Description:

Continental Army

Revolutionary War - Continental Army in 1780 in New Jersey Assesses Its Need for Horses

 

The Continental Army methodically and hopefully prepared a list of horses needed for the coming campaign season, but the Army suffered continually from a lack of horses and of forage to feed them.

 

CONTINENTAL ARMY, Autograph Document, ca. February 1780, [Morristown, New Jersey. 2 pp., 7.75" x 12.5." Expected folds; chipped edges; small portion missing from right side affecting a few numbers; text clear and dark. From the Library of Charles I. Forbes, off the market since 1956..

 

Partial Transcript

Estimate of Horses necessary for the police of the Army in Winter Quarters now in Jersey. A Regiment each: Riding & Bat Horses - 6; Waggon Horses - 4; Total - 10. Each Brigade 4 Regiments: Riding & Bat Horses - 24; Waggon Horses - 16; Total - 40.

 

[Docketing:

Estimate of Horses for the Police of the Army in Winter Quarters in Jersey / No 7.

 

Historical Background

The Continental Army spent the winter of 1779-1780 in Morristown and suffered extensively from the lack of supplies of all kinds. By mid-November, the camp went on half rations and suffered from a shortage of blankets and clothing. They also lacked forage for the horses, and without forage, offensive operations were impossible. The wagonmaster department suffered a perennial shortage of wagons, horses, and drivers.

 

According to Erna Risch in Supplying Washington’s Army, “Estimates of horses and wagons needed for the next campaign were customarily prepared shortly after the troops went into winter quarters.” During the winter of 1779-1780, road conditions made transporting flour difficult, and only the aid of local officials prevented starvation in the camps. Army horses that had been sent into the country to recuperate were starving, and many had died from lack of forage. As late as May 11, 1780, Quartermaster General Nathanael Greene reported to General George Washington that even if all the horses were fit for service, there were not enough to “put this army in motion” for the coming season.

 

Nathanael Greene (1742-1786) was a major general in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He was born in Rhode Island and served in the Rhode Island General Assembly in the early 1770s. In 1775 he was promoted from private to major general of the Rhode Island Army of Observation formed in response to the Siege of Boston. The Continental Congress appointed him as brigadier general in the Continental Army in June 1775. Promoted to major general in August 1776, he was active in the major battles until General George Washington selected Greene to command all troops from Delaware to Georgia in late 1780. Although placed in command of smaller forces, Greene successfully tired the British troops in the southern department through rapid maneuvers against superior forces. Although he lost every pitched battle against the British, he effectively liberated the southern states from British control, limiting them to a few coastal cities by the end of the war. He twice turned down the position of Secretary of War before settling on his Georgia estate, where he died at age 43.

 

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