"To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

”
Soldiers' Food and Cooking in the War for Independence

John U. Rees

“The belly’s a shameless dog, there’s nothing worse. Always insisting, pressing, it never
lets us forget – destroyed as I am, my heart wracked with sadness, sick with anguish, still it
keeps demanding, ‘Eat, drink!’ It blots out all the memory of my pain, commanding, ‘Fill
me up!’” Odysseus at King Alcinous’s court, from The Odyssey.1
_____________________________

Note: This work is a follow–up of the article "'To subsist an Army well ...: Soldiers'
Cooking Equipment, Provisions, and Food Preparation During the American War for
Independence” (See MC&H, 53, no. 1 (Spring 2001): 7–23, and https://tinyurl.com/Rev-
War-Utensils ). While that study did include some discussion of soldiers’ food (see page
16), the main focus was on cooking utensils, their type and availability. The present study
is intended to rectify the deficiency.
__________________
"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.
Addenda
“The men were very industrious, in baking, all the forepart of the evening.”: Soldiers’ Ingenuity,
Regimental Bakers, and the Issue of Raw Flour
“The Commissary [is] desired … to furnish biscuit and salt provisions …”:
Hard Bread in the War for Independence.
"The victuals became putrid by sweat & heat ...": Some Peripheral Aspects of Feeding an Army
1. The Ways Soldiers Carried Food
2. The Burden of Rations, 1762-1783
3. Carrying Drink and Procuring Water
4. Equipment Shortages
5. Spoilage of Issued Meats
"We had our cooking utensils ... to carry in our hands.": Continental Army Cooking and Eating Gear,
and Camp Kitchens, 1775-1782
Endnotes:
#50. Compendium of Ration Allotments, 1754-1782
Continental Army rations (summary)
British Army rations (summary)
Caloric Requirements and Intake
#73. Miscellaneous returns of cooking gear and eating utensils, 1778-1781
(Appended) List of author’s articles on food in the armies of the American Revolution
__________________
 Revolutionary soldiers’ suffering is popularly synonymous with poor food or severe
shortages of the same, about which Lt. Col. Josiah Harmar wrote on 22 August 1780,
"Provisions extreme scarce; only half a Lb. Meat in three days ...," and three days later
"This movement of our ... [troops] is occasioned through dire necessity, the Army being
on the point of starving ..." Pvt. Joseph Plumb Martin recounted eating fresh beef broiled
on sharpened sticks over a fire, that it "was as black as coal on the outside and ... raw on the
inside ..., 'I asked no questions for conscience's sake,' but fell to and helped myself to a feast
of this raw beef, without bread or salt." Delaware Capt. Enoch Anderson noted of such a
meal, "to hungry soldiers it tasted sweet ..." In hard times soldiers often subsisted on "fire
cake," the "sodden cakes" described by one man as "Flower ... Wet with Water &
Roll[ed] ... in dirt & Ashes to bake ... in a Horrible Manner ..." (As hard tack later became
connected to Civil War service (1861–1865), fire cake exemplified the Continental
soldier).2
But scarcity was not the everyday experience, nor firecake and raw beef the general rule
or only sustenance intended for the troops, as shown by ration lists and soldiers’ accounts.
The troops often sought alternative sources. Near Woodbridge, New Jersey, in April 1777
Col. Israel Shreve wrote "I Rode All over this Village through the Gardens in search of
Asparigas [but] found none, All the Beds being Cut that Day by the soldiers ..."3 The
following June Gen. George Washington authorized foraging for wild "vegetables” at
Middlebrook, New Jersey:

there is plenty of common and French sorrel; lamb's quarters [otherwise known as white
goosefoot], and water cresses, growing about camp ... The General recommends to the
soldiers the constant use of them, as they make an agreeable sallad, and have the most
salutary effect. The regimental officer of the day to send to gather them every morning, and
have them distributed among the men.4

Perhaps the most striking juxtaposition of the American soldier’s food experience, down
to the present day, is that many, if not most, came from a civilian world of plenty, into a
military life of relative deprivation. Their template was based on the foods they knew at
home, and, as soldiers, whenever they were able, they tried to obtain foodstuff beyond the
normal army ration and mimic home–cooked meals. Even some small semblance to the
remembered fare often sufficed … With all that in mind, this article will address in detail
soldiers’ mess groups, food distribution, and cooks, and end with a discussion of the various
ways the troops prepared the foodstuff they foraged, purchased, or were issued.

"The manner of messing and living together"

Continental Army Mess Groups

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.5
 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.6

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."7 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.8

Continental soldier wearing typical warm weather wear consisting of linen hunting shirt
and linen overalls. This soldier carries a camp kettle, one kettle was allotted to each six-man
mess group. Illustration by Peter F. Copeland; “7th Virginia Regiment, 1777,” Peter F.
Copeland and Donald W. Holst, Brother Jonathan print series. Courtesy of the artist.
 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 ..."9 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.10

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.11

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 ..."12
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.13

Despite the ease with which connections could be made 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."14
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."15

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 Model Company.
http://www.fortticonderoga.org/learn/re-enactors/model_company
 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.16

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."17 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.18
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

British soldier wearing a haversack. Detail from the watercolor “The Encampment
on Blackheath 1780” by Paul Sandby (1725-1809)
 “Who shall have this?”
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."19 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.20

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 ...21

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."22
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.

He then described apportionment to mess squads:

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.23

Thus, Continental Army mess groups could be known by the name of the soldier who
acted as leader or by an assigned number. Mess groupings in the American Civil War
sometimes gave themselves fanciful or humorous appellations; here are some examples,
circa 1861, “Screws,” "Hard Corner Sharps," “Bristol Boys," "Happy Crew,"
"Montgomery Guards," "Punch Bowl Hotel,” "Kensington Boys," and “Happy Family”
messes. Two instances of War for Independence nicknamed messes have also come to light.
In 1775 thirteen-year-old Daniel Granger joined the Continental forces investing Boston.
Serving in place of his brother, “I took his Accoutrements and went in his Mess … The
Weather was extremely cold, and Winter Hill was high bleak & cold and the Soldiers
then lived in Tents and suffered much … But the Mess … had excavated a place into the
side of the Hill covered it with Timber & boards built up a fireplace & Chimney and a
Door, had Straw for the flooring & beading, where they were warm & comfortable, and
were called a Mess of Cubs, who lived in a Den.” Pvt. Samuel Hallowell, a soldier of Col.
Rufus Putnam’s Massachusetts Regiment in 1777, told of at 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.”24
“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.25

Like “Jonas” and his comrades, Continental troops often 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 Pvt. 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."26 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.27

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 ½ lb – and that he took it for the purpose of greasing his
Gun.28

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.29

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 ..."30
Two pertinent narratives show us the issue of rations aboard a British troop transport
crossing the Atlantic, and during the American Civil War (1861–1865), revealing some
differences as well as similarities with Continental Army practices. 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.31

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.32

While coffee and sugar were rarely issued to Revolutionary soldiers, Union
artilleryman John Billings’ 1860s 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.33

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 Model Company.
http://www.fortticonderoga.org/learn/re-enactors/model_company
 "A hard game ..."
Soldier Cooks
Steuben’s 1779 Regulations stated that each new recruit was to learn "to clean his arms,
wash his linen and cook his provisions," likely listed in accordance with the high
command’s priorities. In October 1776 regiments near New York were directed to see "that
the Men have four days Provision ready dressed at all times ... [and that] one Man of every
Mess is to be kept cooking ..." It is easy to imagine the difficulties many men had in
performing this duty, especially since most were young and new to military service; in late
October 1775 Massachusetts Pvt. Samuel Haws noted in his journal, "Nothing remarkable
this day, onely I was chose to cook for our room consisting of 12 men, and a hard game
too."34
It seems common practice early on was for messmates to take cooking duty by turns. As
the war progressed, there may have been a natural tendency for one man to be designated as
permanent cook. Whatever the norm, everyone, officers and common soldiers alike, at one
time or another seems to have tried their hand at food preparation. During the 1776
campaign around New York, Joseph Plumb Martin observed "our surgeon's mate ...
endeavouring to cook his supper, blowing the fire and scratching his eyes …"35 Normally,
officers were attended by a waiter who performed such tasks for them. In his 1782 narrative
Martin wrote of a private who:

used sometimes to attend on the sergeant's mess, as they were allowed a waiter or cook ...
[This man would occasionally] go and work for a farmer in the neighborhood of the camp ...
he received his wages for his work in milk, butter, &c., which he always brought into the
mess.36

At "Colledge Camp [Williamsburg, Virginia] Octr. 29th. 75," the Quartermaster in

charge of a Guard House detail was directed that "two of the men … be imployed in
Cooking for the rest." Even in settled situations the resulting meal must often have been
less than a culinary delight; food prepared while campaigning under rough conditions
was often unpalatable to say the least. Sixteen–year old Fifer John Greenwood, 15th
Continental Regiment, noted of the retreat from Canada in 1776, their daily ration,
"consisted of a pint of flour and a quarter–pound of pork for every man."37 The flour was:

mixed up with the water from the lake by fellows as lousy, itchy, and nasty as hogs. I
have seen it, when made and baked upon a piece of bark, so black with dirt and smoke I
do not think a dog would eat it. But with us it went down, lice, itch, and all, without any
grumbling, while the pork was broiled on a wooden fork and the drippings caught by the
beautiful flour cakes.38

Revolutionary soldiers usually prepared their own food despite the presence of female
camp followers, but male cooks were due more to necessity rather than a particular
directive. The number of women with the Continental Army was quite small, on average
about one woman for every thirty men, or approximately three percent of the total number
of troops. Furthermore, early in the war it would not have been at all remarkable for an
individual company to contain no women; that situation had changed by 1783 when the
average was two women for each company with the main army.39
 When women were present their primary duty was not cooking. In November 1775
Benjamin Church wrote of the American army around Boston, “They have no women in the
camp to do washing for the men, and they in general not being used to doing things of this
sort ... choose rather to let their linen, etc., rot upon their backs than be at the trouble of
cleaning 'em themselves. During Maj. Gen. John Sullivans' expedition against the Iroquois
in 1779, orders given Col. Israel Shreve and his Tioga garrison regarding women make no
mention of cooking: “It will ... be absolutely necessary to send most of the Women and
Children to Wyoming, returning only such as may be applied to the use of the Hospital, or
may be deem'd necessary to keep the Soldier's clean at their Return.”40
Having said all this, it does not mean that army women never cooked for the men. In 1773
one of the barracks at the fort at Crown Point, New York, was destroyed by fire. In the
resulting court of inquiry, Jane Ross, a soldier’s wife in the British 26th Regiment, testified
that she "had two pots with the Men's Dinner" in one of the fireplaces, and that the mess
"consisted of Nine in all; and I cooked Pork and Pease." During the ensuing war, Jacob
Nagle, Proctor's Artillery Regiment, asked another soldier’s spouse to cook breakfast for
him on the morning of the Battle of Brandywine. And Sarah Osborn related in her pension
application that during the Siege of Yorktown the female camp followers were "washing,
mending, and cooking for the soldiers," as well as being employed carrying "beef, and
bread, and coffee ... to the soldiers in the entrenchment[s]." Osborn also stated that on the
day of Lt. Gen. Charles Earl Cornwallis's surrender “having provisions ready, [she] carried
the same down to the entrenchments that morning, and four of the soldiers whom she was in
the habit of cooking for ate their breakfasts.” One interesting sidelight concerns female
camp followers and mess squads. A 1777 "Mess Roll of Captn. Ross's Compy," 3d New
Jersey Regiment lists eight mess squads, most containing five or six people. Two groupings
contained one woman each, along with three men in one mess and four in the other. It is
quite likely these women did the cooking for the men in these two messes.41
In the army support services women seem often to have cooked for the workers. In May
1781 Quartermaster Gen. Timothy Pickering proposed raising a company of artificers
(military craftsmen), to consist of 6 supervisors, 50 privates, and 6 cooks. The cooks’ roles
would have been partly filled by women, a contention supported by a December 1780
"Return of Rations Issued at the Cont[inenta]l Village” listing 359 persons comprising
blacksmiths, carpenters, woodcutters, miscellaneous detachments (amounting to 287 men,
officers included), wagoners, colliers, masons, express riders, boatmen, quartermaster's
office and the commissary of issues. Also included were nine "Women as Cooks."42
Holly A. Mayer in her study Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community
during the American Revolution cites several instances where both men and women
prepared meals for the workmen. In April 1781 Deputy Q.M. Richard Platt wrote an
assistant commissary, “The Q MGenl. having agreed, in consideration of the Wives of
Hezekiah Gibson & Elihu Cary, cooking each, for a mess of Artificiers, which superseded
the necessity of two men being employed on that Business, that one Ration should be
allow’d, daily, to each of those Women.”43 Unlike regimental camp followers these cooks
were usually paid for their services:

Hannah Thomas … received fifty–eight pounds, two shillings, and sixpence in payment for
cooking for twelve men in the quartermaster general’s department during … October 1780.
When some artificers gathered at Fishkill in 1782 to work for the army, they brought female
relations with them. The quartermaster department paid a few of them to cook for the men.
 Sarah Parsell cooked for the wheelwrights, Mrs. Cregier performed the same service for the
blacksmiths, and Mrs. Lloyd served up meals to the express riders. Parsell and Cregier
received twelve days pay, at two shillings per day, for work done that January, while Lloyd
worked from May through September at ten dollars in New York currency per month.
Parsell and Cregier received considerably less than their artisan relations, but Lloyd’s
monthly pay as a cook equaled that of her hostler husband. There did not appear to be any
discrimination in the wages of women cooks as opposed to those of men in the same
position. Thomas Wright, a cook for the tent makers at Fishkill, also received two shillings
per day for his twelve days of works in January, while Andrew Wear, quartermaster
department cook at West Point, was paid over six New York dollars per month for his
services that year.44

Among the army support services was a baking department, headed from 1777 to the
end of 1781 by Philadelphia businessman and Superintendent of Bakers Christopher
Ludwick. The army–employed bakers were wholly male. The first listing we have is an
October 1778 “Muster Roll of a Company of Bakers … under the Command of John
Torrey, Director,” showing 17 privates, all male, serving under 5 foremen. One man,
Adam Foot, is noted as being “On Comm[an]d [i.e., detached duty] at Genl Washington.”
A second list, this of “Bakers in Continental service at present at Morris Town," New
Jersey, dated 22 June 1780, names 12 men.45
To close our discussion of cooks, and segue into food preparation, let us turn to
campaigning soldiers. Sgt. John Smith. 1st Rhode Island Regt., noted the day after
reaching Valley Forge:

[20 December 1777] –– we found a Corn feild where was Corn which we took & Eat after
we Roasted it in the fire –– some we Pounded with two stones & made Samp [i.e., Indian
corn, beaten and boiled] to thicken our Broth –– Some we Carried to mill & Got it Ground
into meal –– towards Night we Drew Some Poor Beef & one Days flower ––46

Many soldiers’ meals were much worse than Smith’s, but regarding a dish he would
never have eaten as a civilian, Revolutionary soldier–memoirist J. P. Martin paraphrased
the bible, “A full belly loatheth a honey–comb, but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is
sweet.”47

“On with Kittle, to make some hasty Pudding …”

How a "Continental Devil" Broke His Fast

"Next to Cleanliness, nothing is more conducive to a Soldiers health than dressing his
provisions in a decent and proper manner. The Officers commanding Companies should
therefore daily inspect the Camp Kitchen, and see the Men dress their Food in a wholesome
way." General George Washington’s army orders, 14 July 1775.48
_______________________________

The kinds of foods issued to Gen. George Washington’s troops are relatively well
known, but how they prepared those foods less so. To gain some overall understanding,
we will look at what the men had at different times for their first meal of the day. So,
what did a Continental soldier (or as Commissary Samuel Hodgdon claimed they were
called, a “Continental Devil”) breakfast on? The answer is, it varied, depending upon the
soldier’s situation, foods at hand and time available.49
The Army Ration and Cooking Methods. The hoped–for per diem Continental Army
allotment included 1 pound of beef or fish or ¾ pound of pork, 1 pound of bread, hard
biscuit, or flour, 1 pint of milk per day, 1 quart of spruce beer or cider. Each man per week
was entitled to 3 pints of peas, beans, or other vegetables, ½ pint of rice or 1 pint of Indian
[corn] meal, plus 9 gallons of molasses for one hundred men. Meat and flour, with
occasional vegetables, remained army staples, while supply difficulties caused milk, beer,
cider, and molasses to be dropped. Other foods, more often seen in civilian life, were
sometimes issued. Seven months in 1780 New Jersey troops received extraordinary state
stores consisting of rum, sugar, and coffee in substantial quantities, and small amounts of
chocolate, tea, pepper, and vinegar. Pennsylvania soldiers received similar foodstuff from
their state government in 1779. After a Valley Forge winter of reduced rations, in April
1778 fish, bacon and peas or beans were added to the daily allotment; four months later soft
and hard breads, as well as butter, were being issued. When flour rations were reduced in
November 1779 additional portions of meat, beans, potatoes, and turnips were served.50
Some further variation in the soldiers' diet was possible through the purchase of foodstuff
from sutlers or local farmers at camp markets. General Washington noted in the summer of
1777 that "nothing can be more comfortable and wholesome to the army than vegetables,
[and] every encouragement is to be given to the Country people, to bring them in ..." A large
variety of items were available at these markets for those soldiers who had money to spend,
or items to barter with. One document, dated 8 August 1777, listed "the Prices of Articles
sold in Camp," among which were butter, "Mutton & Lamb," veal, milk, potatoes, squashes,
"Beans or Peas in the Pod," cucumbers, "Pig[s] for roasting," "Turnips Carrits & Beets." A
1779 order regulatimg "the prises of fresh Provisions, spirits, and shugar, and so forth,
Hereafter to be given to farmers and others, seling to the army," included many of the items
above, as well as turkeys, geese, ducks, "Dunghill fowls," chickens, cheese, eggs, cabbage
heads, "Sallets, Carrats, Pasnips," lump, loaf and brown sugar, honey, vinegar plus a variety
of alcoholic beverages.51
Soldiers also resorted to common theft and pillaging. In 1778 at the Gulph in
Pennsylvania the following entry was made in an orderly book for Jackson's Additional
Regiment: "Complaint has been made by many of the Inhabitants near this post of their
Spring Houses being broke open & large quantities of Butter, Cheese, Bread & many other
valuable articles stole from them, and it is strongly suspected these Robberies have been
committed by some of the soldiers ..."52
The importance of proper food preparation, and its effect on the troops’ well–being, was
recognized early on. Regarding soldiers’ cooking, General Washington directed in June
1777 that:

a regimental officer of the day ... inspect the food of the men, both as to the quality and
the manner of dressing it, obliging the men to accustom themselves more to boiled meats
and soups, and less to broiled and roasted, which as a constant diet, is destructive to their
health.53
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, turned mess bowl, and rations of beef,
rice, dried peas, with 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.)
And general orders, 14 July 1777, noted:

As Health & a respectable Appearance among Officers & Soldiers gives Strength & Dignity
to an Army ... using proper diet well dress'd ... will contribute much to the Preservation of
their Health ... [the troops should] avoid using unwholesome Food that is partially cook'd,
when they have the opportunity to cook it thoroughly.54

Army orders of 4 August 1782 further enumerated the responsibilities of officers with
regard to health and cooking:

The Commander in chief is so anxiously concerned for the preservation of the health of the
Troops (especially at this sultry season) ... that he cannot forbear to entreat and enjoin it
upon the officers ... to pay a paternal and affectionate regard to the men in these interesting
points: Cleanliness, prudence in bathing, regularity and Oeconomy in 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.55

Despite continued exhortations to boil meals, methods varied and non–issue frying pans
continued in use. In July 1777 Virginian Capt. John Chilton noted of a sweltering march,
“the soldiers were obliged to carry their Kettles, pans &c. in their hands …”56 Lt. Col. Henry
Dearborn, 3d New Hampshire Regiment, wrote the day before the army marched to Valley
Forge:

18th [December 1777] … this is Thanksgiving Day thro the whole Continent of America –
but God knows We have very Little to keep it with this being the third Day we have been
without flouer or bread … we had … some Exceeding Poor beef which has been boil.d &
Now warm.d in an old short handled frying pan in which we ware Obliged to Eat it haveing
No other Platter …57

Although boiling remained the preferred mode to the war’s end, Q.M. Gen. Timothy
Pickering in August 1782 was moved to write that if he had known the men were
destroying their kettles by frying in them, he “would have been induced to propose there
being made with Covers, which would be vastly convenient … as a frying pan (if they
ought to be suffered to fry) …"58
Williams Blair’s 1798 tome The Soldier's Friend, or The Means of Preserving the
Health of Military Men; Addressed to the Officers of the British Army" incorporated
many lessons from the "Late American War." Blair noted:

Our reason for proposing to boil, and make soup of butchers meat is, that … it is not only
more easily digested than that which is roasted, but the soup or broth, made from the
boiling, forms a valuable and nourishing article of food; which, under proper
management, makes the allowance go much farther than it would otherwise do.59

He also observed:
 It is surprising to see the aversion which the generality of soldiers have to the boiling of
meat, or the conversion of it into broth or soup; when left to themselves, they always
prefer roasting both their fish and butchers meat, a practice which ought to be
discouraged; as roasted meat not only forms a heavier meal than that which is boiled, but
is at the same time more expensive and unprofitable.60

Food preparation was rudimentary, even with sufficient numbers of tin or sheet–iron
camp kettles on hand. Soldiers often had only army rations to boil, broil, bake, or fry, unless
extra foodstuff could be purchased at camp markets, or otherwise obtained locally. This
sometimes left them little to work with. One series of returns lists the food distributed to the
9th Massachusetts Regiment from late spring to late summer of 1782. The issue for June 1st
to the 4th (inclusive) was typical: a daily ration of bread, beef, and whiskey (this last only
for the common soldiers), 14¾ quarts of salt and 29½ quarts of vinegar, with 96 pints of
pease issued to the officers in lieu of whiskey, and 53 pounds of bread in lieu of vinegar.
Except for the small amount of peas (in this instance given only to officers), no vegetables
were issued. The small quantities of salt and vinegar must have been distributed to everyone.
For one period in May shad was substituted for beef. The only other departure from the
norm occurred during a four–day period in August (5th to the 8th) when flour was
substituted for bread. Unless supplemented from other sources, the meals for the regiment
during this period would have been limited in scope.61
In the complete absence of cookware, and lacking materials to fashion such items as
broilers or pans, even more primitive utensils or cooking methods had to suffice. Sticks and
flat stones filled the role nicely. Shortly after the Battle of Harlem Heights in September
1776, Connecticut militiaman Joseph Martin returned to camp to find the "invalids...
broiling... beef on small sticks in Indian style round blazing fires made of dry chestnut
rails."62 A year later as a Continental soldier at Barren Hill, Pennsylvania, he:

drew a day's ration of beef and flour... And how was it cooked? Why, as it usually was when
we had no cooking utensils with us, – that is, the flour was laid upon a flat rock and mixed
up with cold water, then... scorched on one side, while the beef was broiling on a stick in the
fire. This was the common way of cookery when on marches...63

Other foods were also prepared without the aid of utensils or cooking receptacles. Martin
recalled in his memoirs:

I lay here [at Valley Forge] two nights and one day and had not a morsel of anything to eat
all the time, save half of a small pumpkin, which I cooked by placing it upon a rock, the skin
uppermost, and making a fire upon it. By the time it was heat through I devoured it with as
keen an appetite as I should a pie made of it at some other time.64

Rhode Island Sgt. Jeremiah Greenman told of his arrival at Valley Forge on 19 December
1777, "this morn ye hole camp moved about 6 milds & stoped in a thick woods ware a corn
field stud by / about 10 acres not gethered / in 5 minits it was all gethered & sum of it to the
fire." American and British forces both converted corn into meal with ad hoc rasps. New
Hampshire soldier Nathan Davis recalled of the 1779 campaign against the Iroquois, ”We
… proceeded into the Indian Country where we destroyed their towns, orchards and
cornfields. The Indian corn was very large, & our soldiers made corn meal of it by
grating it on the outsides of old camp kettles which they first perforated with bayonets.”65
In a longer memoir Davis noted,

Whilst marching in the wilderness, as before observed, we had only half our allowance of
provisions, which was one half pound of flour, and one half pound of fresh beef, or rather
an apology for beef, as our cattle had become intolerably poor, in consequence of
constant driving. When we came to an Indian town, we had neither meal nor flour, but
only a trifle of salt. When we first came to the Indian towns, their corn was suitable to
boil or roast; of course we had plenty of succotash. When the corn became too mature for
this, we converted some old tin kettles found in the Indian settlements, into large graters,
and obliged every fourth man, not on guard, to sit up all night, and grate corn, which
would make meal, something like hominy. This meal was mixed with boild squash or
pumpkin, when hot, and kneaded into cakes, and baked by the fire. This bread, coarse as
it was, relished well among soldiers fatigued with daily marches through the wilderness
… 66
British commissary officer Charles Stedman noted an incident in South Carolina in
October 1780:

In riding through the encampment of the militia, the Author discovered them grating their
corn, which was done by two men of a mess breaking up their tin canteens, and with a
bayonet punching holes through the tin; this made a kind of rasp, on which they grated
their corn; The idea was communicated to the adjutant–general, and it was afterwards
adopted throughout the army.67

Sgt. Roger Lamb, 23d Regiment, confirmed Stedman’s account: "Sometimes we had
turnips served out for our food, when we came to a turnip field; or arriving at a field of
corn, we converted our canteens into rasps and ground our Indian corn for bread …”
Indian corn, we were compelled to eat liver as a substitute for bread, with our lean beef.
In all this his lordship participated, not did he indulge himself even in the distinction of a
tent; but in all things partook our sufferings, and seemed much more to feel for us than
for himself.”68 Pvt. John Shaw, 33d Regiment, captured shortly before the action at
Guilford Courthouse in 1781, mentioned a differently formed corn rasp used on the
march north:

We came to place where there was a mill … here we expected to draw some provisions,
but were sadly disappointed … All we drew was but one ear of corn per man, and this
was a sweet morsel to us: - we softened it in water, and grated it on the lid of our camp-
kettle, and made bread of it. This we did until we came to Frederickstown [Maryland]
barracks, where we drew provisions.69
 Original soldier's bowl with horn spoon and cup (cup and spoon date from 19th
century or earlier). The bowl belonged to a soldier of Washington’s army left behind
sick on the march to Monmouth Courthouse in June 1778. For more details see,
“The common necessaries of life …” A Revolutionary Soldier’s Wooden Bowl,”
including, “’Left sick on the Road’: An Attempt to Identify the Soldier Left at the
Paxson Home, ‘Rolling Green,’ June 1778.”) http://tinyurl.com/at3dj3e

Eating Utensils. Unless soldiers ate directly from camp kettles, several additional food
containers were needed at mealtimes. One militia private described a repast prepared and
consumed during a brief halt on a march. Taking the "Kittle of Pudding, [he] turned it out in
six Piles on the Board" taken from a fence; a crude but practical substitute for bowls. Lt.
Col. Henry Dearborn noted in December 1777 using “an old short handled frying pan in
which we ware Obliged to Eat it haveing No other Platter …” It is likely that bowls, when
available, were also shared between several men. In 1776 the Connecticut militia were to be
supplied with two thousand cooking pots and "four thousand Wooden Bowls." Supposing
six men in a mess, this meant three soldiers to each bowl. Other documents list similar
utensils. The receipt book of James Abeel, deputy quartermaster general and superintendent
of stores at Morristown, New Jersey, shows a December 1778 issue of "38 Wooden Bowls,
thirty six Trenchers & 36 wooden Dishes... for the use of the 1 Jersey Regt." Three monthly
returns for Captain Maxwell's Company, 2d Massachusetts Regiment, in 1779 list a total of
eight camp kettles and eight bowls, on hand or deficient, an indication that only one bowl
commonly accompanied each kettle. In January 1781 Quartermaster General Timothy
Pickering wrote of carts made to "carry all the kettles of a regiment, with one small bowl to
each..." Seventeen months later Pickering described camp kettle covers, "which would be
vastly convenient... as a dish to eat out of"; further evidence of common soldiers using
communal eating receptacles.70
 One example of a mess bowl belonged to an unnamed soldier who took sick and was
left in the hands of the Benjamin Paxson family of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The
Paxson family kept the bowl after the man, who supposedly belonged to Maj. Gen.
Charles Lee’s Division marching from Valley Forge to Monmouth Courthouse in June
1778, died in their care. Most soldiers’ bowls were likely carved or turned from a single
piece of wood. This singular artifact is of stave construction, with three wooden bands
surrounding the outside, and a solid wood bottom. The bottom piece is slightly oval and
dish–shaped, with the base curved and the top (inside of the bowl) flat. The edge of the
wooden bottom (trapped between the outer staves) comes almost to a point.71
Several documents mention government supply of bowls, cups, spoons, and even some
knives; some are estimates of needs, while others are returns of items actually on hand. A
blank regimental "Ledger of Accounts of the Camp Equipage," dated 1779, lists covered
kettles, common kettles, bowls, "Mess Tubs" (possibly trenchers), and iron spoons, while a
"Plan for the Cloathing of the [Light] Infantry" stated the soldiers' necessaries: a "Pocket
Knife," "Tin Spoon" and haversack were the only food–related items given. In June 1779
Timothy Pickering included among the “Articles to be imported in the Department of the
Board of War & Defence,” “Jack Knives, or Pocket Knives _ 10,000 Doz[en], “English
fashioned knives and forks with [bone?] handles 1500 Doz,” “Pewter or other Cheap
spoons for soldiers 10,000 Doz,” and “Spoons of a better kind for Officers _ 1000 Doz.”
And among the items noted in a two other equipment estimates were 1,400 iron cups,
15,000 wooden bowls, and 20,000 iron spoons “Requisite for an Army of 40,000 Men," and
4,000 wooden trenchers, 12,000 wooden bowls, and 40,000 pewter table spoons “for an
Army of Twenty five thousand Men."72
Small quantities of cups, spoons, and bowls were included on returns of camp
equipage actually in use. Deputy Quartermaster General Abeel's receipt book lists "Fifty
Iron Cups" issued "for the use of Genl Maxwells Brigade" on 10 June 1779. The
September to November 1779 returns of Captain Maxwell's 2d Massachusetts company
show that while spoons were wanted for each man, none were on hand. And two August
1779 returns for units at or near West Point (including the 2d Massachusetts) list wooden
bowls, "Iron Cups" and "Iron spoons," though not nearly enough for every man. Five
more equipment returns for various Continental units from 1778 to 1781 show similar
shortfalls of bowls, cups, and spoons, making it probable that some men ate directly from
camp kettles, while others found their own bowls. It is also likely most men on their own
procured spoons, knives, and tin, iron or horn cups. (See addenda for the effect of equipment
shortages. See also endnote for unit equipment returns.)73
The Morning Meal. Now let us look at the simplest breakfast or supper serving (two
meals being the norm) in Washington’s army. Connecticut Surgeon Jonathan Todd
honors us with a description: "Now 2 Months we have drawn No other Provision than
Fresh Beef & Flower – Salt we draw but Little not half Enough to season the Beef / Our
Flower we Wet with Water & Roll it in dirt & Ashes to bake it in a Horrible Manner ..."
And from "Camp [at the] Jersey Hutts," Maj. John Noble Cummings noted in February
1781, "We live excellently in Camp upon a Variety of Dishes Viz: Salt Beef and Ash
Cake for Breakfast D[itt]o for Dinner and the same for Supper provided there is any
left." Flour baked in ashes was called ashcake, while firecake was baked on a stone on or
near the hot coals. Meat, too, was sometimes cooked in a similar manner. At the
December 1777 Whitemarsh camp Sgt. Ebenezer Wild told of receiving "some fresh beef
and flour … had nothing to cook in, but were obliged to broil our meat on the fire and bake
our bread in the ashes."74 (See Addenda for ways soldiers used the ration of raw flour.)
In a garrison or settled camp the men had more opportunity for a varied and, at times,
more substantial, breakfast, often consisting of boiled beef, perhaps accompanied by in–
season vegetables or greens. Sgt. Timothy Tuttle of New Jersey told of some interesting,
though hardly extraordinary, foods in his northern diary:

10 June 1776, "at sirrell [Sorel, Canada] ] Encampt ... Chocolate for Breakfast this morning"
13 June 1776, "at Sirrell encampment ... Milk Porrage for Break[fa]st"
14 June 1776, "morning at sirrell ... supspawn for Breakfast"75

Chocolate was a beverage only occasionally available to Washington’s soldiers. Milk,

too, was a rarity. “Supspawn” or suppawn was akin to oatmeal, instead made with corn
meal. The dish was common in British North America. Col. Timothy Pickering, a member
of George Washington's staff, noted a meal on the New York/New Jersey border. "Sunday,
July 20th. [1777] – Went from Suffern's tavern into the Clove, eleven miles. Head–quarters
at Galloway's, an old log house. The General lodged in a bed, and his family [i.e., staff] on
the floor about him. We had plenty of sepawn and milk, and all were contented."76
Cold weather camps seldom afforded any bounty. In November 1780 at West Point a French
officer spent the night in Gen. William Heath's quarters with a number of other officers. In
the morning:

the blankets were removed, and the dining room ... was quickly furnished with a large table
covered with beef–steaks, which we eat with a very good appetite, swilling down from time
to time a cup of tea. Europeans would not find this food and drink, taken together, to their
taste; but I can assure you that it made a very comfortable breakfast.77

In December 1779, on the way to Pompton, New Jersey, Surgeon James Thacher had a
similar repast in slightly different circumstances. Marching through deep snow it was:

late at night before our men could all find accommodations in the scattering houses and
barns on the road. I visited my friend Doctor S. Findley, of General Glover's brigade, and
being invited to breakfast, the only food he could furnish was coffee, without milk or sugar,
and meagre beef–steaks, without bread or even salt.78

Soldiers usually received sustenance, but gratification was sometimes delayed. On the
morning of a march the troops usually did not eat right away, but struck tents, loaded the
wagons, and got into ranks, ready to move. Under those circumstances they usually
carried one or several days’ cooked meat, and bread (or biscuit or raw flour) in their
haversacks and, if given a chance, ate at the first halt. For instance, Virginia Capt. John
Chilton noted on 26 July 1777, "Marched 11 Miles by 9 Oclock breakfasted in a Meadow
by a fine Spring ..."79 When it came to soldier–cooks innovation was the general rule; Pvt.
Daniel Granger gave a singular description of breakfast cooking done by troops in pressing
circumstances. During the Saratoga Campaign:

On the 16th of October [1777], 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 [packs] ready ... early in the Morn' were paraded and marched off ... about Nine
 Oclock we were halted ... and were told that we should have twenty Minutes To take our
breakfast … it was my turn to cook for the Mess. We struck up a fire by a large Stump, on
with Kittle, to make some hasty Pudding, & an other Kettle to heat some water to steep
some Tea, all was done as quick as possible, & when don I took a long Board from a Fence,
lade one end on the fence & the other on a stump, took off my Kittle of Pudding, turned it
out in six Piles on the Board, had my Tea steeped, then gave notice that Breakfast was ready,
when the Mess came & saw the Pudding on a Board, it made some sport, we had Sugar in
our Packs which we used with our Pudding & Tea, (our Meat had been cooked) we ate as
fast as possible, expecting every moment to hear the drums beating, and we had not fairly
don[e], when the Drums were beating to the ranks, and we marched on to Stillwater ...80

Corn meal posed a problem for some soldiers. For a time in northern New Jersey, in 1780,
Connecticut soldier Joseph Martin and his comrades "had no wheat flour, all the breadstuff
we got was Indian corn meal and Indian corn flour ... [we were] ignorant of making this
meal or flour into bread ... All we had any idea of doing with it was to make it into hasty
pudding ..." Rice, too, caused difficulties for troops unused to it. Col. Henry Lee
remembered that near Orangeburg, South Carolina “Rice furnished our substitute for bread,
which though tolerably relished by those familiarized with it ... was very disagreeable to the
Marylanders and Virginians, who had grown up in the use of corn or wheat bread ..."
Pennsylvanian Lt. William Feltman noted in 1782, “This day we were under the
disagreeable necessity of drawing all rice instead of Indian Meal, and it is a very poor
substitute for bread ... The Carolinians say they are fonder of rice bread than they are of the
best wheat." He also confessed, "it is a mystery to see how to make it into bread."81
Sometimes a potentially satisfying meal could be made in adverse conditions. Jacob
Nagle of Proctor's Artillery recounted an unconsummated breakfast at the Battle of
Brandywine, 11 September 1777:

The provision waggons being sent a way, we were three days without provisions excepting
what the farmers brought in to sell in their waggons and what the soldiers could plunder
from the farmers. I ... received a neats [cow’s] tounge from [my father], and Mr. Hosner
bought some potatoes and butter the evening before the Brittish arrived, and we concluded
to have a glorious mess for breakfast. Mr. Hosner gave it to one of the soldiers wives that
remained with the army to cook for us in the morning. Early in the morning, she had the
camp kettle on a small fier about 100 yards in the rear of the Grand Artilery, with all our
delicious meal, which we expected to enjoy ...

Unfortunately, an untimely cannon shot from the enemy "dismounted the poor camp
kettle with the fier and all its contents away with it."82
In at least one instance supper became breakfast. Artist and militia officer Charles
Willson Peale noted immediately after the 3 January 1777 Battle of Princeton that his men
bedded down for the night at Somerset Courthouse. Writing in the third person, he recalled:

Humanity induced Peale to purchase Beef, Pork and Potatoes with his own money, to feed
his men, and he saw a large Pot put on the fire to dress it, but returning to get his men …
they declared that they would rather sleep than eat. The Army was ordered under Arms at 3
Oclock in the next Morn:g and when this Provision was boiled to rages, (for it had been
keept on the fire all night) his men were glad to sup what they esteemed very good broth.83
 Breakfast was sometimes the only meal of the day. In Lt. Samuel Armstrong’s case the
meager repast on the morning the army marched into Valley Forge had to suffice until well
after dark:
Friday [December] ye 19th. [1777] ... We took the Remains of two Days Allowance of Beef,
being a Shin and two fowls we had left, of these we made a broth upon which we
Breakfasted with half a loaf of Bread we Begg'd and bought, of which we should have made
a tollerable Breakfast, if there had been Enough!! By ten OClock we [were ordered?] to
march to a place Call'd Valley Forge being about five or six miles … about Eleven oCK we
Sit out, but did not arive there 'till after Sun Sit.84

Other Likely Breakfast Fare. Though not mentioned in that context, other dishes probably
served as breakfast, too. The aforementioned Sergeant Tuttle noted from near Fort
Ticonderoga on 30 July 1776, "at our new Encampment … we Had a Potpy & a Large
wheat suit Pudding, I Believe Nigh a Pecke, it Had to be [cooked?] Almost all Day & when
was Done I Could not Eat But Little it was so Homespun." Food historian Sandra Oliver
notes that the "wheat suet pudding [Tuttle and comrades] ... made wouldn't have been so
'homespun' [coarse] if they hadn't tried to boil something peck–sized. Its very hard to do a
proper job with enormous pud[ding]s ... they could've gotten away with something say, 2
quart sized ...”85
Along the same line Maj. Gen. (and Q.M. Gen.) Nathanael Greene recommended at
Valley Forge in February 1778 that,

As Provision will be scarce especially of the meat kind, if the Commissaries could purchase
a quantity of sugar, the troops with Wheat might make a fermity, a diet that would contribute
to their health, be palatable and nourishing … I think it would be a very good substitute for
meat, and not much more expensive if any.86

He refers to a dish known as frumenty, also known as "fermity, firmity ... a kind of
pudding made with wheat," cooked in a kettle. Food historian C. Anne Wilson notes,

Early recipes for frumenty describe the process: 'Take clean wheat, and beat it small in a
mortar, and fan out clean the dust; then wash it clean, and boil it till it be tender and brown.'
... the frumenty of poorer folk was breakfast or supper in itself, and it was usually made of
maslin [mixed grain, usually barley & wheat, but here in the colonies, rye, wheat, sometimes
even weed seeds, deliberately mixed, to insure some kind of crop] or barley, mixed with
meat when that was to be had, or with water alone, or with a little cream or butter.87

Some form of dumpling was at times used to make stews and other dishes more filling. In
January 1777 Col. Timothy Pickering wrote, "for two thirds of the week flour was dealt out,
which the soldiers made, some into cakes, and some into dumplings, boiled with their meat
..." On board one of Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold's row gallies on Lake Champlain, Jehiel
Stewart noted a similar meal. "Octo 2 [1776] the most of us went without brakefast ... We
drew one Days alowence we Drew flower in Stad of bread and we was forst to make Some
Do Boys and Boile them with Some meet and we eat about Sun Down ..."; "Octo 3 ... we
Draw no Bread yet Sergent Cambel was put under gard for Refuson to take flower ... we are
forst to boile Do Boys as yet and Drink lake worter we Draw Salt pork and pees to Day."88
 Similarly, hard or ship’s biscuit could also be added to boiled meals. Pvt. George Fox,
47th Regiment of Foot, wrote of British troops eating dumplings during the Saratoga
Campaign:

We continued … four days wholy surrounded. At last G[eneral]. Burgoyne ordered the
Commanding Officer of each Reg to ask the men whether they would start another
general Engagement at which they consented and gave three cheers, and we were drawn
up in line of battle along the side of a wood (100 yds from our first retreat). for ten day
we liv'd on 4 buiscuits per man per day and then we had some flour serv'd out to us which
we made dumplings of.89

In the worst of times, the answer to our query as to what was served for breakfast fare
was, nothing at all. The cause was often supply difficulties, but in the following instance
unforeseen (and unexplained) circumstances were the culprit. Several months before
Yorktown Pennsylvanian Lt. John Bell Tilden noted:

August 30. [1781] Cross the river with the company and conduct them to the encampment.
Return [to the north side of the James River, in Virginia], intending to breakfast with the
ladies [at Westover Plantation] – After recrossing the river an affair happens, by which I am
deprived of the supreme happiness of breakfasting as before mentioned. Return to camp,
pitch my tent, [and] sup on whip–poor–will soup.90

Lieutenant Tilden’s supper repast was made from whippoorwill peas, commonly grown
in the south and still available from heirloom seed sources.91
Revolutionary common soldiers’ cooking skills and attitude towards food were likely
mirrored by their grandsons, Union Pvt. Wilbur Fisk noting in 1862:

our tidy New England housekeepers … would smile to see what splendid novices we are in
the culinary art. But any young lady so foolish as to contemplate matrimony with such
rugged specimens ... as we poor soldiers, if she be an indifferent cook, need not be unduly
elated at this account, nor think her imperfections will be lightly overlooked, for these same
boys, who out–Graham Sylvester Graham himself, in his most radical ideas of simplicity in
diet, would scorn to accept such food if served to them by their dearest beloved, of whom
they will imagine angelic things.92

In light of their toils and struggles, let us hope that, at the least, the soldiers’ post–war
culinary expectations were satisfied.

Acknowledgements

My thanks to Joseph Lee Boyle, Frank Cecala, the late Sally Paxson Davis, Matthew
Grubel, Don Hagist, Steve Rayner, Eric Schnitzer, Thaddeus Weaver, Mike Williams, and
Company Fellow Marko Zlatich for providing additional research, insights, and advice
for this article. Special thanks to my friend and foodways mentor Sandra Oliver.

(Author may be contacted at ju_rees@msn.com. A number of articles are available online

at www.revwar75.com/library/rees/ and http://www.scribd.com/jrees_10 )
Continental soldier in marching order, circa 1777-79. Having no haversack, his food would
have been carried in his knapsack or the sheet-iron kettle he carries for his mess squad.
(Bob Krist,  2010)
 Addenda

“The men were very industrious, in baking, all the forepart of the evening.”: Soldiers’ Ingenuity,
Regimental Bakers, and the Issue of Raw Flour
“The Commissary [is] desired … to furnish biscuit and salt provisions …”:
Hard Bread in the War for Independence.
"The victuals became putrid by sweat & heat ...": Some Peripheral Aspects of Feeding an Army
1. The Ways Soldiers Carried Food
2. The Burden of Rations, 1762-1783
3. Carrying Drink and Procuring Water
4. Equipment Shortages
5. Spoilage of Issued Meats
"We had our cooking utensils ... to carry in our hands.": Continental Army Cooking and Eating Gear,
and Camp Kitchens, 1775-1782

“The men were very industrious, in baking, all the forepart of the evening.”
Soldiers’ Ingenuity, Regimental Bakers, and the Issue of Raw Flour

Flour to Bread. The way flour was baked into bread varied greatly, two factors being
available facilities and the army’s situation. Optimally, issued bread was produced in army
ovens, though before and during 1777 quantities were purchased from civilian bakers. While
Superintendent of Baking Christopher Ludwick was organizing the baking department that
July, Gen. George Washington urgently needed to feed his troops, writing to Quartermaster
Gen. Thomas Mifflin in Philadelphia that “providing a large quantity of hard Bread, is …
exceedingly necessary. I would recommend it to you to have all the bakers in the City
immediately set to work for that purpose, as in our desultory State we shall have the
greatest occasion for it, and shall feel much inconvenience if we do not have it.”93
When raw flour was issued, individual soldiers or mess groups often did the baking and
the resulting breadstuff was usually of poor quality. The crudest result was fire or ashcake,
flour baked on a stone next to the fire, or in hot ashes. Sixteen–year old fifer John
Greenwood described the process while campaigning in 1776; the flour was "mixed up with
the water from the lake by fellows as lousy, itchy, and nasty as hogs. I have seen it, when
made and baked upon a piece of bark, so black with dirt and smoke I do not think a dog
would eat it." After the army reached Morristown, New Jersey, in winter 1777 artist and
captain Charles Willson Peale "got a barrel of flour, and put some stones in the fire to bake
our bread on ... The men were very industrious, in baking, all the forepart of the evening."
Connecticut Surgeon Jonathan Todd wrote of eating ashcake during the autumn 1777
campaign around Philadelphia: "Now 2 Months we have drawn No other Provision than
Fresh Beef & Flower – Salt we draw but Little not half Enough to season the Beef / Our
Flower we Wet with Water & Roll it in dirt & Ashes to bake it in a Horrible Manner ..."94
Using issued flour, some form of dumpling was at times added to make stews and other
dishes more filling. In January 1777 Col. Timothy Pickering wrote, "for two thirds of the
week flour was dealt out, which the soldiers made, some into cakes, and some into
dumplings, boiled with their meat ..." On board one of Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold's row
gallies on Lake Champlain, Jehiel Stewart noted a similar meal. "Octo 2 [1776] the most of
us went without brakefast ... We drew one Days alowence we Drew flower in Stad of bread
and we was forst to make Some Do Boys and Boile them with Some meet and we eat about
Sun Down ..."; "Octo 3 ... we Draw no Bread yet Sergent Cambel was put under gard for
Refuson to take flower ... we are forst to boile Do Boys as yet and Drink lake worter we
Draw Salt pork and pees to Day."95 (Similarly, hard or ship’s biscuit could also be added to
boiled meals.) Pvt. George Fox, 47th Regiment of Foot, wrote of British troops eating
dumplings during the Saratoga Campaign:

We continued … four days wholy surrounded. At last G[eneral]. Burgoyne ordered the
Commanding Officer of each Reg to ask the men whether they would start another
general Engagement at which they consented and gave three cheers, and we were drawn
up in line of battle along the side of a wood (100 yds from our first retreat). for ten day
we liv'd on 4 buiscuits per man per day and then we had some flour serv'd out to us which
we made dumplings of.96

Another method was to take the flour ration to a nearby household and have the
inhabitants bake it. The night after the January 1777 Princeton battle, Captain Peale and his
men reached Somerset Court House: "I had the promise from Colonel Cox of a barrel of
flour and the use of an oven but could get nobody to assist me in bringing it to be baked."
Having failed that evening, he lay down to sleep. The next morning Peale "went into town
and got a barrel of flour and engaged a negro woman to bake it." General Knox noted that in
some regiments "soldiers are permitted to carry their flour into the country and endeavour to
exchange it for bread. This is always done at a disadvantage – besides, it is a pretence for
straggling, and affords opportunities to plunder and maraud." Sometimes the men were
prevented from doing this. Brig. Gen. Anthony Wayne's Pennsylvania Division orders,
"Haver Straw, December 1st, A.D. 1778. ... The men must Bake their own Bread, & Not
attempt to Change the flour, nor Stragle from Camp, as Partys of Torys are hovering about
..."97
Maj. Gen. Knox described another way bread was produced on the regimental level. "In
the field, all the troops receive flour of the Commissary. Some regiments have soldiers who
are bakers and are permitted by the commanding officer to go to some neighbouring house
with other soldiers as their assistants, to bake for the regiment." Knox then related problems
inherent in this method: "it is a general received opinion among the officers and soldiers,
that by the equivocal expression, 'a pound of bread or flour' in the ordnance of Congress
concerning the ration, means a pound of hard bread in lieu of the flour, which, if well baked,
will not produce more than one hundred weight of hard bread for the same quantity of
flour."98 He then explained how this benefited regimental bakers.

These bakers receive the flour from the soldiers and return them a pound of [soft] bread for a
pound of flour, by which means the bakers make a neat profit to themselves of 30 percent in
flour; and often times more, as they put as great a proportion of water as they please, there
being no person whose duty it is to superintend them. This flour the bakers sell to the
country people in the vicinity of the camp, to the infinite damage of the public or occupy
public waggons, when the camp happens to move, to carry it away to a better market. Last
year at Tappan, one or two soldiers who baked for part of one of the regiments of artillery,
consisting of not more than 250 or 300 men, saved such a stock on hand of the profits of
baking for a short time, as to be able, on an emergency, to lend the Commissary of the Park
a sufficiency to issue one thousand rations for eight days ... Owing to this variety of waste
and bad management the same quantity of flour does not serve the troops so long a time by
nearly one third, as it would were it under a proper oeconomical regularity.99
Solutions in Supplying Bread. Several officers attempted to remedy these problems. Rather
than regimental bakers, beginning in 1777, and at various intervals till the war’s end, the use
of brigade bakers was suggested (a brigade usually consisted of three or four regiments).
Brig. Gen. William Smallwood's orders, "10th June 1777 The Commissary to pick out of
any Company at Princeton any Baker or Bakers that he thinks Necessary to Carry on the
Baking Business for this Brigade." In July 1777 Gen. George Washington recommended
"temporary ovens to each brigade, which, by men who understand it, can be erected in a few
hours," and in January the following year Brig. Gen. Jedediah Huntington gave his
observation that "Each Brigade should be attended with a traveling Oven – whoever has
experienced the Unwholesomeness of the Bread commonly made in Camp, or seen the
Waste of Flour, will desire no other Argument in favour of this usefull Appendage ..."100
Despite these early efforts, by 1781 the system of providing bread was still in such a state
that General Knox felt compelled to reiterate the need for brigade bakers and ovens. Though
he had written that bread was "most essential," it was in supplying that article that "we have
been most deficient ... To remedy these evils, in a great degree, I propose, That there shall be
a baker and two assistants to each brigade, who shall be engaged for this purpose if possible;
if not, soldiers, provided such can be found."101 Knox then laid out the practicalities
involved:

They should be furnished with a travelling oven, troughs and the necessary implements for
baking, to transport which a waggon and four oxen should be allotted. One of the three
persons, besides getting wood &ca, would be able to take care of and on a march drive these
oxen … a fourth man might be added, to serve as a wood cutter, &ca, which would render
the assistance ample. The baker ought to be an honest faithful man. The Commissary [is] to
… see that the quantity of bread which he receives from the baker answers properly to the \
quantity of flour delivered him. Perhaps the Brigadier ought to receive weekly returns of the
flour baked and the quantity of bread issued, to see that the public has full justice. There
should also be a superintendent baker to the Army, whose business it should be to examine
into the goodness of the bread made by the respective bakers.102

According to Knox, "By this mode the Army would, under almost all circumstances, be
certain of good bread, regularly issued, and the public would make the same quantity of
flour serve nearly one third longer, than it does in the loose manner in which this business is
at present conducted. They will save 30 per cent in value on all the flour consumed. They
will also save the expence, risque and trouble of nearly one third of all the flour
transportation, to replace that quantity which is now disipated in the manner related.” The
general ended by estimating that "Probably there will be issued to each brigade daily 1500
rations of bread – multiplied by the days of the year it will produce 547500 pounds, which
must be supposed pounds of flour."103
So the Continental Army, still in many ways a fledgling force near the war’s end,
continued to seek ways to lessen baking waste and increase efficiency. In 1782 the
government decided to use contractors to supply the army, a system that continues to the
present–day.
 “The Commissary [is] desired … to furnish biscuit and salt provisions …”
Hard Bread in the War for Independence.

Bread, flour, and beef were at the foundation of both the Crown and Continental soldiers'
diet. While flour was often issued to be baked by regimental bakers or the soldiers
themselves, ready-baked bread was either soft or hard, the latter also known as biscuit, ship
or sea bread. For troops on the move, commanders preferred biscuit and salt meats;
especially in warm weather when they needed to issue several days rations at one time and
there were inherent food spoilage problems. Better known as hardtack during the American
Civil War (1861-1865), biscuit was often issued in the War for Independence, though
without the recognition its culinary descendant would enjoy.
Continental Army orders repeatedly emphasized the desire for hard bread on campaign.
General orders, 23 August 1776, just prior to the Battle of Long Island, "The General ...
directs, all the Troops to have two days hard Bread, and Pork, ready by them ..."104 On 2
September, shortly after the evacuation of Long Island, Gen. George Washington expressed
his

hopes, after the inconveniences that have been complained of, and felt, that the commanding
Officers of Corps will never, in future, suffer their men to have less than two days
provisions, always upon hand, ready for any emergency - If hard Bread cannot be had, Flour
must be drawn, and the men must bake it into bread, or use it otherwise in the most
agreeable manner thay can ...105

With the appointment of Christopher Ludwick as "director of baking" in May 1777,

Congress attempted to rectify former problems. As a result, Washington's army experienced
the first large-scale biscuit issues during the New Jersey and Pennsylvania campaigns. For
example, army orders, 10 June 1777, Northern New Jersey, "The movements of this army,
either for offensive or defensive measures, will be sudden, whenever they do happen;
consequently no time can be allowed, either to draw or cook provisions ... the Commissary
[is] desired, if possible, to furnish biscuit and salt provisions, for this purpose, which the
men may keep by them, and continue to draw their usual allowance." General Washington
wrote Israel Putnam on 25 July, "General Clinton informs me, that he has ordered to your
post [at Peekskill, New York] a large quantity of hard bread. If it arrives in time, you will
direct Genl. Sullivan's and Lord Stirling's divisions to draw a Sufficiency of it for three days
..." Orders for Sullivan's Division, issued from "Head Quarters Kings ferry [Hudson River]
26th July 1777" noted, "the Commissary will Strive all means to get hard Bread for the use
of the Division on the Road."106 The previous day the commander in chief had written
Christopher Ludwick, from Pompton Plains, New Jersey,

I imagine you must by this time have a considerable parcel of hard Bread baked. I am
moving towards Philadelphia with the Army, and should be glad to have it sent forward.
You will therefore immediately ... send all that is ready down to Coryell's Ferry, except
about two thousand Weight which is to be sent to the place called the White House, and
there wait for the Division of the Army which is with me. ... You will continue baking as fast
as you can, because two other Divisions will pass thro' Pitts Town and will want Bread.107

Later that summer, the army marched south into Pennsylvania and Delaware to oppose
the British army after it landed at the head of the Chesapeake Bay. Washington's army,
"Head Quarters Newport [Delaware] 7th Sepr 1777 General Orders ... The Genl has
Received A Confirmation ... that the Enemy has Disencumber'd themselves of all their
Baggage ... this Indicates A Speedy and Rapid movement, & points out the necessaty of
following the example ... The whole Army is to Draw two days provisions [of salt meat]
exclusive of today ... otherwise one days fresh Provisions ... & two days hard Bread if to be
had ..." General orders, 10 September, one day before the Battle of Brandywine, "The
Commissary General to have, at least three days' provisions always on hand ... and draw in
what biscuit he can, and salt meat, for occasional serving ..."108
Soldiers referred often to biscuit in their writings, some New England soldiers
recognizing the breadstuff served to sailors. Connecticut Sergeant Bayze Wells served with
Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold's Lake Champlain fleet. Aboard the Gundalo "Providence," 20
August 1776, he noted, "Roed Down the Lake ... Gundelo Philadelphia ... Arivd which
made Nine Sail of the Line the Cpt sent ouur flowr on Shore to Be Baked into Ship Bread
Sent men for wood." In New York city, in late August 1776, Connecticut soldier Joseph
Martin's regiment waited for boats to ferry them to Long Island. "At the lower end of the
street were placed several casks of sea bread, made, I believe, of canel and peas-meal, nearly
hard enough for musket flints; the casks were unheaded and each man was allowed to take
as many as he could as he marched by ... I remember my gnawing at them; they were hard
enough to break the teeth of a rat."109 (Canel - or canaille, pronounced "canile" - "the
coarsest part of the meal, the shorts or inferior flour."Food History News, vol. IX, no. 15
(Summer 1997), 7.)
Militia private John Adlum was present at Fort Washington when that post surrendered to
the enemy on 16 November 1776. He wrote: "I saw a number of barrells of biscuit and now
knowing that we were prisoners I cut open the lining of my coat and filled the skirts of it
with from a peck [to] a half a bushel of biscuit ..." Charles Willson Peale, the well-known
painter, was serving as an officer in the Philadelphia Associators with Washington's army
during the retreat across New Jersey in November and December. He considered himself
able "to endure the rigors of combat ... `better than many others whose appearance was more
robust ... By temperance and by forethought in providing for the worst that might happen.'
The forethought included a chunk of dried beef and a pocketful of hard biscuits plus a
canteen filled with water, a drink `better than rum'."110
While with the garrison of Fort Mifflin, in November 1777, Joseph Martin noted the food
they received. "What little provisions we had was cooked by the invalids in our camp and
brought to the island in old flour barrels; it was mostly corned beef and hard bread, but it
was not much trouble to cook or fetch what we had." After the evacuation of the fort in
November, he wrote, "We ... crossed the Delaware again between Burlington and Bristol.
Here we procured a day's ration of salt pork ... and a pound of sea bread."111
A small sheet–iron camp kettle, with rations of hard biscuit, beef, and chocolate.
Also pictured are a camp hatchet and soldier’s brimmed wool hat. 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 …" 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.)
 Foreign troops also used hard bread during the war. Capt. Johann Ewald wrote that
German soldiers in America "received biscuit instead of bread for entire years, and since our
soldiers finally got accustomed to it, they preferred biscuit to bread." During the Monmouth
Campaign in 1778, German Jägers marching across New Jersey "had to manage with dry
biscuit most of the time for three weeks." Lt. John Charles Philip von Krafft echoed this,
writing of the days after the Battle of Monmouth. Near Middletown, New Jersey, 30 June
1778, "On the march we got salt and fresh meat, biscuit and rum, nothing more." Once on
board ship off Sandy Hook, the situation did not improve. 5 July 1778, "Never had I been
hungrier and consequently I ate my salt pork, with the mouldy biscuit, raw and uncooked.
After many entreaties I managed to get some very thin coffee without milk or sugar for a
little money ..." German troops serving with the French had similar experiences. In the
spring of 1780 a French army under the Comte de Rochambeau embarked on ships for the
trip across the Atlantic Ocean to America. Private Georg Daniel Flohr, of the Royal Deux-
Ponts Regiment recorded the food eaten on the voyage. He wrote, "The food consisted of 36
Loth (a little over a pound) Zwieback (hardtack) daily ... [and] either salted bacon or beef,
which was prepared every day for lunch." (zwieback, "twice-baked).112
What was biscuit like for Continental and Crown land forces? Because of its density, it
probably required more flour than did soft bread. One 1777 ration list indicates this by
stipulating, "1 1/4 lb Flour or soft bread or 1 lb hard bread." Samuel Dewees tells of biscuit
being made of "shipstuff" (usually the lowest-grade flour), probably a common ingredient,
and not in the best condition, as reported in July 1777, when a large amount of flour "in
danger of perishing" was ordered to be "baked into biskit for the use of the army."113
Size and shape are not known for certain, but biscuit was probably made circular or oval,
similar to an original 1784 British ship biscuit in the National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich, England. That artifact is round (3 3/4 inches diameter by 9/16 inches thick),
and finely made, close in size and quality to Civil War hard tack. One source gives some
idea of size. Fifer Abiel Chandler noted while in the field, "tuesday the 21 [January 1777]
we lay on the hils north of King[s] brid[g]e ... we have to lay in the woods. our alowence is
3 biskits and 18 onces of pork a day or 24 onces of beaf." Chandler's meat ration agrees with
several ration allotments from 1775 through 1777. In these lists one pound of flour or hard
bread accompanied the meat ration. The biscuit issued to Abiel Chandler in January 1777,
amounting to one pound, possibly represents a short ration of bread; biscuits made to the
dimensions of the original 1784 British ship’s bread number nine or ten to a pound.114
So, how did Continental soldiers eat biscuit? Most accounts infer that soldiers ate them as
they were, Joseph Martin reported "gnawing at them" in 1776. Only one source mentions
any type of preparation prior to consuming them. In his memoirs, Pennsylvania Fifer
Samuel Dewees wrote, "Sometimes we had one biscuit and a herring per day ... the biscuit ...
were so hard that a hammer ... is requisite to break them. This, or throw them to soak in
boiling water ..." Biscuit likely often found its way into the stew pot. Union Soldiers during
the American Civil War (1861-1865) fried hard tack (their version of biscuit) in dishes such
as skillygalee (a.k.a. lobscouse), “hish & hash,” and “hell-fired stew.” No mention has been
found of Continental troops frying biscuit.115 (For details on Union Army hardtack cooking
see, Rees, “’It's hard living … but living too high ain't healthy no how.’: Soldiers Making
the Best of Army Food, 1861-1865,” Repast: Quarterly Publication of the Culinary
Historians of Ann Arbor, vol. XXVIII, no. 2 (Summer 2012), 4-10.)
"Round ship's biscuit ... [with] Pencil inscription inked in." The inscription on the
other side reads, "This biscuit was given – – Miss Blacket at Berwick on Tuesday 13
April 1784." Dimensions of the item are 95mm (3¾ inches) diameter by 10mm (9/16")
thick. In this view the pattern of holes can clearly be seen, with no broad arrow or
other Crown markings. (Museum negative number D4001–1),  National Maritime
Museum, Greenwich, London.
 "The victuals became putrid by sweat & heat ..."
Some Peripheral Aspects of Feeding an Army

1. The Ways Soldiers Carried Food

2. The Burden of Rations, 1762-1783
3. Carrying Drink and Procuring Water
4. Equipment Shortages
5. Spoilage of Issued Meats

British linen haversack (American versions were likely made without buttons.)
(Col. J. Craig Nannos Collection, photograph Courtesy Roy P. Najecki)

The Ways Soldiers Carried Food. The army issued soldiers a coarse linen bag, called a
haversack, in which to carry rations on the march. Haversacks were worn slung over the
right shoulder, hanging under the left arm. One surviving British example measures 13 1/2
inches high by 16 3/4 inches wide, with a 2 inch linen strap. Given supply difficulties and
the haste in which many were produced, it is likely most haversacks manufactured for the
Continental Army were made without buttons. On at least one occasion 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 ..." (A 1779
"Plan for the Cloathing of the Infantry" called for "An Haversack of Calf Skin," although
none of this type are known to have been used by Continental troops.) Haversacks were
used for purposes other than carrying rations on the march. 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 British 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." 116
There were other ways food was transported. Whether haversacks were available or not, it
was probably common for some of a mess squad's food to be carried in a camp kettle, each
man taking his turn with the burden. Connecticut soldier Joseph Martin wrote of this in the
autumn of 1777. Martin's regiment halted in the town of 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." Other items
were specifically intended to hold food or converted to that purpose. In 1776 some
regiments were issued the "new invented Knapsack and Haversack," a piece of equipment
used for carrying a soldier's clothing as well as food. Other expedients were resorted to. 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."117
Knapsacks designed to carry only clothing and other necessaries were sometimes used to
carry food in lieu of haversacks. 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
troops on Sullivan's Expedition were issued rations and ordered "to take [them] in their
packs ..."118
Reproduction of the knapsack used by Benjamin Warner during the War for
American Independence, the only extant linen knapsack known to have been used in
service by a Continental Army enlisted soldier. The original knapsack is in the Fort
Ticonderoga collection. (See endnote for a synopsis of Warner’s service.) 119
The Burden of Rations, 1762-1783. Food added weight to already overburdened soldiers,
but proper equipment could ease the load. 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.)
A British officer serving with General John Burgoyne, noted in August 1777, soldiers
carried an "enormous bulk, weighing about sixty pounds" including "four days provision ...
[which] load is a grievous incumbrance."120
Continental troops often carried a similar load of provisions 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 the 30th of July General 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 [pound] of fresh or salt beef ...")121

British linen knapsack (reproduction) used by Crown troops, and likely copied for
Continental Army forces.
Interior of British linen knapsack (see caption previous page).
 Continental Army wooden canteen marked “U States.”
Courtesy of the Museum of the American Revolution.

Carrying Drink and Procuring Water. German Lieutenant Christian von Molitor,
campaigning with the British army in June 1777, noted, "The officers must be satisfied
walking, regardless of how long the march might be. And anyone who does not wish to die
of thirst, must carry his own canteen."122 Soldiers were issued or procured various
beverages, including rum, vinegar, molasses, and water, which were carried in canteens
made of tin or wood (the predominant type), slung over the right shoulder, resting on the left
side.
On at least one occasion troops used ingenuity in devising a way to carry water, as related
by Maryland Congressman Charles Carroll in September 1777:
I have had conversation with Mr. Peters, secretary to our [War] board, who informs me
that in the month of June last 1000 tin cartridge boxes were sent to the Army … Mr.
Peters moreover informs me that to his certain knowledge several of these cartridge
boxes were converted by the soldiers into cantines, and by some officers into shaving
boxes. 123
 Tin cartridge canisters, used by some soldiers to carry water.
(Illustration by Ross Hamel)

When issued to soldiers, rum and vinegar were commonly mixed with water, but
obtaining that water was another matter the usual source being the nearest spring, creek,
river, or lake. When on the march commanders allowed the men to refresh themselves at
regular intervals. Continental Army general orders, 19 September 1780, "... Before the
March commences the soldiers are to fill their Canteens with Water ... The officers who lead
the columns will take care to regulate the Motions of the Troops so as not to injure them by
too rapid a march and will order proper halts at about every five Miles distance, and if
possible at such places as to give the men an opportunity to replenish their Canteens with
Water." Captain John Chilton noted on 26 July 1777, "Marched 11 Miles by 9 Oclock
breakfasted in a Meadow by a fine Spring ..." Of course, merely ordering the troops to be
watered did not necessarily make it so. Captain Chilton, 27 July 1777, "By reason of rain the
night past [we] did not move till late this morning ... [we marched through] Hackitts Town
[New Jersey] ... passed 2 Miles when we were ordered to sit down in the Sun no water near
to refresh ourselves ..."124
Finding potable water added to the problem. One soldier-turned-sailor wrote from one of
Benedict Arnold's row gallies on Lake Champlain, "Octo 3 [1776] ... we are forst to ... Drink
lake worter." According to one author, a number of accounts described "the near stagnant
conditions of [the lake] south of Crown Point and the poor water quality." At Whitemarsh,
Pennsylvania, in November 1777, Elijah Fisher, 4th Massachusetts Regiment, expounded on
conditions in camp: "the warter we had to Drink and to mix our flower with was out of a
brook that run along by the Camps and so many dippin and washin [in] it maid it very Dirty
and muddy." Joseph Martin had his own problems with poor water in the summer of 1780.
On Constitution Island, across from West Point, New York, a detachment from the Corps of
Sappers and Miners was set to work on fortifications. Martin recalled that their rations were
"salt shad and bread," the work strenuous, and the days hot. "... to complete a bad business
there was not a drop of water on the island, except the brackish water of the river, and that
was as warm as milk and almost as nauseous as the waters of the Nile after it had felt the
effects of Moses' rod."125
The need of good water for cooking and drinking forced commanders to adopt proactive
measures. Washington's army "Head-Quarters, Middle-Brook, June 3, 1777 ... The
Brigadiers to have the Springs, adjacent to their several encampments, well cleared and
enlarged; placing Sentries over them, to see that the water is not injured by dirty utensils. A
board sunk in them, will be the best means to keep them from being muddy, and an arbour
over them will serve to preserve them cool." General orders, Orangetown, New York, 9
August 1780, "No time is to be lost in sinking Wells as the water of the brook is rather
indifferent."126

(See caption following page.)

 (See image previous page.)
Linen haversacks were the preferred receptacle for carrying food. (One surviving
British example measures 13½ inches high by 16¾ 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.)
______________________

Equipment Shortages. Haversacks, canteens, and camp kettles were subject to a high rate
of attrition and often in short supply. At the advent of each campaign seasons large supplies
of each were needed to complete the men adequately. Often sufficient quantities had not
been received even after the army marched. During a period of marching and
countermarching in July 1777, the commander in chief reported that, "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." In planning for the "ensuing campaign"
of 1782, Timothy Pickering informed General Washington that nothing more need be
purchased "except knapsacks, canteens & camp kettles." He particularly mentioned canteens
as "an article so frequently lost & broken."127
Several months later, 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, Washington's adjutant general, Timothy Pickering,
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." Sgt. Jeremiah Greenman, on his way to
Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in 1778, on one day "toock sum provision in a hankerchife."
When the New Jersey Brigade had a large influx of drafted men in June 1778, their
commander related a need for this same item. "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."128
Every theater of the war saw supply 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 ..."129
Units earmarked for Sullivan's 1779 Indian Expedition also experienced shortages.
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 2nd 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
2nd 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. In August 1779, after the troops under Sullivan had already marched great distances
in difficult country, at Tioga, Pennsylvania, the general ordered "The different Corps ...
immediately to call on the Qr.Mr Genl For ... Knapsacks, haversacks, & Canteens."130
During the last autumn of the war there were still problems. From "Camp Verplanks
point," New York, in September 1782, Timothy Pickering complained that a contractor had
promised "that he would make 200 [camp kettles] p[er] week & if there were a great
demand double that number. The demand was in fact very great, & Mr. Ogden was again
and again informed of it, he was told often of the extreme suffering of the army for want of
the kettles. The soldiers were in reality obliged to broil their meat on the coals, or wait to
boil the pot in succession from morning to evening. Yet these representations did not appear
to quicken Mr. Ogden, and instead of delivering the first five hundred in three weeks & the
second five hundred in the three weeks next following, his kettles have been recd. at the
army, in small parcels ... The kettles are too deficient in quality, & many that would have
been rejected, have been received for the like reason that the troops have often accepted bad
provisions from the contractor, to save themselves from starving." As noted, shoddy
materials were part of the problem. A May 1782 document noted that "Ogden's [previously
supplied kettles] were evidently too thin & would soon burn out."131
Spoilage of Issued Meats. One can easily imagine the condition of food carried by soldiers
for a few days in warm weather. The greatest problem concerned fresh meats; salt beef,
pork, or fish being issued whenever possible. The high command was well aware of the
problem and tried to address it: Washington's orders, 10 September 1777, "The Commissary
General to have, at least three days' provisions always on hand ... and draw in what biscuit
he can, and salt meat, for occasional serving... The men are to be provided with cooked
provisions, for tomorrow at least; for two days would be still better, if they can get such
kinds as will keep." General orders, "Head-Quarters, Smithe's Clove, June 7th, 1779. ... The
troops to have Constantly two days' Provisions in advance, if salt meat is to be had, if not,
they will only have two days' Bread in advance, and as much Beef as will keep."132
Some men, particularly militia soldiers, carried durable provisions from home. Private
John Adlum of the Flying Camp 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." In December 1776 Capt.
Charles Willson Peale served with the Philadelphia Associators during the
Trenton/Princeton Campaign; in addition to army-issue rations he supplied himself with
dried beef and a pocketful of hard biscuits.133
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.)
__________________

If fresh meat was issued and could not be eaten or cooked on the spot, salting it would
help. General orders, British army, "Acquackninack [New Jersey] Novr 27th 1776 Four
days flour, four days Rum, four Days fresh Meat, with one Ounce of Salt [for] Each man [is]
to be Issued at 2 O'clock at Drummonds in the Rear of the Hessians ..." In June 1777
Congress directed the commissary general of purchases "from time to time [to] provide
sufficient quantities of salt, and deliver it to the commissary general of issues (or his
deputies) ... who are directed to issue to the troops only such quantities, and in such manner,
as the commander in chief, or commander of the respective district, shall direct." At Valley
Forge in January 1778 commissaries were ordered "in future to Issue [a] quart of Salt to
every 100 lb fresh Beef."134
Unfortunately salt was not always available. British lieutenant Loftus Cliffe, 46th
Regiment, wrote from "Camp near Philadelphia 24 October 1777 ... [we] landed at Elk
Ferry the 25[th] August and marched in two columns up the Elk ... collecting cattle which
we found in great plenty ... had we had the precaution of reserving our salt we should have
lived like [monarchs] on this march; we have thrown away many a good piece of beef for
want of that."135
Weather conditions often flouted an army supply organization's best efforts and intentions,
and soldiers suffered with the results. This was not a new problem in the long history of
food preservation. Even well-to-do civilians sometimes faced spoiled meat at table; writing
in June 1668, Samuel Pepys noted, "Up and at the office all the morning. Then home to
dinner, where a stinking leg of mutton - the weather being very wet and hot to keep meat
in." Captain Chilton echoed this description in July 1777, "... the soldiers were obliged to
carry their Kettles, pans &c. in their hands Cloathes and provisions on their backs. as our
March was a forced one & the Season extremely warm the victuals became putrid by sweat
& heat ..." Evincing the soldiers' plight, Joseph Martin noted the hard facts: "In the hottest
season of the year ... there was not much danger of our provisions putrifying, [since] we had
none on hand long enough for that, [but] if it did, we were obliged to eat it, or go without
anything."136

(See caption on following page.)

 (See image on previous page.)
Sheet-iron camp kettle as per Timothy Pickering's 1782 specifications. This reproduction, by
Patrick M. Cunningham, measures 9 1/2 inches wide by 9 1/2 inches high, weighs 2 pounds,
12.1 ounces, and holds 2 gallons, 1 pint (8 1/2 quarts), and was the standard-size mess kettle for
the Continental Army during 1782. American sheet-iron kettles issued in 1781 "average[d]
about 8 Inches High and about eight and a half or nine Inches wide, made without Ears and
without covers." From the beginning of the war kettles of this type were issued in large
numbers to soldiers on both sides. (To determine capacity kettles were filled with water to one
inch below the rim.) (Illustration by Ross Hamel)
_______________________

"We had our cooking utensils ... to carry in our hands."

Continental Army Cooking and Eating Gear, and Camp Kitchens, 1775-1782

Cooking equipment for soldiers in the Continental and British armies was relatively
simple. Although items such as pans and broilers (the latter sometimes made by soldiers
from iron barrel hoops) were occasionally used, a 1779 American equipment receipt shows
the extent of the usual issue: "Recd. Morris Town 25 May 1779 of James Abeel DQMG.
thirty five Camp Kettles two Hundred Twenty nine Canteens fifty Knapsacks, forty Iron
Cups ... p[er] Order Col Shreve of 2d Jersey Regmt." According to Continental Army usage,
thirty-five kettles were enough for two hundred and ten men, at six men per mess squad.137
While the predominant cooking receptacle for Continental soldiers from 1777 till the end
of hostilities was a tin or sheet-iron camp kettle, early in the war, and continuing later for
garrison troops, heavy cast-iron utensils were more in evidence. One 1776 return gives some
idea of types issued and proportion of pots versus light-weight kettles:

A return of Camp Utensils in four Regts in Genl Sullivans Brigade 138

Wooden
Iron plates & Tea
pots Kettles Pails platters Bowls Canteens Spiders Kettles

Vizt in Colo Starks Regt 65 36 42 79

Do Colo Nixons 80 64 97 163 2

Do Colo Poors 89 35 64 183 83 4 2

Do Colo Reeds 107 48 114 44 1

Do Brigade Store 1 3 1 3 1 1 1

Whole Number 336 74 219 183 293 291 5 6

A true Return as recd. from the QMr of each Regt – Attestd N Norton [illegible letters]

Majr Frazier at Boston

E[rrors] Excepted
March 24th 1776 Jno. G. Frazer AQMG

Compare that return with cooking and eating utensils in the store at Medford,
Massachusetts, in a listing dated 25 March 1776: 11 “Potts,” 0 kettles, 4 “Spiders” (frying
pans with three legs), 1 skillet, 1 “Stewpan,” 1 frying pan, 2 tea kettles, 12 wooden
bowls, 2 canteens, 1 “Cheese Toaster,” 1 grid iron, 1 ladle, and 1 flesh fork. The frying
pans, tea kettles, skillet, stew pan, toaster, and grid iron would have been reserved for the
officers of the brigade.139
The size of the iron pots in Sullivan’s Brigade is not known, but perhaps the ones
procured by Connecticut give some indication. During the 1776 campaigns around New
York, Connecticut militia troops (including Joseph Plumb Martin, author of Private Yankee
Doodle) carried heavy cooking gear. In October, with many troops already in the field and
supplies of light-weight kettles strained to the utmost, the Connecticut Assembly decided to
gather additional supplies, including "for the use of the militia ... when called into actual
service … two thousand Iron Pots containing two gallons each ..."140

Drawing of a cast-iron pot which measures 11 inches at its widest point (10 inches wide at the
mouth) by 7 inches high, weighs in at 6 pounds, 15.5 ounces, and holds 2 gallons (8 quarts). Of
the same construction as a larger pot found on the Gunboat Philadelphia, cast-iron cooking
vessels of this capacity were provided for the Connecticut militia in autumn 1776. (Illustration
by Ross Hamel; specifications based on an original iron pot in author's collection. )

Heavy cast cookware was issued when the more desired lighter kettles were unavailable.
Massachusetts Bay Assembly, 27 June 1776, "Resolved, That the Committee appointed by
this House [are] to provide Canteens and Kamp-Kettles for the Troops to be raised ... [and]
are directed to provide one Canteen for each Soldier, and five hundred Tin Kettles, if to be
obtained, for the use of the Troops destined for Canada; and also three hundred and thirty-
three Kettles of Tin for the Troops destined for New-York, if to be had; otherwise that they
procure Iron ones ..."141
 An August 1781 "Return of all Public Property in the Quarter Masters Department with
the Southern Army," serves to focus our perspective and delineates commonly used
equipment from the rarer items of cookware; listed "In Use" were one hundred and ninety-
five camp kettles (probably sheet-iron), thirty iron pots, five dutch ovens, and one tea kettle.
Two facts relating to this document must be emphasized; it includes no frying pans and out
of scores of examined returns this is the only one mentioning dutch ovens.142
There were two primary reasons why iron pots were procured for the troops. Shortages of
light-weight kettles sometimes forced use of the heavier pots; more often, units assigned to a
fort or some other static situation did not have to worry about mobility and were issued
heavier equipment. On 26 February 1776 the New York Provincial Congress listed the
needs of four new regiments being raised for garrison duty, including "... 458 [tin pr sheet-
iron] Camp Kettles 2/3 of this number ought to be iron pots ..." The issue of large numbers
of iron pots (along with frying pans and skillets) was unusual, though regular regiments and
militia units sometimes carried such non-standard equipment. Minutes of the Maryland
Council of Safety, 27 July 1776, "... for ... Camp Utensils for Colonel Josias C. Hall's
Battalion [Maryland Flying Camp militia] ... Ordered, That the Commissary of Stores
deliver to Mr. Griest ninety-two Iron Pots, seven Frying Pans, three Iron Kettles, four
Skillets, and sixty Wooden Dishes."143

Small three-legged skillets such as this were probably used on occasion by Continental soldiers.
This illustration is based on a large skillet found aboard the Gunboat Philadelphia. That
artifact has a 14 3/4 inch wide pan, a handle 14 3/4 inches long, and stands 8 1/2 inches high.
(George C. Neumann and Frank J. Kravic, Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American
Revolution (Harrisburg, Pa., 1975), 91. Illustration by Ross Hamel.)

Soldiers serving with General Benedict Arnold's Lake Champlain fleet were in a situation
similar to garrison duty, where more cumbersome cookware was suitable. A 3 August 1776
list of stores "Wanting on ... [the] Gundalo Providence" included "two Camp Kettles." The
kettles on the Providence were undoubtedly of cast iron, like those found on her sister ship
Philadelphia when she was raised from the lake in 1935. The recovered utensils included
two cast-iron pots (one nine and three-quarters inches wide, five and three-sixteenths inches
deep, and a larger pot, ten and three-quarters inches wide, eight and three-quarters deep), a
large skillet (thirteen inches wide, with an eighteen and one-half inch long handle), and a
three-legged skillet (with a fourteen and three-quarter inch wide pan, fourteen and three-
quarter inch long handle, and standing eight and one-half inches high). As far as the author
knows the iron pots found on the Philadelphia are the only intact examples known to have
been used by Continental soldiers.144
Some items were made in camp by the soldiers. Broilers fashioned from iron barrel hoops
have been excavated at several Revolutionary camp sites, and an iron spade converted into a
pan is in the collections of Morristown National Historical Park. In several instances rasps
made from canteens or tin kettles were used to grind corn into meal.145

An iron "broiler" made from a barrel hoop by soldiers in camp. (George C. Neumann and
Frank J. Kravic, Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution (Harrisburg,
Pa., 1975), 93. Illustration by Ross Hamel.)

A spade converted into a frying pan by soldiers, based on one in the collections of Morristown
National Historical Park. (George C. Neumann and Frank J. Kravic, Collector's Illustrated
Encyclopedia of the American Revolution (Harrisburg, Pa., 1975), 94. Illustration by Ross
Hamel.)
More on Makeshift Eating Gear. Here are several more references to soldiers making
do with ad hoc utensils used. Park Holland, first ensign, then lieutenant in the 5th
Massachusetts Regiment, wrote in his memoirs,

To show our need for the common necessaries of life, I mention that orders came with
invitations for each [officer] bidden [to dine], to bring his plate, knife and fork, all of
which articles were very scarce. I have known our foreign friends who were accustomed
to dine from silver, for months together eat from a clean chip [of wood], instead of a plate
… Our wants of the common conveniences were sometimes curiously supplied by our
soldiers, in the manufacture of wooden spoons, bowls, plates, etc.146

Holland noted of a post-war visit with his former colonel, Rufus Putnam, “We had eaten
in the army for months together, from a clean chip, with a knife and fork among half a
dozen of us, and our soup with a clam shell for a spoon thrust into a split stick for a
handle, and got along very well ...”147
John Howland (Col. Henry Babcock’s Rhode Island State Regiment,1776/1777) noted
of the march to reinforce Washington’s forces in December 1776,

Our condition … was bad enough. Our day's ration which we drew in the morning, was a
pint of flour per man. Some of us had canteens with only one head. This was fortunate for
the possessor, as he could receive his flour in it, and with water mix it into dough to be
baked on the embers. Some received their flour on a flat stone, if they could find one
…147

Fife-Major John Greenwood, 15th Continental Regiment, wrote of the retreat from
Canada in 1776,

Our general having now procured a number of open boats, we all embarked for
Ticonderoga. Being short of provisions, and without camp kettles or other
cooking utensils, it may be supposed that our situation was far from being
agreeable. Our daily rations consisted of only a pint of flour and a quarter of a
pound of pork, for each man, and every day, at noon, we used to land for the
purpose of cooking our food. For want of vessels in which to mix our flour, we
made and baked our cakes on thick pieces of the bark of the trees, but such
cooking was any thing but tempting, especially to the sick, who fared no better
than the rest.148

Pennsylvania Brig. Gen. William Irvine told in a letter from “Camp Short Hills, (New
Jersey,) June 14th, 1780,” during a short-term Crown forces incursion, “We have been
eight days without Baggage or Tents and cut a most curious figure. I have been so
extravagant in furniture, as never to eat twice off the same dish or plate. The bark of a
friendly Oak not only supplies us with our kitchen furniture, but we make Tents to sleep
in of it ...”149
Thomas Tallow (or Tulloh), Hanover County, Virginia, in old age recalled his 1781
field service with the Virginia militia,
 we … pursued the British by day and by night down James River, I recollect at old James
Town General Wayne got near enough to fire on the rear of the British Army before they
could crossed the River, my impression was that General Lafayette was the commander
in chief I frequently saw him during this term of service .. it would be perfectly
unnecessary to attempt a description of the suffering of the Soldiers about this term of my
Service, I have marched all night frequently having nothing to eat, waded creeks & have
frequently seen the Soldiers get up water in their hats and drank as they marched, our
provision was of the most inferior kind & scarcely enough to sustain life (I have
frequently seen Poplar bark used for a soldier's tray) … 150

(See also: Rees, “The common necessaries of life …” A Revolutionary Soldier’s Wooden
Bowl,” including, “’Left sick on the Road’: An Attempt to Identify the Soldier Left at the
Paxson Home, ‘Rolling Green,’ June 1778.”) http://tinyurl.com/at3dj3e )

Continental Army encampment with soldiers cooking on an earthen camp kitchen.

Detail from C.W. Peale’s portrait of Pennsylvania Colonel Walter Stewart. The
pictured camp was likely sketched in spring 1781 when the Pennsylvania regiments
were stationed in Lancaster, Pa. (Peale’s bill for the camp sketch was dated 23 May
1781). Edward W. Richardson, Standards and Colors of the American Revolution
(Philadelphia, Pa., 1982), 219.
Camp Kitchens. Food preparation depended on kindling a fire in some type of fireplace.
Soldiers often depended on an ad hoc arrangement to hang their kettle for cooking, or
merely placed it on or adjacent to a fire or bed of hot coals. Whenever possible British,
German, and French forces, and as their military expertise grew, Continental troops, built
large but simple earthen kitchens where they cooked their meals. Detailed information on
these structures can be found in the article,

"`As many fireplaces as you have tents ...': Earthen Camp Kitchens”:
Part I. "`Kitchens sunk ... for the soldiers to Cook in.': The History of Cooking
Excavations and Their Use in North America"
Part II. Complete 1762 Kitchen Description and Winter Covering for Field Kitchens
Part III. "`Ordered to begin work ...': Digging a Field Kitchen"
http://revwar75.com/library/rees/kitchen.htm

Appended are images of earthen kitchens and alternate cooking arrangements.

Three examples of soldiers’ cook fires. Plate 3 is the most recognizable, being a simple
arrangement of forked sticks holding a cross–member from which kettles were hung. Plate
2 seems to show a pit sunk into the ground, with a fire pit at the bottom, and a kettle hung
from the top. The firepit in plate 4 is dug into in a raised mound of dirt, similar to the
fireplaces in an earthen kitchen Was ist jedem Officier waehrend eines Feldzugs zu wissen
noethig (trans., "What it is necessary for each officer to know during a campaign")
(Carlsruhe, 1788), Mit zehen Kupferplatten (trans. "with ten copper plates")
Camp kitchen in use. The tin or sheet iron kettles commonly used by armies in North
America would be placed on two pieces of sod to allow the draught of the fireplace to escape
through the chimney hole. Barrel–hoop "broilers" constructed by the soldiers may also
have been used for that purpose. Humphrey Bland gave detailed instructions for building an
earthen kitchen in his 1762 Treatise of Military Discipline. His was a circular construction with
a 16 foot-wide mound in the center, a 1 1/2 foot shelf around that, all encircled by a ditch 3 feet
wide by 2 feet deep. This kitchen could accommodate 11 or 12 fireplaces, each consisting of a 1
foot square firebox dug into the inside wall of the surrounding trench and a chimney hole "of
four inches diameter" through the shelf above. With a fire underneath the "heat [was]
conveyed through those small holes to the bottom of the kettles, which are placed on top of
them." Bland, A Treatise of Military Discipline: In which is laid down and explained the duty
of the officer and soldier, through the several branches of the service. The 9th edition revised,
corrected, and altered to the present practice of the army (London: R. Baldwin, 1762), 288–
290. (Illustration by Ross Hamel.)
_______________________

Cutaway view of earthen kitchen (shelf, ditch and fireplace). The chimney hole should be
set back from the edge of the ditch about 10 to 11 inches; depth of fireplace from 16 to 18
inches. (Illustration by Ross Hamel.)
Overhead view of earthen kitchen, with dimensions given in Humphrey Bland's 1762
specifications. Humphrey Bland, A Treatise of Military Discipline: In which is laid down and
explained the duty of the officer and soldier, through the several branches of the service. The
9th edition revised, corrected, and altered to the present practice of the army (London: R.
Baldwin, 1762), 288–290. (Illustration by Ross Hamel.)
 Endnotes

1. Homer, The Odyssey, Robert Fagles, trans. (New York: Penguin Books, 1997), 186.
2. Josiah Harmar, "Lieut. Colonel Josiah Harmar's Journal. No: 1." 11 November 1778 to 2
September 1780, p. 79, Josiah Harmar Papers, William L. Clements Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Microfilm, Harmar Papers, vol. 27, reel 10; 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), 43; Howard L. Applegate, Constitutions Like Iron: The Life
of the American Revolutionary War Soldiers in the Middle Department, 1775–1783 (PHD. Diss.,
Syracuse, N.Y., 1966), 188; Jonathan Todd, surgeon 7th Conn. Regt., to his father, 9 November 1777
(W2197) (National Archives Microfilm Publication M804, 2,670 rolls, roll 2395) Revolutionary
War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, 1800–1900, Record Group 15;
National Archives Building, Washington, DC.
3. Israel Shreve to his wife, 18 April 1777, Israel Shreve Papers, Buxton Collection, Prescott
Memorial Library, Louisiana Tech University.
4. General orders, 9 June 1777, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from
the Original Manuscript Sources 1745–1799 (39 volumes); vol. 8 (Washington: Government
Printing Office, DC, 1933), 222.
5. “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).
6. 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.
7. General orders, 19 June 1778, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 12 (1934), 93–94;
General orders, 19 June 1781, ibid., 22 (1937), 233.
8. General orders, 10 June 1777, ibid., 8 (1933), 211–212.
9. 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.
10. General orders, 13 July 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 8 (1933), 400–401.
11. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 52–53, 55, 100.
12. 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.
13. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 194–195.
14. Ibid., 195.
15. Ibid., 197.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. Ibid., 378–381.
19. 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).
20. "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.
21. 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 ..."
22. General orders, 4 June 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 8 (1933), 181–182.
23. Dewees, A History of the Life and Services of Captain Samuel Dewees, 163–165 (See also
Samuel Dewees, pension file (W9405), Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty - Land - Warrant
Application Files, National Archives Microfilm Publication M804, reel 266.).
24. Ibid., 164–165; 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. That memoir gives the names of
over a hundred mess appellations in May 1861 (the full list may be seen in endnote 1 of Rees, “`Six
of our regt lived together …’: Mess Groups, Carrying Food … (and a Little Bit of Tongue) in the
Armies of the Revolution” http://revwar75.com/library/rees/pdfs/tongue.pdf
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. M.M. Quaife, ed., "Documents – A Boy Soldier Under Washington: The
Memoir of Daniel Granger," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XVI, 4 (March 1930),
http://www.massar.org/boston-children-in-the-revolution/
22. 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
(Google Books).
26. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 286.
27. 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.
28. "Lieutenant Colonel Harmar's Orders for the First Pennsylvania Regiment [Book] No. 1.,"
Harmar Papers, Clements Library, vol. 27, reel 10.
29. "Orderly Book, Fourth Pennsylvania Battalion, Col. Anthony Wayne, 1776," Pennsylvania
Magazine of History and Biography, 30 (1906), 95–96.
30. General orders, 10 October 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 9 (1933), 347.
31. Bruce E. Burgoyne, Enemy Views: The American Revolutionary War as Recorded by the Hessian
Participants (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Book, Inc., 1996), 22–23.
32. Ibid., 23–24.
33. John D. Billings, Hardtack and Coffee or The Unwritten Story of Army Life (Boston: George M.
Smith & Co., 1887), 122–123.
34. de Steuben, Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, 151;
Order Book of Brig. Gen. Edward Hand, 13 October 1776, vol. 156, target 3, Numbered Record
Books (National Archives Microfilm Publication M853, reel 17); Charles Knowles Bolton, The
Private Soldier Under Washington (Williamstown, Ma.: Corner House Publishers, 1976), 78.
35. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 51.
36. Ibid., 226–228, 265–266; During the Yorktown Campaign in 1781, Martin and his fellow
soldiers disembarked from a ship in the James River.
"We landed the next day in the afternoon, when our quartermaster sergeant sat off to procure
something for us to eat; we had to go nearly two miles for it. Myself and another sergeant, a
messmate of mine, concluded to go after the provisions, to stretch our legs after so long confinement
on board the vessel. We took our cook with us, for he, as usual, had nothing to do at home. When we
arrived at the place, we found it would be quite late before we could be served. We therefore bought
a beef's haslet of the butchers and packed off our cook with it, that we might have it in readiness
against our return to camp. The cook, who had been a bank fisherman and of course loved to wet his
whistle once in a while, set off for home and we contented ourselves till after dark before we could
get away, in expectation of having something to eat on our return. When we came home we went
directly to our tent to get our suppers, when, lo, we found Mr. Cook fast asleep in the tent and not the
least sign of cookery going on. With much ado we waked him and inquired where our victuals were.
He had got none, he mumbled out as well as he could.
 "Where is the pluck you brought home?"
"I sold it," said he.
"Sold it! What did you sell it for?"
"I don't know," was the reply.
"If you have sold it, what did you get for it?"
"If you will have patience," said he, "I will tell you."
"Patience," said the sergeant, "it is enough to vex a saint. Here we sent you home to get something
in readiness against our return, and you have sold what we ordered you to provide for us and got
drunk, and now we must go all night without anything to eat, or else set up to wait a division of meat
and cook it ourselves. What, I say, did you get for it? If anything we can eat at present, say so."
"I will tell you," said he. "First, I got a little rum, and next I got a little pepper and – and –
then I got a little more rum."
"Well, and where is the rum and pepper you got?"
"I drank the rum," said he; "there is the pepper."
"Pox on you," said the sergeant. "I'll pepper you," and was about to belabor the poor fellow when I
interfered and saved him from a basting. But, truly, this was one among the "sufferings" I had to
undergo, for I was hungry and impatient enough to have eaten the fellow had he been well cooked
and peppered."
Shortly thereafter, having "proceeded about halfway to Yorktown," Martin and his fellows "halted
and rested two or three hours. Being about to cook some victuals, I saw a fire which some of the
Pennsylvania troops had kindled a short distance off. I went to get some fire while some of my
messmates made other preparations, we having turned our rum and pepper cook adrift."
37. 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), 176;
William M. Dwyer, The Day is Ours! (New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, 1983), 136 (Original
source The Revolutionary Services of John Greenwood of Boston and New York, 1775–1783 (New
York, N.Y., 1922)).
38. Dwyer, The Day is Ours, 136; See also, M.M. Quaife, ed., "Documents – A Boy Soldier Under
Washington: The Memoir of Daniel Granger," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XVI, 4 (March
1930), 546.
39. John U. Rees, "'The multitude of women': An Examination of the Numbers of Female Camp
Followers with the Continental Army," The Brigade Dispatch (Journal of the Brigade of the
American Revolution) part three, XXIV, 2 (Spring 1993), 3 (World Wide Web),
http://revwar75.com/library/rees/wnumb1.htm; See also, Rees, "'The proportion of Women
which ought to be allowed': Female Camp Followers With the Continental Army," The
Continental Soldier, VIII, 3 (Spring 1995), 51–58 (World Wide Web),
http://revwar75.com/library/rees/proportion.htm
40. Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris, The Spirit of 'Seventy–Six (New York,
Evanston, San Francisco, and London, 1975), 153–154; Rees, "'The multitude of women," XXIII, 4
(Autumn 1992), 6.
41. Mark Tully, "Notes," The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXV, no. 3 (Autumn 1995), 20; John C. Dann,
ed., The Nagle Journal – A Diary of the Life of Jacob Nagle, Sailor, from the Year 1775 to 1841
(New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988), 6–7; John C. Dann, The Revolution Remembered –
Eyewitness Accounts of the War for Independence (Chicago and London: University of Chicago
Press, 1980), 244–245; Rees, "The multitude of women," XXIII, 4, 8–9.
42. Timothy Pickering to Stephen Clapp, 19 May 1781, Numbered Record Books (National
Archives Microfilm Publication M853, letters sent by Timothy Pickering, Quartermaster General.
May 10–Dec. 21, 1781, vol. 127, reel 26, 13–15); "Return of Rations Issued at the Cont[inenta]l
Village from the 24th to the 30th inclusive," December 1780, Miscellaneous Numbered Records
(The Manuscript File) in the War Department Collection of Revolutionary War Records 1775–
1790's, (National Archives Microfilm Publication M859, reel 76), RG 93, NA, Washington, DC:
GPO, no. 22134; "Number of Persons Draws Provisions at this Post," Continental Village, 11
September 1780, ibid., reel 76, no. 22132; Another return titled "Number of Persons Draws
Provisions at this Post" (Continental Village, 11 September 1780), shows seven women in a similar
contingent totaling 68 persons. "Number of Persons Draws Provisions at this Post," Continental
Village, 11 September 1780, ibid., reel 76, no. 22132.
The following ration allotment was "Ordered at W[es]t. Point Agst 1780"
The common Ration
12 oz Bread or Flour
21 oz Beef or 18 oz Pork or fish
1 Gill of rum (when on Fatigue)
8 lb of Soap pr 100 men pr week
3 lb of Candles pr 100 men pr week (for Guards)
from the first of April to the last of Sepr. the remaining part of the Year a double quantity,
1 quart of Salt, to 100 wt. of Fresh Beef

Artificers, Boatmen and Waggoners

16 oz Bread or flour
24 oz Beef or 18 oz Pork or Fish
1 Gill of rum
8 lb of Soap pr 100 Men pr Week, Same Allowance of
Salt as Above

Extract from Major General Howes Order of the 18th: of June

A Gill of rum pr ration is to be served the Army to day, the General Earnestly wishes that the Stores
on hand, wou'd Admit of a more liberal Supply to those who so truly deserve it, he therefore hopes
the Methods he has taken will soon bring up a plenty of Spirits and every other Article, Artificers and
Fatiguemen are to be served with a Gill of rum pr day untill further Orders, beginning from to
Morrow."
"Ration Ordered at W[es]t. Point Agst 1780," ibid., reel 76, no. 22196.
The artificers were reorganized in 1781. This listing gives the different crafts represented plus
additional ration information:
"The number of artificers with the army being greatly reduced by the expiration of the enlistments of
those in service the last Campaign: it is proposed to raise one Company to serve with the main army
during the present Campaign; the Company to consist of
One Captain or director 1
One Lieut. or Sub director 1
Four foremen 4
Fifty privates 50
Six cooks 6
Total 62;
and of the following trades, as near as may be, viz;
The director a Carpenter|______________ 2
Sub director a Carpenter|
of the forman & privates, Carpenters – 25
Smiths ––––– 15
Wheelwrights –– 6
boat builders –– 4
saddlers –––– 2
harnessmakers –– 2
Cooks –– 6
Total as above 62
The men were to be allowed "A fatigue ration (that is one pound & a half of bread or flour and one
pound and a half of beef or pork equivalent to be allowed to each forman & private p[er] day and a
gill of rum per day whenever the Commissarys stock will admit of it, together with a share of
vegetables whenever provided."
Timothy Pickering to Stephen Clapp, 19 May 1781, Numbered Record Books (National Archives
Microfilm Publication M853, letters sent by Timothy Pickering, Quartermaster General. May 10–
Dec. 21, 1781, vol. 127, reel 26, 13–15).
Some cooks were likely to be found among the women listed in the return below:
"A Specifick Return of persons constantly drawing provisions at West Point and Posts in its Vicinity
exclusive of those with the Brigades 1st July 1781" Only those detachments containing women
present are given below:
Officers Men Women Children
At West Point
"Detachment Artillery" 10 125 14 17
"Capt. Luther Bailey's Detachment" * 14 287 20 15
"Capt. William Carrs" Detachment 9 210 17 16
"Capt. Alans" Detachment ** 2 71 2
"Engineers, Sappers & Miners" 5 70 2
"Two Companies of Artificers" 1 26 6 3

"Staff of the Army"

Commander in Chief's Guard 98 6

"Kings Ferry"
"Garrison Ver Planks" Point 4 62 2
Artillery at Verplanks Point 21 5
"Block House Dobbs Ferry" 1 31 1
"Water Guard" 3 36 1

*
2d Massachusetts Regiment
**
Possibly Noah Allen, 1st Massachusetts
"A Specifick Return of persons constantly drawing provisions at West Point and Posts in its Vicinity
exclusive of those with the Brigades 1st July 1781," Miscellaneous Numbered Records (National
Archives Microfilm Publication M859, reel 75), no. 21963.
43. Holly A. Mayer, Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community during the American
Revolution (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1996), 132.
44. Ibid., 140.
45. “A Muster Roll of a Company of Bakers in the Service of the United States of America, under
the Command of John Torrey, Director,” Danbury, Ct., 3 October 1778, Revolutionary War Rolls,
1775–1783, National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, Record Group 93, reel 122; "A List of
the Bakers in Continental Service at present at Morris Town," 22 June 1780, The Papers of the
Continental Congress 1774–1789, National Archives Microfilm Publications M247 (Washington,
DC, 1958), reel 50, 193–194.
In a January 1781 "Memorial" Superintendent Ludwick detailed his difficulties finding and
keeping bakers, and the means he used to ensure they were well treated: "... the Bakers heretofore
inlisted ... have most all left ... (their Term of Inlistment being expired) except three whom he inlisted
from the first of September last for two shillings specie, or the Exchange [in paper money], and a Gill
of Rum per day and a Suit of Cloaths, and twenty two who are drafted from the different Regiments
(tho' with great reluctance of the Officers) and are to have three Dollars Continl: money per day ...
Your Memorialist hath hitherto with great Trouble and Expence to himself procured and kept a
number of hands in the service of his Department but finds it impossible to retain them any longer
unless intitled to receive Pay, Cloathing & other Necessaries, equal, if not more than, the Artificers
or any other Corps in the Army." He went on to write of the construction of "two excellent new
Ovens and a Bakehouse," but noted that "Hands are most wanted to bake bread for the Soldiers," and
that "no proper Encouragement [is] given to the Bakers and Workmen to induce and enable them to
continue in the Service ..."
In a post–war memorial, Ludwick stated that while in service he "greatly diminished and injured
his own private Property as well as his Constitution – That being Paymaster as well as Director of the
Bakers employed in said Department [he] ... sold a part of his Real Estate at a Disadvantage in order
to obtain Money to pay the Mens Wages, and has almost the whole time of Service advanced and
paid their Wages out of his own Monies before he could receive any of the public ..." He had paid
"the Bakers every two Months their Wages and from time to time adding a few Dollars more as the
money grew worse, he saved no trifling Sum to the Public as these Men got no Depreciation of Pay
like Soldiers in the Army ..." In March 1786, Gotlep Myers, one of those listed on the 1780 return of
bakers, petitioned the State of Pennsylvania "to make up the Depreciation of his pay" received during
the war. He wrote that he, "was enlisted ... in the Artificers Department where he served Three Years
... as a Baker under Christopher Ludwick Baker General, at the End of which Term he received his
Discharge ... your Petitioner hath suffered greatly by the Depreciation of his Pay ... [he] was enlisted
in the Service aforesaid in the Year 1778 for which Year his Pay was Twenty [five?] Dollars Pr
Month, The second Year his pay was Forty Dollars Pr Month and the third and last Year his Pay was
Sixty Dollars Pr Month ..." Myers' petition was endorsed by Ludwick.
"The Memorial of Christopher Ludwick Baker Master for the Army of the United States" to the
Continental Congress, 27 January 1781, ibid., reel 50, 230–231; "A List of the Bakers in Continental
Service at present at Morris Town," 22 June 1780, ibid., reel 50, 193–194. Superintendent Ludwick
wrote "That his Department for the year 1780 ... had 25 Men at least in the service ..." "The
Memorial of Christopher Ludwick late Superintendant of the Baking Department in the Army of the
United States" to Congress, March 1785, ibid., reel 50, 411–412; Petition of Gotlep Myers to the
Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, 17 March 1786, ibid., reel 55, 357–358.
46. Bob McDonald, ed., “’Thro mud & mire into the woods”: The 1777 Continental Army Diary
Of Sergeant John Smith, First Rhode Island Regiment (Colonel Christopher Greene commanding,
Varnum’s Brigade) With Selected Excerpts From The Unpublished 1777 Diary Of Colonel Israel
Angell, Second Rhode Island Regiment, July 18, 1777 – January 9, 1778” (World Wide Web),
http://www.revwar75.com/library/bob/smith.htm
Sgt. Smith wrote of his march through Bucks County, Pennsylvania,
“[9 October 1777] –– in the morning it Looked Like Rain but we march’d from this Place to
McCaleys tavern two miles where our Butchers were a killing beaf & halted & it began to Rain
and we march’d away into the woods & they sent the beef to us there & we Cook’d in the Rain &
Eat our Victuals & march’d about a mile & Put our Packs into a Waggon & march’d in the Rain
& a Verey Severe Storm as far as Newton [i.e., Newtown] where we Got as much Cyder as Every
man Could Drink –– then we went to Look [for] Loging –– some Companies Got Good Quarters
–– I was obliged to Loge in a barn amongst the hay with all my wet Clothes & Loged something
Comfortable”
And a few months later:
“the 19th [December 1777] –– in the morning we marchd to our winter Quarters [i.e., at Valley
Forge] –– we marchd all Day without Victuals having nothing to Eat –– we went into the woods
& Sleept in huts as usual
[20 December] –– we found a Corn feild where was Corn which we took & Eat after we
Roasted it in the fire some –– we Pounded with two stones & made Samp [i.e., “soupon”, or corn
porridge] to thicken our Broth –– Some we Carried to mill & Got it Ground into meal –– towards
Night we Drew Some Poor Beef & one Days flower –– this Decembr 20th 1777
the 21st Sunday –– we had warm Pleasant weather & Nothing to Eat but a Little flower made
with Coarse Indian meal & a Little Flower mixd with it –– at Night the fortune of war [i.e.,
foraging] Put into our hands a Poor Sheep which we Roasted & boild which Gave the Company a
Good Super which we Eat & turnd in
[22 December] –– Sleept Qietly untill morning when we Receivd orders to march in fifteen minits
–– we Paraded the Regt. & Grounded our arms & Drew flower for one day & Baked it But no meat
as yet but a Party of Volenteers turnd out to Goe to get Some Cattle from Toreys –– we had nothing
to Eat Untill 10 o clock at Night when we had a Ram Cooked roast & boild which 3 of our Company
took & killd as they traveld on their way …”
47. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 67.
Proverbs 27:7
Latin Vulgate:
“anima saturata calcabit favum anima esuriens et amarum pro dulce sumet”
Two translations:
“The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.”
(King James Bible)
“A sated man loathes honey, But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet.”
(New American Standard Bible)
ScriptureText.com (World Wide Web) http://scripturetext.com/proverbs/27–7.htm
48. General orders, 14 July 1775, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 3 (1931), 338.
49. Samuel Hodgdon to Jonathan Gostelowe, 27 September 1779, Letters sent by Commissary
General of Military Stores and Assistant Quartermaster Samuel Hodgdon ... July 19, 1778–May 24,
1784, Numbered Record Books (National Archives Microfilm Publication M853, reel 3, vol. 111,
41).
50. John U. Rees, “Historical Overview: The Revolutionary War,” in Andrew F. Smith, ed.,
Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2 vols. (New York and London: Oxford
University Press, 2004), vol. 1, 622–624; Account book of state stores delivered to the 1st – 4th
Regiments [January – July?] 1780, New Jersey State Archives, Department of Defense, Military
Records, Continental Army, Quartermaster General & Commissary General's Records, Account
Book of the Jersey Brigade, Box 1;
Pennsylvania Division Orders, 10 March 1779.
"The supreme executive Counsil [of Pennsylvania] have provided & sent on a quantity of stores for
the Comfort & Conveniancy of the officers & soldiers of this state in Camp, & have Directed that
they may be Issued in the following manner, viz.: That the Articles may be Distributed pursuant to
the s'd resolve of Assembly, a ¼ part of the original cost for Cash only ... That the s'd articles be
Destributed in quantitys in the following manner:
1 pint of rum pr. Rations.
½lb. Uncolkraydo sugar pr. Ditt.
1 ounce Tea pr. Ditt.
½[ounce] pr. Ditt.
2 ounces hard sope pr. Ditt.
¼ lb. Tobacco pr. Ditt.

The Com'ding officers of Regts. will... Deliver them to the individuals in the proportions above
mentioned, all except the Rum, which must be Delivered in such quantities only, at once, as the s'd
Com'ding officers shall think proper...
The weekly allowance of a soldier for every ration that ye proces of ye s'd article now sent be at the
following rates, viz:
 1 Quart Rum....... 0 5 7½
1 lb Sugar........ 0 3 5
1 lb Tea.......... 0 14 9
1 lb Coffee....... 0 3 5
1 lb Chocolate.... 0 6 3
1 lb Plug Tobacco 1 11
1 lb hard sope.... 0 2 5
1 lb Loaf Sugar... 0 7 0

The above being the ¼ of the origanal Cost of the s'd articles, that as the above articles are designed
for the Comfort of the officers & soldiers in Camp, none of the furlough be deem'd intitled to draw
on the time he is absent."
Pennsylvania Division Orders, 28 March 1779.
"The Honourable the General Assembly of Penn'a have been pleased to pass the following resolves:
... Second, Resolved, That the present mode of Disributing to the officers & soldiers of the Penn'a
Line, the several articles voted by this house at the last sessions, of prices at a Certain Rates, in
proportion to the original Cost, be discontinued, &, instead thereof They be delivered at the
following rates, Viz:
West Indian Rum, at 5 Shilling pr. gallon.
Coffy, at 3s. 9d. pr. pound.
Tea, at 12s. 0d. Dit.
Chocolate, 3s. 9d. Dit.
Hard soap, 1s. 3d. Dit.
Tobacco, 9d. Dit."
Orderly book of the Seventh Pennsylvania Regiment, 2 February 1779 to 15 April 1779, John B.
Linn and William H. Egle, eds., Pennsylvania Archives, 2d series, XI (Harrisburg: Lane S. Hart,
State Printer, 1880), 415, 425.
Compendium of Ration Allotments, 1754-1782. This representative collection of ration
issues gives some of the alternate allotments used and shows seasonal and experiential
variations, before, during, and after the American War for Independence. As can be seen,
chocolate was not included in any of the rations. It was an extraordinary item,
occasionally issued or purchased.
French and Indian War Rations, 1754-1763: The soldiers of the Seven Years' War in
America (forebears of the Continental Army) were given rations similar to those issued
during the American War for Independence. Massachusetts Provincial troops were given the
following weekly allotment of foodstuffs: six pounds of pork or seven of beef; six pounds of
bread; a half pound of flour; two ounces of ginger; a pound of flour; a pint of Indian meal;
four ounces of butter; a pint of molasses; seven gills of rum; and three and a half pints of
pease or beans. (The ginger in the provincial ration was "used as a seasoning and a water
purifier.") In 1756 the food supply for the Massachusetts soldiers came under British
auspices and they were served the same ration as British regulars: "seven pounds of beef or
four pounds of pork, either fresh or in salted form; seven pounds of bread, or flour sufficient
to bake it; three pints of peas or beans; a half-pound of rice; and a quarter-pound of butter."
In September 1758 a provincial private, Obadiah Harris, noted, “We drawed stores for seven
days. We had four pounds of pork, six pounds of flour, three gills of rice, [and] three ounces
of butter. That is all the provision for seven days.” Spruce beer was also brewed when the
ingredients and sufficient time were available, the boughs being gathered by the men and
mixed with molasses. Unfortunately it was found that some soldiers tended to consume the
molasses alone ("to the damage of their health") instead of using it to make beer.1
Continental Army Rations, 1775-1776: This early allotment for the troops was enumerated
on 9 August 1776 and is basically the same as one made in August 1775:
The Ration for each man, as copied from the Minutes of the Honourable the Continental Congress, is
as follows: One pound of beef, or 3/4 of a pound of pork or one pound of fish, per day. One pound of
bread or flour per day. Three pints of peas or beans per week, or vegetables equivalent, at one dollar
per bushel for peas or beans. One pint of milk per man per day. One half-pint of rice, or one pint of
Indian meal per man per week. One quart of spruce beer, or cider, per man per day, or nine gallons of
mollasses per company of one hundred men per week. Three pounds of candles to one hundred men
per week, for guards. Twenty pounds of soft, or eight pounds of hard, soap for one hundred men per
week.2
Winter Rations, 1775-1776: On 24 December 1775 Continental Army general orders
stipulated it was decreed that
... the following Rations to be delivered in the manner hereby directed - Viz: Corn'd Beef and Pork,
four days in a week, Salt Fish one day, and fresh Beef two days. As Milk cannot be procured during
the Winter Season, the Men are to have one pound and a half of Beef, or eighteen Ounces of Pork pr.
day. Half a pint of Rice, or a pint of Indian Meal pr Week - One Quart of Spruce Beer pr day, or nine
Gallons of Mollasses to one hundred Men pr week. Six pounds of Candles to one hundred Men pr
Week, for guards. Six Ounces of Butter, or nine Ounces of Hogs-Lard pr week. Three pints of Pease,
or Beans pr man pr week, or Vegetables equivalent, allowing Six Shillings pr Bushel for Beans, or
Pease – two and eight pence pr. Bushel for Onions - One and four pence pr Bushel for Potatoes and
Turnips - One pound of Flour pr man each day - Hard Bread to be dealt out one day in a week, in lieu
of Flour.3
Butter was not in the original allotment, but had been added on 11 December 1775:
The Commissary General ... committed an error when making out the Ration list, for he was then
serving out and has continued to do, six Ounces pr man pr Week of Butter tho' it is not included in the
List approved of by Congress. I do not think It would be expedient to put a stop thereto, as every thing
that would have a tendency to give the Soldiery room for Complaints must be avoided.4
1777 Food Allotments: Maj. Gen. William Heath's orders, "Head Quarters Boston July
12th. 1777,”
The Deputy Commissary General is to issue the Men's Rations from this Day untill further Orders as
follows Vizt."

1 lb Flour or Bread |
1 1/2 lb Beef or 18 oz Pork |- Pr. Man Pr Day
1 Quart of Beer |

5 pints of Pease |
1 pint of Meal |- Pr. Man Pr. Week
6 oz Butter |

6 lb Candles Pr. 100 Men Pr. Week for Guards

8 lb Soap for 100 Men Pr. Week
1 Jill of Rum Pr. Man each Day on Fatigue
"Vinegar occasionally, for such Articles as cannot be procured the Commissary is to pay
Money in Lieu thereof agreable to the established Rules in the Army."5
 On November 10, 1777 a board of General officers convened at the Whitemarsh
encampment and recommended that "the Ration allow'd to the Army in future ought to be as
follows Viz"
2s --- One pound & one quarter of a pound of Beef or One
Pound Pork or 1 1/4 Lb Salt Fish
p5 --- 1 1/4 lb Flour or soft bread or 1 lb hard bread
p7 --- Half a Gill Rum or Whiskey pr Day in Lieu of beer
p4 --- Half pint Rice, or a pint of Indian meal pr Week
3/4 --- Three pounds Candles to 100 Men pr Week
Soap agreeable to the late Regulation of Congress
Always mindful of costs the board allowed "that a Ration according to the above
establishment will amount at the lowest rate to three shillings & Four pence, exclusive of the
Soap and Candles ..."6
Winter and Summer Rations, 1778: After the system of food supply broke down in the late
fall and winter of 1777 it was necessary to temporarily adjust the army’s daily rations.
February 8 1778 general orders noted that the "Comissary Genl. proposes that instead of the
ration heretofore Issued there should be Issued a pound and a half of flouer, one lb of Beef
or 3/4 Salt pork and a certain Quantity of Spirits ..." It had previously been ordered on
January 29 that "The Commissaries in future to Issue [a] quart of Salt to every 100 lb fresh
Beef."7 On 16 April a change in the rations reflected some improvement in the supply of
food.
A ration for the future, shall consist of 1 1/2 lb. flour or bread ... 1 lb. of Beef or Fish, or 3/4 lb. Pork,
and one gill of whiskey or Spirits, or 1 1/2 lb. Flour or Bread, 1/2 lb. Pork, or Bacon, 1/2 pint Pease, or
Beans, one gill of Whiskey or Spirits.8
In conjunction with the order above, extra flour and liquor rations were authorized for
men on fatigue. Four months later, on 6 August, the ration allotment was amended once
again:
That the whole army may be served with the same ration the Commissary Genl. is, till further orders,
to issue as follows: One pound 1/4 flour, or soft bread, or 1 lb. of hard bread; 18 oz. beef, fresh or salt;
1 lb. pork, or 1 lb. of fish, & 2 oz. butter; a gill of rum or whiskey, when to be had; the usual
allowance of soap and Candles.9
1779, Winter and Autumn: General orders, March 23 1779: "The Commander in Chief
directs that the following ration be delivered to the Army until further orders:"
25 ounces of beef, or 18 ounces of Pork.
16 ounces of bread or flour.
1 gill of spirits occasionally.
The usual quantity of soap and candles.10
General Orders, November 13, 1779: "The Commissaries to issue the following quantities
of meat or vegetables in lieu of the reduced ration of flour:"
For every 100 lbs. of flour, reduced from the issues, 75 lbs. beef, or 50 lbs. pork; or if received in
vegetables, 2 1/2 bushels beans; or 8 bushels potatoes; or 12 bushels turnips; and so in proportion for
any greater or less quantity.11
1781 Allotment: Six years’ experience can be seen in the War Office "Enumeration &
Valuation of Rations," dated 26 June 1781 reducing the ration allotment to four variations.12
No. 1
1 lb Beef per day
1 lb Bread per day
1 pint of milk per day
3 pints of peas or Beans per week
1 pint Indian Meal per week
9 Gallons of Molasses per 700 Rations per week
3 lb Candles per 700 Rations as per rations
8 lb Soap " " " " " "

No. 2
1 1/4 lb Beef per day
1 lb Bread per day
1 Gill of peas or Beans per day
1 Gill of Vinegar
1/2 pint of Molasses & 1 pint of Indian Meal per week per ration

No. 3
1 lb Bread
1 lb Beef
1 Gill of rum or other proof Spirits
3 lb Candles per 100 Men per Week
8 lb Soap per 100 Men per Week

No. 4
1 lb Beef
1 lb Bread
1 Gill of Apple or Rye Whiskey proof or 1/2 Gill of Rum per day
3 pints of peas or Beans or 1 pint of Indian Meal per Man
per Week
3 lb Candles per 100 Men per Week
8 lb Soap per 100 Men per Week
July 1782: In 1782 the provision allotment was simplified still further and the particular
foodstuffs thought fit for use in hospitals enumerated.13
Ration to consist of 1 lb Bread or flour at the Option of the
Contractor
1 lb Beef or 3/4 lb Pork
1 Gill Whiskey or Country Rum
1 quart Salt to 100 Rations fresh Meat
2 quarts Vinegar to 100 Rations
8 lb of Soap -|
|- to 100 Rations
3 lb Candles -|
The Contractors shall issue the Rations in such proportions numbers and quantities as follows
To whom Rations are to be issued Viz To all Regiments in regiments
To Guards
To marching parties
To all Artificers and those Employed in the QrMr Dept &
Comy of Mily Store Departments

No Vinegar, &ca with When less than twenty Rations is issued

less than 20 Rations the Vinegar Soap and Candles not allowed

Hospital Stores Contractors to furnish the Hospitals with

West Ind[ia] Rum

Madeira Wine
Port Wine
Muscovado Sugar
Coffee
Bohea Tea
Indian Meal
Vinegar
Hard Soap
Candles
Rations for the Sick, 1783: In May 1783 the following letter was sent to Gen. George
Washington by Maj. Gen. William Heath:
From the reports of the commanding officers of brigades, I am constrained to represent to your
Excellency the general uneasiness and complaints of the army in the Cantonment at New Windsor on
account of the late irregular issue and bad condition of the provisions with which the troops have been
served - The complaints and uneasiness are growing to such a height that calls for a speedy remedy.
The regiment for duty yesterday, mounted without provisions and remains so this morning. The
provisions which have been issued lately, have been partly meat and partly fish, and a considerable
part of them of a condition not fit for men to eat without endangering their health. I am compelled to
add, the brave men who are unfortunately subjects of the hospital, are of late obliged to eat salt
provisions, very unfit for persons in their condition, and which tend rather to establish than contribute
to the removal of their maladies. And further, that in general the troops are not properly supplied with
that essential article, vinegar - so necessary to their health and comfort especially when served with
salted provisions.14

Continental Army rations (summary). A typical early–war ration was spelled out in General
William Heath's orders, Boston, 12 July 1777. Per man per day: "1 lb Flour or Bread," "1½ lb Beef
or 18 oz Pork," and "1 Quart of Beer." Per man per week: "5 pints of Pease," "1 pint of Meal," and "6
oz Butter." Per 100 men per week: "6 lb Candles ... for Guards," and "8 lb Soap." In addition there
was issued "Vinegar occasionally" and "1 Jill of Rum Pr. Man each Day on Fatigue [work detail] ...
such Articles as cannot be procured the Commissary is to pay Money in Lieu thereof agreable to the
established Rules in the Army." Winter months posed difficulties in feeding an army. In George
Washington's 8 February 1778 General Orders it was noted that the "Comissary Genl. proposes that
instead of the ration heretofore Issued there should be Issued a pound and a half of flouer, one lb of
Beef or ¾ Salt pork and a certain Quantity of Spirits ..." On 16 April a change in the food allotment
reflected an improvement in supply: "A ration for the future, shall consist of 1½ lb. flour or bread ...
1 lb. of Beef or Fish, or ¾ lb. Pork, and one gill of whiskey or Spirits, or 1½ lb. Flour or Bread, 1½
lb. Pork, or Bacon, ½ pint Pease, or Beans, one gill of Whiskey or Spirits. Four months later the
allotment had been amended once again; note that while butter was listed in this August 1778 list, it
remained a rarity the soldiers seldom saw:
 That the whole army may be served with the same ration the Commissary Genl. is, till
further orders, to issue as follows: One pound ¼ flour, or soft bread, or 1 lb. of hard bread;
18 oz. beef, fresh or salt; 1 lb. pork, or 1 lb. of fish, & 2 oz. butter; a gill of rum or whiskey,
when to be had; the usual allowance of soap and Candles.

The ration set by Congress in 1775 and 1776 provided the basis for food allotments and was
modified when needed or supplemented whenever possible. Beer, molasses, milk, and butter were
eventually dropped from the official list, and while efforts were made to provide sufficient quantities
of "peas or beans ... or vegetables equivalent," supplies were never consistent. Vegetables procured
ranged from potatoes and onions to turnips and watercress and other greens when available. Army
orders at Valley Forge for 13 June 1778 noted, “The Poke in this and in the succeeding Month
begins to have a poisonous quality; the soldiers are therefore warned against the use of it.”
Only a few items in the authorized ration could be relied on for a more or less regular issue.
Here are the provisions issued to one regiments during active operations in late 1777. An
"Acco[un]t. of Rations drawn by the first Jersey Regiment Comanded by Coll. Matthias Ogden"
covered the period "from the first of September to the Nineteenth both days Inclusive 1777." During
this nineteen day period, the regiment received 2,806 pounds of bread, 3,015 pounds of flour, 4,163
pounds of beef, 1,435 pounds of pork, 167 pounds of gammon, 121 pounds of fish, 71½ pints of salt,
206 pounds of soap, 29 pounds of candles, and 161 pints of vinegar. As of 10 November 1777 the 1st
New Jersey contained 1 lieutenant colonel, 1 captain, 5 lieutenants, 3 ensigns, 1 adjutant, 1
paymaster, 1 quartermaster, 1 surgeon, 1 surgeon's mate, 13 sergeants, and 8 musicians; rank and
file, 115 present fit for duty, 29 sick present, 67 sick absent, 11 on command, and 5 on furlough, for a
total strength of 227.
A recounting of the rations drawn by the "first Jersey Regiment" for the month of December 1777,
lists 6,942 pounds of flour, 1,001 pounds of bread, 7,499 pounds of beef, 236 pounds of pork, 341
pounds of fish, 30½ pounds of candles, 72¼ quarts of salt, and 272 gills of rice. On 23 December
1777 Colonel Ogden's 1st New Jersey contained 2 captains, 9 subalterns, 12 sergeants, 8 musicians,
and 156 rank and file.
British Army rations (summary). Standard ration, 1781: A "memorandum ... found among some
British papers at York Town Virginia," in October 1781, listed the "Allowance of Provisions" listed
the soldiers' daily allowance: 1 pound beef or 9 ounces pork, 1 pound of flour or bread, 3/7 pint of
peas, and 1/6 quart "Rum or Spirits." Seven days' allowance of ½ pint oatmeal or rice and 6 ounces
of butter was also issued. It was noted that "Since the troops have been upon this island, spruce beer
has been issued at 8 quarts for 7 days. N.B. When the small species are not delivered, 12 oz of pork
are allowed." The "small species" for British troops at Yorktown included sugar, chocolate, and
coffee. Sauerkraut was also issued on occasion to minimize the effects of scurvy for troops in
garrison or winter quarters.
Regarding proper cooking, regimental orders for the British 40th Regiment, 20 June 1777,
emphasized boiled meals. "The Commanding Off[ice]r Expects the ... Provisions should be Dressd:
[and] that the men will provide greenes or Contrive to have something Warm Every day – The Cooks
must be Regularey Paraded by the Non Commiss[ione]d: [officers] for that duty who will be
Answerable to the Visiting Off[ice]r: that Kettles are all Boiled at one place & time ..."
A British officer noted the food eaten by the soldiers campaigning under General Burgoyne in
New York in 1777. He first told of raw beef being issued to the men, "which they eat, dressed upon
wood ashes, without either bread or salt"'and then went on to recount that, "Throughout the whole
campaign, the men had not a morsel of bread, but mixed up their flour into cakes, and baked them
upon a stone before a fire; very seldom spirits to cheer them after fatiguing days ... seldom fresh
provisions; scanty and miserable as the allowance to a soldier is, it was reduced to half its quantity on
the 3d of October."
 German Sergeant Berthold Koch, of the Von Bose Regiment, described the period following the
Battle of Guilford Courthouse, fought in North Carolina on 16 March 1781. "We remained on the
battlefield for three days, under the open skies without tents ... However, the situation was now very
bad for us. We had won but we had no foodstuffs, no shoes on our feet, and no shirts on our bodies.
During these three days each man, officers as well as privates, received four measures of corn instead
of bread and for meat, such cattle as the enemy had left behind ... We placed the corn on the fire to
cook it. Then it was taken from the container and eaten. The meat was either boiled or roasted on
sticks and eaten. ... On 20 March we began our withdrawal ... We marched eighteen miles each day.
... At evening we camped and the royal militia brought us cattle and some flour. The cattle were
slaughtered and the meat was cooked or roasted and the flour made into cakes and cooked on a board
in the fire." They marched north, and "On 5 April we went to Williamsburg in Virginia ... We
received a double ration of rum each day at that place and our full provision of meat and ship's
bread."
Caloric Requirements and Intake. During the development of U.S. Army combat rations in 1940
the primary requirement was that they "should contain not less than 4,000 calories and preferably ...
4,500, as it has been found that this much food is required for the average soldier under field
conditions." This remains the present–day allowance for troops doing extraordinary labor; three
thousand calories is the approximate standard for the modern U.S. soldier's normal daily intake.
Massachusetts soldiers in the Seven Years' War living on British Army rations received about 2,400
to 3,100 calories per day, depending on whether the meat was beef or pork, salt or fresh.
Rations for campaigning soldiers provided a bare minimum. In July 1779 General John Sullivan's
Continental troops subsisted on 1¼ pounds salt beef and either 1 pound of hard bread or 1¼ pounds
soft bread, giving a range of 2,493 to 2,772 calories per day. A typical Union army marching ration
of ¾ pound of pork or bacon, and 1 pound of hardtack, .6 ounce of salt, 1.28 ounces of coffee, and
2.4 ounces of sugar supplied roughly 3,294 calories. Second World War combat rations also fell
short. The daily emergency allotment of three fortified chocolate D ration bars (1942) contained
1,800 calories; canned C rations (1943) contained 2,974 calories; boxed K rations (1943) "as a whole
contained from 3,145 to 3,397 calories, depending upon the meat component used in the supper
unit."
Caloric Values for Selected Ration Components, 1756–1918

Item Quantity Calories Item Quantity Calories

Salt beef 1 lb. 1,102 Salt pork 1 lb. 2,602
Fresh beef 1 lb. 1,577 Fresh pork 1 lb. 1,494
Bacon* 1 lb. 2,602 Bread 1 lb. 1,116
Corn Meal 1 lb. 1,648 Hominy 1 lb. 398
Rice** 1 oz. 105 Butter 1 oz. 200
Peas*** 1 pt. 462 Potatoes**** 1 oz. 26.4
Beans*** 1 pt. 450 Salt 0
Molasses 1 oz. 75.4 Sugar 1 oz. 110
Cider vinegar 1 oz. 3.97 Coffee***** 1 oz. 4.3
Rum or whiskey 1 oz.
80 proof 64.5
90 proof 73.5
100 proof 124
* Cooked **** Without skin
** Unprocessed ***** Based on value for instant coffee
*** Dried and cooked
Ration Compendium (sources): Fred Anderson, The People's Army: Massachusetts
Soldiers and Society in the Seven Years' War (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1984), 84-84, 129, 133.
Peter Force, American Archives, series 5, vol. I (Washington, D.C., 1837-1853), 865.
Charles Knowles Bolton, The Private Soldier Under Washington (Williamstown, Ma.,
1976), 79. General orders, 24 December 1775, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of
George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, vol. 4 (Washington,
DC, 1931), 180. Washington to the President of Congress, 11 December 1775, ibid., vol. 4
(1931), 157. General William Heath's orders, 12 July 1777, 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 3, vol. 18, target 4. Recommendation
of rations for the army by a Board of General Officers, 10 November 1777, George
Washington Papers, Presidential Papers Microfilm (Washington, D.C., 1961), series 4, reel
45. George Weedon, Valley Forge Orderly Book of General George Weedon of the
Continental Army under Command of Genl. George Washington, in the Campaign of
1777-8 (New York, N.Y., 1971), 217, 224-225. Ibid., 291. General orders, 6 August 1778,
"Jacob Turner's Book", Walter Clark, ed., The State Records of North Carolina, XII, 1777-
1778 (Wilmington, N.C., 1993), 526. General orders, 23 March 1779, Fitzpatrick, WGW,
vol. 14 (1936), 217. General Orders, 13 November 1779, ibid., vol. 17 (1937), 103. War
Office enumeration & valuation of rations, 26 June 1781, GW Papers, series 4, reel 79.
"Substance of the Contract for the moving Army", 9 July 1782, GW Papers, series 4, reel
86. William Heath to George Washington, 29 May 1783, ibid., series 4, reel 91.
Continental Army (sources). General William Heath's orders, 12 July 1777, target 4, Numbered
Record Books (National Archives Microfilm Publication M853, reel 3, vol. 18); George Weedon,
Valley Forge Orderly Book of General George Weedon of the Continental Army under Command
of Genl. George Washington, in the Campaign of 1777–8 (New York: The New York Times &
Arno Press, 1971), 217, 224–225, 291; General orders, 6 August 1778, "Jacob Turner's Book,"
Walter Clark, ed., The State Records of North Carolina, XII, 1777–1778 (Wilmington: Broadfoot
Publishing Co.,1993), 526; Peter Force, American Archives, series 5, vol. I (Washington, D.C.:
Published by M. St. Clair and Peter Force, 1848), 865; Bolton, The Private Soldier Under
Washington, 79; Washington to the President of Congress, 11 December 1775, general orders, 24
December 1775, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 4 (1931), 157, 180; General Orders,
13 June 1778, and 13 November 1779, ibid., 12 (1934), 53–54, and 17 (1937), 103; "Accot. of
Rations drawn by the first Jersey Regiment Comanded by Coll. Matthias Ogden from the first of
September to the Nineteenth both days Inclusive 1777," Miscellaneous Numbered Records (National
Archives Microfilm Publication M859, reel 74), no. 21854; Rations issued the 1st New Jersey
Regiment in December 1777, William Shute, 10 December 1783, ibid., reel 74, no. 21856; "A
General Return of the Continental Army under ... General Washington, encamped at White Marsh,
November 10. 1777," Revolutionary War Rolls, National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, reel
137, no. 47; "A Return of the Brigades Belonging to Lord Stirlings Division Decr 23d 1777,"
(General William Maxwell's New Jersey Brigade), ibid., reel 136, no. 137.
British Troops’ Food (sources): "... memorandum ... among some British papers at York Town
Virginia," October 1781, Numbered Record Books (National Archives Microfilm Publication M853,
reel 29, vol. 103, 101–102); French Lieutenant Verger noted in October 1781, "The English soldiers
have received their regular rations throughout the siege [of Yorktown], including issues of sugar,
chocolate, coffee, and rum." Journal of Jean–Baptiste–Antoine de Verger (sublieutenant, Royal
Deux–Ponts Regiment), Howard C. Rice and Anne S.K. Brown, eds. and trans., The American
Campaigns of Rochambeau's Army 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783, vol. I (Princeton and Providence:
Princeton University Press and Brown University Press, 1972), 151; British Orderly Book [40th
Regiment of Foot] April 20, 1777 to August 28, 1777, George Washington Papers (Library of
Congress), series 6B, vol. 1, reel 117; Thomas Anburey, Travels Through the Interior Parts of
America, I, letter XXXII, Camp at Skenesborough, New York, 14 July 1777, 340–341; ibid, II, letter
XLII, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 17 November 1777, 8–9; Burgoyne, Enemy Views, 450–451.
Caloric Intake (sources). Harold W. Thatcher, The Development of Special Rations for the Army
(Hist. Section, Gen. Admin. Serv. Div., Office of the Quartermaster General, 1944), 13, 16, 35, 37;
Revised caloric values based on table in Fred Anderson, A People's Army: Massachusetts Soldiers
and Society in the Seven Years' War (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, N.C., 1984),
83–90; Louise Welles Murray, ed., Notes from Craft Collection in Tioga Point Museum on the
Sullivan Expedition of 1779, (Athens, Pa.: n.p., 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, 1748–1817, New–York Historical Society, reel 9, item 93, 31; Bell Irvin Wiley, The Life of
Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union (Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University
Press, 1978), 224; Caloric table values are revised from Anderson, A People's Army, 85. Additional
and revised values courtesy of Susan McLellan Plaisted, M.S. R.D., of Nutrition Services and
Consulting, and Heart to Hearth Cookery. See also, John U. Rees, “Soldiers’ rations,” Mark M.
Boatner, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution: Library of Military History, Harold E.
Selesky, ed. (2d Edition, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2006), vol. 2, 1066–1068; Rees, "'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).
51. General orders, 5 July 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 8 (1933), 349;
Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed., Correspondence and Journals of Samuel Blachley Webb, I, 1772–
1777 (New York: Wickersham Press, 1893), 267; The Orderly Book of the First Pennsylvania
Regiment, 23 May 1779 to 25 August 1779, Pennsylvania Archives, 2d series, XI (Harrisburg: Lane
S. Hart, State Printer, 1880), 461–463.
52. Orders, 11 June 1778, 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).
53. General orders, 2 June 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 8 (1933), 171; General
orders, 4 August 1782, ibid., 24 (1938), 463.
54. Ford, Correspondence and Journals of Samuel Blachley Webb, I, 243.
55. General Orders, 4 August 1782, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 24 (1938), 463.
56. 27 July 1777 entry, John Chilton's Diary (captain, 3d Virginia Regiment), Keith Family Papers,
1710–1916, Virginia Historical Society.
57. Lloyd A. Brown and Howard H. Peckham, eds., Revolutionary War Journals of Henry
Dearborn, 1775–1783 (Chicago: The Caxton Club, 1939; reprinted Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books,
Inc., 1994), 123–125.
58. Timothy Pickering to Peter Anspach, 26 June 1782, Miscellaneous Numbered Records (National
Archives Microfilm Publication M859, reel 87), no. 25345 (Courtesy of Marko Zlatich); In March
1783 Pickering clarified just how the sheet iron camp kettles were "destroyed." "I cannot tell exactly
how long a camp kettle will last: but on an average probably not exceeding a year. As they are used
as frying pans, as well as kettles, they are thereby much sooner destroyed than if they were used only
in boiling." Pickering to Captain Walker, 22 March 1783, George Washington Papers (Library of
Congress), series 4, reel 91.
59. Blair, The Soldier's Friend, or the Means of Preserving the Health of Military Men, 14–17
(Excerpts courtesy of Mike Williams, Detached Hospital, Brigade of the American Revolution,
Senior Surgeon, 1323 Shoreline Trail, Graham, NC 27253–9731).
60. Blair, The Soldier's Friend, or the Means of Preserving the Health of Military Men, 14–17; In
The Soldier's Friend William Blair often addresses food and cooking; here are some excerpts:
Nothing is so agreeable, and at the same time so wholesome to a soldier after a
fatiguing and perhaps a wet march, as some warm soup. * To boil the meat, is therefore
the mode of cooking which ought to be most generally used in the army. Every effort
should be made to procure vegetables to boil along with the meat. It is not necessary to be
very delicate in what are selected for this purpose. Besides the various kinds of cabbage,
carrots, parsnips, onions and potatoes, which are universally approved of; when these
cannot be procured, the wild or water cress, the brook lime, the scurvy grass, the wild
sorrel, and lettuce, which are to be found in every field, make wholesome as well as
agreeable additions to soup. When in the fixed camp, soldiers should be encouraged to
cultivate various kinds of culinary vegetables, and especially potatoes. It would add much
also to the salubrity as well as the nutritious qualities of these soups were every mess to
have a certain amount of barley; or, which afford more substantial nourishment,
decorticated oats, cut groats, dried peas, or rice, to add to their broth [“* The use of broth
or soup is particularly advantageous after great fatigue, because on these occasions, the
digestive organs are weakened and less liable to bear solid food than at other times.”]
Before salted meat is boiled, it should be carefully washed by repeated assusions of
fresh water. The scum which arises to the surface during boiling should be diligently
removed and not permitted to be eaten. As proof of the utility of attending to these
circumstances, Dr. Marshall cites the example of a new raised regiment which, on it's
arrival at Gibraltar lost a number of men at a time when the garrison was very healthy;
which at last was found to be owing to their ignorance of preparing salted provisions.
It was observed, during the late war in America, that the German regiments, who
always cooked or stewed with their meat whatever fruits the country supplied, escaped
many diseases, from which other troops engaged in the same service suffered severely.
Their Sour Kraut also preserves them from putrid complaints, and might be introduced
with advantage into our army.
Our reason for proposing to boil, and make soup of butchers meat is, that, when dressed
in this manner, it is not only more easily digested than that which is roasted, but the soup
or broth, made from the boiling, forms a valuable and nourishing article of food; which,
under proper management, makes the allowance go much farther than it would otherwise
do.
It is surprising to see the aversion which the generality of soldiers have to the boiling
of meat, or the conversion of it into broth or soup; when left to themselves, they always
prefer roasting both their fish and butchers meat, a practice which ought to be
discouraged; as roasted meat not only forms a heavier meal than that which is boiled, but
is at the same time more expensive and unprofitable
61. John U. Rees, "'... the unreasonable prices extorted ... by the market People': Camp Markets and
the Impact of the Economy," and "'Complaint has been made by many of the Inhabitants ...': Soldiers'
Efforts to Supplement the Ration Issue," Food History News, VII, 4 (Spring 1996), 2–3; VIII, 2 (Fall
1996), 1–2, 7; Provision returns for Jackson's 9th Massachusetts Regiment, 21 May to 8 September
1782, Henry Jackson Papers, 1777–1782, 4 vols. (microfilm edition: Library of Congress, 1978),
mss. access. no. 17,359, vol. 4, 379–443.
62. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 43.
63. Ibid., 76.
64. Ibid., 43, 103.
65. 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: Northern
Illinois University Press, 1978), 73–74. William Morris pension file, supporting deposition by
Nathan Davis: ”At the place called Tioga Point, we built a fort and left the women and sick with a
guard, with two brass field pieces and two howitzers. We then proceeded into the Indian Country
where we destroyed their towns, orchards and cornfields. The Indian corn was very large, & our
soldiers made corn meal of it by grating it on the outsides of old camp kettles which they first
perforated with bayonets.” (S1061), reel 1772, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land
Warrant Application Files, Record Group 15; see also, Bolton, The Private Soldier Under
Washington, 82–83; Dan L. Morrill, Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution (Baltimore:
Nautical & Aviation Publishing Company of America, 1993), 148–149.
66. Pliny H. White, “History of the Expedition against the Five Nations, Commanded by General
Sullivan, in 1779, ” The Historical Magazine, and Notes and Queries, concerning the Antiquities,
History and Biography of America, vol. III, second series (Morrisania, N.Y.: Henry B. Dawson,
1868), 203.
67. Charles Stedman, The History of the Origin, Progress and Termination of the American War,
vol. 2 (two vols.; Dublin: privately printed, 1794), 225; see also Roger Lamb, soldier in the 23d
Regiment, who noted converting canteens into rasps during Cornwallis' southern campaign:
"Sometimes we had turnips served out for our food, when we came to a turnip field, or arriving at
a field of corn, we converted our canteens into rasps and ground our Indian corn for bread, with
our lean beef." Don N. Hagist, A British Soldier's Story: Roger Lamb's Narrative of the American
Revolution" (Baraboo, Wi.: Ballindalloch Press, 2004), 90.
68. Roger Lamb, An Original and Authentic Journal of Occurrences during the late
American War, from it’s Commencement to the Year 1783 (Dublin, 1809; reprinted, New
York: The New York Times and Arno Press, 1968), 381.
69. John Robert Shaw, The Life and Travels of John Robert Shaw, the Well-Digger, Now
Resident in Lexington, Kentucky (Lexington, 1807; reprinted, Louisville: George Fowler,
1930), 68.
70. Quaife, "The Memoir of Daniel Granger," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 546.
Force, American Archives, series 5, vol. III (1853), 453; 31 December 1778, James Abeel
Receipt Book, Lloyd W. Smith Collection, Morristown National Historic Park, reel 1, entry
656; 6 September, 5 October, 2 November 1779, Returns for Captain Maxwell's Company
(2d Mass. Regt.), 1775–1780, Folder 8E–10, WARS 8 VI, The Revolution, Box 5,
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Historic Deerfield Massachusetts; Timothy
Pickering to Washington (with enclosed memorandum), 14 January 1781, George
Washington Papers (Library of Congress), series 4, reel 74; Pickering to Peter Anspach, 26
June 1782, Miscellaneous Numbered Records (National Archives Microfilm Publication
M859, reel 87), no. 25345.
71. John U. Rees, “’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.
72. Blank regimental ledger, 1 September 1779, Harmar Papers, Clements Library,
microfilm, vol. 27, reel 10; "Plan for the Cloathing of the Infantry," 1779, George
Washington Papers (Library of Congress), series 4, reel 63; “Estimate of Articles to be
imported in the Department of the Board of War & Defence,” June 1779, The Papers of
the Continental Congress (NA Microfilm Publication M247, vol. 3, reel 158, 424, 434–
435); “Estimate of Necessaries Requisite for an Army of 40,000 Men," [1781?], and
"Estimate of Stores &ca. for an Army of Twenty five thousand Men so far as concerns
the Quarter Master Generals Department," [1781?], Numbered Record Books (National
Archives Microfilm Publication M853, reel 29, vol. 103, targets 2 and 4).
73. 10 June 1779, James Abeel Receipt Book 1778–1779, Lloyd W. Smith Collection, 69
reels, Morristown National Historic Park, reel 1, entry 656; 6 September, 5 October, 2
November 1779, Returns for Captain Maxwell's Company commanded by Col. John Bailey
(2d Mass. Regt.) 1775–1780, Folder 8E–10, WARS 8 VI, The Revolution, Box 5,
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Historic Deerfield Massachusetts; "A Return of
Quarter–Master–General's Stores in The Brigades at West Point & Constitution Island," 1
August 1779, and "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). A number of
other returns emphasize shortfalls in army–issue eating utensils:

A Return of officers and men Camp Equipage now Present in the 1st. Penna.
Brigade Commanded by Coln. William Irvine” [included the 1st, 2d, 7th, and 10th
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
Wooden Bowls 4
Camp Kettles 128
(kettles sufficient for 768 common soldiers in six–man messes)
A Return of officers and men Camp Equipage now Present in the 1st. Penna. Brigade Commanded
by Coln. William Irvine” (Included the 1st, 2d, 7th, and 10th Pennsylvania Regiments. The original
return is broken down by regiment.) Thomas Alexander, Brigade Quartermaster, 3 June 1778, Irvine
Family Papers, 1777–1869, no. 1743A, Historical Society of Pennsylvania. (Courtesy of Joseph Lee
Boyle)
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.
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)

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
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
(National Archives Microfilm Publication M859, reel 94), no. 27523; Charles H. Lesser, Sinews of
Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army (Chicago, Il. and London: The
University of Chicago Press, 1976), 124–125, July 1779 strength return; 138, Procter's Artillery
Battalion return, October 1779.

"A Return of Quarter–Master–General's Stores in The Brigades at West Point &

Constitution Island," 1 August 1779.
Col. Clark’s North Carolina Brigade (1st and 2d NC)
(126 officers, 541 rank and file present, fit for duty; 128 rank & file sick, on command, and
on furlough)
122 camp kettles

Col. Bailey’s 4th Massachusetts Brigade (2d, 8th, 9th, Mass.)

(164 officers, 628 rank and file present, fit for duty; 229 rank & file sick, on command, and
on furlough)
136 camp kettles
19 wooden bowls
30 iron cups

General Patterson’s Brigade (10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, Mass.)

(223 officers, 981 rank and file present, fit for duty; 147 rank & file sick, on command, and
on furlough)
174 camp kettles
64 wooden bowls
32 iron cups
"A Return of Quarter–Master–General's Stores in The Brigades at West Point &
Constitution Island," 1 August 1779, Papers of the Continental Congress (NA Microfilm
Publication M247, vol. 3, reel 192, 3, 145, 153).

“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)
covered kettles 60 good
common kettles 389 good, 41 wanting repair
bowls 51 good, 5 wanting repair
spoons 84 good
“Return of the Pennsylvania Division in the service of the United States, Commanded by The
Honble Major General Arthur St: Clair. October 1st. 1779.” (Transcribed by Mathew Grubel, 6
October 2003, from photostats in the collections of Morristown National Historical Park filed
under United States Army, Returns. Original manuscripts at the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania.)
 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.
“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)
42 camp kettles
7 wooden bowls

3d Regiment (42 officers, 187 rank and file present, fit for duty; 144 rank & file sick, on
command, and on furlough)
73 camp kettles
18 wooden bowls
1 iron pot
1 brass kettle

5th Regiment (39 officers, 118 rank and file present, fit for duty; 177 rank & file sick, on
command, and on furlough)
54 camp kettles
23 wooden bowls

B[rigadier]. & staff

4 camp kettles
“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 (National
Archives Microfilm Publication M859, reel 94), no. 27553; Lesser, Sinews of Independence:
Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army, 202, May 1781 return.
74. Jonathan Todd to his father, 9 November 1777 (W2197), reel 2395, Revolutionary War
Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, Record Group 15; John N. Cummings to
John Ladd Howell, 24 February 1781, Howell Papers, Stewart Collection, Savitz Library, Rowan
State College, Glassboro, New Jersey; See also, William B. Lapham, ed., Elijah Fisher's Journal
While in the War for Independence ... 1775–1784 (Augusta, Me.: Badger and Manley, 1880), 7;
"Journal of Ebenezer Wild," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2d series, vol. VI
(Boston, 1891), 103–104.
75. Donald Wickman, ed., "The Diary of Timothy Tuttle," New Jersey History, 113, nos. 3–4
(Fall/Winter 1995), 69. Massachusetts Captain Moses Greenleaf, at Fort Ticonderoga, breakfasted
often on chocolate, and told of other meals as well:
“23rd of April 1777 Arrived at Ticondaroga the Sun half an hour high P.M. found all Officers &
men in Good Spirits, supped with Adjutant Francis on fry’d fish & Pidgeons Turn’d In at Ten
oClock”
“Thursday 24th April Turn’d out at ½ past 5 Breakfast on Tea … Dined on Beef & Peas, Supped
on American Teal …”
“Friday 25th April [1777] Turn’d out at ½ past five … Breakfast on Chocolate … dined on Peas
& Beef ”
“Saturday 26th April … Breakfast on chocolate & Beef dined on Beef & Greens … Supp’d on
Tea …”
“Thursday May 1st 1777 Turn’d out at ½ past 5 Breakfast on Coffee dined on stew’d Pidgeons
Supp’d on Coffee Turn’d in at Ten”
Donald H. Wickman, ed., "‘Breakfast on Chocolate’: The Diary of Moses Greenleaf, 1777," The
Bulletin of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum, vol. XV, no. 6 (1997), 485–488.
76. Suppawn: "supspawn," "boiled corn meal mush." (sepan, sepon, supaen, suppaen, soupaan),
William A. Craigie and James R. Hulbert, eds., A Dictionary of American English on Historical
Principles, four volumes, 3 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938–44), 2268 (courtesy of
Sandra L. Oliver); Supawn (suppawn, supon, supporne, sepon, sepawn, sipawn) Dutch, sapaen,
supaen, 17th century. “A kind of porridge made of maize flour boiled in water until it thickens.”
Oxford English Dictionary, Compact Edition, two vols. (Glasgow, New York, and Toronto:
Oxford University Press, 1971), I, 1880; II, 2632, 3157; Octavius Pickering, The Life of Timothy
Pickering, I (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1867), 147.
77. Marquis de Chastellux, Travels in North America in the Years 1780–1781–1782, (originally
published 1827; reprinted New York: Augustus M. Kelley, Publishers, 1970), 51–52.
78. James Thacher, Military Journal of the American Revolution (Hartford, Ct.: Hurlbut, Williams
& Company, American Subscription, 1862), 180.
79. 26 July 1777 entry, John Chilton's Diary, Keith Family Papers, Virginia Historical Society.
80. Quaife, "The Memoir of Daniel Granger," Mississippi Valley Historical Review, 546.
81. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 174–175; John S. Pancake, This Destructive War: The British
Campaign in the Carolinas 1780–1782 (University: University of Alabama Press, 1985), 215.
"Diary of the Pennsylvania Line. May 26, 1781 – April 25, 1782," John Blair Linn and William H.
Egle, Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution, Battalions and Line 1775–1783, vol. II (Harrisburg:
Lane S. Hart, State Printer, 1880), 710, 713; see also, "Journal of Lieut. William McDowell of the
First Penn'a. Regiment, in the Southern Campaign. 1781–1782," William H. Egle, ed., Pennsylvania
Archives, 2d series, XV (Harrisburg: E.K. Meyers, State Printer, 1893), 311.
82. Dann, The Nagle Journal, 6–7
83. “The Autobiography of Charles Willson Peale,” Lillian B. Miller and Sidney Hart, eds., The
Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family (New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 2000), vol. 5, 52–53.
84. Joseph Lee Boyle, "From Saratoga to Valley Forge: The Diary of Lt. Samuel Armstrong," The
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, CXXI, 3 (July 1997), 258.
85. Wickman, "The Diary of Timothy Tuttle," New Jersey History, 69, 71, 72; C. Anne Wilson,
Food and Drink in Britain: From the Stone Ages to the 19th Century (Chicago, Il.: Academy of
Chicago Publishers, 1991), 199–200; Sandra L. Oliver to John Rees, 15 March 1997 (author's
collection).
86. Nathanael Greene to Washington, 15 February 1778, Richard K. Showman, ed., The Papers of
General Nathanael Greene, II (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980), 285.
87. C. Anne Wilson, Food and Drink in Britain, 199–200.
88. Commager and Morris, The Spirit of 'Seventy–Six, 530–531; Journal of Jehiel Stewart, 1775–
1776 (W25138), reel 2290, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files,
Record Group 15; My thanks to Donald Wickman who brought this journal to my attention with his
article "A Most Unsettled Time on Lake Champlain: The October 1776 Journal of Jahiel Stewart,"
Vermont History, 64, 2 (Spring 1996).
89. George Fox, “Corporal Fox's Memoir of Service, 1766–1783: Quebec, Saratoga, and the
Convention Army," J.A. Houlding & G. Kenneth Yates, eds., Journal of the
Society for Army Historical Research, vol. LXVIII, no. 275 (Autumn 1990) 160–161 (Courtesy of
Steve Rayner); British recipe for dumplings: "To make Hard Dumplings. Mix flour and water with a
little salt, like a paste, roll them in balls as big as a turkey's egg, roll them in a little flour, have the
water boiling, throw them in the water, and half an hour will boil them: they are best boiled with a
good piece of beef. You may add for change a few currants; have melted butter in a cup." Hannah
Glasse, The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy (London, printed for the Author, 1796; originally
published 1747. Reprint, Hamden Ct.: Archon Books, 1971), 256.
90. John Bell Tilden, “Extracts from the Journal of Lieutenant John Bell Tilden, Second
Pennsylvania Line, 1781–1782,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 36 (1912), 54.
91. Information and sources whippoorwill peas:
Cow Pea, Cowpea, Southern Pea; Vigna unguiculata 'Whippoorwill'; Family: Papilionaceae;
Genus: Vigna; Species: unguiculata; Cultivar: Whippoorwill; Category:
Annuals, Vegetables, “Dave’s Garden” (World Wide Web)
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1218/index.html; see also, Whippoorwill peas––Identification,
“Garden Web” (World Wide Web),
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/heirloom/msg0814275011223.html?6
For seed purchasing see, “Heirloom List,” South Carolina Foundation Seed Association
1162 Cherry Road Box 349952, Clemson, SC 29634, Telephone: 864–656–2520
http://virtual.clemson.edu/groups/seed/newpage21.htm, and, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, 2278
Baker Creek Road, Mansfield, MO 65704, www.rareseeds.com
92. Emil and Ruth Rosenblatt, eds., Hard Marching Every Day: The Civil War Letters of Private
Wilbur Fisk, 1861–1865 (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1992), 30–31.
93. Washington to Thomas Mifflin, 28 July 1777, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of
George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745–1799, vol. 8 (Washington:
Government Printing Office, 1933), 492–493.
94. William M. Dwyer, The Day is Ours! (New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, 1983), 136, 376;
Jonathan Todd to his father, 9 November 1777 (W2197), reel 2395, Revolutionary War Pension
and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, Record Group 15.
95. Commager and Morris, The Spirit of 'Seventy–Six, 530–531; Journal of Jehiel Stewart, 1775–
1776 (W25138), reel 2290, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files,
Record Group 15; My thanks to Donald Wickman who brought this journal to my attention with his
article "A Most Unsettled Time on Lake Champlain: The October 1776 Journal of Jahiel Stewart,"
Vermont History, 64, 2 (Spring 1996).
96. George Fox, “Corporal Fox's Memoir of Service, 1766–1783: Quebec, Saratoga, and the
Convention Army," J.A. Houlding & G. Kenneth Yates, eds., Journal of the
Society for Army Historical Research, vol. LXVIII, no. 275 (Autumn 1990) 160–161 (Courtesy
of Steve Rayner); British recipe for dumplings: "To make Hard Dumplings. Mix flour and water
with a little salt, like a paste, roll them in balls as big as a turkey's egg, roll them in a little flour,
have the water boiling, throw them in the water, and half an hour will boil them: they are best
boiled with a good piece of beef. You may add for change a few currants; have melted butter in a
cup." Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy (London, printed for the Author,
1796; originally published 1747. Reprint, Hamden Ct.: Archon Books, 1971), 256.
97. Ibid., 368–369. Henry Knox to Washington, 24 March 1781, George Washington Papers,
series 4, reel 76. Division orders, 1 December 1778, The Orderly Book of the First Pennsylvania
Regiment. Col. James Chambers. July 26, 1778 – December 6, 1778, John B. Linn and William H.
Egle, eds., Pennsylvania Archives, 2d series, XI (Harrisburg: Lane S. Hart, State Printer, 1880), 388.
98. Henry Knox to Washington, 24 March 1781, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 76.
99. Ibid.
100. 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), 82.
General Orders, 5 July 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of Washington, vol. 8 (1933), 351.
Observations on the army, Jedediah Huntington to George Washington, 1 January 1778, George
Washington Papers, series 4, reel 46.
101. Henry Knox to Washington, 24 March 1781, ibid., series 4, reel 76.
102. Ibid..
103. Ibid.
104. General Orders, 23 August 1776, Fitzpatrick, Writings of Washington, vol. 5 (1932), 478-479.
105. General Orders, 2 September 1776, ibid., vol. 6 (1932), 7.
106. On 3 May 1777, Christopher Ludwick was appointed "superintendent of bakers, and director of
baking, in the grand army of the United States." Worthington Chauncey Ford, Journals of the
Continental Congress 1774–1789, vol. VII (Washington, D.C., 1907), 323–324. General orders,
10 June 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of Washington, vol. 8 (1933), 212. Washington to Israel Putnam,
25 July 1777, ibid., 475. Turner, The Journal and Order Book of Captain Robert Kirkwood of the
Delaware Regiment, 124.
107. Washington to Christopher Ludwick, 25 July 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of Washington, vol. 8
(1933), 466.
108. General orders, 7 and 10 September 1777, Fitzpatrick, Writings of Washington, vol. 9 (1933),
165-166, 200.
109. "Journal of Bayze Wells of Farmington May, 1775-February, 1777 At the Northward and in
Canada," Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, vol. 7 (1899), 269. Joseph Plumb Martin,
Private Yankee Doodle: Being a Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a
Revolutionary Soldier, George F. Scheer, ed., (Boston and Toronto: Little, Brown and Company,
N.Y., 1962), 23-24.
110. Howard H. Peckham, Memoirs of the Life of John Adlum in the Revolutionary War (Chicago:
The Caxton Club, 1968), 72. Dwyer, The Day is Ours!, 102-103. Original source Charles Willson
Peale, "Journal by Charles Willson Peale, Dec. 4, 1776-Jan. 20, 1777," Pennsylvania Magazine of
History and Biography, vol. 38 (1914), 271-286.
111. Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 90, 97.
112. Johann Ewald, Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal, Joseph P. Tustin, trans. and
ed. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1979), 138, 387 (note 145). J.C.P. von Krafft,
Journal of Lieutenant John Charles Philip von Krafft (New York, 1968), 49, 51. Robert A. Selig,
"Deux-Ponts Germans: Unsung Heroes of the American Revolution", German Life
(August/September 1995), excerpts from the journal of Private Georg Daniel Flohr, 51-52.
113. General William Heath's orders, 12 July 1777, 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 3, vol. 18, target 4. See also, "... the following Rations to be delivered ... one
pound and a half of Beef, or eighteen Ounces of Pork ... One pound of Flour pr man each day –
Hard Bread to be dealt out one day in a week, in lieu of Flour," general orders, 24 December
1775, Fitzpatrick, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 4 (1931), 180; "the Ration allow'd
to the Army in future ought to be ... One pound & one quarter of a pound of Beef or One Pound
Pork ... 1¼ lb Flour or soft bread or 1 lb hard bread," recommendation of rations for the army by
a Board of General Officers, 10 November 1777, George Washington Papers (Library of
Congress), series 4, reel 45; 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), 179. "Ship stuff," Richard M.
Lederer, Colonial American English – A Glossary (Essex, Ct.: Verbatim, 1985). Ford, Journals of
the Continental Congress, vol. VIII (1907), 574-575.
114. "Revolutionary Journal Kept by Abiel Chandler of Andover, From December 2, 1776 Until
April 1, 1777, During Service on the North River, New York," Essex Institute Historical Collections,
vol. 47 (1911), 183. "... the following Rations to be delivered ... one pound and a half of Beef, or
eighteen Ounces of Pork ... One pound of Flour pr man each day - Hard Bread to be dealt out one
day in a week, in lieu of Flour," General orders, 24 December 1775, Fitzpatrick, Writings of
Washington, vol. 4 (1931), 180. "Boston July 12th. 1777 [per man per day] 1 lb Flour or Bread [and]
1 1/2 lb Beef or 18 oz Pork," Heath's orders, 12 July 1777, Numbered Record Books (Natl.
Archives), reel 3, vol. 18, target 4. "the Ration allow'd to the Army in future ought to be ... One
pound & one quarter of a pound of Beef or One Pound Pork ... 1 1/4 lb Flour or soft bread or 1 lb
hard bread," Recommendation of rations for the army by a Board of General Officers, 10 November
1777, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 45.
115. Dewees, A History of the Life and Services, 179.
116. British haversack pattern (1992), Brigade of the American Revolution. Haversack kit
available from Roy P. Najecki, Sutler, 1203 Reynolds Rd., Chepachet, RI 02814. 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, Washington Papers, series 6B, vol. 3, p. 2.
117. Joseph Plumb Martin, Private Yankee Doodle: A Narrative of Some of the Adventures,
Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier (New York, N.Y., 1962), 81.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. 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.
118. 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
Dapartment 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.
119. Benjamin Warner (pension no. S14798) served was born in New Haven,
Connecticut in 1757, and served as follows: On 8 May 1775 enlisted as a private in Capt.
Caleb Trowbridge's company, Wooster's Connecticut Regiment, discharged 6 September
1775; enlisted in Capt. Oliver Hanchet's company, Benedict Arnold's Connecticut
Regiment and was at the Siege of Quebec, discharged April 1776; on 6 August enlisted in
Capt. Goodyear's company, Colonel Thompson's Connecticut Regiment, was at the Battle
of Long Island, discharged in early December 1776; on 28 April 1777 enlisted in Captain
Parmelee's company, Major Atkinson's Connecticut Regiment, discharged in early
December 1777; enlisted in May 1779 and served three months in Capt. William
McClure's company, Colonel Crane's 3d Artillery Regiment. Christopher Fox, Anthony
D. Pell Curator of Collections at Fort Ticonderoga, notes, “The [Warner] knapsack was
one of the museum's earliest acquisitions. Inside the knapsack was found a note by
Benjamin Warner which reads ‘This Napsack I Caryd Through the war of the Revolution
to achieve the Merican Independance. I transmit it to my olest sone Benjamin Warner, jr.
with directions to keep it and transmit it to his oldest sone and so on to the latest posterity
and whilst one shred of it shall remane never surrender your liberty to a foren envador or
an aspiring demegog. Benjamin Warner, Ticonderoga March 27, 1837."
120. "Return of the Weight for the Cloathing, Arms, Accoutrements ... Necessary's &Ca of a
Grenadier, upon a March," Arthur Baillie, lieutenant, to Henry Bouquet, 28 August 1762,
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 Anburey, Travels Through the Interior Parts
of America in a Series of Letters by an Officer (New York, N.Y., 1969), vol. I, letter
XXXVI, 378-381.
121. 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.
122. Bruce E. Burgoyne, Enemy Views: The American Revolutionary War as Recorded by
the Hessian Participants (Bowie, Md., 1996), 160-162. Mike O’Donnell, U.S. Army &
Militia Canteens, 1775-1910 (Alexandria, Va.: O’Donnell Publications, 2008), 14-40. See
also, George C. Neumann and Frank J. Kravic, Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the
American Revolution (Harrisburg, Pa., 1975), 59-63.
123. Kate Mason Rowland, The Life of Charles Carroll of Carrolton 1737 - 1832 with his
Correspondence and Public Papers, vol. I (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons,
1898), 217-218. .
124. General orders, 19 September 1780, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George
Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, vol. 20 (Washington, DC,
1937), 349-350. 26 and 27 July 1777 entries, John Chilton's Diary (captain, 3rd Virginia
Regiment), Keith Family Papers, 1710-1916, Virginia Historical Society.
125. Journal of Jehiel Stewart, 1775-1776, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty - Land -
Warrant Application Files, National Archives Microfilm Publication M804, reel 2290,
W25138. Excerpts of this journal are covered in Donald Wickman, ed., "A Most Unsettled
Time on Lake Champlain: The October 1776 Journal of Jahiel Stewart", Vermont History,
vol. 64, no. 2 (Spring 1996), 98, endnote 7. William B. Lapham, ed., Elijah Fisher's Journal
While in the War for Independence ... 1775-1784 (Augusta, Me., 1880), 7. Martin, 192-193.
6. General orders, 3 June 1777, Fitzpatrick, WGW, vol. 8 (1933), 175. General orders, 9
August 1780, ibid., vol. 19 (1937), 348.
126. General orders, 8 July 1777, Fitzpatrick, WGW, vol. 8 (1933), 369-371. Timothy
Pickering to George Washington, 8 February 1782, Numbered Record Books Concerning
Military Operations, Letters sent by Timothy Pickering, Quartermaster General. Jan. 3-May
9, 1782, vol. 83, reel 26, p. 72-73.
127. 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 Publications M247, (Washington, DC, 1958), reel 38, pp. 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, GW Papers, series 4,
reel 49.
128. 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.
129. Edward Hand to George Washington, GW 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,
Doc. #LWS ???. 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, 1748-1817, Collections of the New York Historical Society,
microfilm edition (Woodbridge, N.J., 1977), reel 9, item 93, p. 31.
130. Timothy Pickering to Robert Morris, 29 September 1782, Numbered Record Books
Concerning Military Operations, Letters sent by Timothy Pickering, Quartermaster General,
vol. 84, reel 27, p. 163 (Document courtesy of Marko Zlatich, Washington, D.C.). "Weight
of Camp Kettles [May] .1782." ibid., vol. 103, reel 29, pp. 100-101.
131. General orders, 10 September 1777, Fitzpatrick, WGW, vol. 9 (1933), 200.The Orderly
Book of the First Pennsylvania Regiment, Col. James Chambers, 23 May 1779 to 25 August
1779, Linn and Egle, Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution, 447.
132. Howard H. Peckham, Memoirs of the Life of John Adlum in the Revolutionary War
(Chicago, Il., 1968), 49. William M. Dwyer, The Day is Ours! (New York, N.Y., 1983),
103. Original source Charles Willson Peale, "Journal by Charles Willson Peale, Dec. 4,
1776-Jan. 20, 1777," Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 38 (1914),
271-286.
133. Orderly Book of Lt. Col. Charles Mawhood, 17th Regiment of Foot, 11 October 1776-
28 December 1776, pp. 97-98, Collections of the New-York Historical Society.
Worthington Chauncey Ford, Journals of the Continental Congress 1774-1789, vol. VIII
(Washington, D.C., 1907), 446. George Weedon, Valley Forge Orderly Book of General
George Weedon of the Continental Army under Command of Genl. George Washington, in
the Campaign of 1777-8 (New York, N.Y., 1971), 216-217.
134. Loftus Cliffe to Jack, 24 October 1777, Letters of Loftus Cliffe, officer, 46th Regiment
of Foot, William L. Clements Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
135. Carter, Four Brothers in Blue, 330, 340.
136. Robert Latham, The Shorter Pepys (Berkeley, Ca., 1985), edited version of Samuel
Pepys' diary, 1660-1669, 932. 27 July 1777 entry, John Chilton's Diary (captain, 3rd
Virginia Regiment), Keith Family Papers, 1710-1916, Virginia Historical Society. Martin,
Private Yankee Doodle, 286.
137. James Abeel Receipt Book 1778-1779, Manuscript Collection of Morristown National
Historical Park Collection (microfilm edition), roll 1, entry 656).
93. John Sullivan, 24 March 1776, Report on Utensils, George Washington Papers, Presidential
Papers Microfilm (Washington: Library of Congress, 1961), series 4 (General Correspondence.
1697–1799); Brig. Gen. John Sullivan’s March 1776 command comprised the following
regiments: Col. James Reed’s 2nd Continental (New Hampshire), Col. John Nixon’s 4th
Continental (Massachusetts), Col. John Stark’s 5th Continental (New Hampshire), and Col.
Enoch Poor’s 8th Continental (New Hampshire). For the ensuing campaign, these units were split
between the Northern (2nd, 5th, and 8th regiments) and Main armies. Charles H. Lesser, Sinews of
Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army (Chicago, Il. and London: The
University of Chicago Press, 1976), 20-21, 24-25; Fred Anderson Berg, Encyclopedia of
Continental Army Units: Battalions, Regiments and Independent Corps (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole
Books, 1972), 32-33.
138. John G. Frazer, “A Return of Camp-Utensils &c in Store at Medford,” 25 March 1776,
George Washington Papers (Library of Congress, 1961), series 4.
139. In his memoirs Joseph Martin noted the camp kettle he carried when serving with the
Connecticut militia in 1776: "There were but three men present [in the mess]. We had our cooking
utensils ... to carry in our hands. They were made of cast iron and consequently heavy." 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), 51; Peter
Force, American Archives, series 5, vol. III (Washington, D.C.: Published by M. St. Clair and Peter
Force, 1853), 453.
140. Peter Force, American Archives, series 5, vol. I (Washington, 1848), 294.
141. "Return of all Public Property in the Quarter Masters Department with the Southern Army," 31
August 1781, Miscellaneous Numbered Records (The Manuscript File) in the War Department
Collection of Revolutionary War Records 1775-1790's, (National Archives Microfilm Publication
M859, roll 94), RG 93, NA, Washington, DC: GPO, no. 27556
142. Journals of the Provincial Congress of New York, vol. I (Albany, 1842), 324. Force, American
Archives, series 5, vol. I, 1344.
143. "A Return for Stores Wanting on [Board?] Gundalo Providence ...," 3 August 1776, Misc. Nod.
Records, NA, no. 21134, roll 69. Philip K. Lundeberg, The Gunboat Philadelphia and the Defense of
Lake Champlain in 1776 (Basin Harbor, VT, 1995), 36-43. See Howard Hoffman, Ship Plan,
Gondola Philadelphia, drawing no. 00122, sheet 13 of 16, Anchors, Fireplace and Cooking Utensils,
Division of Armed Forces History (Naval Section), National Museum of American History,
Smithsonian Institution. Harold L. Peterson, The Book of the Continental Soldier (Harrisburg, PA,
1968), 147-148. George C. Neumann and Frank J. Kravic, Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the
American Revolution (Harrisburg, PA, 1975), 91. George C. Neumann to John U. Rees, 6 May 1997
(letter, author's collection). Most of the articles described as coming from the Philadelphia are at the
Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.. The three-legged skillet is in a private collection.
144. Neumann and Kravic, Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia, 92, 94. Peterson, Book of the
Continental Soldier, 148-149. William Louis Calver and Reginald Pelham Bolton, History Written
With Pick and Shovel (New York, 1950), 216. Charles Knowles Bolton, The Private Soldier Under
Washington (Williamstown, MA, 1976), 82-83. Dan L. Morrill, Southern Campaigns of the
American Revolution (Baltimore, 1993), 148-149.
145. Jeffrey H. Fiske and Sally Ostergard Fiske, eds., Journal of Park Holland: Soldier of the
Revolution and Shays’ Rebellion, Maine Surveyor, and Early Penobscot Settler (New Braintree, Ma.:
Towtaid, 2000), 16, 17. Examples of available dishes, bowls, and plates of the Revolutionary era are
pictured in George C. Neumann and Frank J. Kravic, Collector’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of the
American Revolution (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1975), 110–114.
146. Park Holland, “A Visit to Judge Stephen Jones, at Machias, 1784,” The Bangor Historical
Magazine, vol. IV (July, 1888-June, 1889), Joseph W. Porter, editor and publisher (Bangor, Me.:
Benjamin A. Burr, 1888-1889), 104 (Google Books).
147. Edwin M. Stone, The Life and Recollections of John Howland, late
President of the Rhode Island Historical Society (Providence: George H. Whitney,
1857), 66 (World Wide Web), http://tiny.cc/7THqK .
148. John Greenwood, "Memoirs of the Life of the late Mr. John Greenwood, Mechanical and
Surgeon Dentist, of New-York City: Compiled by E. Bryan," The American Journal of Dental
Science, devoted to Original Articles, reviews of Dental Publications; the latest Improvements in
Surgical and Mechanical Dentistry, and Biographical Sketches of distinguished Dentists (Kelley
and Fraetas, Printers, New York, 1839), 103 (Google Books). The unit he belonged to is
identified on page 99; major of his regiment was Henry Sherburne, his captain was Thomas
Theodore Bliss, 15th Continental Regiment.
149. “Letters of General William Irvine to his Family ... Mrs. Ann Irvine, Carlisle, Penn,” The
Historical Magazine, and Notes and Queries, vol. VII (New York: Trubner and Co., 1863), 81-82
(Google Books).
150. Thomas Tallow (Tulloh), pension application (W6334), transcribed by Will Graves.
http://revwarapps.org/w6334.pdf, Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements
& Rosters, (World Wide Web) http://www.southerncampaign.org/pen/
___________________________________

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, 7, no. 1 (Fall 1995): 2, 8.

"’Sometimes we drew two days rations at a time.’: The Soldiers' Daily Issue,” FHN, 7,
no. 3 (Winter 1995): 2–3.

"’Drew 2 pound of Shugar and 1 pound of Coffee’: Extraordinary Foodstuffs Issued

the Troops,” FHN, 8, no. 1 (Summer 1996): 2–3.

"’The unreasonable prices extorted ... by the market People’: Camp Markets and the
Impact of the Economy,” FHN, 7, no. 4 (Spring 1996): 2–3.

"’Complaint has been made by many of the Inhabitants’: Soldiers' Efforts to

Supplement the Ration Issue,” FHN, 8, no. 2 (Fall 1996): 1–2, 7.

"’Whilst in this country’: Sullivan's Expedition and the Carolina Campaigns,” FHN, 8,
no. 3 (Winter 1996): 2, 6–7. http://www.scribd.com/doc/172542103/Whilst-in-this-
country-Supplementing-Soldiers%E2%80%99-Rations-with-Regional-Foods-
Sullivan-s-Expedition-1779-and-the-Carolina-Campaigns-1781-1782
 "’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, 8, 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. http://tinyurl.com/cjf9lle

“’The Gingerbread Man’: More on Washington’s Baking Superintendent, Then and

Now,” FHN, 17, no. 1 (Summer 2005): 2. http://tinyurl.com/cjf9lle

"’As many fireplaces as you have tents’: Earthen Camp Kitchens,” FHN, 9, no. 2 (Fall
1997): 2, 8–9, plus “Matt and I Dig a Kitchen: Recreating an 18th–Century Cooking
Excavation,” FHN, 9, no. 3 (Winter 1998): 2. Also published as "Earthen Camp
Kitchens,” Muzzleloader, 30, no. 4 (September/October 2003): 59–64. For online version
see https://www.scribd.com/document/229610630/As-many-fireplaces-as-you-have-
tents-Earthen-Camp-Kitchens

"’Our pie–loving ... stomachs ... ache to even look.’: Durable Foods for Armies, 1775–
1865,” FHN, 9, no. 4 (Spring 1998): 2, 7–8.
https://www.scribd.com/doc/262786402/Our-pie-loving-stomachs-ache-to-even-look-
Durable-Foods-for-Armies-1775-1865

"’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, 10,
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, 10, 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, 12, no. 3 (47): 2,
9–10.
part II. “’Owing to this variety of waste …’: Producing, Storing, and Transporting
Bread,” FHN, 12, no. 4 (48): 2, 9–10.
part III. “’We now have 500 head of fat cattle’: Procuring, Transporting, and Processing
Livestock,” FHN, 12, no. 4 (48): 2, 8–9.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/227059610/False-hopes-and-temporary-devices-
Organizing-Food-Supply-in-the-Continental-Army-1-To-subsist-an-Army-
well-An-Organizational-Overview

“’A perfect nutriment for heroes!’: Apples and North American Soldiers, 1757–1918,”
FHN, 14, no. 1 (53): 2, 6.

“’The oficers are Drunk and Dancing on the table …’: U.S Soldiers and Alcoholic
Beverages,” FHN, 14, no. 2 (54): 2.
 “’The repast was in the English fashion …’: Washington’s Campaign for Refined
Dining in the War for Independence,” FHN, 14, no. 3 (55): 2.

"’Give us Our Bread Day by Day.’: Continental Army Bread, Bakers, and Ovens”
(http://tinyurl.com/d6t385f) :
part I. “’Waste and bad management …’: Regulating Baking,” FHN, 15, no. 4 (60): 2, 9.
part II.“’A bake–house was built in eleven days …’: Contemporary Baking Operations and
Army Masonry Ovens,” FHN, 15, no. 1 (61): 2, 8.
part III. “’Seeing that the Ovens may be done right …’: Bake Oven Designs,” FHN, vol.
15, no. 3 (63): 2, 8.
part IV. “’The mask is being raised!!’: Denouement: Early–War Iron Ovens, and a
Yorktown Campaign Bakery,” FHN, 16, 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, 17, 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,

"’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. http://tinyurl.com/ce22e6t

"’A better repast’: Continental Army Field and Company Officers’ Fare,” FHN, vol.
XX, no. 4 (80), 2–3.

“`Six of our regt lived together …’: Mess Groups, Carrying Food … (and a Little Bit
of Tongue) in the Armies of the Revolution”
Mess Groups
Food Distribution
Carrying Food
The Burden of Rations
And … Tongue
http://revwar75.com/library/rees/pdfs/tongue.pdf

“The common necessaries of life …” A Revolutionary Soldier’s Wooden Bowl,”

including, “’Left sick on the Road’: An Attempt to Identify the Soldier Left at the Paxson
Home, ‘Rolling Green,’ June 1778.”) http://tinyurl.com/at3dj3e
 "Give us day by day our daily bread."
Continental Army Bread, Ovens, and Bakers
http://www.scribd.com/doc/125174710/Give-us-day-by-day-our-daily-bread-Continental-
Army-Bread-Ovens-and-Bakers
Compiled and updated for:
“Their best wheaten bread, pies, and puddings…,”
An Historic Baking Symposium,
Fort Lee Historic Park, N.J., 28 August 2010
(Hosted by Deborah's Pantry)
Contents

“Waste and bad management …”

Regulating Baking

"Hard enough to break the teeth of a rat."

Biscuit in the Armies of the Revolution

“A bake–house was built in eleven days …”

Contemporary Baking Operations and Army Masonry Ovens

“Seeing that the Ovens may be done right …”

Bake Oven Designs

“The mask is being raised!!”

Early–War Iron Ovens, and a Yorktown Campaign Bakery
“Hands are most wanted to bake bread for the Soldiers …"
The Superintendent's Bakers

"The essential service he rendered to the army ..."

Christopher Ludwick, Superintendent of Bakers

Addendum: Hard Biscuit Recipes

“’A wave struck the ship, the soup flew out of my bowl …’: Food and Accommodations for
Soldiers at Sea during the War for Independence” (Including a section titled, “German
Troops on Campaign in America”)
https://www.scribd.com/doc/259230707/A-wave-struck-the-ship-the-soup-flew-out-
of-my-bowl-Food-and-Accommodations-for-Soldiers-at-Sea-during-the-War-for-
Independence-Including-a
"`To subsist an Army well ...': Soldiers' Cooking Equipment 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”
“Iron Pots, Pans, and Makeshift Cookware”
“Eating Utensils”
“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”
Addendum to online version:
“Two brass kettles, to contain ten gallons each … for each company …”
Brass and Copper Kettles
Military Collector & Historian, vol. 53, no. 1 (Spring 2001), 7-23.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/180835470/To-subsist-an-Army-well-Soldiers-Cooking-
Equipment-Provisions-and-Food-Preparation-During-the-American-War-for-
Independence

"`As many fireplaces as you have tents ...': Earthen Camp Kitchens”:
Contents
Part I. "Cooking Excavations": Their History and Use by Soldiers in North America
A. Advantages.
B. Digging a Field Kitchen.
Part II. Complete 1762 Kitchen Description and Winter Covering for Field Kitchens
Part III. Matt and I Dig a Kitchen.
Sequenced photos of kitchen construction, June 1997, Bordentown, New Jersey.
Part IV. Original Earthen Kitchens Examined by Archaeologists.
A. The Laughanstown, Ireland Earthen Kitchen.
B. The Gloucester Point (VIMS) Kitchen, 1781.
C. Hessian Kitchens, Winchester, England, 1756.
Appendices:
1. Encampment Plans (with an emphasis on kitchen placement): Continental Army, Hessian, and British
2. British Image of Cooking Excavations (Redcoat Images No. 2,000)
3. Newspaper Article on the Discovery of the Gloucester Point Kitchen
4. Miscellaneous Images of Earthen Camp Kitchens and Soldiers Cooking
https://www.scribd.com/document/229610630/As-many-fireplaces-as-you-have-tents-Earthen-
Camp-Kitchens
(Video of Old Barracks kitchen, courtesy of David Niescior, https://vimeo.com/151154631 )