The “new Invented Napsack and haversack,” 1776.

John U. Rees

Excerpted from:
“This Napsack I carryd through the war of the Revolution”
Knapsacks Used by the Soldiers during the War for American Independence
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210794759/%E2%80%9C-This-Napsack-I-carryd-through-the-war-of-
the-Revolution-Knapsacks-Used-by-the-Soldiers-during-the-War-for-American-Independence-
Part-1-of-%E2%80%9C-Cos
__________

Contents
1. Design.
2. Knapsack Manufacture and Issuance.
3. Likely Use 1777 and 1778.
4. Recap of units known to been issued the “new Invented Napsack and haversack”
_____________________________

Design. In the winter and spring of the war’s second year many newly authorized regiments were
being formed in all of the colonies to augment the fledgling Continental army. All of those new
soldiers needed equipment to take the field, and suppliers were sought to manufacture various
items. That mid-winter one hopeful businessman wrote a Maryland Congressman:
Saml. Chase Esqr. Philad. Feby 9 1776
Sir
 The above is a rough draft of the new Invented Napsack and haversack in one That is adopted
by the American Regulars of Pennsylvania, New Jersey & Virginia @ 8/6 each. I could furnish
any quantity that may be wanted for Maryland by ye first of April.
Best cartouch boxes, for 23 rounds, with a pouch, large flap, and Shoulder Belt - @8/6
Bayonet Belts, to go over ye Shoulder with a double frog to Carry a Bayonett & Tomahawk
@4/6.
Gun Slings @2/each, priming wires & Brushes @7/6 doz.
Any quantity of the above articles that may be wanted for ye province of Maryland, you may
depend on being punctually & carefully supply’d with, if you see proper to employ
Your Obdt. Ser,
J. Young 27

An interesting proposal and pattern, and while it has yet to be substantiated this item was used
by the three colonies mentioned in the above letter, there is evidence Maryland adopted Mr.
Young’s new knapsack for a portion of its troops.
Five months following Mr. Young’s proposal, and just one day after Col. William Smallwood’s
Maryland Battalion marched north, the following notice ran in the 11 July issue of the Maryland
Gazette:
In Council of Safety, July 9.
Wanted immediately for the use of the province, three thousand four hundred canteens, to hold
one quart each; three thousand four hundred knapsacks with havresacks; three thousand four
hundred priming wires and brushes; and five hundred small iron pots or kettles [page torn,
illegible] to answer to the purpose of camp-kettles; Any person or persons willing to contract for
supplying the same, are desired to send their proposals to the council of safety as soon as
possible.28

Contractors John Gordon and Matthew Patton soon after wrote the Maryland Council,
We the subscribers do propose to make Napsacks with oyl covers at seven shillings each. Country
Linning napsacks at six shillings each Russia Duck. Napsacks at 6/6 each provided we get a
quantity. John Gordon Matthew Patton
Baltimore July 17th 1776.29

And ten days later received this reply:

To Messrs Gordon and Patten.
Gentlemen. Inclosed you will have a plan of a Knapsack and Havresack in one adopted by three
Provinces and which they offer to make of the Materials, Dimentions and in manner described, in
Philadelphia at Eight Shillings and Six pence. If you incline to make two Thousand six hundred at
that Rate we will agree to pay that price, provided they be made in the space of six weeks at
furthest. We expect your answer immediately that we may apply elsewhere in case you do not
incline to furnish us. 27 July 1776 30

Manufacture and Issuance. As previously intimated, Col. William Smallwood’s Maryland

Regiment, almost 700 strong, left Annapolis for New York on 10 July; to date no information
has been found as to how and when they were supplied knapsacks. The impetus for the Council
of Safety’s 11 July advertisement seeking a manufacturer for the combined knapsack/haversacks
was a 3 June 1776 Congressional resolution requiring “That a flying camp be immediately
established” to reinforce the army in New York and New Jersey. Maryland’s contribution was
3,400 militia, all of whom needed to be equipped for field service.31
 The Council’s next mention notes that Gordon and Patton agreed to supply their assigned
portion of the order, and as will be seen, the pattern was to be the combined knapsack/haversack.

Wednesday 31st July 1776 Council met … Ordered That the Treasurer of the Western Shore …
pay to John Gordon and Matthew Patten four hundred Pounds on Account of their Contract. The
Council contracted with John Gordon and Matthew Patten for the making 2600 Knapsacks and
Havresacks on the Terms specified in an Agreement of this Day.32

“Rough draft of the new Invented Napsack and haversack in one,” included with J. Young’s
February 9 1776 letter to Maryland Congressman Samuel Chase.
 Well before the proposed six-week deadline, the contractors were being pushed for delivery:
To Mr. John Gordon, Baltimore Town
Sir. As all the Troops belonging to the Province are directed to march immediately to the
Northward, we beg you will work Day and Night in furnishing the Knapsack and Havresack; you
have engaged to make, as they cannot march without them.
16 August 1776 33

The same day the Maryland Council wrote the state’s representatives in Congress,
We received yours of the 13th and have seen what you wrote to Major Jenifer on the State of
Publick Affairs, in Consequence of a Resolve of the Convention we have given orders to all the
Independant Companies four in number to march. Colonel Carvell Hall and Colonel Ewing, and
six or seven Companies on the Eastern Shore have like orders to March, so that with Griffith's
Battalion, we shall have near four thousand men with you in a short time — this exceeds our
proportion for the flying. Camp, but we are sending all we have that can be armed and equipped,
and the people of New York, for whom we have great affection, can have no more than our all.
Inclosed you have a list of the several Battalions & Companies…. P. S. These Companies are not
all fully armed and equipped, but we hope soon to Collect enough. August 16 1776.
List of the Troops from Maryland
Smallwood's Battalion 9 Companies 76 each................ 684
Captain Veazey 100, Captain Hindman 100, Captain
Thomas 100....................................................... 300
Captain Beall 100, Captain Gunby 100...................... 200
Captain Woolford 100, Captain Watkins 100................ 200
Griffith's Battalion 9 Companies 90 men each............ 810
Colonel Carvell Halls ditto ditto ............ 8 10

3 Companies of Colonel Ewings............................... 270

7 Companies of Eastern Shore Battalion ..................... 644
the remaining Companies of Ewings and the Eastern Shore Battalion must borrow Arms from
the Militia to do duty here they can get Arms on no other Terms.34

Maryland’s contribution of organized military units in 1776 consisted of “a battalion of 9

companies, 7 independent companies, 2 companies of artillery and 1 company of marines,” the
state’s militia, plus four companies of the German Regiment (raised that summer and autumn),
and four companies of Col. Hugh Stephenson’s Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment.35 In his
article on the 1776 Flying Camp, Eric Manders nicely lays out which of these units joined
Washington’s forces in and around New York, and when they headed north.
In July the regiment [Smallwood’s Maryland Battalion] marched north with the 4th, 5th, and 7th
Independent Companies, all under the command of Colonel William Smallwood. Congress
forwarded these troops to New York as part of the Flying Camp detachment, and they were
subsequently engaged at Long Island and White Plains.
In August the remaining four independent companies were ordered to join Smallwood. The 3d
Company, however, seems to have spent the balance of its existence in Philadelphia, beset by
internal difficulties. The six companies in New York were never formally regimented, but for a
while they formed a loose organization under the command of the regiment’s first major. On 19
September they were incorporated into the regiment. …
The four regiments of [Maryland] militia levies – Griffith’s, Ewings’s, Richardson’s, and
Hall’s – joined the Grand Army in September … 36
 As noted, excepting the militia, most of Maryland’s state troops marched before Gordon and
Patten were contracted to make the combined knapsack/haversacks; all except the 1st, 2d, 3d,
and 6th Independent Companies:

1st Maryland Independent Company, Capt. Rezin Beall (Charles and Calvert Counties)
2d Maryland Independent Company, Capt. John Gunby (Somerset County)
3d Maryland Independent Company, Capt. John Watkins (Worcester County)
6th Maryland Independent Company, Capt. Thomas Woolford (Dorchester County)

Of these, only the 1st, 2d, and 6th Companies saw active service, but only the 2d and 6th
(Gunby’s and Woolford’s) are known to have received “Knapsacks with haversacks,” a phrasing
meaning the “Napsack and haversack in one.” Other companies received them, too, but all were
Maryland militia slated to join Flying Camp force in New Jersey.

Friday, August 23rd, 1776 … Ordered, That Commissary of Stores send to Captain [John] Deans
[4th Battalion, Flying Camp militia] eighty-six Knapsacks with Haversacks …

Saturday, August 24th, 1776…Ordered, That Comissary of Stores, at Baltimore Town, deliver to
Captain [Thomas] Bourke [4th Battalion, Flying Camp militia]…100 Knapsacks with haversacks.
… to Captain [John] Gunby [2d Maryland Independent Company] …90 Knapsacks with
haversacks …

Monday 26th August 1776 … Ordered That Commissary of Stores at Baltimore deliver
to Captn [Thomas] Woolford [6th Maryland Independent Company] … 98 Knapsacks with
Havresacks …

Wednesday August 28th 1776. …Ordered That commissary of Stores deliver to Captn
[Greenburry] Goldsborough for use of [4th Battalion] Flying Camp Militia on Eastern shore two
hundred and fifty Knapsacks with Havresacks.

Friday Augt 30th 1776 … Ordered That Commissary of Stores at Annapolis deliver to Captn
[Alexander] Magruder [3d Battalion, Flying Camp militia] sixty three Knapsacks with
Havresacks …

Thursday September 5th 1776 … Ordered That Commissary of Stores at Annaps deliver
to Captn Philip Feddeman [4th Battalion, Flying Camp militia], eighty six Knap & Havresacks …
37

In the end John Gordon and Matthew Patten were remunerated for their efforts:

Friday, September 6th 1776 Council met … Ordered That said Treasurer pay to Gordon &
Patten seven hundred and eight pounds, eighteen shillings for Knapsacks with Havresacks.38

With the £400 already paid when the contract was awarded on 31 July, the total amount
tendered Gordon and Patten was £1,108, 18 shillings, the correct payment for supplying 2,600
knapsacks with haversacks to the state. The Maryland Council orders given above account for
only 673 of the knapsacks; whether the remainder was immediately issued or placed in storage is
unknown at this time.
 And what of Mr. Young who first proffered the combined knapsack and haversack in
February? While there is no evidence of him being offered a contract by the Council of Safety,
there is a record of payments made to John Young for knapsacks and other equipment:39
Thursday Augt 22d 1776. Council met … Ordered That said Treasurer pay to Peter Rambo for use
of John Young two hundred & eighty seven pounds, six shillings & six Pence for Knapsacks &
Guns.
Monday September 30th 1776. Council met … Ordered That said Treasurer pay to Thos Saml
Poole for use of John Young one hundred & six Pounds, five shillings for Knapsacks &c:

Whether J. Young and John Young are same person is debatable, but as the former seems to
have been based in Philadelphia, and the above-noted funds were paid to intermediary agents, it
is possible, perhaps probable. It is easier to determine that Col. William Smallwood’s Maryland
Battalion had received knapsacks and haversacks as separate items; an “Abstract of Cloathing
Issued to the Maryland Line & ca in the Service of the Continental Army/ Delivered by Charles
W. Howard State Clothier in 1776” lists 2,203 knapsacks, while a “Return of Officers &
Soldiers, Arms accouterments & camp equipage brought from Maryland by the Troops under the
Command of Colonel William Smallwood, Philadellphia 20th July 1776” tallies 502
haversacks.40
Other documents prior to Messrs. Gordon and Patten being awarded the knapsack contract
shows that numbers of haversacks had been made as separate items, and refer to some
construction details (such as the possibility of linen webbing for shoulder straps) as well. On 27
July 1776 the Maryland Council wrote Commissary of Stores Gerard Hopkins,
Inclosed you will receive an order on the Treasurry for Fifty Pounds to pay off the Debts you have
incurred on the account of the Knapsacks and Havresacks for Girth and Diaper web and what you
may want for future Purchases of that sort.
I have it in command from the Council to inform you that it is impossible for them to fix the price
of making the Havresacks, as they cannot be Judges of the value of work they have never seen, and
Havresacks are made in various forms, and of course more work must be bestowed on one kind than
another.
Knapsacks and Havresacks in one, are offered to be made in Philadelphia, and all materials found,
for eight shillings and six pence a piece; you speak only of Havresacks, it is not known if you mean
Havresacks alone, or Knapsacks and Havresacks together, as soon as the price can be fixed, the cash
will be sent you. The Councill will pay what the Committee of Baltimore shall fix their value at.
It is by no means agreeable to the Council that the officers of the Flying Camp should have any
command over the stores of this Province and they cannot look upon you as acting in the Line of
your duty in disposing of them to any of them without orders from their Board they are to be in
Continental pay and no regular account can be kept against the Continent without such commands
issuing from the proper place.
They will, however, take the eight hundred and fifty Havresacks made in consequence of Colonel
Ewing’s request to you, which you are to deliver only to the order of the Council of Safety. They
again desire to know whether you mean Havresacks alone or Knapsacks with them.
Inclosed is a letter open which you are desired to seal and deliver to Messrs. Gordon and Patten, it
contains proposals for making a quantity of Knapsacks and Havresacks, the pattern and price, and
they are requested to give an answer speedily.
I am yours, &c.,
Gabriel Duvall.
To Mr. Gerard Hopkins, son of Richard.41
 Hopkins replied three days later,
Baltimore, July 30, 1776
Sir … You desire me to inform you whether I have the Knapsacks and Haversacks made in one.
When Colo Ware requested me to have the 500 made he desired I would have Haversacks made,
and did not mention Knapsacks. I also showed him a pattern before they were made. Col Ewing’s
are made without knapsacks also. I think they cannot cost altogether, finished off, more than
3s[hillings] a piece. They are made out of cruder [linen issued] out of the magazine. I have
advanced myself as the women were in want to cash as far as 9d.apiece which I make no doubt is
within bounds. They think, as they found thread, they ought to be allowed 1s. a piece. I shall pay
all attention to what you say in regard to the delivery of the stores. …
I am, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
Gerrard Hopkins, son of Rd.
42
To Gabriel Duvall, Esq., Annapolis.

The “two companies” mentioned in the next letter may refer to the Independent Companies
commanded by Captains Gunby and Woolford; they were issued knapsacks with haversacks on
August 24th and 26th. On 19 August, from Baltimore, Isaac Griest informed the Maryland Council
of Safety,
Gentlemen … The knap and haversacks for the two companies are painted this day, and tomorrow, if
possible, shall send them over the Bay. Shall send down the cartouch-boxes, &c., by the first
opportunity. I can find no cloth in town at less than 25s. per yard, and it will take more than two
yards to make a blanket. Colonel Ewing has taken almost all the canteens that are made, but I have
been with the coopers and directed them to work night and day, and not take time to muster till they
had served the Flying-Camp, for which I hope you will excuse me. I have delivered cartouch-boxes
and gun-slings to the Captains of the three companies here and twelve blankets, which were all in the
magazine. I don't know what will be done for blankets. All our guns are in bad order, and very few
bayonets. The smiths are all at work on them. I shall do all in my power to obey your orders.43

So, some portion of Maryland’s forces in 1776 did indeed receive the “new Invented Napsack
and haversack in one.” What of Mr. Young’s 9 February letter claiming that three colonies had at
that time already adopted his combined knapsack and haversack? (Viz., New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and Virginia.) Nothing is known of knapsacks for New Jersey’s soldiers in 1776,
and for Virginia, at least some packs were being made up three months before Young wrote his
proposal to Maryland:
November 6 1775 … all the Officers of the 2nd [Virginia] Regiment are Immediately to get
themselves in Readiness about Compleating their men with … knapsacks … Haversacks, or any
other Necessarys.44

Within a few days materials were issued to the regiment from the Virginia Public Storehouse: 4
November 1775, "Expences Army … 103 ½ yds Ozns. [osnaburg linen] deld Capt Johnston
[George Johnson, 2d Virginia Regiment] for Knapsacks @ 1/6”; 6 November, "Expences Army
deld Capt [Richard] Parker [2d Virginia] 100 ½ yds Ozs. for knapsacks @ 1/6”; 6 November,
"73 yds Ozns deld Capt [William] Taliaferro [2d Virginia] for knapsacks @ 1/6 9 yds do for
Haversacks deld ditto @1/6”; 8 November, "154 yds Ozns deld Capt [William] Fontaine [2d
Virginia] for Knapsacks & Haversacks @ 1/6.” At the time, there were only two Virginia
regiments in service, but that December six more were newly authorized, and had to be
equipped. That said, it is entirely possible the colony did purchase some numbers of the new
invented knapsack/haversack for the other units.45
As for Pennsylvania, while no evidence of purchases prior to John Young’s February 1776
claims, we do have this later in the year from Samuel Morris, Philadelphia businessman and
member of the Committee of Safety:
Mr. Samuel Morris To Drovers & Yorke
1776 Augt. 31st To 22 Nap & Haversacks @ 2 P
The Above were Order’d for Patterns
Saml. Morris 46

Likely Use 1777 and 1778. That is the final word this researcher has for knapsacks/haversacks
in 1776, but another reference pops up two years on. After sending thousands of knapsacks to
Washington’s army at Valley Forge, Deputy Quartermaster General and Superintendent of Stores
James Abeel was still forwarding additional supplies that summer. On 28 July 1778, with 4,273
more knapsacks sent, Abeel’s noted in a letter, “Sent also 23d by Casper Leap 1096 Knap &
Haversacks.” All other equipment returns in his correspondence list haversacks distinctively
separate from knapsacks, meaning the 28 July reference can only indicate the single shoulder-
strap combined knapsack/haversack. Either this lot was from a small store left over from 1776 or
1777, or new invented knapsacks and haversacks in one were still being manufactured in 1778. If
the former, the addition of substantial numbers of nine-month levies to the Massachusetts, New
York, New Jersey, and Maryland Continental contingents greatly increased the need for
equipment, and possibly induced Mr. Abeel to clean out the warehouses of any and all stores,
even some considered second-rate or obsolete.47
We do have circumstantial evidence that some type of single-strap knapsack was used in 1777,
at least in Col. Moses Hazen’s 2d Canadian Regiment. Sgt. Maj. John Hawkins of Hazen’s Regiment
wrote of the 11 September 1777 Brandywine battle, “In the engagement I lost my knapsack, which
contained the following articles, viz; 1 uniform Coat – brown faced with white; 1 shirt; 1 pair
stockings; 1 Sergeants sash; 1 pair knee buckles; ½ lb. soap; 1 Orderly Book; 1 Memorandum
Book, of Journal and State of my company; 1 quire paper; 2 vials ink; 1 brass ink horn; 40
Morning returns, printed blanks; 1 tin gill cup; A letter and a book entitled Rutherford’s Letters.”
More importantly, for our purposes, he also noted, “The weather was very warm, and though my
knapsack was light, it was very cumbersome, as it swung about when walking or running, and in
crossing fences was in the way so I cast it away from me …” Hazen’s Regiment, also known as
Congress’s Own, was not affiliated with any state, although one of its companies was enlisted in
Connecticut, and one (possibly two) in Maryland. So, whether or not Sergeant Major Hawkins
was using a combination knapsack/haversack, whatever he carried came from Continental, not
state, stores.48
Recap of units known to been issued the “new Invented Napsack and haversack”

1776
Maryland Independent Continental Companies

1st Maryland Independent Company, Capt. Rezin Beall (Charles and Calvert Counties)
2d Maryland Independent Company, Capt. John Gunby (Somerset County)
3d Maryland Independent Company, Capt. John Watkins (Worcester County)
6th Maryland Independent Company, Capt. Thomas Woolford (Dorchester County)
 1776
Maryland Militia

Captain John Deans company, 4th Battalion, Flying Camp militia

Captain Thomas Bourke’s company, 4th Battalion, Flying Camp militia
Captain Greenburry Goldsborough’s company, 4th Battalion Flying Camp Militia
Captain Alexander Magruder’s company, 3d Battalion, Flying Camp militia
Captain Philip Feddeman’s company, 4th Battalion, Flying Camp militia

It is possible that New Jersey and Pennsylvania troops were issued these knapsacks in 1776, but
we have no hard evidence.

1777

Hazen’s Canadian Regiment, or some portion thereof, were likely issued new invented
knapsacks and haversacks.

1778

On 23 July 1778 “1096 Knap & Haversacks” were forwarded to Continental troops serving in
George Washington’s main army. It is possible single-shoulder-strap knapsacks of that design
were still being used in 1779, but my late 1779, into 1780 the first double-shoulder-strap, double-
bag knapsacks (like the Benjamin Warner pack) were being issued to Continental regiments.
____________________

This monograph was excerpted from:

John U. Rees, “’Cost of a Knapsack complete …’: Notes on Continental Army Packs and the
Soldiers’ Burden”
Part 1. “This Napsack I carryd through the war of the Revolution”
Knapsacks Used by the Soldiers during the War for American Independence
a. Overview
b. Knapsacks and Tumplines, Massachusetts, 1775
c. The Uhl Knapsack
d. Leather and Hair Packs, and Ezra Tilden’s Narrative
e. The Rufus Lincoln and Elisha Gross Hair Knapsacks
f. The “new Invented Napsack and haversack,” 1776
g. The Benjamin Warner Linen Pack
h. British Linen Knapsacks
Appendices
a. Carrying Blankets in or on Knapsacks.
b. “Like a Pedlar's Pack.”: Blanket Rolls and Slings
c. More Extant Artifacts with Revolutionary War Provenance or with a Design Similar to
Knapsacks Used During the War
d. Extant Knapsacks Discounted as having Revolutionary War Provenance
http://www.scribd.com/doc/210794759/%E2%80%9C-This-Napsack-I-carryd-through-the-
war-of-the-Revolution-Knapsacks-Used-by-the-Soldiers-during-the-War-for-American-
Independence-Part-1-of-%E2%80%9C-Cos
 Endnotes

27. J. Young to Samuel Chase, 9 February 1776, enclosed in Samuel Chase to Thomas Jenifer, 10
February 1776, "Journal of the Maryland Convention, 26 July-14 August 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 ...," contained in Samuel Chase to J. Young, 9 February 1776, is found in
the Maryland State Papers, (Red Books), Archives of the State of Maryland, access. no. MdHR
4561, loc. 1-6-3-38, 4, item 13.
28. The Maryland Gazette, no. 1609, 11 July 1776, Maryland Gazette Collection, MSA SC2731,
9 January 1772-10 September 1779, M1282, Archives of Maryland Online, Image 1134a-1134b.
http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc4800/sc4872/001282/html/m1282-1134a.html
29. John Gordon and Matthew Patten to Maryland Council of Safety, 17 July 1776, “Journal and
Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety,” 7 July to 31 December 1776, vol. 12, p. 69.
http://aomol.msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/html/volumes.html
30. Council of Safety to John Gordon and Matthew Patten, 27 July 1776, ibid., vol. 12, p. 128.
31. “In Congress June 3, 1776.
Resolved. That a flying camp be immediately established, and that it consist of ten thousand men, to make
up which number,
Resolved, that the colony of Pennsylvania be
requested to furnish of the militia 6000
Maryland of their militia 3400
Delaware government of their 600
That the militia be engaged to the first day of
December next, unless sooner discharged by Congress.
That the pay of the militia commence from the day
of their marching from home, and that they be allowed
one penny a mile, lawful money, in lieu of rations, for
traveling expences, and one day’s pay for every 10 miles,
between home and the general rendezvous, going and returning.
That three provincial brigadier generals be employed
for the flying camp, two from Pennsylvania, and one
from Maryland. Charles Thomson sec.”
“June 4.
Resolved, that it be recommended to assemblies and conventions
of the colonies, requested to supply or furnish militias, by the resolutions
of yesterday, to take particular care that the militias come provided
with arms, accoutrements, and camp kettles.
By order of Congress, John Hancock, president.”
The Maryland Gazette, no. 1606, 20 June 1776, Maryland Gazette Collection, MSA SC2731, 9
January 1772-10 September 1779, M1282, Archives of Maryland Online, Image 1123-1124.
http://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc4800/sc4872/001282/html/m1282-1123.html
32. Minutes Maryland Council of Safety, 31 July 1776, “Journal and Correspondence of the
Maryland Council of Safety,” 7 July to 31 December 1776, vol. 12, p. 148.
33. Council of Safety to John Gordon, 16 August 1776, ibid., vol. 12, p. 213.
34. Council of Safety to Maryland Congressional Delegates, 16 August 1776, ibid., vol. 12, pp.
211-212.
35. Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution,
1775-1783: Archives of Maryland, Maryland Historical Society (Baltimore: The Lord Baltimore
Press, The Friedenwald Company, 1900), 4. Fred Anderson Berg, Encyclopedia of Continental
Army Units: Battalions, Regiments and Independent Corps (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books,
1972), 47, 67-68, 120.
36. Eric I. Manders, “Notes on Troop Units in the Flying Camp, 1776,” Military Collector &
Historian, vol. 26, no. 1 (Spring 1974), 9-13.
37. Minutes Maryland Council of Safety, 31 July 1776, “Journal and Correspondence of the
Maryland Council of Safety,” 7 July to 31 December 1776, vol. 12, pp. 233, 244-245, 247-248,
257.
38. Minutes Maryland Council of Safety, 6 September 1776, ibid., vol. 12, p. 259. Total number
of knapsacks paid for is based on one pack costing eight shillings, six pence.
1 pound = 20 shillings or 240 pence
1 shilling = 12 pence
39. Minutes Maryland Council of Safety, 6 September 1776, ibid., vol. 12, pp. 232, 310-311.
40. “Abstract of Cloathing Issued to the Maryland Line & ca in the Service of the Continental
Army/ Delivered by Charles W. Howard State Clothier in 1776,” item 6636-63-1, Executive
Papers Series, Maryland State Papers, Hall of Records, State of Maryland. “Return of Officers &
Soldiers, Arms accouterments & camp equipage brought from Maryland by the Troops under the
Command of Colonel William Smallwood, Philadellphia 20th July 1776,” William Smallwood
Collection, MS 1875, Maryland Historical Society Library, Baltimore (Courtesy of Marko
Zlatich).
41. Council of Safety to Gerard Hopkins, 27 July 1776, ibid., vol. 12, p. 128. See also, Peter
Force, American Archives, series 5, vol. I (Washington, D.C., 1848), 617.
42. Gerard Hopkins to the Council of Safety, 30 July 1776, “Journal and Correspondence of the
Maryland Council of Safety,” 7 July to 31 December 1776, vol. 12, p. 146. See also, Force,
series 5, vol. I, 666.
43. Isaac Griest to the Council of Safety, 19 August 1776, “Journal and Correspondence of the
Maryland Council of Safety,” 7 July to 31 December 1776, vol. 12, p. 222.
44. 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), 180.
45. 4 November 1775,
"Expences Army … 103 ½ yds Ozns. [osnaburg linen] deld Capt Johnston [George Johnson, 2d Virginia]
for Knapsacks @ 1/6”
6 November 1775,
"Expences Army deld Capt [Richard] Parker [2d Virginia]
100 ½ yds Ozs. for knapsacks @ 1/6”
6 November 1775,
"73 yds Ozns deld Capt [William] Taliaferro [2d Virginia] for knapsacks @ 1/6
9 yds do for Haversacks deld ditto @1/6”
8 November 1775,
"154 yds Ozns deld Capt [William] Fontaine [2d Virginia] for Knapsacks & Haversacks @ 1/6”
Mary R.M. Goodwin, “Clothing and Accoutrements of the Officers and Soldiers of the Virginia
Forces, 1775-1780. From the Records of the Virginia Public Store at Williamsburg” (transcription
and annotation, 1962), 160; The manuscript ledgers, journals, and day-books of the Public Store in
Williamsburg, 1775-1780, have been preserved and held by the Virginia State Library (renamed the
Library of Virginia), Richmond. The research Department of Colonial Williamsburg has microfilm
copies of the manuscript volumes (C.W. M-1016, reels 1-3). E.M. Sanchez-Saavedra, A Guide to
Virginia Military Organizations in the American Revolution, 1774-1787 (Richmond: Virginia
State Library, 1978), 29-30, 34-36, 38-39, 41-42, 45, 48-49, 51-52, 54-55.
46. Receipt Book B of the Committee of Safety, 23 May 1776-31 July 1776, Record Group 27
(microfilm) reel Records of Pennsylvania’s Revolutionary Government, 1775-1790, Pennsylvania
State Archives.
47. “Reading 28 July 1778 … Thinking you was gone to Camp I did not do myself the pleasure of
writing you for some time. I can now with Pleasure tell you that I have sent the undermentioned Articles
to Camp & have also sent whatever Stores I thought would be wanted to Morristown to be more handy to
camp of this I have advised General Green
I have a Person there to receive & deliver them who Mr Mitchel can Inform you had the best
recommendations from his Excellency Generl Washington & Gouvenour Livingston & many other
Gentlemen, I am getting every thing ready to go down myself shall leave a person here to receive & send
forward the Stores & overlook the Artificers at this Place …
[There follows a detailed listing of goods. Only one entry and the total are given here.]
Sent also 23d by Casper Leap 1096 Knap & Haversacks *
[* single-strap combination knapsacks and haversacks]
182 Canteens
130 Pr Horse Shoes

Making all together

6 Bbls & 85 boxes HorseShoes Contg. 13953 Prs
293 Pr Traces 2759 KnapSacks
794 Axes and a large Quantity of Harness
The above Sent to Camp between 17th and 26 Inst July, Exclusive of the above I had a number of
Shoes in Mr Faeshe’s & Ogdens hands in MorrisCounty which were likewise Sent on to Camp”
James Abeel to unknown recipient, 28 July 1778, James Abeel (1733-1825) Letterbook, Peter
Force Collection, Mss 17,402, Library of Congress. Regarding the influx of recruits, mostly
nine-months levies see,
John U. Rees, “`The pleasure of their number’: 1778, Crisis, Conscription, and Revolutionary Soldiers’
Recollections”
Part I. “’Filling the Regiments by drafts from the Militia.’: The 1778 Recruiting Acts”
Part II. "’Fine, likely, tractable men.’: Levy Statistics and New Jersey Service Narratives”
Part III. "He asked me if we had been discharged …”: New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, and North
Carolina Levy Narratives”
ALHFAM Bulletin, vol. XXXIII, no. 3 (Fall 2003), 23-34; no. 4 (Winter 2004), 23-34; vol. XXXIV, no. 1 (Spring
2004), 19-28.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/126069484/First-Part-%E2%80%9CThe-pleasure-of-their-
number%E2%80%9D-1778-Crisis-Conscription-and-Revolutionary-Soldiers%E2%80%99-
Recollections-A-Preliminary-Study-Part-I-%E2%80%9CFil

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126069114/Second-Part-%E2%80%9CThe-pleasure-of-their-
number%E2%80%9D-Crisis-Conscription-and-Revolutionary-Soldiers%E2%80%99-
Recollections-A-Preliminary-Study-Part-II-Fine-l

http://www.scribd.com/doc/126068332/Third-Part-%E2%80%9CThe-pleasure-of-their-
number%E2%80%9D-Crisis-Conscription-and-Revolutionary-Soldiers%E2%80%99-
Recollections-A-Preliminary-Study-Part-III-He-aske
48. Stephen R. Gilbert, "Original Documents: The Diary of Sergeant-Major Hawkins," The
Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXI, no. 2 (Summer 1990), 6-7. For information concerning the
Connecticut and Maryland companies in Hazen’s Regiment see:
Henry P. Johnston, ed., The Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service during
the War of the Revolution, 1775-1783 (Hartford: The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co, 1889),
260-261; Officers and men from Connecticut serving in Hazen’s Regiment. “Regiment raised ‘at
large’ for Continental Army of ’77; called sometimes ‘Congress’ Own’ and ‘Canadian.’ … One
full Company was enlisted in Connecticut, largely in New Haven Co[unty] …”
Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution,
1775-1783: Archives of Maryland, Maryland Historical Society (Baltimore: The Lord Baltimore
Press, The Friedenwald Company, 1900), 596-597; Committee Report, House of Delegates,
Assembly of Maryland, 7 January, 1782. "Your committee beg leave further to report as their opinion,
that this state has been materially injured, by permitting corps of other lines, and of the additional sixteen
regiments, to recruit within this state, as will appear by the following list of companies enlisted in this
state, for the following corps of artillery, cavalry, and infantry, to wit: Colonel Hazen's regiment, 2
companies; Hartley's, 3; Gist's, 2 ; Grayson's, 2 or 3; Rifle, 4; officers discharged by colonel Brodhead at
Fort Pit, and the men incorporated with Brodhead's regiment of Pennsylvania troops, but some of them
have since deserted and joined the Maryland line; German, 4, now attached to the Maryland line about
one company, desertion and term of service expiring must account for the remainder; Foreman's, 2 or 3,
attached to the Jersey troops; Patten's, 2, attached to the Pennsylvania line; artillery, 3, incorporated with
Harrison's Virginia regiment; Moylan's horse, 3 ; Baylor's horse, 1 ; Pulaski's, 1 or 2; Leers, 1 or 2. In all
30 or 34 companies.”
Fred Anderson Berg, Encyclopedia of Continental Army Units: Battalions, Regiments and
Independent Corps (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1972), 16-17, notes that Hazen’s Regiment
was reorganized in January 1777 with the addition of companies from Connecticut and Maryland.

The author.
Drawing of knapsack from British 71st Regiment 1778 order book. This is evidence that double-bag
knapsacks, undoubtedly of linen, were being used by British troops in 1778, likely for the first time.
Note also that food was to be carried in one bag, and a minimum of necessaries (“1 pair of shoes,”
“1 set Brushes,” “1 shirt, “1 Pr. stockings”) in the other. Continental Army double-bag packs were
probably copied from British knapsacks. The Warner-style knapsack (possibly issued in 1779) had
two storage pouches, and orders for American army knapsacks in 1782 stipulated, “Let them be
made double, & one side painted.” Standing Orders of the 71st Regiment, 1778, Lt. Col. Archibald
Campbell, National Register of Archives for Scotland (NRAS 28 papers), Isle of Canna, Scotland,
U.K. (Knapsack drawing courtesy of Alexander John Good.)51