Of the first four years of the War for American Independence, 1778 stands out for several reasons. It was a period of transition during which the focal point of British activity began to shift from the northern and middle states to the south, with the last major battle fought in the north occurring in the summer of that year at Monmouth Courthouse in New Jersey. The result was a stalemate in the north, which was to last for the remainder of the war, punctuated by numerous skirmishes and minor actions, while more decisive battles took place elsewhere. It was also the year in which the fledgling United States learned of their formal recognition as an independent nation by the Court of France. During 1778, some of the effects of this recognition were seen, the most obvious of which was a shift from the surreptitious and intermittent material aid formerly afforded by France towards open and large-scale support in the form of troops as well as supplies. 1
Although this study is admittedly narrow in its focus, it does shed some light on the problems of supply experienced by all the states and the effect that French material aid, or the lack thereof, had on the appearance of the Continental Army. The case of New Jersey was in some ways singular and in other ways representative of the overall material supply situation. With New Jersey lacking a major port along its seaboard and by the presence of the enemy on both its northeastern and southwestern borders, the state’s brigade was forced to rely on the Continental Clothier General and ad hoc internal sources for the clothing of its soldiers. Although throughout their eight years of service the New Jersey regiments were among the more hard-luck units as regards clothing supply, the period from the autumn of 1777 to the autumn of 1778 was a particularly trying time. Not having been fully or equitably provided with clothing at the onset of the 1777 campaign, the situation became worse for the brigade as the year wore on. Despite various legislative attempts to supply the deficiencies, the state of dress of the Jersey troops (and most particularly those men enlisted for the war) remained more or less static until the arrival of French supplies late in 1778. In an odd turn of events, during the last six months of 1778 approximately half of the brigade remained quite ill-clothed while the situation of the other half, comprised of new nine-months levies, was to some degree better due to a different source of clothing supply.
Before the appearance of the New Jersey troops is examined in detail a recounting of their activities and situation during 1778 is needed to provide some further context. After the difficulties and setbacks of the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign the four New Jersey Continental regiments spent the first three months of 1778 together in the winter cantonment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Beginning in March 1778 the brigade was split when the 2nd Regiment was sent on detached duty to southern New Jersey where the 1st New Jersey joined them two months later. Finally, at the end of May, the entire brigade was reunited at Mount Holly, New Jersey just in time for a brief period of combined training before they had to contest the British withdrawal from Philadelphia across New Jersey to the enemy’s base in New York. Although the brigade played only a minor role and participated in no real combat at the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June, during the entire campaign (17 June to 6 July) the New Jersey troops probably saw more action on a daily basis than did any other soldiers serving with General George Washington's main army. For the remainder of the year Maxwell's Brigade served in and around Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and comprised part of the ring of troops keeping watch on the British army around New York City. They remained in the area until June 1779 when they were marched to the westward to join the forces gathering under Major General John Sullivan for his campaign against the Indians in Pennsylvania and New York.2
A significant factor which would affect the New Jersey Brigade during the 1778 campaign was the addition in May and June of large numbers of nine-month levies. These new men considerably altered the structure of the four Jersey regiments just prior to the British evacuation of Philadelphia. The levies, for better or for worse, had an impact both on the combat effectiveness of the New Jersey regiments as well as on the types of clothing worn and the equipment carried. Their presence must be considered in any study of the brigade for the year 1778, and the influence the short-term levies had on the appearance of the Jersey troops is examined in this article. Moreover, the clothing worn by the men of the New Jersey Brigade in the summer of 1778 seems to have been representative of the lack of uniformity found within many of the regiments comprising Washington's army during the same period. This last contention is made even more probable in light of the fact that four other states which had regiments serving under Washington (i.e., Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and North Carolina) were also very successful in drafting men from their militia battalions to serve for nine months on their Continental establishments. The short-term soldiers from these states were probably clothed in a manner similar to that of the levies of New Jersey, who wore a mix of hunting frocks and miscellaneous civilian coats during their period of service. As will be shown in the following pages, it is likely that the long-term soldiers of Maxwell's Brigade also wore hunting frocks in 1778, although the known presence of a small number of regimental coats warrants some investigation into the probable colors worn.3
"The Jersey Blues:" The New Jersey Regiments, 1755-1776
Due to the paucity of specific information, any study of the uniforms worn by Brigadier General William Maxwell's Jersey Brigade during the Monmouth Campaign must begin with an examination of those worn in the years prior to 1778. Although a few regimental coats were issued to the New Jersey troops during the fall of 1777, a proportion of which may have survived into the following year, little mention can be found concerning the issuance of such coats during the first eleven months of 1778. In view of this, any indication of a prior regimental coat color preference must be considered, and some informed conjecture is necessary, in order to ascertain the desired colors for any coats that may have reached the soldiers in 1778. The Continental regiments from the state of New Jersey were popularly known as the "Jersey Blues," an appellation which originated during the Seven Years War in America (1755-1763), when blue and red uniform coats were worn by the provincial troops from the state.4 In 1776, the first full year of military service that the New Jersey Continentals experienced during the War of the Revolution, the troops from that state were initially directed to have been supplied with hunting shirts. In conjunction with an order for "the raising of two battalions in this colony [New Jersey] immediately", a letter from John Hancock, dated 12 October 1775, was laid before the Provincial Congress, which included the following resolution:
The Congress have agreed to furnish the men with a hunting shirt, not exceeding the value of one dollar and one third of a dollar, and a blanket, provided these can be procured, but these are not to be made part of the terms of enlistment.5
During the first few months of the new battalions’ service, a number of hunting shirts were manufactured for issuance, and when material for clothing was purchased or sought, it was with this apparel in mind. Captain John Polhemus of the 1st Battalion wrote to his colonel, William Alexander, on 20 December 1775:
I Understand by the Commissary that Cloth for the Soldiers' Frocks, &c. are at Elizabeth Town, if so shall be Extremely Obliged to you to have it sent as soon as Convenient, as the Weather is at Present very severe and many of the men are so naked that they are unfit for Duty. I shall be much Obliged to you to have a Pattern of the Frocks sent with the Cloth that I may have them made as soon as Possible.6
A few days after Polhemus' letter, the commander of the 2nd Battalion, Colonel William Maxwell, submitted a request to Alexander to "send me one of Your best Frocks for a pattern by the first of the Stage Carriages and I will send it back again." It was not until 12 January 1776, however, that Colonel Alexander finally informed Maxwell that he had directed "Captain Conway [of the 1st Battalion] to send you... one of the Frocks of his Company which you may use as a pattern." By the end of the month the colonel of the 2nd Battalion was only able to report that "We have got many Frocks made but nothing like half enough for the regt..."7
Having been informed early in January that the New Jersey battalions were to be marched north into Canada as soon as they could be made ready, it occurred to both the legislators and the unit commanders that hunting shirts would not be the most suitable wearing apparel for the troops. Writing from Trenton, New Jersey, on 23 January, Maxwell stated that his men "have got their Hats Shoes & Stockings I believe in general but I believe they want much warmer Cloathing to go into Cannada than if they'd [remained] here. There is a good many Cartouch boxes & Cross Belts [as well as] some haversacks & Frocks here." At the end of the month, he was suggesting that the small number of hunting frocks which had already been made up "might be taken for a southern regt. & Cloath given to us", in order to make wool coats for service with the northern army.8
With regard to an alteration in the type of clothing being provided for the newly raised units from the state, the New Jersey Provincial Congress raised a question in a letter dated 11 February 1776 as to "whether it would not be advisable to clothe the [third] Battalion now raising in Uniform, deducting the Expence Atending it out of the Men's Wages." As a result of these suggestions, some type of uniform coat was issued to at least two of the three regiments from the state. One indication of this is a statement found in an orderly book of the 2nd Jersey Battalion of 1776. The entry for 21 August includes a description of the robbery of some civilians by "Certain Villians who Said they belonged to the Jersey Reigment. There are more Villians that wear Blues than those suspected in the Jersey Regimt." At the time, both the 1st and 2nd Jersey Battalions were present at Ticonderoga, with the 3rd Battalion not arriving there until 1 November. Since deserter descriptions from February 1777 report three men from the 2nd Regiment wearing blue and red coats, it is most probable, if not certain, that at least the 2nd Battalion wore the same coats in 1776. It is known, however, that the 3rd New Jersey Battalion wore regimental coats of a drab color with blue facings during 1776 and, in the following year, procured blue and red coats for its soldiers. Although not generally used by the Jersey troops in 1776, hunting shirts were to make a reappearance and would play a more prominent role in the clothing worn by the New Jersey Brigade during the following two years.9
"Never...Our Proper Quantity:" The New Jersey Brigade of 1777
During the winter of 1776/1777, the men of the three regiments raised by the state of New Jersey were discharged at the termination of their one-year enlistment. The three regiments were then reorganized as part of the Second Establishment of the Continental Army and brought up to strength, either by the reenlistment of old soldiers or with the addition of new men. A fourth regiment was also authorized as part of the state's contingent and, by May 1777, the four units were ordered to form a brigade under General William Maxwell of New Jersey. With the discharge of the old troops and the enlistment of new men, the regiments from New Jersey were faced with the task of obtaining new clothing in order to cover the men and to bring some uniformity to their appearance. For the first five or six months of 1777, while the men were being mustered and clothing was being purchased, the garments being worn by the New Jersey soldiers were a mixed lot indeed, as is evidenced by various deserter descriptions. Such descriptions, which have long been a primary source regarding Continental Army dress, are not necessarily the most vaild testimony of the clothing worn by the entirety of a given unit. This is due to the obvious question of how representative such a small sample of deserters can be. Nevertheless, deserter descriptions cannot be ignored entirely, especially in the absence of other documentation.
A typical New Jersey soldier as he would have appeared during the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign. Although the 3rd Regiment is known to have had blue coats with facings (i.e., collars, also known as capes, cuffs and probably lapels) of red, the colors of the coats worn by the other regiments are unknown. Other typical coat styles worn in 1777 included coats with capes and cuffs only (no lapels) and sleeved waistcoats or jackets. Illustration by George C. Woodbridge, from George C. Neumann, Swords and Blades of the American Revolution (Texarkana, TX, 1991).
The only regiment in the brigade for which there is certain information about the colors of the coats is the 3rd New Jersey. On 9 May 1777, in a letter to Colonel Elias Dayton, the Clothier General wrote that…
at present I have no clothing on hand which I can apply to your regmt. But there is 395 Blue coats faced red on the road from Boston which are not appropriated with which I design to furnish your regmt. I could not clothe them in the uniform of last year & as you have already been supplied with 104 Blue coats think it best to compleat the regmt in that color. I have also at the Request of Capt. Patterson sent you 12 Red Coats fac'd with blue of the clothing taken from the enemy for your drums & fifes. If no accident prevents the coats above alluded to from coming & you wait for them those you already have may either be new faced or appropriated partly to the light Infantry Compy for whom I have also sent 60 Caps wh[ich] will help to make the 3d Jersey Battalion look smart as usual...10
A month later George Washington informed Israel Putnam by letter that
this will be delivered ... by Mr. Young who is sent up by the Clothier General to issue Clothing to the Troops at Peeks Kill... There are among the Clothing 350 Coats, Blue and Red which were made up purposely for Colo. Daytons Regiment of Jersey, and of which they are in great want, they must come on immediately.11
This information is confirmed by a deserter advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, 11 June 1777) which described a soldier from the 3rd Regiment wearing a blue regimental coat faced with red, spotted jacket and blue breeches. Thus, it may be stated with certainty that, after wearing drab coats with blue facings during the previous year, the 3rd Regiment returned to wearing the traditional blue and red coats in 1777.12
There is no information available for the 1st and 4th Jersey Regiments concerning the colors of any regimental coats worn by the soldiers during 1777. No deserter descriptions survive for the 1st New Jersey for 1777, while the only descriptions for the 4th Regiment are dated in February and list a mixed lot of clothing worn by two deserters. On the other hand, descriptions of deserters who left Colonel Israel Shreve's 2nd Regiment in February, April and May 1777 show that eleven men wore assorted types of coats, one wearing a "linen frock coat" [possibly a hunting shirt], and three having regimental coats. Unfortunately, the three men who were described as variously wearing a "Blue regimental coat faced with red", a "Regimental coat faced with red" and a "Blue regimental coat" probably indicate the uniform issued and worn during the Canadian Campaign of 1776. All three descriptions of the men who were wearing what appear to be blue and red coats were posted in the same issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette (12 February 1777) and two of the three had served in 1776 with the 2nd Jersey Battalion. When this information is added to the fact that none of the later deserter descriptions mentions a similar coat, these blue coats must be discounted when considering the uniform for 1777. Some conjectures may be made by examining other soldiers who deserted from the 2nd New Jersey Regiment during the year. Of particular interest are the coats worn by six deserters of the fifteen who were advertised between 11 February and 14 May. The earliest description was of a single soldier and was advertised a month prior to Israel Shreve's mention of his success in clothing three hundred men of his regiment. This deserter wore a brown coat, brown waistcoat and leather breeches, and belonged to the company of Captain Ephraim Anderson. The other five deserters, from the companies of Captains John Cummings and James Dillon, were advertised after 3 April 1777 and seem to have been wearing the uniform clothing which had been procured for at least some companies of Shreve's Regiment. These men were variously listed as wearing: "an old brown coat, [and] striped linsey trousers"; "a brown cloth coat and vest, buckskin breeches"; "a long skirted brown coat and vest, buckskin breeches"; "a brown short coat, faced with the same, leather breeches"; and "a short brown coat, vest and breeches of the same." From these profiles it may be suggested that a large number, if not all, of the coats worn by Shreve's Regiment in 1777 were of brown wool cloth, probably with brown facings. In addition to these wool coats, there were 208 hunting shirts issued to the 2nd Regiment by the Clothier General prior to 15 September 1777.13
Writing on 22 March, Colonel Israel Shreve stated that although his officers were still recruiting and…
dispersed through a Country extended near 200 miles... we have recruted Clothed armed and joined the camp with 300 men. Nothing has been Done for the regiment by this State or that of Pennsylvania, only by my continued attendance... we began Late to recrute, had many Impediments and have produced as many men for the time as any Regiment in my Knowledge .14
Colonel Shreve may have had a propensity (or perhaps the resourcefulness) for gathering clothing on his own, as may be attested to by the fact that only 52 regimental coats were issued to his regiment by the Clothier General during 1777 and by his later being sent to purchase cloth for the New Jersey troops in their home state in 1778. There are two other documents that seem to indicate sources for the clothing worn by the 2nd Jersey in 1777 other than the Continental Clothier General. The first is an account of monies disbursed to various officers which notes that five officers from the 2nd Regiment were given over 145 pounds for the purchase of clothing during the first few months of 1777. This same account states that on 17 March 1777, three coats, twenty-four shirts and fifty-five pairs of stockings, totaling 69 pounds in value, were delivered to Colonel Shreve himself. The second document records that, on 3 February 1777, Captain John Hollinshead received "of Col. Israel Shreve for the use of My Company", clothing which consisted of the following: "Two pair Buckskin Breeches"; "Two pair Worsted hose"; "Two Blue Vests without Sleves"; "Two Check Shirts" and "Two White" shirts. The mention of buckskin breeches is interesting in that they seem to have been issued to many men of the regiment early in 1777, a contention supported by a number of deserter descriptions.15
In the end, all of these efforts to provide clothing for the troops proved insufficient. In a letter to Governor William Livingston of New Jersey dated 4 October, General Maxwell put forth the condition of the Jersey Brigade:
... If our State does not keep a watchfull eye over there Troops in the Cloathes way I am certain they will in a great measure be neglected. From this and all to the Southward, every State has imported something & by their industry had got their Troops tolerably well cloathed in the Spring; and with what the Cloathier General assisted them to, in common afterwards they will make a tolerable appearance... [The New Jersey troops] have gone verry early into the Field & have had no other dependence but on the Cloathier Genl. and we got them from there in bits & scraps as a Miser gives his son some part of his patrimony before death, it was dealt out with so scanty a hand we never knew the good of it; besides we never got our proper quantity & some of what we did get was rotten. If our State would provide a Compleat Suit at first then the other supplys might be sufficient. We are in great need at present of shoes stockings, Breeches Shirts good Jackets [i.e., waistcoats] & some Coats, for want of which many valuable men is rendered useless.16
Due to the need for clothing, on 25 November the New Jersey General Assembly passed "An Act to procure certain Articles of Cloathing for the Use of the New-Jersey Regiments." This law authorized two commissioners from each county in the state "to purchase and collect Coats, Waistcoats, Breeches and Shirts, Blankets, Shoes, Stockings and Hats, with such other Articles of Cloathing necessary for the Soldiery ... and also suitable Cloth and Materials of which to make and manufacture the same." If to any degree successful, this measure would have led to quantities of locally manufactured civilian clothing of varying quality being issued to the soldiers of the New Jersey Brigade late in 1777.17
Another interesting puzzle concerns the number of coats issued to the New Jersey troops during 1777 and when they were received. The belated mention of the need for coats in General Maxwell's letter of 4 October is significant when related to several returns listing the clothing that was issued by the Clothier General to the New Jersey Brigade. With some comparison and a little deduction it may be inferred with some confidence that large numbers of regimental coats (many of them of unknown colors) were received by three of the four New Jersey regiments in the first half of the year. The following table compares the number of coats which were issued prior to 15 September 1777 to the known strength of the several regiments in late spring of the same year:18
|
Unit |
Number of |
1st New Jersey |
184 |
408* |
|
2nd New Jersey |
247 |
208 Hunting Shirts (no coats)** |
3rd New Jersey |
300 |
467* |
4th New Jersey |
307 |
299* |
(Return of brigade strength as of 20 May 1777) |
||
*Issued prior to 15 September 1777, probably in June. |
||
**Probably issued June 1777. |
||
Two letters concerning the 3rd Regiment corroborate the assertion that all of these coats were issued in the first half of 1777. These documents (previously quoted), dated 9 May and 10 June, state that this unit received 104 blue coats, 350 blue and red coats and 12 red and blue British coats for the musicians, which yields a total of 466, one less than appearing in the Clothier General's return at the end of the year. For some reason it seems that an allotment of clothing distributed on 15 September (including 8 coats for the 3rd New Jersey) was not included on the year-end general return.19 (See comparative tables of clothing issues. click
The discrepancy between the number of coats issued and the strength of the regiments was probably due to a large number of deserters during the first few months of 1777 and because numbers of men were absent at the time of the May return. The probability of a generally high rate of desertion is based on the supposition that the other regiments experienced the same problems that the colonel of the 2nd Regiment had at the time. According to his own account, Colonel Shreve had recruited 566 soldiers into his regiment, of which only 250 actually served. Bounty jumpers, an appellation given to men who had enlisted, taken the bounty money and then enlisted into another unit, were one of several reasons why "great numbers ... desert[ed] that never did duty in the Regt. after they enlisted." The other reason for the difference, soldiers being absent from the regiments, is attested to by a later return, dated 10 November 1777, which places the number of non-commissioned officers and rank and file in the 1st New Jersey at 248 and in the 2nd New Jersey at 253, which in the first case greatly exceeds the May return and in the second instance is just slightly higher.20
There is one more indication that the New Jersey troops received a sufficient supply of coats during the late spring and early summer of 1777. "A Return of Clothing Issued at Camp from 15 Septmr. 1777" noted that the 1st Regiment received fifty-one coats, the 2nd Regiment fifty-two coats, the 3rd Regiment only eight coats and the 4th Regiment sixty-two coats. In contrast to this seemingly meager clothing issue, a "Return of Cloathing wanting in the Brigades ... Camp at Towamensing Octr 13 1777" shows that only a small number of coats were wanting for the four New Jersey units, the shortfall being only fifty, none, nine and eighty-four for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Regiments, respectively.21 (See comparative tables of clothing issues. click
It is pertinent to note that the 2nd Regiment was probably the best supplied unit in the brigade, at least as regards the number of coats received during 1777. Colonel Shreve had written on 22 March that by that date he had already clothed three hundred men of his regiment, probably including the brown coats seen repeatedly in deserter descriptions early in the year. In addition to these coats, the regiment was issued 208 hunting shirts by the Clothier General. These hunting shirts were probably received at the same time that the rest of the brigade was issued regimental coats, that is, circa June 1777.22 With the probability of most of the men having been previously supplied with coats through the efforts of its commander, the 2nd Regiment seems to have taken advantage of the largesse of the Clothier General and accepted the windfall of extra coats in the form of hunting shirts. That this was commonly (and sometimes successfully) attempted by other units in the army is attested to by General Washington himself in a letter dated 10 June: “I have desired [General Israel Putnam] ... to see that those Troops, who drew their Cloathing before they marched, do not come in for a share of this [clothing issue], except it may be for Shoes or some few things absolutely necessary. What you are to particularly guard against is, to prevent those who have drawn compleat Suits of Uniforms, from taking another of Hunting Shirt, Waistcoat and Overalls. Some Regiments have done so in a very unwarrantable manner... The Frocks and overalls at this Season, are far preferable to Uniforms which Mr. Mease says he will have ready by the Fall.”23
Whether or not the 2nd Regiment chiefly wore hunting shirts during the summer of 1777, while the other three regiments wore the uniform coats issued them in June, by December the coats of the entire brigade must have been in very poor condition indeed. With the onset of the new year of 1778, the need for a new supply of coats and other clothing was quite evident but, as will be seen, the much-needed apparel was very slow in appearing.
The foregoing information points to the likelihood of a source of equipment and clothing other than the Clothier General during 1777, probably a combination of state supplies, miscellaneous apparel collected through the personal exertions of regimental officers, and possibly some leftover equipment from the previous year. In summarizing the appearance of the four Jersey units in 1777, it is known that, although the 1st and 4th Regiments received sufficient numbers of coats to clothe all of their men, the colors of these coats is unknown. In contrast with this lack of specific information, it is probable that, while the 2nd Regiment was certainly issued enough hunting shirts to clothe the bulk of its 250 or so soldiers, many of these same men may also have received coats of brown cloth (probably with brown facings) procured through the state or by the officers of the regiment. Finally, the 3rd New Jersey Regiment had possibly the most uniform appearance of any in the brigade, its soldiers having been issued either blue coats with red facings or blue coats which may have had their facings later altered to red. The additional supply of red coats with blue facings for the musicians and caps for the light company would have made the unit stand out even more among the New Jersey Brigade’s troops.
Go to Part II
Notes
1. Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763—1789 (New York, 1982), pp. 396-433.
2. John U. Rees, '"I Expect to be stationed in Jersey sometime...': An Account of the Services of the Second New Jersey Regiment, December 1777 to June 1779", TMs, The David Library of the American Revolution, Washington Crossing, PA (henceforth cited as "I Expect to be stationed in Jersey sometime...") Total casualties of the four New Jersey regiments, 20 June to 29 June 1778, were 12 (possibly 13) wounded, 7 missing, 9 captured, 2 killed, 1 dead (possibly killed in action) and 1 dead of fatigue. "Losses of the New Jersey Brigade in the Monmouth Campaign, June 17, 1778 to July 6, 1778", an appendix to the foregoing unpublished manuscript.
3. John U. Rees, '"The new Leveys are coming in dayly...': The Nine Month Draft in the Second New Jersey Regiment and Maxwell's New Jersey Brigade", an appendix to "I Expect to be stationed in Jersey sometime...", which contains data on the nine-month levies from New Jersey as well as information on the institution and success of the draft in the other states. In an examination of the draft legislation of the four other states whose efforts were successful in raising levies, two states, Massachusetts and New York, made no provision for clothing their new levies, while Maryland stipulated that its levies "shall be entitled to a full suit of cloaths", and those from North Carolina would be supplied with a hunting shirt and a waistcoat with sleeves (henceforth cited as Rees, "The new Leveys are coming in dayly...").
4. Pension deposition of James Jordan, nine-month enlistee in the 2nd New Jersey Regiment. In 1778 "...he belonged to the second regiment of the New Jersey Blues..." This account indicates that this popular name was still used well after the Seven Years War (1755-1763). Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, National Archives Microfilm Publication M804, reel 1449. H. Charles McBarron, Jr., and Frederick P. Todd, "The New Jersey Regiment (Jersey Blues), 1755-1764", in John R. Elting, ed., Military Uniforms in America, The Era of the American Revolution, 1755-1795, (San Rafael, CA, 1974), pp. 14-15.
5. "Journal of the Votes and Proceedings of the Provincial Congress of New-Jersey... October 1775", (Burlington, NJ, 1775), 13 October 1775, pp. 19-20, William Sumner Jenkins, ed., Records of the States of the United States of America: A Microfilm Compilation, (Washington, DC, 1949), A.3, reel 1, 1775-1776, (henceforth cited as State Records). Additional clothing for the newly enlisted men was authorized. The privates were to "be enlisted for a year... [and] that each of the privates be allowed, instead of a bounty, a felt hat, a pair of yarn stockings, and a pair of shoes—the men to find their own arms," ibid., p. 51. "An Estimate of what is immediately necessary for the First Regiment now raising in New Jersey" (undated). This document lists the following items of clothing: one felt hat, one pair stockings, one pair shoes, one hunting shirt and one blanket. William Alexander Papers, reel 2, vol. 4, New-York Historical Society, found in Larry Schmidt, "Uniform of the First New Jersey Regiment", TMs (henceforth cited as WA/Schmidt).
6. John Polhemus to William Alexander, Lord Stirling, 20 December 1775, WA/Schmidt, reel 2, vol. 4.
7. William Maxwell to Alexander, 26 December 1775, ibid., reel 2, vol. 4. Alexander to Maxwell, 12 January 1776, The Papers of the Continental Congress 1774-1789, National Archives Microfilm Publications M247, (Washington, DC, 1958), reel 179, p. 405, (henceforth cited as PCC). Maxwell to John Hancock, 31 January 1776, ibid., reel 99, p. 7.
8. Hancock to Maxwell, 25 January 1776, PCC, reel 23, p. 47. Maxwell to Hancock, 23 January 1776 and 31 January 1776, ibid., reel 99, pp. 3, 7.
9. Samuel Tucker, President of the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, to John Hancock, 11 February 1776, PCC, reel 82, p. 77. Doyen Salsig, ed. and annot., Parole: Quebec; Countersign: Ticonderoga, Second New Jersey Regiment Orderly Book of 1776, (Cranbury, NJ, 1980), p. 214. Deserter descriptions for the New Jersey troops in 1776-1777, in Philip Katcher, Uniforms of the Continental Army, (York, PA, 1981), pp. 115- 117. A reproduction of Captain Joseph Bloomfield's portrait painted by Charles Willson Peale in April 1777 is in Mark E. Lender and James Kirby Martin, eds., Citizen Soldier; The Revolutionary Journal of Joseph Bloomfield, (Newark, NJ, 1982), preceding page 1. For the arrival of the 3rd Regiment at Ticonderoga, see ibid., p. 113.
10. James Mease to Elias Dayton, 9 May 1777, manuscript in a private collection.
11. George Washington to Israel Putnam, l0 June 1777, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, vol. 8 (Washington, DC, 1933), p. 222, (henceforth cited as WGW).
12. Charles Lefferts, Uniforms of the American, British, French and German Armies of the American Revolution (New York, NY, 1927), pp. 118-119, (henceforth cited as Lefferts, Uniforms).
13. For a compilation of the New Jersey deserter descriptions (abridged), 1775-1777, see Lefferts, Uniforms, pp. 118-119. Two men in a 12 February 1777 advertisement for deserters, George Gettil (Gettle) and Thomas White, had served with the 2nd Jersey Battalion during 1776. William Stryker, ed., "Extracts from American Newspapers, vol. I. 1776-1777", Documents Relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey, Second Series, (Trenton, NJ, 1901), pp. 285-286. John U. Rees, "The Proportion of Men from the Companies of the Second New Jersey of 1776 Who Reenlisted in the Regiment in 1777", an appendix to "I Expect to be stationed in Jersey sometime..."; this study shows that 211 soldiers who had served in 1776 later re-enlisted in 1777, giving a sizable number of men who may have worn their uniforms from the previous year when they entered their second term of enlistment. "A General Return of Clothing Issued by the Clothier Genl. to 1st: Jany. 1778.", PCC, reel 38, p. 27. In describing the Continental Army as it appeared in August 1777 the Marquis de Lafayette wrote in a memoir that, "In that motley and often naked array, the best garments were hunting shirts, large jackets of gray linen commonly worn in Carolina.", Stanley J. Idzerda, ed., Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776-1790, vol. I, (Ithaca, NY, 1977), p. 91.
14. Israel Shreve to Washington, 22 March 1777, George Washington Papers, Presidential Papers Microfilm, (Washington, DC, 1961), series 4, reel 40, (henceforth cited as GW Papers).
15. "An Account of Money in the Hands of Sundry Persons taken to Purchase Clothing" (November 1776-March 1777), The Sol Feinstone Collection of the American Revolution, item 1, David Library of the American Revolution, on deposit at the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, PA. Among the entries are included monies for clothing received by "Nathl. Jenkins" (10 pounds, 4 shillings, 9 pence), "Major Howell" (1-5-11), "Capt. Cummings" (119-18-2), "Saml. Naglee" (6-0-7) and "John Hollingshead (8-11-1)." Also mentioned in the account is clothing delivered to Colonel Martin's 4th Regiment: 10 Coats, 14 Waistcoats, 5 pairs of breeches, 59 woolen shirts, 6 linen shirts. Receipt for clothing for the use of Captain John Hollinshead's Company, 2nd New Jersey Regiment, 3 February 1777, Israel Shreve Papers, Rutgers University, Alexander Library, (henceforth cited as ISP Rutgers).
16. William Maxwell to William Livingston, Governor of New Jersey, 4 October 1777, The Papers of William Livingston 1772-1790, Microfilm Edition, (Ann Arbor, MI, 1986), reel 5, pp. 904-906, (henceforth cited as PWL).
17. "An Act to procure certain Articles of Cloathing for the Use of the New- Jersey Regiments ...", 25 November 1777, "Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New-Jersey ... begun at Trenton on the 28th Day of October 1777 ... first Sitting ... second Session.", (Burlington, NJ, 1778), pp. 131-135, State Records, B.2., reel 4, 1776-1788.
18. Return of regimental strengths in William Alexander, Lord Stirling's Division, 20 May 1777, WGW, vol. 8, p. 171. "A General Return of Clothing Issued by the Clothier Genl. to 1st: Jany. 1778", PCC, reel 38, p. 27.
19. James Mease to Elias Dayton, 9 May 1777, manuscript in a private collection. Washington to Israel Putnam, 10 June 1777, WGW, vol. 8, p. 222.
20. Shreve to Congress, 30 December 1786, in regard to funds used for recruiting the 2nd Jersey Regiment in 1777, Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, National Archives Microfilm Publication M246, Record Group 93, reel 57, section 23. "A General Return of the Continental Army under ... General Washington, encamped at White Marsh, November 10. 1777", ibid., reel 137.
21. "A Return of Clothing Issued at Camp from 15 Septmr. 1777", PCC, reel 38, pp. 29-30. "Return of Cloathing wanting in the Brigades ... Camp at Towamensing Octr 13 1777", ibid, reel 168, pp. 117-118. A return of clothing "Issued by the Clothier General for the use of the Second New Jersey Regiment to the 1 St. January 1778", signed by Lieutenant Colonel David Rhea. This document corroborates the several issues of clothing made during the year and helps to clarify when the various issues were made. New Jersey State Archives, Department of Defense Manuscripts, Military Records, Revolutionary War, no. 5846, (henceforth cited as NJSA Rev. War)
22. Shreve to Washington, 22 March 1777, GW Papers, series 4, reel 40. "A General Return of Clothing Issued by the Clothier Genl. to 1st: Jany. 1778.", PCC, reel 38, p. 27.
23. Washington to Charles Young, 10 June 1777, WGW, vol. 8, p. 223. "The Hunting Shirts and over alls will ... be more comfortable at this Season than Uniform, and I have given Genl. Putnam particular orders to let none draw them that had before been furnished with Uniform.", Washington to James Mease, 13 June 1777, ibid, p. 237.