Board of War: Returns of clothing, rations, and small stores for various regiments
Returns of clothing, rations, and small stores for various regiments, 1777-1782.
Call no.: PS2/2322X
Scope and Content: During the Revolution, the Massachusetts General Court designated the Board of War to administer the war effort on behalf of the colony, including the provisioning of troops. The board was assisted by regimental clothiers, by a state clothier (from May 1779), by the Committee for Providing Slops and Small Stores (such as knapsacks, cartridge boxes, and gun belts), and by the commissary general (originally instituted by the Provincial Congress in Feb. 1775), specifically for foodstuffs procured from local merchants or state stores. Provision of clothing had been mandated by resolves of the Continental Congress, first as an expense charged against a soldier’s wages (June 19, 1775), and then without charge, or in the form of a bounty to reimburse those who supplied their own (Oct. 8, 1776)
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