John U. Rees, (Link to online articles: http://tinyurl.

com/jureesarticles )

"My last Shift Betwixt Us & death": The Ephraim Blaine Letterbook, 1777-1778, Joseph
Lee Boyle, ed., Heritage Books, 1540-E Pointer Bridge Pl., Bowie, MD 20716. 2001,
224p, pref¬ace, introduction, editor's notes, chronology of documents, index, paper,
$22.00 + $4.00 s&h.

In 25 September 1779 Main Army Commissary of Military Stores Samuel Hodgdon

asked Philadelphia Commissary of Stores Jonathan Gostelowe to "furnish a Continental
Devil (as we are called by some) with a pair [of boots] at a moderate rate." In Joseph Lee
Boyle’s presentation of Ephraim Blaine’s 1777-78 letter book we see the difficulties the
commissary of purchases department experienced in feeding an entire army of
“Continental Devil[s].” The volume’s preface begins with a paraphrase of Nathanael
Greene, “Whoever heard of a Commissary?” That historical deafness is rectified by Mr.
Boyle’s work.
After the 1777 reorganization of the commissary department, when duties were divided
between a commissary of purchases and a commissary of issues, William Buchanan was
appointed commissary general of purchases. Ephraim Blaine was chosen Buchanan’s
deputy in the Middle Department (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
part of New York state), and as such was in the thick of the army’s campaign around
Philadelphia. Blaine’s first letter dated “Cross Roads [present-day Hartsville, Pa.] 16th.
August 1777,” discusses numbers and roles of personnel needed for delivering and
slaughtering beef for each division of Washington’s army, ration estimates for four of the
divisions, and other minutiae related to beef supply; his last letter, dated 30 May 1778,
just prior to the British evacuation of Philadelphia and the Monmouth Campaign, notes,
“In the article of flour and Spirits I flatter myself we will be tolerably well provided, but
what we shall do for Meat god only knows.” In that letter Blaine goes on to admit AI am
fully tired of bearing the burden & important charge of feeding so large a Number of
Men,” and closes with “This is my last shift betwixt us & Death. The first Division
marches in the morning without An ounce of Beef, or any kind of Meat. I wish to be
enabled to write to you better tidings. God send me an opportunity soon.”
One need not read the text exhaustively, though a full reading does much to enlighten
one about the crucial work of army noncombatants, such as commissaries, purchasing
agents, wagoners, drovers, and butchers. Turn to any date, match it with the army’s
situation at the same time, and you will find such things as the 20 December 1777 letter
to Assistant Commissary John Chaloner (the day after the army’s arrival at Valley
Forge): “I came home the 18th. Much Fatigued & used every method to Forward
provisions, the Assistant purchasers have not been able to procure One Gallon Whiskey
at the limited price, nor can my Assistants purchase one barrell of Pork, therefore Tom
Dick and Hary must be served before the army and we shall never have a plentiful supply
till the purchasers for the Army have the regulating of the Market.” This is a wonderful
resource for those interested in the 1777 campaign and/or the army’s inner workings.
Beyond the letter book content, the preface nicely places Blaine’s writings in context to
period problems and our modern perspective, while the introduction seconds the preface
and clearly explains commissary organization, and such influencing outside events as the
weather and military operations. The introduction also contains an outline of Ephraim
Blaine’s army career and a discerning reading list for those interested in learning more
about Continental Army logistics, the 1777 Philadelphia campaign, and the Valley Forge
winter camp. A useful document chronology is included at the end of the book, giving
letter dates and the correspondents’ identities.

Joseph Lee Boyle, former historian at Valley Forge N.H.P., is author of several other
books (From Redcoat to Rebel: The Thomas Sullivan Journal and Writings from the
Valley Forge Encampments of the Continental Army, December 18, 1777-June 19,
1778), and articles (“From Saratoga to Valley Forge: The Diary of Lt. Samuel
Armstrong” (8th Massachusetts), Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (July
1997), “The Israel Angell Diary, 1 October 1777-28 February 1778,” Rhode Island
History (November 2000), and “Valley Forge Fish Story,“ Bulletin of Historical Society
of Montgomery County, Pa. (Spring 2000); this last debunks the famous Valley Forge
shad run, and discusses fish as an 18th century Schuylkill River food resource and in
Continental Army rations.) All these works are highly recommended.