SPECIAL STUDIES

SUPPLYING
WASHINGTON'S ARMY

by
Erna Risch

CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1981

SPECIAL STUDIES SERIES
Maurice Matloff, General Editor

Advisory Committee
(As of  1 November 1979)

U.S. Army Center of Military History
Brig. Gen. James L. Collins, Jr., Chief of Military History

Contents

FOREWORD

THE AUTHOR

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

Role of the Quartermaster's Department
Congressional Actions
Appointment of Clothier General Mease
Multiplicity of Purchasing Agents
Mease's Resignation
Washington's Proposals
Regulatory Legislation
Appointment of James Wilkinson
Legislative Action
Appointment of John Moylan

10. CLOTHING THE TROOPS

Lack of Uniformity in Dress
Payment by Wage Stoppage
Problems Confronting Mease
Clothing Crisis, 1777-1778
Arrival of Imports
Clothing for Officer
Shoe Supply
Continuance of Clothing Shortages

11. EVOLUTION OF THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT

Growth of Field Organization
Origins of the Civil Branch
Appointment of Commissary General Flower
Regulation of the Department
Revised Regulation for Field Organization
Improvement of Field Arrangements
Reduction of Field Organization
Extent of the Commissary General's Department
Artillery Artificers
Economy Measures

12. SUPPLY OF ORDNANCE AND ORDNANCE STORES

Foreign Procurement
Scarcity of Powder
Manufacture of Powder
Continuing Scarcity of Powder
Domestic Production of Arms
Variety of Arms
Scarcity of Arms
Factors Contributing to Arms Shortage
Supply of Cannon
Domestic Production of Cannon, Shot, and Shells
Delivery and Distribution
Issue and Accountability
Supply Deterioration

13. THE HOSPITAL DEPARTMENT

Hospital Facilities
Scarcity of Drugs and Instruments
Wounds, Fevers, and Smallpox
Prewar Preparations
First Organization of the Hospital Department
Congressional Supervision
Regimental Versus General Hospitals
Departmental Difficulties
Procurement of Hospital Stores
Procurement of Medicines and Surgical Instruments
Procurement of Other Hospital Supplies
The Rising Tide of Complaints
Dismissal of Morgan and Stringer
Reorganization of the Hospital Department
Rush-Morgan-Shippen Feud
Elimination of the District Organization Prerogatives of Officers
Appointment of Dr. John Cochran

14. A CONCLUDING COMMENTARY

Supply Limitations
Importance of French Aid
Responsibility for Supply Shortages
Supply Abuses
Conduct of the Populace
The Secret Committee and Abuses 
Supply Chiefs and Trade
Charges Against Subordinate Supply Agents
Inquiries and Court-Martials
Evaluation of Supply Agencies
Patriotism and Profits

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 
 

No.
1. New England Area Departmental Boundaries
2. Mid-Atlantic Area Departmental Boundaries
 

George Washington at Princeton
Thomas Mifflin
Stephen Moylan
Nathanael Greene
Timothy Pickering
Edward Carrington
Supply Train En Route to Valley Forge
Henry Dearborn
Reconstruction of Soldiers' Hut at Valley Forge State Park
Jeremiah Wadsworth
Valley Forge: A Foraging Party
Robert Morris
James Wilkinson
Henry Knox
Knox's Transportation of Artillery From Ticonderoga
James Craik
James Tilton
William Shippen
Benjamin Rush
John Cochran

Illustrations courtesy of the following sources: George Washington at Princeton (Charles Willson Peale) is from the U.S. Capitol Collection; portraits of Mifflin, Greene, Dearborn (all by Charles Willson Peale), and Wadsworth (attributed to James Sharples) are from the Independence National Historical Park Collection; portraits of Moylan, Pickering, Wilkinson, Knox, and Craik, and the illustrations on pp. 81, 151, 358 are from the National Archives; portraits of Carrington and Rush, and Valley Forge: A Foraging Party (Harrington Fitzgerald), are from the Library of Congress; portraits of Biddle (Bernard Uhle, after unidentified miniaturist) and Morgan are from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; portrait of Joseph Trumbull (John Trumbull) is from the Connecticut Historical Society; portrait of Morris is from the Department of State; portrait of Flower is from The Star-Spangled Banner Flag House Association; portraits of Shippen, Cochran, and Tilton are from the National Library of Medicine.

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