449, 470.
Louise Welles Murray, ed., Notes from Craft Collection in Tioga Point Museum on the
Sullivan Expedition of 1779, (Athens, Pa., 1929), 55. General orders, 11 July 1779, Orderly
book of Col. Oliver Spencer's Regt., 27 July 1779 - 28 September 1779, Early American
Orderly Books, reel 9, item 93, p. 31.
41. Howard H. Peckham, Memoirs of the Life of John Adlum in the Revolutionary War
(Chicago: The Caxton Club, 1968), 49.
42. Thomas Simes, The Military Medley: Containing the Most Necessary Rules and
Directions for Attaining a Competent Knowledge of the Art ... (Dublin: [n.p.], 1768;
reprint King’s Arms Press, 1994), 272, "American Weekly Allowance of Provisions for
one Person."
43. Ibid.
44. "A General Return of Provisions & Stores Issued in Camp ... for the Month of
December 1777," The Papers of the Continental Congress 1774-1789, (National Archives
Microfilm Publication M247 reel 199); Record Group (RG) 360, National Archives (NA),
Washington, DC, p. 579.
45. Thomas Jones, "Return of Provisions at Camp after Serving the Troops for Jan 31st. [sic]
January 1778,” 30 January 1778, courtesy of Lee Boyle, Miscellaneous Numbered Records
(The Manuscript File) in the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records
1775-1790's, National Archives Microfilm Publication M859, Record Group 93
(Washington, D.C., 1971), reel 76, no. 22110. Copy in The Papers of the Continental
Congress 1774-1789, (National Archives Microfilm Publication M247 reel 199, i192, f481);
Record Group (RG) 360, National Archives (NA), Washington, DC.
46. John U. Rees, "I Expect to be stationed in Jersey sometime...": An Account of the
Services of the Second New Jersey Regiment: Part I, December 1777 to June 1778 (1994, unpublished, copy held in the collections of the David
Library of the American Revolution, Washington Crossing, Pa.), contains seventeen appendices
covering various subjects including studies of the casualties incurred by the New Jersey Brigade
(1777-1779), the uniform clothing of the New Jersey Brigade (1776-1778), the use of the nine-
month draft in 1778, and names of all the officers and enlisted men of the regiment.
Chapter titles: The March to Winter Quarters: 13 December to 25 December 1777
General Orders, 20 December to 25 December 1777
Countering the "depredations of the Enemy": 23 December to 28 December 1777
The Valley Forge Camp in the Waning Days of 1777
A. General Orders: 25 December to 31 December 1777
B. "I fancy we may ... Content ourselves in these Wigwams ...": 1 January to 19 March 1778
Valley Forge in the First Months of 1778
General Orders, 1 January to 19 March 1778
"I Expect to be stationed in Jersey sometime ...": 22 March to 1 April 1778
General Orders of the Army, 20 March to 28 March 1778
"The Enemy Giting intelligence of our movement ...": 4 April to 30 May 1778
General Orders of the Army, 8 April to 6 May 1778
Reinforcements and Alarms: The Actions of Brigadier General William Maxwell and
the Remainder of the Jersey Brigade, May 7 to May 24, 1778
The Institution of Nine-Month Enlistments from the New Jersey Militia, February to June 1778
Procuring Arms and Equipment for the Regiment, March to June 1778
Clothing the Men in the Spring of 1778
The Jersey Brigade is Reunited, May 28 to June 19, 1778
47. Return of rations issued to the 2nd New Jersey Regiment for the period from January to
May 1778, Revolutionary War Rolls, New Jersey, 2d Regiment, 1775-1783, National
Archives Microfilm Publication M246, Record Group 93, reel 57 (21-22), miscellaneous
records.
48. "General Return of Provisions and Stores Receivd for the Troops in Camp ... for the
Month of May 1778," New Jersey State Archives [Trenton] Revolutionary War Manuscripts
(Numbered), Military Records, reel 5807861909, document 4312.
A second return signed by Deputy Commissary General of Issues Thomas Jones lists
ration quantities actually issued at Valley Forge from 25 to 31 January 1778. “6/7” seems
to means 6/7 of a pound.
Provisions Issued, 25-31 January 1778, include:
Rations due 21,370 2/7 per day
Drawn 17, 578 per day
Daily issues: 19,075 5/7 pounds flour
3,383 1/7 pounds bread
20,436 6/7 pounds of beef
1,748 5/7 pounds of pork
233 2/7 pounds fish
29 6/7 pounds mutton
24 4/7 pounds of soap
169 6/7 pounds soap
8 4/7 pounds candles
206 pints salt
3 pints of rice
558 4/7 jills spirits
760 1/7 jills Li[ ]
1004 6/7 jills vinegar
6/7 no. tongues
Totals:
20 ½ pints of rice
1189 ½ pounds of soap
7034 Jills of vinegar
Thomas Jones, Provisions Issued, 3 February 1778, courtesy of Lee Boyle, Miscellaneous
Numbered Records (The Manuscript File) in the War Department Collection of
Revolutionary War Records 1775-1790's, National Archives Microfilm Publication M859,
Record Group 93 (Washington, D.C., 1971), reel 75, no. 22033. Copy in The Papers of the
Continental Congress 1774-1789, (National Archives Microfilm Publication M247 reel 199,
f503); Record Group (RG) 360, National Archives (NA), Washington, DC.
Rations for January 1778 for New Jersey Brigade’s four regiments consisted of: 26,314 pounds of flour
10,913 pounds of bread
35,603 pounds of fresh beef
906 pounds of pork
9 bushels and 2 7/8 quarts of salt
193 pounds of soap
52 3/4 pounds of candles
109 gallons of rum
470 pounds of herrings
In addition to these items the brigade received lesser amounts of gammon, tongues, Indian
meal and rice.
"General Return of Provisions and Stores Issued to the Troops ... in the Middle Department
for the Month of January 1778," New Jersey State Archives [Trenton] Revolutionary War
Manuscripts (Numbered), Military Records, reel 5807861909, document 3638; reel
5798831908, document 4315. Gammon, “the buttocks or thigh of a hog pickled and
smoked,” Noah Webster, A Dictionary of the English Language: Abridged from the
American Dictionary, for the Use of Primary Schools and the Counting House (New York:
N&J White Publishers, 1836), 182. Gammon: a smoked ham, Richard M. Lederer, Jr.,
Colonial American English: A Glossary, (Essex, Ct.: Verbatim, 1985)
See also "Account of Provisions Deliver'd for the Use of the 6th. Pena. Regt. ...," January-
July 1778; "A General Account of Provisions &c Issued from Jany. 1st. 1778 to the 31st.
Inclusive," and provision returns for March, April, June and July 1778, for Late Conway's
3rd Pennsylvania Brigade and attached organizations, Records of Issuance and Receipt of
Provisions, 1776-83 and 1786, Numbered Record Books Concerning Military Operations
and Service, Pay and Settlement of Accounts, and Supplies in the War Dapartment
Collection of Revolutionary War Records, Record Group 93, National Archives Microfilm
Publication M853, reel 41, vol. 112 and 121, targets (6 Pa. 8-9, 44-45, 72-73) 26-27, 38-39,
90-91, 104-105. A series of accounts of provisions issued for the 3rd Pennsylvania Brigade
(late Conway's) and attached officers and organizations lists the following foodstuffs in
varying quantities: flour, bread, beef (salt and fresh), pork, fish, rice, tongue, mutton, beans,
molasses, gammon, bacon, biscuit, butter. The provision returns for the 6th Pennsylvania
Regiment for the first seven months of 1778 also include small quantities of vinegar, Indian
meal, cheese, "Heads & Plucks,” and peas.
49. Jeremiah Fogg, 2nd New Hampshire Regt., Journals of the Military Expedition of Major
General John Sullivan Against the Six Nations of Indians in 1779 (Glendale, N.Y.:
Benchmark Publishing Co., 1970), 94. Robert Goldthwaite Carter, Four Brothers in Blue
(Austin and London: University of Texas, 1979), 11, 163.
_________________________________ Works by John U. Rees related to food in the armies of the American Revolution:
"’It was my turn to cook for the Mess’: Provisions of the Common Soldier in the
Continental Army, 1775–1783,” Food History News, vol. VII, no. 1 (Fall 1995), 2, 8.
"’Sometimes we drew two days rations at a time.’: The Soldiers' Daily Issue,” FHN,
vol. VII, no. 3 (Winter 1995), 2–3.
"’Drew 2 pound of Shugar and 1 pound of Coffee’: Extraordinary Foodstuffs Issued
the Troops,” FHN, vol. VIII, no. 1 (Summer 1996), 2–3.
"’The unreasonable prices extorted ... by the market People’: Camp Markets and the
Impact of the Economy,” FHN, vol. VII, no. 4 (Spring 1996), 2–3.
"’Complaint has been made by many of the Inhabitants’: Soldiers' Efforts to
Supplement the Ration Issue,” FHN, vol. VIII, no. 2 (Fall 1996), 1–2, 7.
"’Whilst in this country’: Sullivan's Expedition and the Carolina Campaigns,” FHN,
vol. VIII, no. 3 (Winter 1996), 2, 6–7.
"’Hard enough to break the teeth of a rat.’: Biscuit and Hard Bread in the Armies of the
Revolution,” (Also in the same issue, information on cooking with biscuit and hardtack
during the American Civil War and the War for Independence in "Joy of Historical
Cooking: Using Hardtack & Crackers."), FHN, vol. VIII, no. 4 (Spring 1997), 2, 3–5, 6–
7.
"’The essential service he rendered to the army’: Christopher Ludwick, Superintendent
of Bakers,” FHN, vol. IX, no. 1 (Summer 1997), 2, 6.
“’The Gingerbread Man’: More on Washington’s Baking Superintendent, Then and
Now,” FHN, vol. XVII, no. 1 (Summer 2005), 2.
"’As many fireplaces as you have tents’: Earthen Camp Kitchens,” FHN, vol. IX, no. 2
(Fall 1997), 2, 8–9, plus “Matt and I Dig a Kitchen: Recreating an 18th–Century Cooking
Excavation,” FHN, vol. IX, no. 3 (Winter 1998), 2. Also published as "Earthen Camp
Kitchens,” Muzzleloader, vol. XXX, no. 4 (September/October 2003), 59–64. For online
version see (World Wide Web), http://revwar75.com/library/rees/kitchen.htm
"’Our pie–loving ... stomachs ... ache to even look.’: Durable Foods for Armies, 1775–
1865,” FHN, vol. IX, no. 4 (Spring 1998), 2, 7–8.
"’Tell them never to throw away their ... haversacks or canteens’: Finding Water and
Carrying Food During the War for Independence and the American Civil War,” FHN,
vol. X, no. 1 (37), 2, 8–9.
"’The victuals became putrid by sweat & heat’: Equipment Shortages, the Burden of
Rations and Spoilage During the War for Independence and the War Between the States,”
FHN, vol. X, no. 2 (38), 2, 6–7.
"’False hopes and temporary devices’: Organizing Food Supply in the Continental
Army”:
part I. “’To subsist an Army well’: An Organizational Overview,” FHN, vol. XII, no. 3
(47), 2, 9–10.
part II. “’Owing to this variety of waste …’: Producing, Storing, and Transporting
Bread,” FHN, vol. XII, no. 4 (48), 2, 9–10.
part III. “’We now have 500 head of fat cattle’: Procuring, Transporting, and Processing
Livestock,” FHN, vol. XII, no. 4 (48), 2, 8–9.
“’A perfect nutriment for heroes!’: Apples and North American Soldiers, 1757–1918,”
FHN, vol. XIV, no. 1 (53), 2, 6.
“’The oficers are Drunk and Dancing on the table …’: U.S Soldiers and Alcoholic
Beverages,” FHN, vol. XIV, no. 2 (54), 2.
“’The repast was in the English fashion …’: Washington’s Campaign for Refined
Dining in the War for Independence,” FHN, vol. XIV, no. 3 (55), 2.
"’Give us Our Bread Day by Day.’: Continental Army Bread, Bakers, and Ovens”:
part I. “’Waste and bad management …’: Regulating Baking,” FHN, vol. XV, no. 4 (60), 2,
9.
part II.“’A bake–house was built in eleven days …’: Contemporary Baking Operations and
Army Masonry Ovens,” FHN, vol. XVI, no. 1 (61), 2, 8.
part III. “’Seeing that the Ovens may be done right …’: Bake Oven Designs,” FHN, vol.
XVI, no. 3 (63), 2, 8.
part IV. “’The mask is being raised!!’: Denouement: Early–War Iron Ovens, and a
Yorktown Campaign Bakery,” FHN, vol. XVI, no. 4 (64), 2.
“’Invited to dine with Genl Wayne; an excellent dinner …’: Revolutionary
Commanders’ Culinary Equipage in Camp and on Campaign”:
part 1 “’Plates, once tin but now Iron …’: General Washington’s Mess Equipment,”
FHN, vol. XVII, no. 2 (66), 2, 8.
part 2 “’40 Dozens Lemons, in a Box’: British Generals’ Provisions and Mess Equipage,”
FHN, vol. XVII, no. 3 (67), 2, 8.
part 3 “’A Major General & family’: Nathanael Greene’s Food Ware,” FHN, vol. XVII, no.
4 (68), 2.
part 4 “’My poor cook is almost always sick …’: General Riedesel Goes to America,”
FHN, vol. XVIII, no. 1 (69), 2–3.
“’Sufficient for the army for fifteen days …’: Continental Army Frozen Rations,”
FHN, vol. XVIII, no. 2 (70), 2.
"’The manner of messing and living together’: Continental Army Mess Groups,” FHN,
vol. XVIV, no. 2 (74), 2, 5.
“’On with Kittle, to make some hasty Pudding …’: How a "Continental Devil" Broke
His Fast,” FHN, vol. XVIV, no. 3 (75), 2, 9.
"’A hard game’: Cooks in the Continental Army,” FHN, vol. XVIV, no. 4 (76)), 2, 9.
"’We had our cooking utensils ... to carry in our hands.’: Light-Weight Military Kettles,
1775-1782. Included in the endnotes:
“Tin Kettles, 1759-1771”
“British and German Kettles”
“Kettle Capacity and Weight, and Excavated Artifacts, Circa 1750-1815”
FHN, vol. XX, no. 1 (77)), 2, 7, 10.
"’They were made of cast iron and consequently heavy.’: Eating Utensils and Less
Commonly Used Cooking Implements, 1775-1783,” FHN, vol. XX, no. 2 (78)), 2, 4-5.
“’A capital dish …’: Revolutionary Soldiers and Chocolate,” FHN, vol. XX, no. 3
(79)), 2, 9, 12.
"’A better repast’: Continental Army Field and Company Officers’ Fare” (series
closing column, not yet published)
See also:
"'The foundation of an army is the belly.' North American Soldiers' Food, 1756-1945,"
ALHFAM: Proceedings of the 1998 Conference and Annual Meeting, vol. XXI (The Assoc.
for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums, Bloomfield, Ohio, 1999), 49-64.
Part I. "'I live on raw salt pork ... hard bread and sugar.': The Evolution of
Soldiers' Rations"
Part II. "Salt Beef to C Rations: A Compendium of North American Soldiers'
Rations, 1756-1945"
(World Wide Web, http://revwar75.com/library/rees/belly.htm )
"'To subsist an Army well ...': Soldiers' Cooking Equipment, Provisions, and Food
Preparation During the American War for Independence”:
"’All the tin Camp-kettles they can procure ...’: Iron Pots, Pans, and Light-
Weight Military Kettles, 1759-1782”
Subheadings:
“Tin Kettles, 1759-1771”
“British Kettles in the American War, 1776-1781”
“Continental Army and States’ Militia, 1775-1780”
“American Sheet Iron Kettles, 1781-1782”
“Officers’ Cooking Equipment”
“Kettle Covers”
“’The extreme suffering of the army for want of … kettles …’:
Continental Soldiers and Kettle Shortages in 1782”
“’A disgusting incumbrance to the troops …’:
Linen Bags and Carts for Carrying Kettles”
“’The Kettles to be made as formerly …”
Kettle Capacity and Weight, and Archaeological Finds”
Subheadings:
“Kettle Capacity and Sizes, 1759-1782”
“Louisbourg Kettle, Cape Breton Island”
“Fort Ligonier (Buckets or Kettles?)”
“Rogers Island (Bucket or Kettle?)”
“1812 Kettles, Fort Meigs, Ohio”
“Overview of Cooking Equipment, 1775-1783”
Military Collector & Historian, vol. 53, no. 1 (Spring 2001), 7-23.
“’Our wants of the common conveniences were sometimes curiously supplied …’:
A Revolutionary Soldier’s Wooden Bowl,” Military Collector & Historian,
vol. 61, no. 3 (Fall 2009), 210-214.
"'Properly fixed upon the Men': Linen Bags for Camp Kettles," The Brigade Dispatch, vol.
XXVII, no. 3 (Autumn 1997), 2-5.
(World Wide Web, http://revwar75.com/library/rees/kettlebags.htm )
"`A disgusting incumbrance to the troops': More on Kettle Bags and Carts in the Continental
Army, 1781," The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXVIII, no. 3 (Autumn 1998), 12-13.
(World Wide Web, http://revwar75.com/library/rees/encumberance.htm )
“’General Wayne's detachment is almost starving.’: Provisioning Washington’s Army on the
March, June 1778,” Appendix N of "’What is this you have been about to day?’: The
New Jersey Brigade at the Battle of Monmouth,”
http://revwar75.com/library/rees/monmouth/MonmouthToc.htm