This significant historical book on a previously unexplored aspect of the Revolutionary War was produced by the Center of Military History, providing an important basic reference on the military history of the Revolution. This book brings together for the first time a mass of data on the various institutions involved in keeping Washington's troops in the field. It should have a large impact on future accounts of the problems and operations of the Continental Army and serve as a standard reference on its supply system for decades to come. Military operations of the American Revolution have been fully covered in numerous volumes, but these works have included relatively little analysis of how the Continental Army was kept in the field. Accounts have described how Revolutionary soldiers left bloody tracks in the winter snow as they marched without shoes to defeat the British at Trenton. Their stamina and fortitude have been extolled in descriptions of the distress they suffered at Valley Forge. The curious reader, however, is left to wonder how the soldier was clothed and armed and why there was such a shortage of provisions. This study seeks to provide answers as to how the main Continental army, the army directly under General George Washington's control, was maintained in the field for eight years. Partial Contents: PREFACE * 1. THE CONTINENTAL ARMY * Appointment of Supply Chiefs * Gradual Evolution of a War Department * Mercantile Capitalism * Common Features of Supply Organization * Lack of a Stable Currency * Supply by Expropriation * Phases of Logistical Support * Preparations and Sources of Supply * Size of Continental Forces * 2. ORGANIZATION OF THE QUARTERMASTER'S DEPARTMENT * Appointment of Officers * Organization Under Mifflin * First Regulatory Measure * Mifflin's Services and Resignation * Appointment of Greene * Criticism of the Department * Reform of the Department * Appointment of Pickering * 3. LAND TRANSPORTATION * Need for Organic Transportation * Manufacture of Wagons * Establishment of the Wagon Department * Procedures and Abuses * Appointment of James Thompson * Proposals for an Enlisted Wagon Corps * Wagons on the Supply Lines * Congressional Action * Changes in the Wagon Department * Distress on the Supply Lines * Preparations for the 1781 Campaign * 4. FORAGE DEPARTMENT * Supply and Cavalry * Increased Demands in New York * First Regulatory Measure * Reasons for Forage Deficiency * Biddle's Reform Proposals * Problems Confronting Biddle * Biddle's Resignation and Recall * Forage Supply Under Pickering * 5. OTHER QUARTERMASTER SUPPORT * Water Transportation * The Boat Department * Sheltering the Troops * Quartermaster Artificers * 6. ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMISSARIAT * Appointment of Trumbull * Criticism of the Department * Regulation of 1777 * Appointment of William Buchanan * Continuation of the Issuing Department * Regulation of 1778 * Regulation of 1780 * 7. SUBSISTING THE ARMY UNDER THE COMMISSARIAT * Adoption of a Uniform Ration * The Ration and Health * Preparation of Food * Flour Supply Under Trumbull * Importance of Salt Meat Supply Under Trumbull Magazines * Supply During the Winter of 1776-1777 * Background for Valley Forge * Suspension of Meat Procurement * Competitive Measures for Flour Supply * Factors Hampering Meat Supply * Preparations Under Wadsworth * Flour for a Joint Venture Interference in Commissariat Matters * Transfer of Convention Troops * Depreciation and Supply * Distress at Morristown * 8. FROM COMMISSARIES TO CONTRACTORS * Criticism of the System * Possible Allied Cooperation * Breakdown of the Specific Supplies System * Limited Application of the Contract System * Contractual Authority * The Yorktown Campaign * Contractual Arrangements * Contract for a Moving Army * 9. ORGANIZATION OF THE CLOTHING DEPARTMENT * more

A narrative analysis of the complex evolution of the Continental Army, with the lineages of the 177 individual units that comprised the Army, and fourteen charts depicting regimental organization.

In this major new history of the Continental Army's Grand Forage of 1778, award-winning military historian Ricardo A. Herrera uncovers what daily life was like for soldiers during the darkest and coldest days of the American Revolution: the Valley Forge winter. Here, the army launched its largest and riskiest operation—not a bloody battle against British forces but a campaign to feed itself and prevent starvation or dispersal during the long encampment. Herrera brings to light the army's herculean efforts to feed itself, support local and Continental governments, and challenge the British Army. Highlighting the missteps and triumphs of both General George Washington and his officers as well as ordinary soldiers, sailors, and militiamen, Feeding Washington's Army moves far beyond oft-told, heroic, and mythical tales of Valley Forge and digs deeply into its daily reality, revealing how close the Continental Army came to succumbing to starvation and how strong and resourceful its soldiers and leaders actually were.

Appendices include laws and legislation concerning the Army Medical Department. Maps include those of territories and frontiers and Continental Army hospital locations. Illustrations are chiefly portraits.

During the period 1775-78 of the American Revolutionary War, General Washington commanded three separate armies: the New England Army of 1775; the one-year army of the United Colonies, renamed Army of the United States in July 1776; and the forces established by the Continental Congress to serve for three years from January 1777, or for the duration. In this, the first of two studies by Marko Zlatich (Men-at Arms 290 continues the treatment, covering the period from 1779-83), the systems used by state and Continental authorities to procure clothing materials, the quantities they obtained and the specifications of the uniforms themselves are all examined in detail.

Discover the fascinating stories and history of the American Revolutionary War. With twenty-two chapters, this unique compilation provides a stunning, richly detailed overview of the military strategies, campaigns, battles, and personalities of the war. Because of the enormous size of this encyclopedia, it has been split into two parts for the paperback version. Part One Contents: Chapter 1 - Stories From The American Revolution * Chapter 2 - Battles of the American Revolution * Chapter 3 - The Revolution: Day By Day * Chapter 4 - From Gentility to Atrocity: The Continental Army's Ways of War * Chapter 5 - The American Revolution: Basics * Chapter 6 - The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation * Chapter 7 - Timeline of the American Revolution * Chapter 8 - Supplying Washington's Army Part Two Contents: Chapter 8 - Supplying Washington's Army (Concluding sections) * Chapter 9 - Birth of the Navy, John Paul Jones, Vessels of the Continental Navy * Chapter 10 - Army NCO History: American Revolution * Chapter 11 - Intelligence and the Revolutionary War * Chapter 12 - Intelligence in the War of Independence * Chapter 13 - Thomas Knowlton and His Rangers, The Taproot of U.S. Army Intelligence * Chapter 14 - Rangers in Colonial and Revolutionary America * Chapter 15 - Training the Army, The Musket Drill * Chapter 16 - The Virginia Campaign and the Blockade and Siege of Yorktown, French Participation in the American Revolution * Chapter 17 - The Battle of Camden, South Carolina * Chapter 18 - The Battle of Kings Mountain and the Battle of the Cowpens, South Carolina * Chapter 19 - The British Campaign for Philadelphia and the Occupation of Valley Forge in 1777 * Chapter 20 - Valley Forge History * Chapter 21 - Tolerably Comfortable: A Field Trial of a Recreated Soldier Cabin at Valley Forge * Chapter 22 - Bibliography of The American Revolution: Military History The encyclopedia opens with a basic introduction, Stories from the American Revolution, providing a capsule history of the war from protests in 1763 to the end game at Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris. There is a discussion of African-Americans, American Indians, privateers, and the role of religion in the Revolutionary Period. There are biographies of General George Washington, Nathanael Greene, Salem Poor, Captain John Paul Jones, John Adams, Haym Salomon, and Thomas Paine. The second chapter gives a good overview of the major battles of the revolution. Chapter Three provides a very thorough day-by-day overview through 1783. The next chapter is an essay about the continental army's ways of war. Chapter Five discusses the factors contributing to the success of the American colonies as they revolted against British rule. The following chapter by the U.S. Army is a detailed account of the Army in the forging of a nation, beginning with the European heritage of the colonies. A major section provides a timeline of the revolution with numerous original document transcriptions, placing each text in the context of its history. It gives extraordinary contemporaneous insight into the thoughts and plans of key players in the drama, including Washington. Supplying Washington's Army is the next section of this incredible encyclopedia, answering the question of how the soldiers were clothed and armed and why there was such a shortage of provisions. The role of the first American Navy, and Captain John Paul Jones, is covered in the next chapter, which includes a full list of vessels of the Continental Navy. The history of the U.S. Army noncommissioned officer (NCO), dating back to 1775 with the birth of the Continental Army, is discussed in the next chapter. There are four chapters on intelligence, including the role of Army rangers and Thomas Knowlton. A brief chapter describes the musket drill. Army-supplied histories of four major battles provide vivid accounts: Camden, King's Mountain, Philadelphia, and the Virginia Campaign.