Ragged Soldiers

When people read that American soldiers during the Revolutionary War were often naked, starving, or unarmed many probably assume, as I once did, that such statements were exaggerations, hyperbole, or metaphorical.

In January 1781 a force commanded by Benedict Arnold launched a surprise invasion of Virginia, resulting in an emergency call up of Virginia forces to meet the threat. Regarding the condition and provision of the men sent to face their well-provisioned enemy, consider this astonishing letter from Colonel William Davies to Governor Thomas Jefferson:

Chesterfield, Jany. 25, 1781

Sir:

I found upon my return hither that all the troops, that marched from hence upon the arrival of the enemy, had by order of Baron Steuben come back to this station, from their utter inability to keep the field, from the want of almost every species of clothing. Many men have not a remnant of clothing larger than a good napkin to cover their nakedness, and a number of these are dependent upon others for a part of a blanket to shelter them at night from the cold. … The want of shirts and shoes is another distressing circumstance, and I must beg your Excellency’s attention to it. Unless some method can be adopted for supplying the men, they had much better be dismissed altogether; they are not able to do anything in the field, and near 60 of them too naked to do anything in quarters, and every idea of training them for actual service has long since been laid aside.

These must be unpleasant truths, but it is my duty to represent them…. Another great misfortune is the manner of issuing the clothing. A good pair of stockings is given to a naked soldier today; he has no shoes and wears them out by the next week, and in a fortnight afterwards when his stockings are gone, he gets his shoes; Or perhaps he gets breeches, but no lining to them; a new coat or a fashionable hat, but has no shirt, or if he has, he is without breeches. By this means the country runs into debt, and the soldier is always uncomfortable, and utterly devoid of that military pride of appearance, so essentially necessary in every army. At present, however, some immediate assistance is absolutely necessary to preserve the lives of these men. Some of them are so naked that they have refused furloughs to go home to try to get clothes, being ashamed as well as unable in their situation to travel at this season. There never will be a possibility of preventing desertions till men find it more comfortable to be soldiers, than has generally been the case of the Virginia line, aggravated as their reflections must be, when they observe the comparatively happy circumstances of the troops from other states. I have of late been endeavoring to draw off descriptive lists of the deserters, of whom I have had returns; and am now at the 170th. As soon as it is properly prepared, I shall forward it to your Excellency. I intend to propose to the General, to give furloughs for a limited time to all the men now here that will enlist for the war, pay them a part of their bounty now, and the remainder when they return. As they can be of no service till they are clothed, and provision is with difficulty procured, I hope this proposal will not be thought ineligible. In the meantime I would submit whether it will not be necessary to order a quantity of leather here for the purpose of mending shoes: we have tools and shoemakers of our own. I would also request that some money might be spared to pay the tailors, who have for these five months past made up almost all the clothes our men have had. They are much discouraged for want of it, and many of them think they are working for nothing.

I hope to be excused for my prolixity but must persevere in my applications as long as there remains any prospect of success. The extra expense of calling an equal number of militia into the field, would go far towards fitting these men for service, who if properly trained, might have been very useful on the late occasion, but as matters now stand are only a useless incumbrance upon the country.

I have the honor to be, sir, with the highest respect, your Excellency’s most obedient and most humble servt.,

William Davies