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"As many fireplaces as you have tents ...

"
Earthen Camp Kitchens
John U. Rees
First published in Food History News (Fall 1997). Also published as "Earthen Camp Kitchens,
Muzzleloader, vol. XXX, no. 4 (September/October 2003), 59-64.

Earthen camp kitchen, Brandywine event, 24-26 September 2010, Brandywine State Park.
Note the oft-used but anachronistic kitchen fly tents in the background.

Contents
Part I. "Cooking Excavations": Their History and Use by Soldiers in North America
A. Advantages.
B. Digging a Field Kitchen.
Part II. Complete 1762 Kitchen Description and Winter Covering for Field Kitchens
Part III. Matt and I Dig a Kitchen.
Sequenced photos of kitchen construction, June 1997, Bordentown, New Jersey.
Part IV.
Part V. Original Earthen Kitchens Examined by Archaeologists.
A. The Laughanstown, Ireland Earthen Kitchen.
B. The Gloucester Point (VIMS) Kitchen, 1781.
C.
Appendices:
1. British Image of Cooking Excavations (Redcoat Images No. 2,000)
2. Newspaper Article on the Discovery of the Gloucester Point Kitchen
3. Miscellaneous Images of Earthen Camp Kitchens and Soldiers Cooking

Part I.
"Cooking Excavations"
Their History and Use by Soldiers in North America
For soldiers, building a fire meant the difference between merely eating to fill an empty
belly and the satisfaction of a warm, nourishing meal. Without cooking fires during a
prolonged rainstorm at Brooklyn in August 1776 Captain Alexander Graydon was forced to
eat his salt pork uncooked. An exhausted Joseph Martin, after serving in Fort Mifflin's
garrison during the grueling November 1777 siege, evacuated the fort with his company,
crossed the Delaware River and halted briefly after receiving "a day's ration of salt pork ...
and a pound of sea bread." With little time available "We kindled some fires in the road, and
some broiled their meat ... I ate mine raw. We quickly started on and marched till evening
..." Staples such as soft bread or newly-baked biscuit needed no preparation to be eaten, but
seasoned hard bread had to be softened by boiling and rations of meat, flour, rice, and
vegetables were more toothsome if cooked.1

Bacon, hard biscuit, and field-found root crops cooking in two tin camp kettles and a
small pan. (2013 Monmouth event. Capt. John Philips company, 2d New Jersey
Regiment, as portrayed by the Augusta County Militia and Queens Own Loyal
Virginia Regiment.)

Three examples of soldiers' cooking fires. Image number 3 is the most recognizable, being a
simple arrangement of forked sticks holding a cross-member from which kettles were hung.
Image 2 seems to show a pit sunk into the ground, with a fire at the bottom, and a kettle hung
from the top. The firepit in Image 4 is made in a raised mound of dirt, similiar to the fireplaces
in an earthen kitchen. Was ist jedem Officier waehrend eines Feldzugs zu wissen noethig (trans.,
"What it is necessary for each officer to know during a campaign") (Carlsruhe, 1788) Mit
zehen Kupferplatten ("with ten copper plates"), plan 3.

Open fires, built quickly and often abandoned soon after they served their purpose, were a
common medium for meal preparation. When time and location allowed the army also
employed large temporary kitchens (round or square) dug into the ground. Humphrey Bland
gave detailed instructions for building an earthen kitchen in his 1762 Treatise of Military
Discipline. His was a circular construction with a 16 foot-wide mound in the center, a 1 1/2
foot shelf around that, all encircled by a ditch 3 feet wide by 2 feet deep. This kitchen could
accommodate 11 or 12 fireplaces, each consisting of a 1 foot square firebox dug into the
inside wall of the surrounding trench and a chimney hole "of four inches diameter" through
the shelf above. With a fire underneath the "heat [was] conveyed through those small holes
to the bottom of the kettles, which are placed on top of them."2

Cutaway view of earthen kitchen (shelf, ditch and fireplace). The chimney hole should be set
back from the edge of the ditch about 10 to 11 inches; depth of fireplace from 16 to 18 inches.
(Illustration by Ross Hamel.)

According to Bennett Cuthbertson, author of a System for the Compleat Interior


Management and Oeconomy of a Battalion of Infantry (1768), "the allied Army in Germany
last war" (i.e., the Seven Years War, 1756-1763) used circular kitchens similar to the one
described by Bland. During the War for Independence the Continental Army also built
them, though how often is not known. The Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the
Troops of the United States Part I. published in 1779 (Friedrich Wilhelm de Steuben,
Philadelphia, Pa., p. 79) gives the following description of a battalion cooking area: "The
kitchens are to be dug behind their respective companies, forty feet from the field officers
tents. The sutlers tents are to be between the kitchens." This mirrors Humphrey Bland's
reference to "The circles ... drawn in the plan [of a camp] between the grand and petty
sutlers, [which] are marked for kitchens, or places where the private men are to dress their
victuals ..." As in Bland's 1762 Treatise, Steuben's illustration of a camp (viewed from
above) shows circular cooking areas, an indication that as early as 1779 earthen kitchens
were being depicted and occasionally used.3

The order of encampment of a regiment consisting of two battalions. Chap. XVI.


Friedrich Wilhelm de Steuben, Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of
the United States Part I. (Philadelphia, Pa., 1779), Plate VII.

Several other sources allude to excavated kitchens as well. For example 19 July 1779
orders for the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment, directed, "The Quarter Master to see the vaults
[latrines] sunk as soon as Possible, and to have Kitchens sunk [i.e., dug] in the frount for the
soldiers to Cook in, and some to the Right for the officers waiter's to Cook in. The soldiers
to have no fire But what is in the Kitchens." Charles Willson Peale's portrait of Col. Walter
Stewart (2d Pennsylvania Regiment), completed in 1782, shows a camp complete with lines
of tents, musket racks, and soldiers cooking on a circular kitchen.4

(Above and below) Continental Army encampment with camp kitchen excavation, from
Charles Willson Peales portrait of Pennsylvania Col. Walter Stewart. The pictured camp
was likely sketched in spring 1781, when the Pennsylvania regiments were stationed in
Lancaster, Pa. (Peales bill for the camp sketch was dated 23 May 1781). Edward W.
Richardson, Standards and Colors of the American Revolution (Philadelphia, Pa., 1982), 219.

Since these kitchens were a European innovation French, British and German troops must
have used them often. In what seems to be a reference to earthen kitchens, Chaplain Johann
Waldeck, of the German Waldeck Regiment, noted the situation soon after his arrival at
Pensacola, Florida: "21-29 January [1779] - In the city absolutely no preparations have been
made for quartering the troops. Also no kitchens set up where the troops can prepare their
food, and only now the soldiers have been ordered to begin work on the cooking
excavations."5 Captain Samuel Richards, 3d Connecticut Regiment, observed the French
army in June 1781,
Rochambeau with his five thousand soon moved on: as they passed thro'
Farmington in Connecticut I being there at the time - had a fine opportunity of
seeing them ... I viewed their manner of encamping over night, the perfect
mechanical manner of performing all they had to do: such as diging a circular
hole & making nitches in which to set their camp kettles for cooking their food.6

The French forces were in the area for only three days, from the 25th to the 28th.
This last description suggests another way firepits were dug. Two publications, one
English, the other German, show a variation of kitchen fireplace construction. Francis
Grose's Military Antiquities, Respecting a History of the British Army (London, 1801)
portrays a women cooking at a kitchen, the fireplaces of which are open niches dug out to
the bottom of the surrounding trench. A 1788 German military manual, Was ist jedem
Officier: wahrend eines Feldzugs zu wiffen nothig. Mit zehen Kupferplatten. (trans., "What it
is necessary for each officer to know during a campaign") (Carlsruhe), shows two similar
firepits with camp kettles suspended from sticks placed across the top of the excavations.
This publication also shows a square earthen kitchen.7

Overhead view of a square earthen kitchen. Unlike the closed fireboxes described by Bland,
this example seems to have open niches with fires at the bottom; kettles could have been hung
overhead from cross-bars or set directly on the fire. Was ist jedem Officier waehrend eines
Feldzugs zu wissen noethig (trans., "What it is necessary for each officer to know during a
campaign") (Carlsruhe, 1788) Mit zehen Kupferplatten ("with ten copper plates"), plan 3.

Advantages. Humphrey Bland extolled the advantages of "cooking excavations" for the
soldiers. Chief among the benefits was the ability to cook in the rain, the lessening "of
accidents by the fire's being blown amongst the tents or forage," easing the officers' task of
overseeing food preparation, and that "very little fuel will serve to dress their victuals."
These last two points merit further discussion.
Officers' must have greatly appreciated having all the cooking kettles concentrated at a
single location. Bland noted, "if you erect one of these kitchens (by which I mean an entire
circle or square) for each troop or company, they need not be larger than what will contain
as many fireplaces as you have tents ... for as all the men who lie in a tent, are of one mess,
every mess must therefore have a fire place, that they may have no excuse for their not
boiling the pot every day." In conjunction with these points, "the Officers can, with a great
deal of ease, look into the conduct and oeconomy of their men" when preparing food. Again
Steuben's 1779 Regulations echo Bland: "... an officer of a company must often visit the
messes; see that the provision is good and well cooked; that the men of one tent mess
together; and that the provision is not sold or disposed of for liquor."8
Even more important was a kitchen's fuel efficiency. Economy of fuel was essential in
many areas of Europe, but even in the heavily wooded countryside of North America such a
savings had benefits. Wood for cooking or warmth was a daily necessity for the troops, the
cutting and hauling of which required much labor. Orders for General Nathanael Greene's
Division, Germantown, Pennsylvania, 1 August 1777, "The Quarter Masters of each
Regiment are directed to see the Men are provided with wood for Cooking, the Quarter
Master Genl. of each division will direct the Regimental Quarter Masters where to cut
wood." Army orders, Skippack, Pennsylvania, 30 September 1777, "One hundred and fifty
ax-men, from Genl. Sullivan's, Greene's, Lord Stirling's and Stephen's divisions, and Genl.
Nash's brigade, are to be selected this day, and a like proportion from the other brigades.
These men are always to carry their axes with them ... [besides building roads and
fortifications] they are to cut firewood for their respective brigades."9
Wood may have been plentiful, but not all of it was available. Several orders attest to this.
"Head Quarters, New York, May 5, 1776 ... The Officers commanding the Guards, in and
near the encampment, are to be particularly attentive to prevent any waste or depradation,
being committed upon the Fields, Fences, Trees, or Buildings about the camp ... any noncommissioned Officer, or Soldier, who is detected cutting any of the Trees, or Shrubs, or
destroying any of the Fences, near the camp, will be confined, and tried for disobedience of
orders." Pompton, New Jersey, 25 July 1777, "The troops having arrived at the place of
encamping so early, they can with the greatest ease provide themselves with wood; and each
Brigadier General will see that it be done accordingly - That fences are ever burnt must be
imputed to inattention, and want of care in officers ..." Just prior to the army's departure
from Valley Forge in June 1778, General Nathanael Greene appointed several men to look
into any damage the troops may have caused, including "Destruction of Fences, or
Timber."10
Equipment shortages exacerbated the need for fuel conservation. Although each mess
squad was supposed to be issued a tomahawk or hatchet, and each company a few axes,
wood cutting tools were sometimes unavailable, in short supply, or in poor condition. At
Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania, Sergeant Ebenezer Wild noted on 7 December 1777 that his
company "had no axes to cut wood for fires nor covering."11

Military earthen kitchens had a civilian counterpart from which they probably descended.
In Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789 Barbara Ketcham
Wheaton noted that masonry potagers became common in French kitchens during the 17th
and 18th centuries. These appurtenances were built in the same manner as the fireplaces of
an earthen kitchen, having a firepit under a shelf through which a hole was made to direct
the heat. Instead of being dug into the ground a potager was built above the kitchen's floor,
also allowing the cook to stand while tending the pot. (The kitchen of the Governor's Palace
at Colonial Williamsburg has several potagers.)12

Barbara Ketcham Wheaton describes the potager, a French innovation, as a slightly raised
place where one prepares soups, or where there are several little charcoal stoves on which they
are simmered." For civilian cooks the "relative comfort and convenience of raised stoves [i.e.,
potagers] should not be underestimated. It would have been miserable to work for long hours
year-round at a blazing hearth. In comparison, the less intense heat [of a potager] and the
chance to work standing up ... would have encouraged the cook to pay closer attention to the
fine points of his or her art." Barbara Ketcham Wheaton, Savoring the Past: The French
Kitchen and Table from 1300 to 1789 (Philadelphia, Pa., 1983), 101, 107, 109.

Digging a Field Kitchen. Two Virginia historical sites have kitchen excavations.
Yorktown Victory Center's earthen kitchen (the fourth on site) was built entirely by manual
labor in 1995. Used regularly by the staff, the current example was made of sandy soil
purposely mixed with clay to enhance longevity. Colonial Williamsburg's military camp has
also incorporated earthen kitchens; the camp is currently in the process of being relocated,
and another kitchen is planned for the new site.13
Earthen kitchens were an elegantly simple solution to a number of problems, but required a
good deal of labor. Under ideal conditions soldiers could construct a full kitchen in a single
day, depending upon the nature of the soil at the chosen site, and whether there were
conflicting demands for labor. Stephen Gilbert related constructing a single fire pit (trench
section, firebox, and chimney) with another man, noting that the endeavor required about an
hour's worth of digging. Justin Grabowski noted that the kitchen trench built in 1995 at
Yorktown Victory Center took four men about four hours (16 man-hours) to excavate
"through clay, roots and rock," using only mattock and shovel. After that was completed
approximately 30 to 45 minutes was required to dig out a single firebox and chimney. (It
must be noted that the trench of this kitchen seems not to have been dug to the proper depth,
lessening the time for digging but making it difficult to build and tend the fires.)14
Three connecting firepits dug by myself and Matthew Murphy at Bordentown, New Jersey,
in June 1997 required about 3 man-hours each, with the soil comprised largely of clay and
small stones, very difficult digging indeed. This experience agrees with that of John Hill,
who noted that the last complete kitchen dug at Colonial Williamsburg's military camp took
approximately 36 man-hours to finish (i.e, 12 firepits at 3 hours each).15
Because of the insights available through hands-on experience, reconstructing an earthen
kitchen is well worth the effort, despite the prodigious amount of labor required (admittedly
one commodity plentiful in armies). Those who have cooked on the excavations at
Yorktown Victory Center, Colonial Williamsburg, and itinerant kitchens like the one at
Bordentown, have had a rare opportunity, enabling them to confirm (or deny) the simplicity
and efficacy of the design.
Part II.
Complete 1762 Kitchen Description and Winter Covering for Field Kitchens
Below is the earthen kitchen description and dimensions given in Humphrey Blands
Treatise of Military Discipline (London, 1762, 288-290):
... the inner diameter [of each earthen kitchen] is sixteen feet; the breadth of the
trench surrounding them, is three feet; the seat is one foot and a half; and the breadth
of the outside wall two feet; which makes the outer diameter twenty-nine feet ... The
circles which are drawn in the plan [of a camp] between the grand and petty sutlers,
are marked for kitchens, or places where the private men are to dress their victuals ...
[The trench dug around the circumference of the circle is to be] three feet broad, and
two deep ... When this is done, you are to cut holes or niches in the side of the circle
or square of earth which is left standing within the ditch. These holes may be about a
foot square, the upper part of which should be within three or four inches of the
surface, from whence they are to cut small holes of four inches diameter, down to
the great ones, in which the fire is to be made, and the heat conveyed through those
small holes to the bottom of the kettles, which are placed on top of them. These
fireplaces may be made within three or four feet of one another quite round the said

circle or square [either 11 or 12 fireplaces to one earthen kitchen].; and if you erect
one of these kitchens (by which I mean an entire circle or square) for each troop or
company, they need not be larger than what will contain as many fireplaces as you
have tents ... for as all the men who lie in a tent, are of one mess, every mess must
therefore have a fire place, that they may have no excuse for their not boiling the pot
every day.

Overhead view of earthen kitchen, with dimensions given in Humphrey Bland's 1762
specifications. (Illustration by Ross Hamel.)

These kitchens were used in winter camps, too. It was common for soldiers on both sides
during the Revolution to build various types of brush shelters (in fact this was done more
often in the British army when campaigning, than by American troops). A structure similar
to soldiers' wigwams or brush huts was recommended for building over camp kitchens in
cold weather. When
a Regiment is to remain very late in the Field ... [it] will require many ... precautions
to make the Soldiers comfortable ... in particular during the time of cooking, when
the inclemency of the weather often renders it almost impracticable, in the open air;
to obviate ... the distress, to which they must at that juncture be exposed, young trees
should be collected, about the size and length of hop-poles, and placed in a circular
form round the out-side of the Kitchens, sloping upwards to a point, exactly in the
same position, the poles are fixed ... leaving a sufficient opening on one side, for the
men to enter, and weaving small boughs or rushes through the poles: the Kitchens
being defended in this manner, the Soldiers remain no longer exposed to the

inconveniences of the weather; and are enabled, not only to dress their victuals,
without the smallest interruption, but by making a large fire in the center of the
Kitchen, to enjoy themselves in great comfort and satisfaction ... (Bennett
Cuthbertson, System for the Compleat Interior Management and Oeconomy of a
Battalion of Infantry (Dublin, 1768), 40-41.)

Valley Forge National Historical Park has discovered at least two original dug kitchens at
the Pennsylvania Division cantonment site. It is not known if those kitchens were dug in the
winter months; if they were it is possible they were provided with coverings like those
described above.

Camp kitchen in use. The tin or sheet-iron kettles commonly used by armies in North America
would be placed on two pieces of sod to allow the draught of the fireplace to escape through the
chimney hole. Barrel-hoop "broilers" constructed by the soldiers may also have been used for
that purpose. (Illustration by Ross Hamel.)

Part III.
Matt and I Dig a Kitchen.
The long-considered idea of digging an earthen kitchen finally came to fruition in June
1997 at a large living history encampment in Bordentown, New Jersey. The excavation
could count on only one laborer, myself, as our group was hosting the event and other work
needed to be done. This and the fact that it had to be completed in a single day, led me to
attempt digging three firepits (1/4 of a full-sized kitchen), using only tools available to 18th
century soldiers.
... the inner diameter is sixteen feet; the breadth of the trench surrounding them, is
three feet; the seat [on the inside of the trench] is one foot and a half; and the breadth
of the outside wall two feet; which makes the outer diameter twenty-nine feet ...
(Humphrey Bland, Treatise of Military Discipline (1762))

June 6, 1997, 8:00 AM. Before any digging could be done, the kitchen's outline had to be
marked on the ground: this was accomplished by first sinking an iron tent pin in the center
of the chosen site and attaching a length of rope with knots tied at three pre-measured points
as per Bland's dimensions; taking a bag of powdered lime, and scooping out a handful, I
placed the lime-filled hand at the first knot, pulled the rope taut, and walked the entire
circumference, dropping lime to trace a line as I went; this was repeated for each remaining
knot. In this manner the inner mound, and inside and outside of the trench were marked,
ready to excavate.
Since the kitchen excavation had to be filled in at the end of the weekend, I began by
removing the sod from the outlined trench; this was placed on the outside of the trench to
form the outer seat, the sod making a pleasant sitting and working surface. (This was done
for half the kitchen circumference, in case some hardy soul wanted to try his hand at digging
a fireplace over the weekend.)
10:00 AM to 4:30 PM. After a brief rest period, I commenced digging a 10 1/2 foot
section of trench (outside measurement), sufficient for three firepits. About 12:30 PM Matt
Murphy, a member of the same recreated regiment, offered to join me in the effort; misery
loving company, I welcomed him gladly. By 1:30 the first firepit was ready to use, complete
with firebox and chimney hole. With Matt's continued help the third and final firepit was
finished around 4:30 PM. (Approximately 3 man-hours were used for each firepit.)
Several insights were gained through this enterprise. Construction: To begin with, only
one man at a time could safely work on a three-foot-wide firepit section. The digging was
done by alternately plying pick and shovel; the finishing work on the trench and firebox was
done with shovel and spade. Partially abrogating my original intent, a modern sod cutter
with a 4-inch blade proved the perfect tool for cutting the firebox chimneys; a simple iron
pry bar may also work for the job. The chimney holes were cut above the firebox, 10 to 11
inches from the edge of the trench; each firebox was dug in from its 1 foot square opening to
a depth of 16 to 17 inches.
Fire Keeping. A camp kettle placed directly on top of the chimney hole reduces the draught.
Laying a piece of sod to either side of the hole prevents this, serving to raise the kettle and
allow free airflow. Squares of sod can also be used to cover the chimney holes when not in
use, holding sparks in and keeping rain water out.
Cooking. Having little time available for experimentation, I only prepared a simple soldier's
meal: beef, carrots, and biscuit, boiled in a sheet-iron kettle. I hope in future to gain
experience with soup, stew, pease-porridge, milk porridge, hasty pudding, suppawn, and
other dishes cooked by soldiers.
... as the fire-places are open at the side, like the mouth
of an oven, the air
which enters there forces all the heat up the small hole to the bottom of the kettle,
and consequently boils it very soon; and as the kettle covers the said hole, the rain
cannot come to extinguish it, or create the men any trouble in keeping it in.

Building the kitchen was a rewarding experience, made all the more so by having it used to
good effect and viewed with interest by those previously unfamiliar with one. The people
who cooked on it over the weekend remarked on several points agreeing with Humphrey
Bland's assessments: how quickly kettles heated using less fuel, the ease of earthen kitchen
cooking compared to working with an open fire on the ground, and the convenience of the
seat/working surface provided by the kitchen's outer shelf.

In addition to introducing people to cooking excavations and their use, building the kitchen
also worked as an exercise in living history, and showed what can be accomplished in a
short time, given the proper setting, and much-needed support.
Sequenced photos of kitchen construction, June 1997, Bordentown, New Jersey.

1. Kitchen outline marked with lime at 8:00 AM; here Sod removal has begun.
(John U. Rees, Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

2. Author posed to give perspective to the kitchens size.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

3. One half of trench has been cleared of sod, excavating with shovel and pick may now
begin (Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

4. Digging the first two fire pits.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

5. Digging the first two fire pits.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

6. Digging the first two fire pits.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

7. Digging the first two fire pits.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

8. Circa 1:30 PM: First fireplace and chimney hole is completed.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

9. Circa 1:30 PM: First fireplace and chimney hole is completed.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

10. Circa 1:30 PM: First fireplace and chimney hole is completed.
(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

11. Circa 1:30 PM: First fireplace and chimney hole is completed.
(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

12. Second fireplace completed.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

13. Circa 4:30 PM: One third of kitchen completed; trench with three fire places.
(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

14. Closeup of fireplace and chimney hole.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

15. Ready for use.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

16. Fireplace on left has a sheet-iron kettle sitting on two pieces of sod to allow a good
draught for the fire. (Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

17. Kitchen fireplaces in use. (Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

18. Preparing food on an earthen kitchen.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

19. Fireplace being used by Whitcombs Rangers


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

20. Kitchen fire box at night.


(Bordentown kitchen, 6 June 1997)

From David Niescior, video of the Trenton Old Barracks kitchen, April 2015:
The interesting thing about dug out circular camp kitchens is that they aren't just
different, they are actually better than a conventional fire. While they must remain time
and place appropriate, a dug camp kitchen is more efficient with wood, and works faster
at bringing water to boil. Here's a clip which shows the forcefulness of a camp kitchen
burning small pieces of dry wood.
https://vimeo.com/151154631

Part IV.

Original Earthen Kitchens Examined by Archaeologists.


To date (June 2014) the remains of several original kitchens have been discovered,
including at least two at the site of the Valley Forge1777-78 winter cantonment (one each at
the Pennsylvania Division and Varnums Brigade camps). Unfortunately, as far as is known,
those kitchens have never been properly excavated and examined. Information on two other
examples, one in Ireland, the other in Virginia, is given below.

Diagram of the large earthen kitchen excavated at Laughanstown, County Dublin, Ireland.
(Inage courtesy of Melanie McQuade.)

The Laughanstown, Ireland Earthen Kitchen. A very large kitchen, with twenty-nine
firepits and an inner diameter of twenty-four feet seven inches, was found at
Laughanstown, County Dublin, Ireland. The site saw several military occupations, in the
late 17th and late 18th centuries. For particulars, we turn to Melanie McQuades Final
Excavation Report:16
2.1.1

The first camp at Laughanstown was established in 1690 and was occupied by the
army of James II. This camp appears to have been centred on Gun and Drum Hill,
north of Tully Church. At its height during the late 1700s, the camp covered over 120
acres and billeted up to 4,000 troops.

2.1.2

The British Government established the second, more extensive and historically
important camp at the site in 1795 to defend Killiney Bay from a possible French
landing. This second camp had two lines of encampment: one on Gun and Drum Hill,
which probably stretched further south, and one to the east, on a line west of and
parallel to the current N11, immediately northeast of the current development area.

Large military roads were constructed from the camp running through Shankill and
Ballybrack to Killiney beach.
2.1.3

According to Ball (1902), the camp was a sight unparalleled in Ireland at the time.
The original scheme was intended for a summer stay, and the militiamen were
supposed to fold up their tents and leave after six months. However, extensive use
was made of wooden houses as army huts, which was unusual for 1795.

2.1.4

The first occupiers of the camp were the Westmeath militia, the Drogheda militia and
the Scottish Perthshire fencibles. John Ferrars, who drew the camp in 1796, described
the 'tents of canvas, wooden taverns, wooden huts and buildings of brick'. He tells of
125 houses in total, with five main lines spread along two 'hilly ridges'.
He describes the layout of the encampment as follows:
On the first and second lines are sixty-four wooden houses, each containing thirtysix privates and two non-commissioned officers. On the third line are the captains
and subalterns houses, in some of which three are quartered in distinct apartments;
and on the fourth are the staff, to the rere of which are mess-houses and kitchens,
with the quarter-guard in front, making in all 125 housesThe wooden
houseswere pitched, canvassed and made waterproof.
Ferrars notes that the camp was novel for its kind in having a ballroom and a coffee
room that provided public breakfasts, complete with Irish and foreign newspapers.
The camp became the focus of society in the area and had a weekly fair and weekend
balls.

2.1.5

During the 1798 rebellion, the camp was used as a garrison. However, Murray (1944)
notes that the camp, in reality, had little enough concern with the rebellion of 1798
despite its situation between Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains. By April 23, 1799,
the camp at Lehaunstown was completely dismantled and all the troops were moved
to other garrisons.

Unfortunately, there is nothing, neither artifacts nor any written record, to tie the
Laughanstown kitchen to any particular period. That said, it seems likely to have been
built during one of the large 1790s camps.
Appended are the Laughanstown kitchens description and measurements, again from
Ms. McQuades excavation report.17
The pits
A total of 29 pits (F8, F11, F14, F17, F20, F23, F26, F29, F32, F35, F38, F41, F44,
F47, F50, F53, F56, F59, F62, F65, F68, F71, F74, F77, F80, F83, F86, F89, F92) were
cut into natural ground (F2), these formed an unbroken circle, with an internal diameter
of 7.5m [24 feet 7 inches]. The pits were numbered and recorded in a clockwise direction
from the north of the site.
All of the pits were sub-rectangular - trapezoidal in shape, with the wider end opening
into the enclosing ditch F5. The cuts had a sharp break in slope, with straight sides and a
flat base.
The average size of these pits was 0.48m [1 foot 7 inches]in length, 0.42m in width,
where they opened into the ditch, and 0.25m [10 inches]in internal width (Appendix 2,
table1). The average depth of the pits has been calculated at 0.25m [10 inches]. The
average distance between the pits was 0.37m [1 foot 2 inches].
The ditch F5

An enclosing circular ditch was cut into natural ground (F2). The width at the top of
the ditch varied from 0.65m 0.85m [2 feet 1 inch - 2 feet 9 inches] and it measured
between 0.50m 0.72m [1 foot 9 inches 2 feet 4 inches] in width at the base. The
depth of the ditch ranged from 0.27m 0.40m [10 5/8 inches 1 foot 3 3/4 inches]. It
had straight sides and a flat base and measured 23.5m [77 feet 1 inch] in circumference.
The ditch was excavated in entirety and there was no evidence for a break or entrance.

Diagram of the Laughanstown kitchen, courtesy of Melanie McQuade. The inner diameter
is 24 feet 7 inches, compared to Humphrey Blands standard of 16 feet. Here we have
twenty-nine firepits, versus eleven or twelve in Blands example.

A few comparisons can be made to Humphrey Blands recommended dimensions. The


inner diameter of the Laughansfield kitchen is twenty-four feet seven inches, compared to
Humphrey Blands standard of sixteen feet, and the oversize example has twenty-nine
firepits, versus Blands eleven or twelve. The ditch in the Irish kitchen is, at its greatest,
almost three feet wide and two and a half feet deep, mirroring Blands three feet broad
and two deep. The twenty-nine firepits of the large kitchen are dug as niches, rather
than with a firebox and chimney. The latter design is more fuel efficient, but may have
been too difficult to make with the standard tools available to a moving army.

Detail of alternate kitchen fireplace construction. Indeed, this may have been the
standard for most earthen kitchens, being more easily dug with tools commonly
available to the troops. Peale's portrait of Colonel Stewart seems to show open firepits,
suggesting that at least some Continental Army kitchens used that method. (Grose
Military Antiquities, Peterson 155; Richardson 218).

The Gloucester Point (VIMS) Kitchen, 1781. On 2 August 1781, after a grueling summer
campaign and a halt at Portsmouth, Virginia, Maj. Gen. Charles Earl Cornwalliss small
army landed to establish a fortified post at Yorktown, on the York River. Almost
immediately, a portion of his force was sent across the river to occupy Gloucester Point, that
garrison remaining there until Cornwalliss surrender on 19 October. At some point during
that period, perhaps early on, British or Loyalist troops, or possibly black laborers, dug an
earthen camp kitchen on what would later become the property of the Virginia Institute of
Marine Science.18 (For the location of VIMS, please use this link:
https://goo.gl/maps/aBMB6)
The VIMS kitchen was discovered during the pre-construction phase of the Seawater
Research Laboratory building in 2005. The discussion of kitchen excavations in the
Ottery Groups Archaeological Data Recovery in the Footprint of the Seawater Research
Laboratory, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia (volume I,
2010), notes The earthen camp kitchen represents a unique feature that has not been
previously documented archeologically; although a similar camp kitchen was reported to
have been excavated at Valley Forge, a report on the excavations was not prepared
(David Orr, personal communication). In a recent email Dr. Orr stated, The [Valley
Forge] Pennsylvania Brigade kitchens were very substantial. You can see parts of two of
them above ground. The results of his study of those, as well as the partial excavation of
one at the Varnums Brigade site by a Temple University graduate student, will be
published in a forthcoming book.19

Photograph of the VIMS earthen kitchen. Archaeological Data Recovery in the Footprint of
the Seawater Research Laboratory, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point,
Virginia, vol. I (The Ottery Group, 2010), 167.

Appended is a synopsis of results from the VIMS kitchen excavation from volume two
of the Ottery Group report:20
LOCATION: Center of Water Storage Area [Virginia Institute of Marine Science,
Gloucester Point, Virginia.]
DESCRIPTION: A 50cm [1 foot 7 inches] wide trench, forming a continuous circle
4.85m [15 feet 11 inches] in diameter. A series of 11 protrusions each approximately 1m
[3.28 feet] square face the interior of the circle. Large quantity of bone (n=4,237).
EXCAVATION METHOD: Partially excavated in a series of nine test units. All soil
screened through inch mesh. Brick, mortar, and oyster shell were weighed in the field
and discarded.
ARTIFACTS: 6,015 (F.S.: 2012-15, 2038, 2103, 2107-10, 2118, 2122-25, 230-35, 213943, 2147-48, 2197 and 2202-03)
- Temporal Diagnostics: Revolutionary War British militaria (grenadier uniform plate),
tin-glazed earthenware (n=45), creamware (n=31), Chinese export porcelain (n=31),
white salt glazed stoneware (n=9), English brown stoneware (n=6), Staffordshire-type
slipware (n=4), pearlware (n=4), whiteware (n=2), Nottingham stoneware (n=1), tobacco
pipe stem (4/64, n=2; 5/64, n=53; 6/64, n=9), hand wrought nails (n=1,034), Zeeland
coin (1769), British George II half-penny.
- Temporal Affiliation: American Revolution, British occupation during the Siege of
Yorktown-Gloucester, August 1 to October 19, 1781.

Lyle Torp, Ottery Group Managing Director, provided additional details: The
diameter is 15.9 feet, the trench is 1.6 feet wide. There are 12 fireboxes, 1.3 - 1.5 feet
wide, spaced 4 feet from center to center, about 2.6 feet between the edges of the
fireboxes.21
The VIMS kitchens dimensions mirror those suggested by Humphrey Blands 1762
treatise. The single military artifact found at the Virginia earthen kitchen is noted as a
grenadier uniform plate. The only item dug on site that fits this description is a
grenadiers cartridge pouch badge, pictured below.22

The Ottery Group, Archaeological Data Recovery, vol. I (2010), 143.

Regrettably, it is very likely some, perhaps many, original kitchens have been dug and
destroyed, with those who did the deed not knowing what they found, and probably not
caring. On the positive side there are a number of likely sites, American, French and
British, where kitchen excavations may yet be discovered and properly examined. We
can only hope.

A selection of 18th century military artifacts found during the VIMS excavations. The
Ottery Group, Archaeological Data Recovery, vol. I (2010), 143.

Alternate view of Gloucester Point, Virginia (VIMS) kitchen. The Ottery Group,
Archaeological Data Recovery, vol. II, Feature Summaries (The Ottery Group, 2010), 123.

The Gloucester Point (VIMS) Kitchen, 1781.

I hope this email does not come too 'out of the blue' but I am following up an article you wrote a
while ago 'As many fireplaces as you have tents...'. Assuming the subject is still of interest to
you, I wanted to let you know that we are currently investigating the site of a Hessian militia
camp in the course of an archaeological project here in Winchester, Hampshire, UK.
The camp is well documented, there is a 1756 plan of it by William Godson (attached), various
contemporary newspaper articles and letters. The Hessian militia were recruited by the UK
Parliament to serve in the protection of Britain in the Seven Years War 1756-63, before later
fighting in the American Civil War. Our work, required before new house building, currently
involves an archaeological excavation that crosses the lines of the Hessian camp and a slightly
later English camp. I have attached a photo showing square field kitchens that were established
at the rear of the Hessian camp and which we are now investigating. The image is looking southeast and we can assume the field kitchens extend beneath the fields as far as and beyond the
track, toward the houses. Our estimate is that we are looking at the 'The Corps' kitchens, as
shown on Godson's plan. Apart from the kitchens, we have latrines and a number of other
features dug into the chalk bedrock, including large pits containing hearths, and a group of 10
metre/30 foot diameter, circular, features dug 1m/3ft into the ground. These latter could be
temporary structures as alternatives to tents; a contemporary news aricle describes the soldiers,
in winter, sleeping in circular booths dug into the ground (while the officers were billeted in the
empty Royal Palace in Winchester).
It would be interesting to know if there are any examples of near contemporary camps in the US
that have been subject to detailed archaeological excavation, which we might compare our
discoveries with. Is this something you would know about?
I hope this is of interest.
Regards
Paul
Paul McCulloch BA MIfA
Regional Manager
Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd (West)
Block 4 Chilcomb House Chilcomb Lane Winchester Hampshire SO23 8RB
Tel: 01962 849 549
Mobile: 07714 134 099
E-Mail: pmcculloch@pre-construct.com
www.pre-construct.com

Thank you so much for sending this information. I looked at the photo before reading
through your note, and (after focusing my tired eyes) could clearly make out what I hoped
were square dug kitchens. These are the first I've seen outside of the one in Heinrich
Medicus, Was ist jedem Officier waehrend eines Feldzugs zu wissen noethig. Mit zehen
Kupferplatten (Carlsruhe, 1788).

Appendices
British Image of Cooking Excavations
(Redcoat Images No. 2,000)
The Encampment outside Montagu House, the British Museum, June 1780

Redcoat Images No. 2,000


The Encampment outside Montagu House, the British Museum, June 1780
Artist: Samuel Hieronymus Grimm
British Museum
This special depiction of a British military camp, which graces our 2000 th installment, came to
Redcoat Images by a somewhat circuitous route. It was discovered on the British Museum web site by R.
Scott Stephenson, director of Collections and Interpretations for the National American Revolution Center.
Scott shared it with John Rees, and John passed it on to Gregory Theberge, who shared it with Redcoat
Images.
This watercolor by the Swiss artist Samuel Hieronymus Grimm recalls the militarization of London
and its environs in the wake of the Gordon Riots, May 29-June 8, 1780. Grimm depicts the grounds
outside Montagu House, the original home of the British Museum. We are looking out at the gardens
extending to the east of that structure, which served as a military campground in the summer of 1780. The
catalog at the British Museum, which owns this work, says that the soldiers pictured here belong to the
York Regiment. Two other drawings by Grimm of this encampment identify the regiment in question as
the 2nd West Yorkshire Light Infantry Militia. Beyond the camp, stand (from left to right) a newly built
terrace in Grays Inn Road, Sadlers Wells, the Foundling Hospital, and the houses in Southampton Row
and Queen Square.
A contemporary described the technique that Grimm used for landscape views such as this one:
"He first of all sketches his scapes with a lead-pencil; then he pens them all over, as he calls it, with Indianink, rubbing out the superfluous pencil-strokes; then he gives a charming shading with a brush dipped in
Indian ink; and last he throws a light tinge of watercolours over the whole."
While not immediately obvious from the big picture presented above, Grimm has filled this
landscape with numerous features of interest to students of 18 th-century British military life and material
culture. We see a column of infantry arrayed four abreast with the regimental musicians in front entering

an enclosure in the center left of this scene. That area also contains a supply cart drawing three large casks
and also a line of camp kitchens to the left. Outside of the enclosure to the right, we catch glimpses of a
regimental camp. To better appreciate what this work has to show us, Gregory Theberge has supplied us
with several close-up details, which appear below.
This view of the left side of the enclosure shows a row of eight camp kitchens. Each kitchen
consists of a dirt mound containing eleven to twelve fire pits for cooking. Each mound is also surrounded
by a ditch. Both John U. Rees and Gregory Theberge have written extensively on 18 th-century soldier
rations and cooking arrangements. Readers interested in camp kitchens of the type seen here should
consult Johns article, As Many Fireplaces as You Have Tents: Earthen Camp Kitchens, which is
available on line at: http://revwar75.com/library/rees/kitchen.htm. John has written several other articles
related to this subject, which are listed at: http://www.scribd.com/doc/125381511/J-U-Rees-Article-ListSoldiers-Food-1775-to-the-modern-era . In addition to Johns work, Gregory has written a treatise titled To
Nourish the Troops: The Mess, Camp Equipage, Kitchens and Provisions of the Common British Soldier
during the American War of Independence. It is also available on the Internet at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/118430474/To-Nourish-the-Troops.

Gregory J. W. Urwin
Professor of History, Temple University
President, Society for Military History
General Editor, Campaigns and Commanders, University of Oklahoma Press
Academic Fellow, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
Fellow, Company of Military Historians
Newspaper Article on the Discovery of the Gloucester Point Kitchen
Daily Press Serving Hampton Roads, Virginia.
http://articles.dailypress.com/2005-11-02/news/0511020103_1_archaeologists-archaeological-surveykitchen
(See also http://www.vims.edu/newsandevents/topstories/battle_hook.php )
Revolutionary War-era field kitchen unearthed at VIMS [Virginia Institute of Marine Science]
Archaeologists also found human remains near the site, but were unable to determine the race and gender
of the bones.
BY MATT SABO
November 2, 2005
GLOUCESTER -- Pig, turkey and venison were likely on the menu, along with oysters. You might say the
soldiers ate well.
A rare temporary field kitchen used by occupying British Revolutionary War soldiers has been unearthed
on the campus of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. It's a find that initially puzzled archaeologists.
The only other known Revolutionary War-era field kitchen is at Valley Forge, Pa., where two were
discovered, archaeologists said. "We weren't sure what we had," said Tom Bodor, director of cultural
resources at The Ottery Group, a Maryland-based firm hired to conduct an archaeological survey of areas
on the VIMS campus.
The field kitchen was laid out in a ring about 16 feet across. Soldiers dug out earthen fire boxes and piled
the soil in the middle of the ring, said Chris Sperling, an Ottery Group archaeologist who has been working
on site since February.
Sperling made the connection from the 11 fire boxes archaeologists found in a circle - yards from a
Revolutionary War trench - to a temporary field kitchen after conducting some preliminary research over

the Internet.
The team also found reference to a 1762 British manual on building the temporary field kitchens.
A short trip across the York River to the Yorktown Victory Center produced further confirmation: A
replica of a Revolutionary War temporary field kitchen is being built there.
"If you put them side by side, they would have the same things," Sperling said.
The temporary field kitchen would serve about 55 to 60 soldiers, he said. Bones found during the digging
indicate the soldiers' diets consisted of pig and game such as turkey and deer, he said.
VIMS is conducting the archaeological survey - as required for property owned by the state - in advance of
a construction project for a seawater lab. The VIMS campus sits on what was once a thriving Colonial port
on the York River called Gloucester Town.
The town was platted in the early 1700s and digging at the site has yielded Colonial-era cellars, wine
bottles with seals still intact, Revolutionary War bayonets and a badge with the number 63.
The badge is believed to have been from soldiers from the 63rd British Light Infantry unit who were
imprisoned at Gloucester Town.
In addition to the temporary field kitchen, archaeologists uncovered two sets of human remains beneath a
gravel driveway not far from where a dig last summer yielded a remarkable 17th-century skull.
The bones were discovered a month ago, said Roger Kirchen, an archaeologist with the state Department of
Historic Resources.
One set of remains was just beneath the gravel. Another set was no more than a foot away but about 21/2
feet deeper, Kirchen said.
"It seems to demonstrate two different burial practices," he said.
An analysis of the remains is pending.
"We're not sure if we're dealing with males or females, the size, or the age of these remains," he said.
The race of the remains has not been established and the Virginia Council of Indians has been notified of
the discovery, he said.
The 17th-century cranium that was discovered last year is European and was in remarkable condition, said
Ron Herzick, a VIMS project manager. The skull has been dated to 1625 to 1640 and was a male
approximately 30 to 36 years of age.
If exact, the date of the skull's entombment would correspond with the early days of Gloucester's settlement
by a handful of Englishmen.

Miscellaneous Images of Earthen Camp Kitchens and Soldiers Cooking

Soldiers of Capt. Andrew Fitchs company, 4th Connecticut Regiment, in their mess groups
preparing an evening meal. (Model Company event, Putnam Park, Redding, Ct., 25 to 27
September 2009. Photograph courtesy of the Model Company.
http://www.fortticonderoga.org/learn/re-enactors/model_company

Earthen kitchen illustration from Francis Grose, Military Antiquities, Respecting a History of
the British Army (London, 1801), pictured in Harold L. Peterson, The Book of the Continental
Soldier (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1968) 155.

1st Pennsylvania Regiment, event at American Village in Montevallo Alabama.


(Date unknown.)

Earthen kitchen, Battle of Cooch's Bridge 225th, Brandywine Creek State Park, 2007.

Augusta County Militia, 225th Monmouth battle event, June 2003.

Earthen kitchen, Brandywine event, 24-26 September 2010, Brandywine State Park.

Earthen kitchen, Brandywine event, 24-26 September 2010, Brandywine State Park.

Earthen kitchen, Brandywine event, 24-26 September 2010, Brandywine State Park.

Earthen kitchen, Brandywine event, 24-26 September 2010, Brandywine State Park.

Earthen kitchen, Brandywine event, 24-26 September 2010, Brandywine State Park.

Earthen kitchen, Brandywine event, 24-26 September 2010, Brandywine State Park.

Earthen kitchen, Brandywine event, 24-26 September 2010, Brandywine State Park.

Earthen kitchen, Brandywine event, 24-26 September 2010, Brandywine State Park.

Earthen kitchen, Brandywine event, 24-26 September 2010, Brandywine State Park.

Fort Ticonderoga kitchen, The Rear Guard event, July 2014

Fort Ticonderoga kitchen, The Rear Guard event, July 2014

Fort Ticonderoga kitchen, The Rear Guard event, July 2014

Fort Ticonderoga kitchen, The Rear Guard event, July 2014

Fort Ticonderoga kitchen, The Rear Guard event, July 2014

Above: "A Soldier's Brew" by Bryant White.


Below, an alternate detail from the same painting.

Acknowledgements
My thanks to the following people who helped in various stages of kitchen construction
and research: Matthew Murphy, Chuck Beale, Stephen Gilbert, Sandra Oliver, Justin
Grabowski of Yorktown Victory Center, Robert A. Selig, Gregory J.W. Urwin, and John
Hill and Pat Gibbs of Colonial Williamsburg. Special thanks go to Paul Hutchins and Drew
Smith for their encouragement with the Bordentown project. My appreciation also to James
Casco (Whitcomb's Rangers), Nancy Pecca (2nd New Jersey Regiment), Susan Plaisted
(German Regiment), David Wilson (2nd Massachusetts Regiment), and others whose names
I cannot recall who either cooked on the Bordentown kitchen or stopped by, voicing support
and posing questions.
* * * * * * * *
Two additions to the acknowledgements posted in my original article; thanks to Melanie
McQuade, Project Archaeologist, Margaret Gowen & Co Ltd, for providing information
and images of the Laughanstown kitchen, and to Lyle Torp, Managing Director at The
Ottery Group, for details and reports on the Gloucester Point kitchen.
Endnotes
1. Alexander Graydon, Memoirs of My Own Times (Philadelphia, Pa., 1846), 165. Joseph
Plumb Martin, Private Yankee Doodle: A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and
Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier (New York, N.Y., 1962), 97-98.
2. Humphrey Bland's Treatise of Military Discipline (London, 1762, 288-290
3. Bennett Cuthbertson, System for the Compleat Interior Management and Oeconomy of a
Battalion of Infantry (Dublin, 1768), 40-41. Bland, Treatise of Military Discipline, 288.
4. Regimental Orders, 26 May 1779, The Orderly Book of the First Pennsylvania Regiment,
Col. James Chambers, 23 May 1779 to 25 August 1779, John B. Linn and William H. Egle,
eds., Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution, Battalions and Line. 1775-1783, II
(Harrisburg, Pa., 1880), 468-469. Edward W. Richardson, Standards and Colors of the
American Revolution (Philadelphia, Pa., 1982), 218 (the earthen kitchen in Peale's painting
can be seen in the background, to the left of Colonel Stewart).
5. Bruce E. Burgoyne, Enemy Views: The American Revolutionary War as Recorded by the
Hessian Participants (Bowie, Md., 1996), 309.
6. Samuel Richards, Diary of Samuel Richards. Captain of Connecticut Line War of the
Revolution 1775-1781" (Published by his Great-Grandson. Philadelphia, 1909), 74-75. :
Samuel Richards was a first lieutenant in the 3d Connecticut Regiment as of January 1777,
and retired in January 1781. (He served from May 1775, beginning as sergeant.) Francis B.
Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the
Revolution April 1775 to December 1783 (Washington, D.C.: The Rare Book Publishing
Shop, Inc., 1914), 465.
7. Kitchen illustration from Francis Grose, Military Antiquities, Respecting a History of he
British Army (London, 1801), pictured in Harold L. Peterson, The Book of the Continental
Soldier (Harrisburg, Pa.: Stackpole Books, 1968) 155. Was ist jedem Officier waehrend
eines Feldzugs zu wissen noethig (trans., "What it is necessary for each officer to know
during a campaign") (Carlsruhe, 1788) Mit zehen Kupferplatten ("with ten copper plates"),
plan 3.

8. Bland, Treatise of Military Discipline, 290-291. Friedrich Wilhelm de Steuben,


Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States Part I.
(Philadelphia, Pa., 1779), 83-84.
9. Richard K. Showman, ed., The Papers of General Nathanael Greene, vol. II (Chapel Hill,
N.C., 1980), 131-132. General orders, 30 September 1777, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The
Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, vol. 9
(Washington, DC, 1933), 12-13. See also Washington to the Superintendant of Finance, 4
September 1782, Fitzpatrick, WGW, vol. 25 (1938), 123-124. "A Return For Wood For the
New Jersey State Regiment Comd. By Col. Seely For one Day Decr. 14th 1779," at
Elizabeth Town, New Jersey. On that date this unit, which contained 18 officers and staff,
and 376 rank and file, "Received ... two Cords & a half of wood ..." to cook and warm
themselves. "A Return For Wood For the New Jersey State Regiment Comd. By Col. Seely
For one Day Decr. 14th 1779," New Jersey State Archives, Department of Defense
Manuscripts, Military Records, Revolutionary War, no. 3862. (Courtesy of Donald LondahlSmidt).
10. General orders, 5 May 1776, Fitzpatrick, WGW, vol. 5 (1932), 12-13. General orders, 25
July 1777, ibid., vol. 8 (1933), 465. Richard K. Showman, ed., The Papers of General
Nathanael Greene, vol. II (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1980), 419.
Woodcutting Tools in the Continental Army. In the 2nd Virginia Regiment in 1775, each
company was to be issued "a Spade, Shovel & Ax." By 1777 army orders directed "Such
regiments as have not already drawn Tomahawks ... immediately to provide themselves with
at least one or two to a mess." Two years later an "Estimate of Articles Necessary for 6000
Men for 12 Months March 2d. 1779" called for 324 axes ("4 to Eac[h]. Compy."). More
realistically, and amendment to the new regulations by de Steuben called for a reduction in
the "Utensils of each Tent" (these were not enumerated but probably included one hatchet),
and noted that "If each Camp Colour man were to carry an Axe slung this w[oul]d allow a
sufficient number for ordinary purposes." (There was approximately one camp color man
per company.) In 1781 an "Estimate of Quarter Masters Stores to be supplyed from the State
of Maryland for the Southern Army" included 600 common tents and enough camp kettles
and axes to allow one for each tent. Whether this request was ever complied with is not
known. Regimental orders, "Colledge Camp September 28th. 1775," Brent Tarter, ed., "The
Orderly Book of the Second Virginia Regiment, September 27, 1775-April 15, 1776," The
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 85, no. 2 (April 1977), 161. General
orders, 10 June 1777, Fitzpatrick, WGW, vol. 8 (1933), 211-212. "Estimate of Articles
Necessary for 6000 Men for 12 Months March 2d. 1779," The Papers of the Continental
Congress 1774-1789, National Archives Microfilm Publications M247, (Washington, DC,
1958), reel 192, p. 61. Remarks on the manuscript of "Regulations for the Infantry of the
United States," Washington to Frederick Wilhelm de Steuben, 11 March 1779, George
Washington Papers, Presidential Papers Microfilm, (Washington, DC, 1961), series 4, reel
63. Robert K. Wright, Jr., The Continental Army (Washington, D.C., 1981), 436. The
Deputy Quarter Master for the State of Maryland" Donald Yeates to the Governor and
Council, 15 February 1781, J. Hall Pleasants, ed., "Journal and Correspondence of the State

Council of Maryland ... 1781," Archives of Maryland, vol. XLVII (Baltimore, Md., 1930),
72.
11. "Journal of Ebenezer Wild," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2nd
series, vol. VI (1891), 100-183.
12. Barbara Ketcham Wheaton, Savoring the Past: The French Kitchen and Table from
1300 to 1789 (Philadelphia, Pa., 1983), 101, 106, 109, illustration of potager, 107.
13. Information on the kitchens at Yorktown Victory Center courtesy of Justin Grabowski;
on Colonial Williamsburg's earthen kitchen courtesy of John Hill, Keeper of the Magazine,
and Pat Gibbs, Department of Historical Research.
14. Stephen R. Gilbert, "Camp Kitchens," The Brigade Dispatch (Journal of the Brigade of
the American Revolution), vol. XXIV, no. 4 (Autumn 1993), 18-20. Justin Grabowski to
John Rees, 24 June 1997.
15. John U. Rees, notes taken during kitchen excavation at Bordentown, New Jersey, 6 June
1997. Author's phone conversation with John Hill about the Williamsburg kitchens, 24
October 1997.
16. Melanie McQuade, Final Excavation Report, Site 6, Cherrywood Science and
Technology Park II, District Centre Lands, Laughanstown, Co. Dublin (Margaret Gowen
& Co. Ltd., for Muir Associates, on behalf of Dunloe Ewart Plc., 2005).
17. Ibid. See also, Aaron Johnston, RPA (Railway Procurement Agency) LUAS B1
Sandyford to Cherrywood Extension, Metal Detection Primary Report, Laughanstown,
Co. Dublin, 06R178 (Cultural Resources Development Services Ltd., May 2007)
18. Gregory J.W. Urwin, When Freedom Wore a Red Coat: How Cornwallis 1781
Campaign Threatened the Revolution in Virginia, Army History, no. 68 (Summer 2008),
6-23.
19. Archaeological Data Recovery in the Footprint of the Seawater Research
Laboratory, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia, vol. I
(Prepared For: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, P.O. Box 1346, Rt. 1208 Greate
Road, Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062. Prepared By: The Ottery Group, 3420
Morningwood Drive, Olney, Maryland 20832. Lyle C. Torp, Christopher Sperling, and
Victoria Robertson. Lyle C. Torp and Thomas W. Bodor (Principal Investigators, 2010),
22, 142 (Fig. 6.41), 167. David Orr to author, (email), 6 June 2014.
20. Archaeological Data Recovery in the Footprint of the Seawater Research Laboratory,
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia, vol. II, Feature
Summaries (Prepared For: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, P.O. Box 1346, Rt. 1208
Greate Road, Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062. Prepared By: The Ottery Group, 3420
Morningwood Drive, Olney, Maryland 20832. Lyle C. Torp, Christopher Sperling, and
Victoria Robertson. Lyle C. Torp and Thomas W. Bodor (Principal Investigators, 2010),
122-123.
21. Lyle Torp (The Ottery Group) to author, (email), 20 November 2013.
22.The Ottery Group, Archaeological Data Recovery (2010), 143.

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