Part 1 "The Great Neglect in Provideing Cloathing... " Uniform Colors and Clothing in The New Jersey Brigade From Northern New York, 1776, To The Monmouth Campaign, 1778

"The Great Neglect in Provideing Cloathing...
"
Uniform Colors and Clothing in the New Jersey Brigade
from Northern New York, 1776, to the Monmouth Campaign, 1778
John U. Rees
A typical New Jersey soldier as he would have looked 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 color of the coats worn
by the other regiments is unknown. Other typical coat styles worn in 1777 included coats
with capes and cuffs only (no lapels). Illustration by George C. Woodbridge, from George
C. Neumann, Swords and Blades of the American Revolution (Texarkana, TX, 1991).
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Overview of Military Operations, 1776-1778
3 "The Jersey Blues": The New Jersey Battalions, 1755-1776
a. New Jersey Buttons
4. "Never...Our Proper Quantity:" The New Jersey Brigade of 1777
Appendices
A. The Proportion of Men from the Second New Jersey of 1776

Who Reenlisted in the 1777 Regiment
B. 1777 Clothing Returns (Wanting and Issued) for the New Jersey Regiments
C. “The Blues offered again to fight …”: Contemporary and Later Use of the Term “Jersey Blues”
D. “Had on when he went away …”: New Jersey Deserter Advertisements, 1775-1777
E. “A Quantity of Tow Cloth, for the Purpose of making of Indian or Hunting Shirts …”
Proper Terminology: Hunting shirt, Rifle Shirt, Rifle Frock …
Related Articles by the Author on the New Jersey Brigade and the 1777-1778 Campaigns
_______________
For Part 2 of, "The Great Neglect in Provideing Cloathing..."

1. "The Regiments Have No Uniforms or Distinguishing Colours:" Uniform Coats
of the New Jersey Brigade during 1778
2. “The following Articles of Cloathing …”: 1778 Nine Months Levies’ Apparel
3. “Only a few light things in the Spring.": Clothing the Jersey Brigade’s Long Term
Soldiers, 1778
Go to http://revwar75.com/library/rees/neglect2.htm
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 that summer 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 large-scale support in the form of troops as well as supplies.1
While this study is narrow in focus, it does shed some light on 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 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 in clothing 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 deficiencies,
the Jersey troops’ state of dress (most particularly those men enlisted for the war) remained more
or less static until the arrival of French supplies in late 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.
Overview of Military Operations, 1776-1778. Before the New Jersey troops’ apparel is
examined a recounting of their activities from 1776 to 1778 is needed to provide context. New
Jersey first raised battalions for Continental service in late 1775. The state's initial Continental
contingent consisted of only two units, the 1st (commanded first by Col. William Alexander, then
Col. William Winds) and 2d (Col. William Maxwell) Battalions, both authorized for formation
that October. Enough personnel were clothed and equipped that the first companies began their
march for Canada on 7 February, with the remaining companies following in turn. Authorization
to raise the state’s third battalion (Col. Elias Dayton commanding) was not forthcoming until
mid-January 1776; that battalion left New York City on 3 May 1776 (two days before American
forces abandoned the Quebec-city siege) heading up the North (Hudson) River aboard a number
of vessels bound for Albany. While the 1st and 2d New Jersey Battalions had sailed upriver to
Quebec, taking part in the retreat from Canada, and eventually ending up with the Fort
Ticonderoga garrison, the 3d Battalion spent the spring and summer months in the Mohawk
Valley, with a portion garrisoning Fort Stanwix. That autumn Colonel Dayton’s men marched to
Ticonderoga, arriving on November 1st, fourteen days before the 1st and 2d Battalions left for
New Jersey, their one-year enlistments having expired.2
The 3d Battalion did not return to New Jersey until mid-March 1777. By that time most of the
army’s other regiments were being reconstituted via long-term of enlistments of old soldiers and
new recruits. With the reorganization of the Continental Army during the winter of 1776/1777 a
fourth regiment was added, and in May 1777 the New Jersey brigade was first formed under Brig.
Gen. William Maxwell, former colonel of the 2d Regiment. Spencer's Additional Regiment was
also authorized in 1777; this unit contained large numbers of Jersey men and was sometimes called
the 5th New Jersey, though that was never an official designation. As an additional regiment, and
having both Pennsylvania and New Jersey men in it ranks, Spencer’s was not officially connected to
any state, and thus did not receive assistance from New Jersey. The additional regiments were, for
all intents and purposes, solely on the Continental Establishment, relying on the Continental
Clothier General and other Congressional departments for clothing and equipment. Spencer’s
Regiment was not assigned to the New Jersey brigade, but to Conway’s brigade, also with Stirling’s
division.3
Once they took the field in late May the four New Jersey regiments were kept quite busy. Taking
post in and around Westfield, New Jersey, their first large-scale action was at the Battle of Short
Hills on June 26, 1777. A hard-fought defeat, Maxwell’s brigade was scattered, but regrouped the
day after. Early in July they joined their division and marched to Morristown, where the main army
was then stationed. General Maxwell with the 2d and 4th Regiments then marched, first north, then
south, with General Washington’s forces, while the 1st and 3d Jersey regiments were detached to
Elizabethtown, taking part in Maj. Gen. Joh Sullivan’s failed Staten Island raid on 22 August.
Following that they march to Wilmington, Delaware, where they were reunited with rest of the
Jersey brigade.4
Battles, skirmishing, and almost-constant marching, made the 1777 Philadelphia campaign one of
the most rigorous of the war, hard on the men, their clothing, and equipment. Following the reunion
of the New Jersey brigade, the army moved to a defensive position behind the Brandywine Creek in
Pennsylvania. On September 11th Crown forces defeated Washington’s army, pushing them back to
Chester, thus beginning a period of march and countermarch. On 16 September occurred the
abortive action at White Horse Tavern (also known as the Battle of the Clouds), cut short by a
tremendous storm of wind and rain; on the 26th Lt. Gen. Sir William Howe’s Crown forces entered
Philadelphia. Washington’s reinforced army executed a surprise attack on British forces posted at
Germantown, just outside Philadelphia. Maxwell’s brigade was involved in storming elements of
the 40th Regiment posted in the Chew house, before Howe’s forces rallied and forced the
Americans to retreat. At the end of October Lord Stirling’s division, including the four Jersey
regiments, participated in an interesting, though futile, expedition across the Schuylkill River in an
attempt to surprise a British detachment. (See “About an hour before day we dashed through the
river again …”: The October 1777 Schuylkill Expedition, https://tinyurl.com/river-dash.)5
In November General Washington posted his army in the hills of Whitemarsh, northwest of
Philadelphia, sending away their tents and other impedimenta and waited for the British to move.
On December 5th they advanced, General Howe hoping to draw the Americans from their
fortifications. After several days of maneuvering, skirmishes, and some heavy fighting on the flank,
the British retired to the city, and on the 19th Washington’s Grand Army moved into winter quarters
at Valley Forge. Three days later both brigades of Stirling’s division marched to counter a British
foraging operation west of the Schuylkill River, but by the turn of the New Year they were back in
camp, doing their best to build winter huts.6
After the difficulties and setbacks of the 1777 campaign the four New Jersey Continental
regiments spent the first three months of 1778 together at Valley Forge. 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 on May 12th. 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
their base in New York. On 18 June Lt. Gen. Sir Henry Clinton’s Crown forces began their
march towards Sandy Hook, New Jersey. From that day to June 27th, the day before the battle of
Monmouth Courthouse, the New Jersey regiments were on the move, and some portion was
skirmishing with the enemy. At the 28 June battle, the brigade marched with Maj. Gen. Charles
Lee’s Advance Force to confront the British rear guard. It was not involved in any combat other
than long-distance musketry and enduring the afternoon cannonade. After the battle Maxwell’s
brigade was detailed to keep watch on the Crown forces’ embarkation at Sandy Hook. The
brigade was then stationed in and around Elizabeth Town, New Jersey, and that December moved
into winter quarters around Newark, New Jersey, where they remained until spring 1779.7
A significant factor during the campaign was the addition in May and June of large numbers
of nine-month levies. These conscripts altered considerably the structure of the New Jersey
Brigade just prior to the British evacuation of Philadelphia. The new men, for better or for worse,
had an impact on the combat effectiveness of the New Jersey regiments as well the types of
clothing worn and the equipment was carried. The short-term levies presence must be considered
in any study of the brigade in 1778, and the influence they 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 regiments in Washington's army during the same period. This last contention is
made even more probable in light of the fact that four other states with regiments serving under
Washington (i.e., Massachusetts, New York, Maryland and North Carolina) were also successful
in drafting nine-months men from their militia battalions to serve on their Continental
establishments. The short-term soldiers from these states were probably clothed in a manner
similar to the New Jersey levies, who wore a mix of hunting shirts and civilian coats during their
period of service. As shown in the ensuing pages, it is likely the long-term soldiers of Maxwell's
brigade also wore hunting shirts in 1778, though the known presence of a small number of
regimental coats warrants some investigation into the probable colors worn.8
"The Jersey Blues:" The New Jersey Battalions, 1755-1776
The Continental regiments from the state of New Jersey were popularly known as the "Jersey
Blues," an appellation that 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. In 1776, the first
full year of military service that the New Jersey Continentals experienced the troops from that
state were originally supposed 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.”9
Col. William Maxwell’s 2d New Jersey Battalion. 1776
(Painting by Don Troiani, www.historicalimagebank.com )
For the first few months of their existence a number of hunting shirts were manufactured for
the newly raised battalions, 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' [hunting] 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.10 [Note: Polhemus’s use of the term “Frock” in referring
to hunting shirts is not a common one and could be taken to mean wool coats. The fact he is referring
to hunting shirts is confirmed by Colonel Maxwell’s end-of-January remark suggesting that the small
number of hunting shirts that 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 (see below). For
the terms used during the war see, “’A Quantity of Tow Cloth, for the Purpose of making of Indian
or Hunting Shirts …’: Proper Terminology: Hunting shirt, Rifle Shirt, Rifle Frock …,” Appendix A.
of “Brother Jonathan’s Images, No. 9: Virginia Rifleman,” https://tinyurl.com/Va-Rifleman )
A few days after Polhemus' letter, the commander of the 2d Battalion, Col. William Maxwell,
submitted a request to Alexander to "send me one of Your best [hunting] 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
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 2d Battalion was only able to report that "We have got
many [hunting] Frocks made but nothing like half enough for the regt..."11
Having been informed early in January that the New Jersey battalions were march north to
Canada as soon as they could be made ready, it occurred to both the legislators and unit
commanders that hunting shirts would not be the most suitable wearing apparel for the troops.
Writing from Trenton 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 [remain] here. There is a good many Cartouch boxes & Cross Belts [as
well as] some haversacks & [hunting] Frocks here." At the end of the month he was suggesting
that the small number of hunting shirts already 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.12
The New Jersey Provincial Congress raised the 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 battalions from the state. One
indication of this is a statement found in an orderly book of the 2d 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 2d Jersey Battalions were
present at Ticonderoga, with the 3d Battalion not arriving until 1 November. Since deserter
descriptions show in February 1777 that three men from Maxwell’s 2d Battalion were wearing
blue and red coats, it is probable, if not certain, that at least Maxwell’s Battalion wore those coats
in 1776. It is known, however, that the 3d New Jersey Battalion wore regimental coats of drab
wool with blue facings in 1776 and, in the following year, procured blue and red coats for its
soldiers. Although not generally used by Jersey troops in 1776, hunting shirts were to make a
reappearance, and play a more prominent role in the clothing worn by the New Jersey brigade
during the following two years.13
Soldier of the 3d New Jersey Battalion of 1776.
(Painting by Don Troiani, www.historicalimagebank.com )
_______________
New Jersey Buttons. The buttons merit further discussion. For their first-year Continental
battalions New Jersey manufactured marked buttons with the words “New Jersey” in script;
numbers of these buttons, 23 mm in diameter (one specimen was 24 mm), were found only at
1776 sites, notably Forts Stanwix and Ticonderoga. Smaller marked buttons, likely used on
soldiers’ waistcoats, have been excavated at mid and late-war sites; one button marked in script
“NJ” was found at Valley Forge, and another single button marked “JB” (Jersey Battalion) was
found at Dobbs Ferry. Artist and historian Don Troiani notes of the small “JB” buttons, “Several
specimens are known to have been recovered from c. 1780-1783 American campsites along the
Hudson River where New Jersey troops were known to have camped."14
1776 New Jersey buttons, 23 mm in diameter. Don Troiani, Military Buttons of the American
Revolution (Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, 2001), 131.
Maj. Joseph Bloomfield, 3d New Jersey Regiment, sat for his portrait in April 1777. He wears a
drab regimental coat with blue facings, the uniform worn by the 3d Battalion in 1776, with a blue
sash over his right shoulder, hanging at his left waist. Probably a mark of his rank, sashes were
never formalized for field officers by Continental Army regulations and seem to have been
authorized only at the state or even regimental level. The major also has a silk or linen cravat, and
a shirt with ruffles on the front and at the cuffs. Under his drab regimental he wears a belted
waistcoat. His coat has two silver epaulettes and bears large buttons showing the suggestion of a
design and possibly a raised border. For more see:
(Brother Jonathan’s Images, No. 7), Major Joseph Bloomfield, 3d New Jersey Regiment
http://www.scribd.com/doc/179477933/Brother-Jonathan%E2%80%99s-Images-No-7-Major-
Joseph-Bloomfield-3d-New-Jersey-Regiment-Artist-Charles-Willson-Peale-Year-1777-Collection-
Privatel
"Never...Our Proper Quantity:" The New Jersey Brigade of 1777
During the winter of 1776/1777, the men of the three Jersey battalions were discharged at the
termination of their one-year enlistment. The 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 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 Gen. William Maxwell of New Jersey. With the discharge of the old troops and the
gathering of new men, the Jersey officers were faced with the task of obtaining new clothing to
cover the men and bring some uniformity to their appearance. For the first five or six months of
1777, while the men were being mustered and clothing purchased, the garments worn by the
New Jersey soldiers were a mixed lot indeed, as evidenced by various deserter advertisements.
These descriptions, one of the mainstays of this section of the study, are not the most reliable
indication of the clothing worn by the entirety of a unit’s soldiers. They cannot, however, be
ignored entirely, especially in the absence of other documentation.
The 3d New Jersey is the only regiment in the brigade for which there is certain information
on coat colors. On 9 May 1777, Clothier General James Mease wrote Col. Elias Dayton 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...15
A month later General Washington informed Maj. Gen. Israel Putnam by letter,
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.16
A deserter advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, 11 June 1777) confirms

that clothing issue, describing a 3d Regiment soldier wearing a blue regimental coat faced with
red, spotted jacket, and blue breeches. Thus, it can be stated with certainty that, after wearing
drab coats with blue facings the previous year, the 3d Regiment returned to wearing the
traditional blue and red coats in 1777.17
There is no information available for the 1st and 4th Jersey Regiments for 1777 concerning
regimental coat colors. No deserter descriptions survive for the 1st Regiment that year, and the
only 4th Regiment notices are from February, listing a mixed lot of clothing worn by two men.
On the other hand, accounts of deserters who left Col. Israel Shreve's 2d 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, those
men were variously described clad in a "Blue regimental coat faced with red," a "Regimental
coat faced with red" and a "Blue regimental coat." All three likely indicate the uniform issued
and worn during the 1776 Canadian/New York campaign. All these appeared in the same issue
of the Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, 12 February 1777) and two of the three men had
served in 1776 with the 2d Jersey Battalion. When this information is added to the fact that none
of the later deserter descriptions mention a similar coat, these blue coats must be discounted
when considering the uniform for 1777. Some conjectures may be made by examining other 2d
New Jersey deserters during the year. Of particular interest are coats worn by six deserters of the
fifteen 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 of his men. This deserter, from Capt. Ephraim Anderson’s company, wore a brown
coat, brown waistcoat and leather breeches. 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 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 this 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 2d Regiment
by the Clothier General prior to 15 September 1777.18 (See Appendix D for transcriptions of
many New Jersey deserter notices.)
On 22 March 1777, Col. Shreve stated that though 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.19
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 his later being sent to purchase cloth for
the New Jersey troops in 1778. Two other documents seem to indicate sources other than the
Continental Clothier General for clothing worn by the 2d Jersey in 1777. The first is an account
of monies disbursed noting that five 2d Regiment officers 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 Capt. John Hollinshead received "of Col. Israel Shreve for the use of My
Company" clothing consisting 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 were worn by several of the
advertised deserters.20
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 1777, General Maxwell laid out
the Jersey brigade’s condition:
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.21
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, “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 New Jersey soldiers
late in 1777.22
Another interesting puzzle concerns the number of coats issued to 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 clothing issued
by the Clothier General (see table below). 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 issued prior to 15 September 1777 to the
known strength of the several regiments in late spring of the same year:23
Unit Number of Coats Issued

Strength by the Clothier General
1st New Jersey 184 408*
2d New Jersey 247 208 Hunting Shirts (no coats)**
3d 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.
Pictured above is the typical Continental Army warm weather wear consisting of linen
hunting shirt and linen overalls. All four New Jersey regiments were issued overalls in 1777.
Illustration by Peter F. Copeland; “7th Virginia Regiment, 1777,” Peter F. Copeland and
Donald W. Holst, Brother Jonathan print series. Courtesy of the artist.
Two letters (previously quoted) concerning the 3d Regiment corroborate the assertion that all
of these coats were issued in the first half of 1777. These documents, 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, for a total of 466, one less than the Clothier General's return at the end of
the year. For some reason it seems 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.24
(For comparative tables of clothing issues see Appendix B.)
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 numbers of
men being absent at the time of the May return. The probability of a generally high rate of
desertion is based on the supposition the other regiments experienced the same problems of the
2d Regiment. 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
enlisted, took the bounty money and then joined 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, that puts numbers of non-commissioned officers and rank and file in
the 1st and 2d Regiments at 248 and 253 respectively. The number in the first case greatly
exceeded the May return, and in the second instance was just slightly higher.25
There is one more indication 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 2d Regiment fifty-two
coats, the 3d 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, 2d, 3d and
4th Regiments.26 (For comparative tables of clothing issues see Appendix B.)
It is pertinent to note that the 2d Regiment was probably the best supplied in the brigade, at
least as regards the number of coats received in 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. 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 the rest of the brigade were issued regimental coats, that is, circa June
1777.27
With the probability that most of the men were previously supplied with coats via the efforts
of their commander, the 2d Regiment seems to have taken advantage of the largesse and
accepted the windfall of extra apparel. That this was commonly (and sometimes successfully)
attempted by other units 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
[hunting] Frocks and overalls at this Season, are far preferable to Uniforms which Mr. Mease
says he will have ready by the Fall.28
Whether or not the 2d Regiment chiefly wore hunting shirts during the summer of 1777, while
the other three regiments wore wool regimentals 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 clothing of all kinds 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, 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 conjunction with this lack of specific
information, 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 contingent.
________________
For Part 2 of, "The Great Neglect in Provideing Cloathing..."

1. "The Regiments Have No Uniforms or Distinguishing Colours:" Uniform Coats
of the New Jersey Brigade during 1778
2. “The following Articles of Cloathing …”: 1778 Nine Months Levies’ Apparel
3. “Only a few light things in the Spring.": Clothing the Jersey Brigade’s Long Term
Soldiers, 1778
Go to http://revwar75.com/library/rees/neglect2.htm
Appendices
A. The Proportion of Men from the Second New Jersey of 1776

Who Reenlisted in the 1777 Regiment
Late in 1775 two New Jersey regiments were authorized for the Continental establishment. A
third regiment was added in early 1776. The first two units marched north in spring 1776 and
served in the final stages of the Canadian campaign. All three regiments then served with the
Northern Army in New York state, with the 3rd Regiment being stationed in the Mohawk Valley
before joining the others at Fort Ticonderoga. Enlistments for the 1st and 2nd Jersey Regiments
expired in autumn 1776, the men were marched back to their home state and dispersed. The
officers immediately set about enlisting or reenlisting men to fill the 1777 regiments. The new
enlistments were for three years or the war, and eventually four New Jersey regiments were
filled, all being brigaded together under the command of Brigadier General William Maxwell.
This study details the number of 1776 soldiers who reenlisted and provided the nucleus of the
1777 2nd New Jersey Regiment. The appended tables show a significant amount of veterans of
1776 reenlisted, numbers that likely had a profound impact on the reformed regiment. The tables
show several facts. The "old" soldiers who had served in 1776 made up a large proportion of the
1777 non-commissioned officers, comprising slightly less than 50% of the total. Out of 211
reenlisted soldiers 82 men (39%) deserted,or were missing from the rolls and presumed to have
deserted. Of the 374 newly enlisted men, 177 (47%) deserted, or were missing from the rolls and
presumed to have deserted. And, for reasons unknown, numbers of reenlisted men varied greatly
between companies
It must be noted that this study examines only those men who had served in the 1776 2nd
Regiment and reenlisted for the new establishment in 1777. Additionally the 1776 muster rolls
only cover the period October 1775 to February 1776. Any men enlisted after the latter month
are missing from the statistics. There were also undoubtedly some men who served during 1776
with other regiments, both from New Jersey and other states, and who enlisted in the 2nd New
Jersey of 1777.
This is from the Lieutenant Jonathan Phillips’ 1776 2nd New Jersey Regiment order book:
October 24, 1776 Head Qrs. ... The Honourable the Congress of the United States have, for
the Reward & encouragement of non Commissioned Officers & Soldiers who shall engage during
the War, further Resolved [to give], over and above the Bounty of 20 Dollars to each Man
Annually: 1 Suit of Clothes, which for the Present is to consist of 2 linnen hunting Shirts, 2 prs.
Stockings, 2 pr. Shoes, 2 leather Jackets with Sleaves, 1 pr. Breeches, 1 Leather Cap or hat;
Amounting the whole to 20 Dollars, or that Sum to be paid to each Soldier who shall procure the
said Articles for himself & produce a Certificate thereof from the Captain of the Company to
which he belongs to the paymaster of the Regt.
The noble Bounty of 20 Dollars & 100 Acres of Land at the end of the War is such an ample
and Generous Gratuity from the United States [that] the General is convinced that no American
will Hisitate to enroll himself to defend his Country and posterity from every Attemt of Tyranny
& Slavery.
Second New Jersey 1777 Company Composition

1777 Company Number of Men From the 1776 Companies
Stout's Stout's Company, 15 men

Shute's Company, 3 men
Lawrie's Company, 2 men
Scott's Company, 1 man
Howell's Company, 1 man
Faulkner's Company, 1 man
Brearley's Company, 1 man
Yard's Brearley's Company, 15 men

Stout's Company, 3 men
Howell's Company, 1 man
Cummings' Howell's Company, 19 men

Shute's Company, 14 men
Faulkner's Company, 6 men
Brearley's Company, 2 men
Lawrie's Company, 1 man
Lawrie's Lawrie's Company, 6 men

Howell's Company, 2 men
Shaw's Company, 2 men
Luse's Shaw's Company, 27 men
Scott's Company, 7 men
Lawrie's Company, 1 man
Hollinshead's Lawrie's Company, 3 men

Scott's Company, 2 men
Shute's Company, 1 man
Maxwell's Scott's Company, 12 men

Shaw's Company, 1 man
Dillon's Faulkner's Company, 16 men

Anderson's Lawrie's Company, 11 men

Shaw's Company, 1 man
Totals of 1777 Enlisted Men Who Had Served in the 2nd New Jersey of 1776
Missing
N.C.O.'s from the Rolls
1777 Company and and Presumed
Company Total Musicians Deserted Deserted
Stout's 24 7 5 2
Yard's 21 5 7 1
Cummings' 43 11 9 9
Lawrie's 15 2 1 1
Luse's 40 5 6 12
Hollinshead's 6 3 1 1
Maxwell's 16 4 8 1
Dillon's 24 8 1 7
Anderson's 22 5 8 3
211 50 46 36
(Total deserted: 82)
Second New Jersey Men Newly Enlisted in 1777
Missing
Total N.C.O.'s from the Rolls
1777 in and and Presumed
Company Company Musicians Deserted Deserted
Stout's 39 5 15 7
Yard's 23 4 8 4
Cummings' 55 5 4 15
Lawrie's 18 6 0 3
Luse's 56 8 13 14
Hollinshead's 62 10 5 18
Maxwell's 43 6 22 5
Dillon's 45 6 3 19
Anderson's 33 3 8 14
374 53 78 99
(Total deserted: 177)
The Impact of the Men Who Reenlisted in the Second New Jersey After Serving in 1776
Grand
Total Percentage
1777 in of
Company Company Veterans
Stout's 63 39%
Yard's 44 49%
Cummings' 98 44%
Lawrie's 33 46%
Luse's 96 42%
Hollinshead's 68 9%
Maxwell's 59 27%
Dillon's 69 35%
Anderson's 55 40%
583
Total number of men enlisted: 583

Reenlisted soldiers comprised 36% of the whole
Sources:
Revolutionary War Rolls, National Archives Microfilm Publications, Record Group 93, M246
(Washington, D.C., 1980), reels 55-62, muster and pay rolls of the four New Jersey regiments.
Doyen Salsig, Parole: Quebec; Countersign: Ticonderoga Second New Jersey Orderly Book
1776 (Cranbury, N.J.; , 1980), 273.
__________________________
B. 1777 Clothing Returns (Wanting and Issued) for the New Jersey Regiments
A COMPARATIVE LISTING OF CLOTHING RETURNS

FOR THE NEW JERSEY REGIMENTS OF 1777
A General Return of Clothing Issued by the Clothier Genl. to 1st: Jany. 1778.
1st N.J. 2nd N.J. 3rd N.J. 4th N.J.

Coats 408 — 467 299
Jackets
469 28 302 306
[i.e., waistcoats]
Breeches 240 17 60 257
Shirts 746 344 506 501
Shoes 616 184 413 540
Stockings 302 78 302 506
Hats 251 — 207 160
Blankets 310 190 123 228
Hunting Shirts — 208 — 10
Overalls 220 200 250 270
Mitts — — — 46
Comparison with the other clothing returns, as well as the May and June 1777
letters concerning the coats issued to the 3rd New Jersey, has determined
that the clothing on this listing was received prior to the 15 September 1777
issue of clothing.
A Return of Clothing Issued at Camp from 15 Septmr. 1777

Coats 51 52 8 62
Waistcoats 8 29 8 136
Breeches 56 61 53 163
Shirts 35 191 64 203
Stockings 312 205 500 277
Shoes 159 94 131 130
Overalls 42 24 80 5
Blankets 26 30 24 10
Hats 66 — — 71
Caps — 63 — —
Mitts — 28 — —
Leggins — 30 — —
Great Coats — 6 — —
Return of Cloathing wanting in the Brigades... Camp at Towamensing Octr 13 1777

Coats 50 — 9 84
Waistcoats 64 191 92 82
Breeches 100 218 52 113
Stockings 51 236 142 164
Shoes 111 117 119 169
Shirts 50 217 38 127
Blankets 45 147 112 163
Hats 56 227 15 68
No hunting shirts, overalls, stocks or knapsacks were shown wanting.

Timothy Pickering wrote on the return that
In some regiments they have returned their overalls, knapsacks
& hunting shirts wanting: the other regiments in general probably
have the like wants tho they have not mentioned them and many I
suppose said nothing of knapsacks because they are not furnished by
the clothier-Haversacks also are exceedingly wanted for carrying
the mens provisions - In the last action [the Battle of Germantown,
4 October 1777] the men having no other way many tied their
provisions up in their blankets & shirts some of which were lost in
consequence thereof...
Issued by the Clothier General for the use of the

Second New Jersey Regiment to the 1st. January 1778
Coats Vests Breeches Shirts Shoes
52 57 78 535 228
Hunting
Hose Blanketts Shirts Overalls Caps
278 220 208 224 63
Lygien Great
Mitts [leggings] Coats
28 30 6
Copy delivered Colol. Shreve by the Congress
David Rhea, Lieut. Colo.
Second Regiment Jersey
The document above corroborates the several issues of clothing
made during the year and helps to clarify when the
various issues were made. All of the listed clothing was
issued 15 September 1777 except for 28 vests, 17 breeches,
344 shirts, 78 stockings, 190 blankets, 200 overalls and
208 hunting shirts which were issued early in the same
year.
_____________
C. “The Blues offered again to fight …”

Contemporary and Later Use of the Term “Jersey Blues”
(With thanks to Joseph Bilby, Todd Braisted, Scott Lance, Lawrence Schmidt, Matthew White,
Jason Wickersty, Gary Zaboly)
By the time of the War for Independence blue had become the traditional color for New Jersey
soldiers’ coats; here is a collection of accounts from the mid-eighteenth century to old soldiers’
nineteenth century pension depositions, beginning with the newest to the oldest.
“Jersey Blues”: French and Indian War, 1757-1760
Luke Gridley’s Diary of 1757, While in Service in the French and Indian War:
“Day 29th [May 1757] Sabath sume scouting others garding & Regellateing there tents : the roil
amarricans the Blues marcht to fort willaim henerry”
“Day 28th [June 1757] Came 13 frinchmen & Rezined themselves up : saying they had [nothing]
to eat for 7 or 8 Days : Allso that thare a Lewance had Been one Pound Pork 1 1 Days. Six men
taken small pox: we picth our tents the out Side of the pickets so that 500 Green Regelars & 500
Roil amerrycans the Blews might go with In them”
1757, exact date not given:

“An a Count of the men of each Government …
the Blews govt Jerzey 1-5-0-0”20
Scott Lance and Gary Zaboly
Journal of the Rev. Daniel Shute, D. D., Chaplain in the Expedition to Canada in 1758:
“Aug 9 [1758]. Our Regt continued to surround ye Encampment with Logs. —A Party of 12
men sent out on a scout; ye 18 returned made no discoveries. The Jersey- Blue's arrived at 12 o
clock. P.M. Very rainy, our Camp nothing but mire.”21
Scott Lance
“Extracts from the Journal of Constantine Hardy, in the Crown Point Expedition of 1759”:
“June the 18. 1759. Coneticut Jerzy Blews and the Royal Scotch From
Ford Edward to go to the Lake.”
“July the 2. the French and Endions Came upon a Party of Jarzy Blews
that was apealing Bark and kild and Took Eleven they Came in open
Sight of the Camp their Rallied out Maier Rogers with a Number of
the Rangers and they Pursued after them and they Came in Sight of them
Jest as they got in to their Battoes and So they got away.”
“July the: 14: 1759. the first Battallion Came up to the Lake and Joyned the Second Battallion
and their was a Ridgment or a Part of a Ridgment of Coneticots and Some Jerzey Blews.”22
Scott Lance
The Pennsylvania Gazette, No. 1593, 5 July 1759: “Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman in the
Army, dated at the Camp, three Miles on this Side Lake George, June 20, 1759. ‘Your Favours
came to Hand, the first a few Days before we left Fort Edward, the last Saturday Morning, the
Day we marched for Half-Way-Brook, where we encamped, and left it Yesterday, and are now
encamped here; as is likewise the Royal Scotts, and the Jersey Blues. We are building a
stockade Fort, which will be finished in a few Days, when I suppose we shall march for Lake
George.‘”23
New York Mercury, 9 July 1759: “Extract of a letter from Albany, dated July 5, 1759. ‘The
following is a Copy of a Letter from Lake-George, viz., The second Instant, 16 of the Jersey
Blues were sent without the Camp to gather a little Brush for the General’s Baker, but were not
an Hour gone, before they were surprised in Sight of the Camp by a Party of the Enemy,
consisting of about 240, who killed and scalped six, wounded two, took four Prisoners, and only
four of the whole Party escaped.’”24
John U. Rees
Weyman’s New York Gazette. 9 July 1759: “Run away from his bail, the 16th of June last, Joseph
Wilcox, late of Sussex County, province of West New-Jersey . . . Supposed to have on when he
went away, an Ensign’s coat belonging to the Jersey blues, faced with red . . .”
Scott Lance and Gary Zaboly
“The Journal of Hanna Callendar”: Travelling by “stage wagon” across New Jersey in in 1759,
Hanna Callendar noted, "Our more particular company comprised Richard Smith, Senior and
James James, some sailors shipwrecked in the 'King of Prussia,' a humorous old Dutchman, and
an officer of the Jersey Blues."25
Joseph Bilby
New York Mercury, 11 August 1760: "Camp at Oswego, July 15, 1760. We have now here the
first Battalion of the Royal Highlanders, the 55th Regiment, one Battalion of the Royal
Americans, three of the New-York and Jersey Blues, with Gage’s Light Infantry, 100 of the
Ruff Heads, and two Provincial Regiments."26
Gary Zaboly
The Jersey Provincials were first authorized to wear blue coats in the April 1758 New Jersey
Assembly Act to raisie the regiment: “the said Commissioners … shall purchase or procure for
each Volunteer, the following Cloathing, or other Articles, to be delivered unto them
respectively, at the Time of Muster or Embarkation; (to wit) A blue Coat after the Highland
Manner, lapell’d and cuffed with red; one pair of Ticken Breeches, and one Pair of blue ditto, of
the same Cloath of their Coat; one Check Shirt and one white ditto; two Pair of Yarn Stockings;
two Pair of Shoes; one Hat to each Man, bound with yellow Binding; one Blanket; one
Knapsack; one Hatchet; one
Canteen; one Camp Kettle to five Men; a Pair of white Spatterdashes, and also One Hundred
Grenadiers Caps for One Hundred of the said Soldiers, and Two Hundred Falling-Axes for the
whole Regiment.” In New York, on 5 June 1758, it was reported, “A few Days ago the New-
Jersey Forces, of between 11 or 1200, of the likeliest well-set Men for the Purpose, as has
perhaps been turned out on any Campaign, passed by this Place for Albany. They were under
Col. Johnston, and all in high Spirits, their Uniform blue, faced with red, grey Stockings and
Buckskin Breeches.” The first known use of the moniker “Jersey Blues” occurred the previous
year, intimating Jersey troops wore blue that year as well. There is also a poorly supported claim
the name “Jersey Blues” originated in 1747 when Col. Peter Schuyler commanded the first New
Jersey unit to serve outside of the state. Since the soldiers coats were not blue at that time, and
would not be for another ten or eleven years, the Blue Mountains are mentioned as the
inspiration for the nom de plume.27 Joseph Bilby, Lawrence Schmidt, and Matthew White
Jersey Blues References during the War for American Independence
From Montreal, Canada, en route to Quebec City, Capt. Joseph Brearley, 2d New Jersey
Battalion, wrote his brother David on 7 March 1776, “God grant that they may acquit themselves
like soldiers, and more especially the Jersey Blues! May they be crowned with fresh laurels to
add to their former greatness.”17
Samuel Hodgkinson of Burlington, New Jersey, a sergeant in Col. William Irvine’s 1st
Pennsylvania Battalion, noted in a 27 April 1776 letter the arrival of a neighbor, Solomon
Shedaker, with a company of “the Jersey Blues.” Solomon Shadaker was a private in Capt.
Brearley’s company of the 2d Battalion.18
Richard Howell to Ebenezer Howell, writing from Trois Rivieres, 20 May 1776, describing the
withdrawal from besieging Quebec : “The infantry gave us one fire, the main body another, and
the field pieces remembered us a good while with their grapes. Providence protected us from
danger, and we returned to join our main line; but when we had reached headquarters, who was
there! about one hundred and fifty Jersey Blues, and the enemy just by. The Yankoes were run
away, and we all ran away. The Blues offered again to fight and were forming, the General bade
us go on, the Yankoes were gone on, and we marched quick time again. Well we went then to
Jacartie. The enemy's ships followed, and were landing. We formed to fight, they retired, but the
Yankoes ran away. At Point De Chambeau we marched to fight them, they retired abroad, but the
Yankoes did not come up. In short, I am tired of recollecting what is past.”19
Lawrence Schmidt
“To all Officers civil and Military.
DESERTED from Captain JAMES MOORE’ company of foot, belonging to the 5th
Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by Colonel FRANCIS JOHNSON … Cornelius Lambert,
about 5 feet 8 inches high, slim built, stoops a little, down look, did belong to the Jersey Blues
last year, and lives in the Jersies. … JAMES MOORE, Captain, 5th P. Batt.”
The Pennsylvania Gazette, April 2, 1777.
(Note: Cornelius Lambert, enlisted in Capt. Henry Luse’s company December 15, 1776; missing
from the rolls as of May 1777; returned October 1, 1777, deserted November 11, 1777.)
Joseph Lee Boyle, "'He loves a good deal of rum ...': Military Desertions during the American
Revolution, 1775-1783" (vol. 1, 1775-June 30, 1777), 240-241.
Nineteenth Century Pension Accounts16
William Mead, 1828 (S.31860): "he enlisted to serve in the army of the United States at
Morristown in the State of New Jersey, for three years, that he served under said enlistment of
three years in the 28th [sic] Regiment of Jersey Blues, commanded by Colo. Dayton [actually
the 3d New Jersey Regiment], in the Company Commanded by Capt. Dickenson, on the
continental establishment, he faithfully served out said Term of three years, & was honorably
discharged by Colo. Dayton at Elizabeth town, New Jersey – which discharge has since been
burnt up with my house." (Todd Braisted)
James Jordan, 1833 (W.8225), served in the 2d New Jersey Regiment, from 5 June 1778 to 5
March 1779: “On the morning of the 28th day of June [1778] Gen. Washington ordered Gen. Lee
to go and take the Jersey Blues and one Brigade of Marylanders commanded by Gen. Wayne and
go and attack the enemy in order to bring them back to the ground on which he wished to fight
them / he belonged to the second regiment of the New Jersey Blues … This was the principal
Battle he was in during the time he served / from Monmouth after the battle he was, with his
regiment, marched to Elizabeth Town ... [they] lay there until Fall. The second regiment of the
Jersey Blues ... was ordered to New Ark in [New Jersey] ... to Winter Quarters ..."
(John U. Rees)
John J Carman, 1832 (R.1705): “In the latter part of the year 1776, he enlisted into the
Regiment called the Jersey Blues as a minute man, that he armed, equipped and uniformed
himself, that a first the Regiment was commanded by Colonel Samuel Parker, afterwards by Col
Samuel Crow; that by the terms of his enlisted he was to be ready at all times, when called on,
and that for two whole years he served every other month …”
(Jason Wickersty)
Jonathan Catterlin, 1832 (S.12444): “That he enlisted in the army of the United States in the
year Ad 1775 with Captain John Budd Scott and served in a Regiment in the Continental Line
known as the Jersey Blues, number of the Regiment not recollected, under the following officers
to wit Colonel Maxwell [2d New Jersey Battalion] the names of the other field officers are not
recollected – Captain John B. Scott, 1st Lieutenant Higgins, 2nd Lieut. Maxwell – Ensign’s name
not remembered – first sergeant Palmer.”
(Jason Wickersty)
Joseph Concklin, 1832 (S.3201): “That he the said Joseph Conklin enlisted for the term of one
year in the year 1775 in the army of the United States in the County of Salem New Jersey and
served in a company commanded by Cap William Shute First Lieutenant Freize or Frizee Second
Lieutenant Jeremiah Smith Ensign William Parrott of the Second Regiment of the Jersey Blues
commanded by Colonel Maxfield Lieut Col Shreve and Majr Ray –“
(Jason Wickersty)
Thomas Conley, 1853 (R.2218): “… he enlisted in the Army of the United States in the year
1775 and served in the Regiment called the Jersey Blues commanded by Col John
Hollingsworth, the names of Company officer snot recollect that he served six months and
fourteen days the balance of the term of his father William Conley, and buy the name of William
Conley and that at the time of enlistment he resided in Northampton County State of
Pennsylvania when he entered the service, was in the battle of Trenton, marched from the place
of enlistment to Flemingtown thence to Princeton, to Trenton, thence to Princeton where he was
honorably discharged, which discharge was lost.”
(Jason Wickersty)
Thomas Martin, 1833 (S.18964): “In the first of the month of December 1775 Capt Asher
Randall of Woodbridge in the State of New Jersey enlisted a company of Infantry to guard the
town of Woodbridge from the depredations of the British army a part of which was then
quartered on Staten Island about one and a half miles from Woodbridge – I the said Thomas
Martin then about fifteen years old enlisted under said capt Asher Randall a private for the term
of six months – Our first Lieutenant was randall from Princeton, our Second Lieutenant Wm
Cape – I can not now call to mind the given names of the said first and second Lieut. We
quartered near the River in the Town of Woodbridge about one month when Colo Holmes came
to our aid and our Company joined his Regiment called the Jersey Blues. The Jersey Blues with
Colo reads regiment then attempted to cross over to Staten Island to storm the British garrison
but the snow at this time being very deep and the weather severe, we were compelled to return to
our quarters leaving the British undisturbed. – I the said Thomas remained in Randall’s company
and Holmes Regiment till the six months for which I enlisted had fully expired – Then a part of
our company left and part enlisted again under said Capt Randall and I among others remained
with the said Randall.”
(Jason Wickersty)
John Wetherhold, 1832 (S.3523): “That he was drafted and enlisted in the State of New Jersey
in the Regiment of Colo Livingston of the Jersey Blues by a recruiting sergeant named Scott; he
does not recollect in what year; tha this Captain’s name was Congar; that he enlisted at
Rockaway; after he was enlisted he was marched to New York where General Washington then
was – afterward he was marched up the North River – staid one night at King’s Bridge at the
house of one Cutland; - that he proceeded on to the White Plains; - that he was in the retreat of
the American Army through Jersey –was at the battle of Trenton …”
(Jason Wickersty)
(Note: Undoubtedly, there are more pension accounts using the term “Jersey Blues.”)
The “Jersey Grays”
This is, to date, the only reference to the “Jersey Grays.” The singular nickname of course refers
to the drab coats worn by the 1776 battalion.
Jacob Cook, 1835 (R.2258):

“… he distinctly recollects that shortly after the death of his father which happened when he was
young, his mother removed with him to Huntington County in the State of New Jersey and was
then placed under the care of Walton B. White of said County, where he remained until after the
commencement of the Revolutionary war, and that about the first of May 1776 he volunteered
his services as a drummer in the regiment commanded by Col Dayton and Lieutenant Colonel
Walton B. White, a son of Col Dayton was paymaster of the regiment, William Norcross was
Quarter Master and Lewis Dunham was surgeon. The regiment to which he belonged was called
the Jersey Grays, there were five companies in the regiment of which he well recollect the
Captain’s names, one company was commanded by Capt Potter, a second by Capt Dickinson, a
third by Capt Redding, a fourth by Capt Bloomfield, & fifth by Capt Patterson. The regiment
rendezvoused at Morristown, from which place is marched to Fort Stanwix on the Mohawk river,
where he remained with the regiment until the fall of that year, when he marched with the
regiment to Ticonderoga and there joined the main army under General Gates and there remained
in service until the spring of 1777, when the regiment to which he was attached marched to
Morristown, where the regiment was dismissed, the time having expired, to wit; one year, for
which it had volunteered he received no discharge, as the Colonel thought it unnecessary to give
any.”
(Jason Wickersty)
Spencer’s Additional Regiment, a.k.a., the “fifth” and “fourth”
“TWENTY-FOUR DOLLARS REWARD

DESERTED from Captain Weatherby’s company, in the fifth Jersey regiment, commanded by
Col. Oliver Spencer, a certain James Rogers, a Serjeant, twenty-seven years of age, five feet six or
seven inches high, a smart looking fellow, with black hair tied behind, and sailors dress: He listed
with the subscriber at Roads Town, but has taken out his cockade and now thinks to pass for a
sailor. Also deserted from said company on the 23d of May last, an Irishman named DANIEL
MURPHEY, twenty-eight years of age, has a down look, round shouldered and black hair;
supposed to be at P[i]tts-Grove, in the Jersys: He inlisted with the subscriber at Gloucester. All
masters of ferries and other persons are desired to keep a look out for said fellows, and whoever
apprehends and confines them in any goal, so that they may be brought to justice, shall receive
TWELVE DOLLARS for each, and reasonable charges paid by
DAVID BROWN, Lieutenant.”
Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet or, the General Advertiser, August 5, 1777.
Joseph Lee Boyle, 'He loves a good deal of rum ...': Military Desertions during the American
Revolution, 1775-1783, two volumes; vol. 2 (June 30, 1777-1783) (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical
Publishing Co., 2009), 41-42.
1780: Spencer’s is termed the 4th Regiment
“On the 7th. of June after the Enemy had disposs[ess]ed Colo. [Elias] Dayton & my self of the pass
at Connecticut farms and oblig'd us to retire in the vicinity of Springfield, I met General [William]
Maxwell a little in front of the town advancing with the brigade. I then rejoined my command which
was with the brigade and consisted of the first [New Jersey] and fourth [i.e., Spencer's Additional]
regiments.”
William S. Smith to Washington, 10 November 1780 (misdated 1781), George Washington Papers,
Presidential Papers Microfilm, (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1961), series 4, reel 82.
D. “Had on when he went away …”

New Jersey Deserter Advertisements, 1775-1777
Charles Lefferts, in his 1927 book Uniforms of the American, British, French and German
Armies of the American Revolution, published abstracts of dozens of deserter descriptions in an
effort to better understand how the different regiments and corps were clothed. During my
research for this updated work
Charles Lefferts, in his book Uniforms of the American, British, French and German Armies of
the American Revolution (New York, NY, 1927), 118-119.
1st New Jersey Battalion, 1775-1776

11-12.
“DESERTED from the first regiment of the Continental Army, raised in New-Jersey,
commanded by the Right Honorable, William [Alexander] Earl of Stirling, and Captain
Daniel Piatt’s company, now lying in barracks at Elizabeth-Town, GEORGE SPARLIN,
twenty three years of age, about five feet three and an half inches high, of a brown
complexion, brown hair, has a down cast look, had on a brown coat and waistcoat, and a
pair of leather breeches. PETER SUTTON, about seventeen years of age, five feet five and
an half inches high, brown complexion, dark brown hair, had on a short whitish coat,
reddish brown waistcoat, and a pair of leather breeches. The above deserters were born in
the county of Middlesex, and province of New-Jersey, labourers, enlisted by Captain Daniel
Piatt, on the 17th November 1775. …”
The New-York Journal; or, The General Advertiser, December 14, 1775; December 21, 1775;
January 5, 1776; January 11, 1776.
Joseph Lee Boyle, "'He loves a good deal of rum ...': Military Desertions during the American
Revolution, 1775-1783" (vol. 1, 1775-June 30, 1777)
2d New Jersey Regiment, 1777

181.
“FORTY DOLLARS REWARD
DESERTED from Captain Ephraim Anderson’s company of the second New-Jersey
regiment, commanded by Col. Israel Shrives, a certain Charles Downs, about 26 years of
age, full faced, of a swarthy complexion, 5 feet 7 or 8 inches high; had on when he went
away, a brown coat, light coloured waistcoat and buckskin breeches. Also a certain James
Boyd about 29 years of age, full face and fair hair; had on when he went away, a grey
surtout, light coloured waistcoat and leather breeches; has one sore toe, and could not wear
a toe on is left foot. …
Ephraim Anderson, Captain.”
Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet or, the General Advertiser, February 11, 1777; March 25, 1777.
183.
“DESERTED from Captain James Dillon’s company, and second regiment of the State of
New-Jersey, commanded by Israel Shreve, Esq; the following men, viz.
William Glinn, about 5 feet 9 or 10 inches high, light blue eyes, fresh complexion;
had on a light coloured Wilton coat, striped lincey jacket, leather breeches, blue yarn
stockings, small round hat; he says he belongs to Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.
Edward Evenden, about 5 feet 5 inches high, pale complexion, thick set, a worthless
ordinary fellow, pretends to beat on the drum; had on a grey short coat, white stockings,
new shoes.
George Gettil, a Dutchman, about 5 feet 6 inches high, dark complexion, grey eyes,
short curled hair; had on a blue regimental coat, turned up with red, grey cloth jacket, and
leather breeches.
Thomas White, a short thick fellow, fresh coloured, light blue eyes, much given to
liquor; had on an old regimental coat, faced with red, leather breeches, Wilton jacket; this
fellow makes a practice of defrauding the continent by listing in several different
companies.
Barnaby Higgins, about 5 feet 4 inches high, fresh coloured, short curled hair, blue
eyes, by trade a Baker; it is supposed he has enlisted in the second Pennsylvania regiment;
had on a blue regimental coat, Wilton jacket, and leather breeches. Those fellows have
been enlisted near two months. … NATHANIEL BOWMAN, Lieut. …
ISRAEL SHREVE, Col. 2d. J.R.
Philadelphia, February 7, 1777.”
The Pennsylvania Gazette, February 12, 1777; February 19, 1777; March 19, 1777.
192-193.
“DESERTED last evening from Capt. Thomas Yard’s company of the New-
Jersey Second battalion, at Burlington, the two following persons, viz.
PATRICK ASHLEY, about twenty-six years of age, five feet six or seven inches high. He
had on a linen frock coat [hunting shirt?], light coloured vest with 5 P.B. marked on the
buttons, linen breeches, and a light colour surtout coat, his left cheek is swelled, and has a
black patch on it. The other a slim fellow, about five feet seven or eight inches high, well
dressed, a gold button and loop to his hat, and has a good hanger with him. He enlisted by
the name of JOHN WHITE, and appears to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years of age.
They both enlisted about two hours before they deserted, and received their fill bounty. …
Feb. 18. Capt. THOMAS YARD.”
The Pennsylvania Evening Post, February 22, 1777; February 27, 1777.
247
“Princeton, April 3, 1777.
DESERTED from the second Regiment of the State of New-Jersey, commanded by Colonel
Israel Shreve, Esq; and Captain John Noble Cumming’s Company, now quartered at
Princeton, the following persons, viz. …
Owen Ward, a native Irishman, about 39 years of age, 5 feet 4 inches high, his fore teeth
gone, knock kneed, has the letter O.W. pricked out with gunpowder on his arm; had on,
when he deserted, an old brown coat, striped lincey trowsers, and old shoes; supposed to
have gone through Mount Holly. John Stephenson, about 23 years of age, 5 feet 9 inches
high, well made, an Irishman, brown complexion, dark brown hair, which curls naturally
in his neck, wore a brown cloth coat and vest, buckskin breeches; inlisted in Gloucester
county, where he has lived some time and is well acquainted; the last intelligence of him, he
was over the Delaware river. Henry Bishop, about 22 years of age, 5 feet 11 inches high,
fair complexion, brown hair, grey eyes; had on, when he deserted, a long skirted brown
coat and vest, buckskin breeches; born in Burlington county, and inlisted in Woodtown,
Salem county….
JOHN NOBLE CUMMINGS, Capt. 2d J.R.”
The Pennsylvania Gazette, April 9, 1777; April 23, 1777.
274-275
“DESERTED from the Second Regiment of the State of New Jersey, commanded, and of
Captain JOHN NOBLE CUMMING’s Company, now quartered at Woodbridge in said
State:
WILLIAM MILLER, about 23 years of age, 5 feet 10 inches high, dark complexion,
much pock marked, short brown hair, sandy beard; talkative, speaking much in his own
praise. Had on, when he deserted, a pale blue coat, jacket and breeches, new beaver hat.
Stole and took with him the night when deserted, 100 Continental Dollars, the property of
his aged father, who lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania; and a servant girl to William
Grendine, late of Burlington. …
JOHN NOBLE CUMMINGS, Captain.”
Pennsylvania Journal; and the Weekly Advertiser, April 30, 1777; May 7, 1777; May 21,
1777.
291
“DESERTED, on the 18th day of April, from Captain DILLON’S Company, of the Second
Regiment of the State of New Jersey, now lying at Short Hills, near Woodbridge, viz.
JOHN COX, a serjeant, about 5 feet 10 inches high, slim made, a little marked with the
smallpox, swarthy complexion, down look, and short black hair; had on, when he deserted,
a brown short coat, faced with the same, leather breeches, good shoes and stockings. Also
JOHN SALMON, a Serjeant of Captain JOHN N. CUMMING’s Company, and same
Regiment, born in New-England, about 26 years of age, 5 feet 8 inches high, well made, fair
complexion, light brown hair, tied, grey eyes; had on a short brown coat, vest and breeches
of the same; an awful sly fellow, and writes an excellent hand. …
ISRAEL SHREVE, Colonel”
The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 14, 1777; June 4, 1777.
Joseph Lee Boyle, "'He loves a good deal of rum ...': Military Desertions during the
American Revolution, 1775-1783" (vol. 1, 1775-June 30, 1777)
3d New Jersey Battalion, 1776
78-79
“March 30, 1776. Deserted on the 28th of March inst. from the company of Capt. Thomas
Reading, in the Third Battalion of New-Jersey troops, commanded by the Honorable Elias
Dayton, Colonel; a certain Isaac Toby, about 28 years of age, 5 feet, 5 inches high, slim
built,
much pitted with the small-pox, and a sober looking fellow; had on when he went away, a
purple coloured coat of superfine cloth, a beaver hat, buckskin breeches, yarn stockings,
and coarse shoes. Whoever takes up said Toby and delivers him to the above Captain in
Elizabeth Town, or secures him so that he may join the company again, shall have FIVE
DOLLARS Reward, and reasonable charges, besides his pay and subsistence money from
the date hereof until he is secured, if within three months.
Also, PATRICK NIXSON, about 22 years of age, born in Bethlehem Township, Hunterdon
County, West-Jersey, about 5 feet 6 inches high. — John M'Bride, an Irishman, about 35
years of age, a down looking fellow, a true votary to Bacchus, very talkative and
impertinent.
— Abraham Thompson, about 21 years of age, born in Amwell Township, Hunterdon
County, 5 feet 8 inches high. Whoever takes up all or either of them, shall be entitled to the
above Reward.
THOMAS READING, Captain.
N. B. Also a certain Thomas Beverly, often calling himself Swindle, a Derb[y] shire man.
slender made, about 5 feet 7 inches high, very fond of strong liquor, talkative and
impertinent, knock-kneed, etc. Whoever takes him up shall have the above reward, paid by
the above Captain.”
Pennsylvania Packet, April 8, 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), 285-286.
93-94
“Amboy, April 25th, 1776.
Deserted from my Company in the Third-Battallion of Jersey troops, now lying at Staten
Island, opposite Amboy, the three following Men, viz. THOMAS DUNN, a Native of
Ireland, about 30 Years of Age, a strong well built Fellow, about 5 Feet, 8 Inches high, very
fond of getting drunk, and very abusive when he is so, of a dark complexion, and black
Hair, has been in the King's Service, had on, when he deserted, a new Hat, bound with
white Binding, a new Regimental Coat, of a drab colour, faced with blue, a Pair of
Buckskin Breeches, a new Shirt, and Shoes. EPHRAIM CRANMER, born in America,
near 30 Years of Age, about 5 Feet, 9 Inches high, a tolerably well built man, brown
Complexion, and black Hair ; has been sick some considerable Time, and looks thin in the
face; his cloathing the same as the abovementioned DUNN'S.
LEVI BISHOP, a Native of this Country, about 23 Years of Age, 5 Feet, 7 Inches high, of a
brownish Complexion and cloathed as the others; he lived most of his Time in Sussex
County, East-Jersey, and is supposed to have gone there. Whoever takes Up and secures
said Deserters, and acquaints me of the same, or delivers them at Amboy, shall receive
FIVE DOLLABS
each, and reasonable Charges, paid by JOHN ROSS, Captain.”
The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 1, 1776.
NJ, 1901), 285-286.
3d New Jersey Regiment, 1777

319
“TWENTY DOLLARS Reward.
DESERTED from my company, a certain JEDEDIAH ADAMS, about 5 feet 2 or 3 inches
high, well set, redish hair, which he usually wore tied; had on, when he deserted, a blue
regimental coat, faced with red, spotted jacket, and blue breeches; he served his
apprenticeship with Samuel Bouger, taylor, of Mount Holly. …
JOHN ROSS, Capt. 3d Jersey Regiment, June 9, 1777.”
The Pennsylvania Gazette, June 11, 1777; June 18, 1777; July 16, 1777.
4th New Jersey Regiment, 1777

289-290
“Deserted on or about the 15th of December 1776 from The Fourth New-Jersey battalion,
commanded by Colonel Ephraim Martin and Captain John Anderson's company, the
following men, vis,
WILLIAM WOOD about 5, feet 8 or 9 inches high, very slim, small faced, and black hair.
GEORGE POWER, is about 5 feet or 7 inches high, brown complexion, and short brown
hair.
JOHN M'COLOMN about 5 feet, 6 or 7 inches high, round faced, dark complexion, and
short black hair.
RICHARD CHEW, about 5 feet 7 or 8 inches high.brown complexion, slim waisted, short
brown hair, .small face, his nose is long and slim.
JAMES SMITH, frequently goes by the name of Jack the sailor, about 5 feet 6 or 7 inches
high, midling slim waist, small round face, pock-marked, nock-kneed, and has long black
hair.
HENRY M'NEAL, about 5 feet, 9 inches high, very thick round face, very much pock-
marked, long brown hair, and a little bandy-leged.
JOHN WILLIAMS, about five feet 5 inches high, red hair, thin visage, has followed the
water some time past, and now lives in Kensington — Whoever takes up and secures said
Deserters, in any gaol belonging to the American States or will deliver them to their
regiment, shall be intitled to a reward of TEN DOLLARS for each.
LIKEWISE,
Deserted the first of February from the above regiment and company, a certain JOHN
WILLIAMS and OWEN WILLIAMS, who say they are brothers; John is five feet, 10 or 11
inches high, has dark eyes and hair, something brown-skin'd; is an iron-founder by trade
and has
worked at Colonel Cox's works in New-Jersey, and married a wife in Evesham township,
he is a likely well made fellow; had on when he went away a blue coat, leather breeches and
brown jacket.
OWEN WILLIAMS is about 5 feet, 8 or 9 inches high, says he has been a bombadeer; had
on when he went off, a snuff-coloured coat.
Wlioever will secure them in any gaol of the State of New-Jersey, or in any of the United
States, so as to give information to their regiment, shall be entitled to FORTY DOLLARS
reward, or Thirty Dollars for John only: He is looked on to be a dangerous designing
person, and is capable of as much deception as most men. It is thought they will be making
towards the enemy.”
The Pennsylvania Journal, February 19, 1777.
NJ, 1901), 285-286.
Spencer’s Additional Regiment, 1777

259-260.
“Haddonfield, April 16, 1777.
DESERTED from Captain John Hammitt’s Company, in Col. Oliver Spencer’s Regiment
of Guards, the following men: - JOHN SMITH, a shoemaker by trade, 27 years of age, 5
feet 10 inches high, swarthy complexion, brown hair; it is probable he may change his
name. STEPHEN STEWARD, country born, about 35 years of age, 5 feet 10 inches high,
swarthy complexion, strait brown hair; had on a blue coat with red facings, blanket
trousers buttoned down his legs, and is probably gone towards Egg-Harbour. MORRIS
WELCH, born in Ireland, 5 feet 6 inches high, fresh complexion, strait fair hair, commonly
wears a red great coat, has since inlisted with Capt. M’Fartredge, on board the
Washington galley, and deserted from him. JAMES MELSOM, an Englishman, a tanner,
about 20 years of age, 5 feet 5 inches high, dark complexion, strait brown hair. … JOHN
HAMMITT.”
Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet or, the General Advertiser, April 22, 1777; May 6, 1777.
Joseph Lee Boyle, "'He loves a good deal of rum ...': Military Desertions during the
American Revolution, 1775-1783" (vol. 1, 1775-June 30, 1777)
A map cartouche from the October 1775 issue of The Pennsyvlania Magazine, showing the
first published image of a hunting shirt. (Tucker-Coleman Collection, Special Collections Research
Center,Swem Library, College of William and Mary.)
Neal Thomas Hurst, “kind of armour, being peculiar to America:” The American Hunting Shirt
https://www.academia.edu/3336557/_kind_of_armour_being_peculiar_to_America_The_American
_Hunting_Shirt
A “Virginia Rifleman,” probably typical of those serving under Col. Daniel Morgan in 1777. This
drawing is by Lt. Richard St. George Mansergh St. George, light company, 52d Regiment. St.
George was wounded at Brandywine, and again, severely, at Germantown. In Xavier della Gatta’s
painting “Battle of Germantown” the wounded officer in the foreground is St. George being carried
off by Private Peacock, the lieutenant’s constant companion and a “famous good soldier.” Lt.
Martin Hunter, also with the 52d light company, noted that St. George “drew caricatures
uncommonly well …” Martin Hunter, The Journal of General Sir Martin Hunter, Anne Hunter and
Elizabeth Bell, eds. (Edinburgh: The Edinburgh Press, 1894), 21-22.
E. “A Quantity of Tow Cloth, for the Purpose of making of Indian or Hunting Shirts …”
Proper Terminology: Hunting shirt, Rifle Shirt, Rifle Frock …
So, given that the coat pictured on St. George’s “Virginian Rifleman” (previous page) was
the military garment most symbolizing the War for American Independence, and widely
worn by Continental soldiers and militia alike, from 1775 to 1783, what was the term most-
used when referring to it? The appended study addresses this question by looking at
correspondence and army orders in the George Washington Papers
(http://international.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html), and searching for specific
words or phrases. The results are given below.
Search Terms
Rifle shirt, no items

(Note 1: Don Hagist found a 4th Pennsylvania Regiment deserter notice in the 5 February 1777
Pennsylvania Gazette with rifle shirt; see below.)
(Note 2: Eric Schnitzer found the term rifle shirt used exclusively on six 1777 clothing
returns for Massachusetts and New Hampshire troops, and three 1777 clothing returns for
Massachusetts troops using the terms rifle shirt and hunting shirt interchangeably; see
below.)
Rifle frock, 1 item

(31 July 1779)
Hunting frock, 1 item

(G.O. 29 February 1780)
Frock (only references that definitely or probably refer to hunting shirts), 10 items
(6 in 1777; 1 in 1779; 1 in 1780; 2 in 1782)
(20 May 1777; 8 June 1777; 10 June 1777; 10 June 1777; 20 June 1777; 23 June 1777; 31
July 1779; 29 February 1780; 5 June 1782; 31 July 1782)
Hunting shirt, 38 items (11 in 1775; 2 in 1776; 5 in 1777; 2 in 1778; 11 in 1779; 1 in 1780;
2 in 1781; 5 in 1782)
(6 February 1775; 25 April 1775; 10 July 1775; 4 August 1775; 4 August 1775; 7 August
1775; 11 August 1775; 14 August 1775; 23 August 1775; 31 August 1775; 21 September
1775; 6 May 1776; 24 July 1776; 7 June 1777; 8 June 1777; 8 June 1777; 10 June 1777;
13 June 1777; 27 January 1778; 2 June 1778; 20 March 1779; 21 March 1779; 26 March
1779; 8 April 1779; 20 April 1779; 22 April 1779; 23 May 1779; 24 May 1779; 14 June
1779; 21 August 1779; 24 July 1780; 20 April 1781; 22 April 1781; 30 July 1782; 31 July
1782; 3 August 1782; 18 August 1782; 27 August 1782)
Dual references in same document
10 June 1777, “hunting shirts” and “frocks” used to refer to same garment.
31 July 1782, “hunting shirts” and “frocks” used to refer to same garment.
For more information see, Neal Thomas Hurst, “’Kind of armour, being peculiar to America:’
The American Hunting Shirt”
http://www.academia.edu/3336557/_kind_of_armour_being_peculiar_to_America_The_A
merican_Hunting_Shirt
____________________________
Appended are selected documents. All the documents located and used in this study may be
viewed at:
“A Quantity of Tow Cloth, for the Purpose of making of Indian or Hunting Shirts …”
Proper Terminology: Hunting shirt, Rifle Shirt, Rifle Frock … ?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/241410261/A-Quantity-of-Tow-Cloth-for-the-Purpose-of-
making-of-Indian-or-Hunting-Shirts-Proper-Terminology-Hunting-shirt-Rifle-Shirt-Rifle-
Frock?secret_password=B5Ass1zGmYgykkILpBjz
*********************************
From Don N. Hagist (http://redcoat76.blogspot.com/ )
“I have a file of several hundred runaway ads (about 1400) from
American newspapers all over the colonies, covering the years 1775
through 1783. A quick search of this file reveals the frequency of the
following terms:
hunting shirt: 74
hunting frock: 4
rifle shirt: 1 (the ad using this term appears below)
This is a quick and dirty survey, but it does suggest that "hunting shirt" was the most common
terminology, and that "hunting frock" and "rifle shirt" were known terms but seldom used.”
Don N. Hagist
22d Regt. F.
February 5, 1777
The Pennsylvania Gazette
Philadelphia, January 1, 1777 .
THIRTY DOLLARS Reward.
DESERTED from the fourth Pennsylvania regiment, under the command of
Col. ANTHONY WAYNE, a certain WILLIAM BAKER, born in England, about 5
feet 8 inches high, of a fair complexion, short light coloured hair,
had been in the British service a short time, is extremely handsome
and very active, was inlisted the beginning of last month at Sussex
court house, in New Jersey; Had on when he deserted, a rifle shirt,
but it is probable may have changed his dress. JOHN STEVENS, born in
Culpepper county, Virginia, about 5 feet 8 inches high, of a dark
complexion, short black hair, was inlisted in Philadelphia the
beginning of last month; had on when deserted, a new brown coat and
jacket , leather breeches, and an old felt hat. JOHN LOWE, and
Irishman, about 23 years of age, 5 feet 10 inches high, of a fair
complexion, brown hair, has been formerly in the first regiment of
Yorkers, a very likely fellow, was inlisted in Philadelphia the middle
of last month; had on when he deserted, a brown broad cloth coat, a
pair of white overhauls, &c. Whoever will take up and secure said
deserters, in such a manner that their commanding officer may have
them again, shall have the above reward, or Ten Dollars for any one of
them. Francis Johnston, Lieut. Col. 4th Pennsylvania Regt.
*********************************
Information courtesy of Eric Schnitzer.

New Hampshire and Massachusetts clothing issued by the Albany (New York) Public Store, 1777.
1st New Hampshire Regiment: no cloathing return found while battalion was under Cilley's
command
1st Massachusetts Regiment: two "rifle shirts" issued
2d New Hampshire Regiment: 51 "rifle shirts" issued
2d Massachusetts Regiment: 102 "hunting shirts" and "rifle shirts" issued (the phrases were used
interchangeably on their return)
3d New Hampshire Regiment: 69 "rifle shirts" issued
3d Massachusetts Regiment: none issued
4th Massachusetts Regiment: none issued
5th Massachusetts Regiment: 203 "hunting shirts" issued out of Boston; 94 "hunting shirts" issued
out of Fishkill
8th Massachusetts Regiment: 119 "rifle shirts" issued
9th Massachusetts Regiment: 136 "hunting shirts" and "rifle shirts" issued (the phrases were used
10th Massachusetts Regiment: 48 "rifle shirts" issued
11th Massachusetts Regiment: no cloathing return found yet
12th Massachusetts Regiment: 64 "hunting shirts" and "rifle shirts" issued (the phrases were used
14th Massachusetts Regiment: 2 "hunting shirts" issued to every man out of the stores at Boston or
Fishkill
15th Massachusetts Regiment: 1 "rifle shirt" issued
Note: The information above was gleaned from a number of sources. Most clothing returns are
located in The National Archives and Records Administration, Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-
1783 (M246). The documents are filed under their respective corps names, excepting some were
misidentified by the National Archives when they assembled the microfilm and guide, which
admittedly makes some of these very difficult to track if anyone uses the M246 microfilm guide.
For example, in the guide, two 15th MA Regiments were listed simultaneously; the second of the
two is actually the 11th MA (Francis's/Tupper's). The Albany Public Store returns for Shepard's
(4th MA) and Wesson's (9th MA) Regiments are located in The National Archives and Records
Administration, Miscellaneous Numbered Records (the manuscript file) in the War Department
collection of Revolutionary War Records, 1775-1790’s (M859).
Rifle Frocks/Hunting Shirts

Head Quarters, West point, July 31, 1779.
Sir: I duly received your several letters of the 6th. 7th. and 25th Instant. The Batallion Hats
mentioned in the first, may remain at Springfield for the present, as I would not wish any
more stores to be with the Army than are absolutely essential, and the number is so small
that a distribution of them would rather serve to excite uneasiness. It will be well, if you
can, to procure more.
The Commissary of Hides at Albany was appointed, I imagine, by the Board of War or by
the State in consequence of some requisition by Congress, and probably received
Instructions from the authority by which he was constituted. It was necessary that the
Troops under Genl. Clinton should have been supplied by him. I will write to him and know
the footing upon which his appointment stands and the conduct which has been prescribed
to him, that I may be able to give any farther directions that may be necessary.
You will send on the Rifle Frocks, Shirts and Shoes. The Shirts are most essentially wanted,
there being many Soldiers unfit for duty on account of the deficiency.
With respect Mr. Henry Pynchon, I have no objection to his remaining with you as an
Assistant, as you must have some, and they are so difficult to procure. It will not oblige the
state to furnish a Man more. I do not mean however, that this should infringe or counteract
in the smallest degree any Law of the State that may affect Mr. Pynchon or subject him to
any fine for any previous conduct or non compliance with them and my permission for his
staying is to be considered under those restrictions. I am, &c.38
[Note 38: The draft is in the writing of Robert Hanson Harrison.
An undated order, in the writing of Harrison, indorsed "July, 1779", to George Measam,
desiring him, by Washington's direction, to "deliver Major Benjamin Whitcomb Thirty One
Coats, Jackets, Breeches and Blankets, Sixty two Shirts, Sixty Two pair of Shoes, 31 pair
Stockings, Thirty one pair of Overalls and Thirty One Hunting Shirts and Thirty one Hats
for the Men under his command. 15 Shirts for himself and Officers, 10 pr Stockings, 10 pr
Shoes; paying three Hundred pr Cent on the Stirling Cost". is in theWashington Papers,
Three hundred per cent on the sterling cost then equaled the dollar estimated at 7 shillings
6 pence for £ 1 stirling.]
**********************************
Hunting Frocks
Head Quarters, Morristown, Tuesday, February 29, 1780.
Parole Lincoln. Countersigns Law, Logic.
Regimental returns of cloathing actually wanting, to be made as soon as possible to the
Adjutant General.
The State Cloathiers or their Assistants are also to make exact returns to the Cloathier
General of all cloathing in their hands.9
[Note 9: According to Assistant Clothier Gen. John Moylan's letter of Mar. 1, 1780, to Tench
Tilghman, the clothing then in store amounted to: "4050 Coats. 3146 Vests. 2977 Breeches
and Overalls. 9330 Hose. 10730 Shoes. 7916 Shirts. 7504 Hatts. 205 Blankets. 340 Pair
Boots. 840 Cloaks and Watch Coats. 1422 Leather Breeches. 6856 Wollen Caps. 2794 Mitts.
254 Linnen Caps. 437 Hunting frocks. 2634 Canvas Overalls. 4834 Pair Buckles. 401
Sword Belts. 6134 Socks, 2396 Stocks." Moylan's letter is in theWashington Papers.]
******************************************
Frocks
George Washington to Israel Putnam, June 10, 1777
Head Quarters, Middle Brook, June 10, 1777.
Dear Sir: This will be delivered to you by Mr. Young who is sent up by the Clothier General
to issue Clothing to the Troops at Peeks Kill. I beg you will give him your Countenance and
assistance in seeing that none are allowed to draw but such as are really in want. Some
Regiments not content with a complete Suit of Uniform, have drawn a Frock, Waistcoat
and Overalls, by which means they are doubly clad while others are perishing. This must
not be allowed in our present scarcity, and I therefore beg that you will be particularly
careful that none but the needy are Supplied. 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. I am etc.
P.S. Yours of the 8th. is just come to hand. Mr. Young will make the necessary inquiry about
Clothing, it is very extraordinary that Genl. Gates should undertake to Stop the Clothing of
those Regiments that are at Peeks Kill; that accounts for the deficiency. Colo. Saml. B. Webb
has drawn a vast deal more than he has men to put them on, I have desired him to bring the
overplus to Peeks Kill and deliver it up and I beg you will see it done.27
*******************************
George Washington to Charles Young, June 10, 1777
Sir: Upon your arrival at Peeks Kill deliver the inclosed to Genl. Putnam who commands
there. I have desired him to see that those Troops, who drew their Cloathing before they
marched, do not come in for a share of this, except it may be for Shoes or some few things
absolutely necessary. What you are particularly to 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.
There are about 350 Coats blue and red intended for Colo. Dayton's Regiment of Jersey,
which must come immediately on. Endearour to find out how many of the Troops, coming
in from Massachusetts, will want Clothing, and, if possible, reserve Sufficient for them. The
Frocks and overalls at this Season, are far preferable to Uniforms which Mr. Mease
says he will have ready by the Fall. The State of Rhode Island has not only had a large
allowance, but have lately stopped 1000 Blankets and 20 Bales of Cloth; their Troops
therefore have no claim, if they want any thing their Officers must send home for it. As Mr.
Mease has always assured me that a full proportion of Clothing was left at Boston for
Massachusetts, endeavour to find out the reason of their Troops being the only ones who
have come on naked. I am etc
*******************************
Hunting Shirts
George Washington to Continental Congress, July 10, 1775
Camp at Cambridge, July 10, 1775.
… I find the Army in general and particularly the Troops raised in Massachusetts Bay very
difficient in necessary Clothing: Upon Inquiry it appears there is no Probability of Obtaining
any supplies in this Quarter; upon the best consideration of this matter, I am able to form, I
am of Opinion that a number of hunting Shirts, not less than 10,000, would in a great
Degree remove the difficulty in the cheapest and quickest manner. I know nothing so trivial
in a speculative View, that in Practice would have a happy Tendency to unite the men and
abolish those Provincial distinctions which lead to Jealousy and Dissatisfaction. …
**********************************
George Washington to Jonathan Trumbull, August 4, 1775
August 4, 1775.
Sir: … My last Letter from the Honble. Continental Congress, recommends my procuring
from the Colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut, a Quantity of Tow Cloth, for the
Purpose of making of Indian or Hunting Shirts for the Men, many of whom are destitute of
Cloathing. A Pattern is herewith sent you; and I must request you, to give the necessary
Directions throughout your Government, that all the Cloth of the above kind may be bought
up for this Use, and suitable Persons set to work to make it up, As soon as any Number is
made, worth the Conveyance, you will please to direct them to be forwarded. It is design'd
as a Species of Uniform, both cheap and Convenient.
*******************************
Head Quarters, Cambridge, August 7, 1775.
Parole Newcastle. Countersign Maldin.
… It is in an especial manner recommended to the Commanding Officer of each regiment, to
see that a Store of shoes and shirts, are laid in for the Men, as those are at all times
necessary. The General also recommends it to the Colonels, to provide Indian Boots, or
Leggins, for their men, instead of stockings; as they are not only warmer, and wear longer,
but (by getting them of a colour) contribute to uniformity in dress; especially, as the
General has hopes of prevailing with the Continental Congress, to give each Man a hunting
shirt.
*******************************
George Washington to Nicholas Cooke, August 14, 1775
August 14, 1775.
Sir … I have sent by this Opportunity a hunting Shirt, as a Pattern. I should be glad you
would inform me of the Number you think I may expect.
************************************
George Washington to Continental Congress, September 21, 1775
The Season advances so fast, that I have given Orders to pre pare Barracks and other
Accomodations for the Winter. The great Scarcity of Tow Cloth in this Country, I fear, will
totally disappoint us in our expectations of procuring Hunting Shirts. Govr. Cooke informs
me, few or none to be had in Rhode Island, and Govt. Trumbull gives me little
Encouragement to expect many from Connecticut.
************************************
Head Quarters, New York, May 6, 1776.
Parole Virginia. Countersign Lee.
The Colonels, and commanding Officers of Regiments are again reminded, of the propriety
of immediately providing their men with cloathing, and necessaries; that they may be ready
to march, or embark, upon the shortest notice; The General wishes to impress this strongly,
upon the minds of the Colonels; because no Excuse will be taken to delay their departure,
the moment that it becomes necessary. It is recommended to those Corps which are not
already supplied with Uniforms, to provide hunting Shirts for their men.
**************************************
Head Quarters, New York, July 24, 1776.
Parole Virginia. Countersign Wales. … The General being sensible of the dificulty, and
expence of providing Cloaths, of almost any kind, for the Troops, feels an unwillingness to
recommend, much more to order, any kind of Uniform, but as it is absolutely necessary that
men should have Cloaths and appear decent and tight, he earnestly encourages the use
of Hunting Shirts, with long Breeches, made of the same Cloth, Gaiter fashion about
the Legs, to all those yet unprovided. No Dress can be had cheaper, nor more convenient,
as the Wearer may be cool in warm weather, and warm in cool weather by putting on
under Cloaths which will not change the outward dress, Winter or Summer--Besides which
it is a dress justly supposed to carry no small terror to the enemy, who think every such
person a complete Marksman.
***************************************
George Washington to Charles Young, June 10, 1777
Sir: Upon your arrival at Peeks Kill deliver the inclosed to Genl. Putnam who commands
there. I have desired him to see that those Troops, who drew their Cloathing before they
marched, do not come in for a share of this, except it may be for Shoes or some few things
absolutely necessary. What you are particularly to 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. There are
about 350 Coats blue and red intended for Colo. Dayton's Regiment of Jersey, which must
come immediately on. Endearour to find out how many of the Troops, coming in from
Massachusetts, will want Clothing, and, if possible, reserve Sufficient for them. The Frocks
and overalls at this Season, are far preferable to Uniforms which Mr. Mease says he will
have ready by the Fall. The State of Rhode Island has not only had a large allowance, but
have lately stopped 1000 Blankets and 20 Bales of Cloth; their Troops therefore have no
claim, if they want any thing their Officers must send home for it. As Mr. Mease has always
assured me that a full proportion of Clothing was left at Boston for Massachusetts,
endeavour to find out the reason of their Troops being the only ones who have come on
naked. I am etc.
***********************************
Head Quarters, V. Forge, June 2, 1778.
Parole Montgomery. Countersigns Mercer, McClary.
At a General Court Martial, Colo. Chambers, Presidt. 29th. May … Lieutt. Webb6 of the 7th.
Virginia Regiment was tried for disobedience of Orders for going upon duty in a hunting
shirt after confessing he had a Coat and being desired if he had no regard for his own
Appearance to have some for the Credit of his Regiment and therefore not to appear in so
unofficer like a manner; found guilty and sentenced to be reprimanded by the Officer
commanding the Regiment to which he belongs in presence of the officers of the Regimt.
[Note 6: Lieut. Isaac Webb, He was transferred to the Fifth Virginia Regiment in September,
1778; promoted to captain in 1781; served to the close of the war.]
The General approves the sentence and orders it put in Execution tomorrow morning at
Roll Call.
***********************************
Head Quarters, Tuesday, August 27, 1782.
Parole Bermuda. Countersigns St. Kitts, Nevis. … Before the troops remove to their new
position it will be proper for the mens baggage and effects to be thoroughly inspected and
the articles pointed out which they are to carry with them; they may take all their
regimentals into the field; but when they are compleated with hunting shirts it is
expected the uniform coats will not be worn so long as the warm season continues,
except on particular occasions, such as on guards formed on the grand parade, Inspections,
reviews &c.
To keep the Cloathing in the best possible order has become an object of so much attention
that the general thinks it almost superfluous to repeat his recommendations especially as it
is now universally considered that not only the comfort and conveniece but even the
reputation of a corps depends essentially upon keeping every article belonging to the
soldiers in the most perfect state both for service and appearance.
***********************************
This linen hunting shirt, one of very few surviving examples of 18th-century was worn by Capt.
Abraham Duryea during the Battle of Long Island in August 1776. New York State Office of Parks,
Recreation, and Historic Preservation.
Hunting shirt, circa 1785, purportedly discovered in the state of New Hampshire. Sold by Gary
Hendershott Auctions. Owned by the Mayor’s Office, City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Photo
taken by Neal Hurst, permission to use photograph courtesy of Mayor Stephan R. Reed, City of
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.)
________________________________________________________________
Related Articles by the Author on the New Jersey Brigade and the 1777-1778 Campaigns
"’We ... wheeled to the Right to form the Line of Battle’: Colonel Israel Shreve's Journal, 23 November 1776
to 14 August 1777 (Including Accounts of the Action at the Short Hills)”
Contents
1. “The Enemy Came out fired several Cannon At our Pickets”: Journal Entries, 23 November 1776 to 25
June 1777
2. Composition of Maj. Gen. William Alexander, Lord Stirling's Division, Summer 1777
3. “Our Canister shot Did Great Execution.”: The Battle of the Short Hills: Journal Entries 26 to 28 June
1777
4. “There was a steady fire on us from out of the bushes …”: A German Officer’s View of Operations in
New Jersey, 24 to 28 June 1777
5. “A smart engagement ensued …”: A British Private’s View of the Short Hills Battle
6. "I propose leaving Colo. Daytons and Ogden's Regts. at Elizabeth Town … for the present ...”:
Movements of the 1st and 3d New Jersey Regiments, July and August 1777
7. “Crossed Delaware [River], halted At Doctor Enhams …”: Final Journal Entries, 29 July to 14 August
1777
Addenda
1. Listing of Field Officers, Commissioned Officers, and Staff of the 2d New Jersey Regiment December
1776 to December 1777
2. Company Strengths and Dispositions, Colonel Israel Shreve's 2d New Jersey Regiment December
1776 to December 1777
3. 2d New Jersey Regiment, Monthly Strength as Taken From the Muster Rolls, December 1776 to
December 1777
4. 2d New Jersey Regiment, Company Lineage, 1777 to 1779
5. “The Troops of this Army … Appear to Manoeuvre upon false principles …”: The State of
Continental Army Field Formations and Combat Maneuver, 1777
6. Composition of British Columns at the Short Hills Action, 26 June 1777; Organization of British Light
Infantry and Grenadier Battalions, Spring and Summer 1777
7. “I have sent down Lord Stirling's Division, to reinforce Genl. Maxwell …”: Summer Campaign
Letters, Gen. George Washington and Virginia Captain John Chilton, plus the role of “late
Ottendorff’s Corps,” 22 to 29 June 1777
8. “At sunrise the fire began …”: New Jersey Brigade Accounts of the 1777 Philadelphia Campaign
9. "Without Covering but the H[eaven's].C[anop].y and boughs of Trees …": 4th New Jersey Officer's
Diary, 21 June 1777 to 18 February 1778 (plus Journal of Ensign George Ewing, 3d New Jersey, 1777-1778)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/153790118/%E2%80%99We-wheeled-to-the-Right-to-form-the-Line-of-
Battle%E2%80%99-Colonel-Israel-Shreve-s-Journal-23-November-1776-to-14-August-1777-
Including-Accounts-of
"`The Action was renew.d with a very warm Canonade’: A New Jersey Officer’s Diary, June 1777 to
August 1778”
Contents
1. Identity of the Diary Author
2. Composition of Maj. Gen. William Alexander, Lord Stirling's Division, 1777.
3. New Jersey Field Officers.
4. New Jersey Brigade Strength returns, November and December 1777, and June 1778
5. Diary Transcription
Appendices
A. “About an hour before day we dashed through the river again …”
The October 1777 Schuylkill Expedition
B. First-Person Accounts of Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth
C. Additional Articles on the New Jersey Brigade
and the Campaigns in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 1777-1778
https://www.scribd.com/doc/216378254/The-Action-was-renew-d-with-a-very-warm-Canonade-
New-Jersey-Officer-s-Diary-21-June-1777-to-31-August-1778
Notes
1. Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763—1789 (New
York, 1982), pp. 396-433.
2. William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the
Revolutionary War (Trenton: Wm. T. Nicholson and Co., Printers, 1872), 9-23. Doyen Salsig,
ed. and annot., Parole: Quebec; Countersign: Ticonderoga, Second New Jersey Regiment
Orderly Book of 1776, (Cranbury, N.J.: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1980), 39-52.
Mark E. Lender and James Kirby Martin, eds., Citizen Soldier; The Revolutionary Journal of
Joseph Bloomfield (Newark, N.J.: New Jersey Historical Society, 1982), 7-17.
3. Ibid., 124. William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the
Revolutionary War (Trenton: Wm. T. Nicholson & Co., Printers, 1911). There are two references
to Spencer’s Additional Regiment referring to that unit by other designations. Both are wartime
accounts:
“TWENTY-FOUR DOLLARS REWARD
DESERTED from Captain Weatherby’s company, in the fifth Jersey regiment, commanded by Col. Oliver Spencer, a
certain James Rogers, a Serjeant, twenty-seven years of age, five feet six or seven inches high, a smart looking fellow,
with black hair tied behind, and sailors dress: He listed with the subscriber at Roads Town, but has taken out his cockade
and now thinks to pass for a sailor. Also deserted from said company on the 23d of May last, an Irishman named
DANIEL MURPHEY, twenty-eight years of age, has a down look, round shouldered and black hair; supposed to be at
P[i]tts-Grove, in the Jersys: He inlisted with the subscriber at Gloucester. All masters of ferries and other persons are
desired to keep a look out for said fellows, and whoever apprehends and confines them in any goal, so that they may be
brought to justice, shall receive TWELVE DOLLARS for each, and reasonable charges paid by
DAVID BROWN, Lieutenant.”
Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet or, the General Advertiser, August 5, 1777.
Joseph Lee Boyle, 'He loves a good deal of rum ...': Military Desertions during the American Revolution, 1775-
1783, two volumes; vol. 2 (June 30, 1777-1783) (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009), 41-42.
1780: Spencer’s is termed the 4th Regiment.

“On the 7th. of June after the Enemy had disposs[ess]ed Colo. [Elias] Dayton & my self of the pass at Connecticut farms
and oblig'd us to retire in the vicinity of Springfield, I met General [William] Maxwell a little in front of the town
advancing with the brigade. I then rejoined my command which was with the brigade and consisted of the first [New
Jersey] and fourth [i.e., Spencer's Additional] regiments.”
William S. Smith to Washington, 10 November 1780 (misdated 1781), George Washington Papers, Presidential Papers
Microfilm, (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1961), series 4, reel 82.
4. Lender and Martin, Citizen Soldier; The Revolutionary Journal of Joseph Bloomfield, 126. For
other campaign details see:
"’We ... wheeled to the Right to form the Line of Battle’: Colonel Israel Shreve's Journal, 23
November 1776 to 14 August 1777 (Including Accounts of the Action at the Short Hills)”
and
"`The Action was renew.d with a very warm Canonade’: A New Jersey Officer’s Diary, June
1777 to August 1778”
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid. “Large droves of Cattle & flocks of Sheep go dayly into [the] Enemy …”
Countering British Foraging at Darby, Pennsylvania, 22 to 28 December 1778
http://www.scribd.com/doc/240762337/Large-droves-of-Cattle-flocks-of-Sheep-go-dayly-into-the-
Enemy-Countering-British-Foraging-at-Darby-Pennsylvania-22-to-28-December-1778
7. "’We ... wheeled to the Right to form the Line of Battle’: Colonel Israel Shreve's Journal, 23
November 1776 to 14 August 1777 (Including Accounts of the Action at the Short Hills)”
and
"`The Action was renew.d with a very warm Canonade’: A New Jersey Officer’s Diary, June
1777 to August 1778”
John U. Rees, "’I Expect to be stationed in Jersey sometime...’: An Account of the Services of
the Second New Jersey Regiment”:
Part I. December 1777 to June 1778 (1994, unpublished, copy held in the collections of the David Library
of the American Revolution, Washington Crossing, Pa.), contains seventeen appendices covering
various subjects including studies of the casualties incurred by the New Jersey Brigade (1777-1779), the
uniform clothing of the New Jersey Brigade (1776-1778), the use of the nine-month draft in 1778, and
names of all the officers and enlisted men of the regiment. Also included is a collection of pension
narratives of the common soldiers of the New Jersey Brigade:
The March to Winter Quarters: 13 December to 25 December 1777
General Orders, 20 December to 25 December 1777
Countering the "depredations of the Enemy": 23 December to 28 December 1777
The Valley Forge Camp in the Waning Days of 1777
A. General Orders: 25 December to 31 December 1777
B. "I fancy we may ... Content ourselves in these Wigwams ...": 1 January to 19 March 1778
Valley Forge in the First Months of 1778
General Orders, 1 January to 19 March 1778
"I Expect to be stationed in Jersey sometime ...": 22 March to 1 April 1778
General Orders of the Army, 20 March to 28 March 1778
"The Enemy Giting intelligence of our movement ...": 4 April to 30 May 1778
General Orders of the Army, 8 April to 6 May 1778
Reinforcements and Alarms: The Actions of Brigadier General William Maxwell and
the Remainder of the Jersey Brigade, May 7 to May 24, 1778
The Institution of Nine-Month Enlistments from the New Jersey Militia, February to June 1778
Procuring Arms and Equipment for the Regiment, March to June 1778
Clothing the Men in the Spring of 1778
The Jersey Brigade is Reunited, May 28 to June 19, 1778
Appendices (partial list)
Company Strengths and Dispositions, December 1777 to May 1779
(including tables of casualties, deserters, etc.)
Monthly Regimental Strength as Taken from the Muster Rolls, December 1777 to May 1779
Listing of Field Officers, Company Officers, and Staff, December 1777 to May 1779
Company Organization, December 1777 to May 1779
A. Lineage of Companies, 1777 to 1779
B. Continuity of Company Command Through May 1779
Proportion of Men from 2nd N.J. of 1776 Who Reenlisted in 2nd N.J. of 1777
A Listing of Non-Commissioned Officers and Privates of the 2nd N.J. of 1778
Part II. “`What is this you have been about to day?’: The New Jersey Brigade at the Battle of Monmouth,
28 June 1778,” narrative and appendices available only on the World Wide Web,
http://revwar75.com/library/rees/monmouth/MonmouthToc.htm
Part III. "’I Expect to hear the Enemy are on the Move ...’: The New Jersey Brigade, July 1778 to June
1779,” covers the period just after the 1778 Monmouth Campaign to the unit’s departure for the 1779
expedition led by Major General John Sullivan against the Iroquois (manuscript).
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. "`They answered him with three cheers …’: New Jersey Brigade Losses in the
Monmouth Campaign, 17 June to 6 July 1778,” http://revwar75.com/library/rees/NJlosses.htm
8. 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. See also,
“`The pleasure of their number’: 1778, Crisis, Conscription, and Revolutionary Soldiers’
Recollections”
Part I. “’Filling the Regiments by drafts from the Militia.’: The 1778 Recruiting Acts”
Contents
1. Overview
2. The New Jersey Draft in Actuality
3. Four States Relied on Previous Enlistment Laws
4. Alternative Measures Adopted by Rhode Island and Virginia
5. Five States Enacted a Nine-Month Levy
6. Afterward
Appendices
A. Definitions of Draft and Levy
B. 1778 Congressional Recruiting Resolution
C. Levies and Drafts, Militia versus Continental: The 1778 Massachusetts and North Carolina Levy Regiments
D. “Return of Number of Men whose term of service will expire between the 27 October 1778 and the Spring.”
E. Washington’s Main Army Strength, March to September 1778 (Infantry only)
Reflecting the Contribution Made by the 1778 Levy
F. Levy Ages: New Jersey and North Carolina (1778), and Massachusetts (1778-1780)
http://tinyurl.com/blz2gjw
Part II. "’Fine, likely, tractable men.’: Levy Statistics and New Jersey Service Narratives”
Contents
1. Jersey and North Carolina Individual and Group Data
2. Levies’ Prior Service
3. Drafts and Substitutes
4. Mustering and Joining the Regiments.
5. The Monmouth Campaign, 19 to 27 June 1778
http://tinyurl.com/cttrxe8
Part III. "He asked me if we had been discharged …”: New Jersey, Massachusetts, New
York, Maryland, and North Carolina Levy Narratives”
Contents
1. New Jersey Levies Monmouth Battle and Subsequent 1778-79 Service
2. Reenlistment and New Jersey Post-1778 Service
3. Other States’ Levies:
New Hampshire
Massachusetts
New York
Maryland
North Carolina
4. Miscellaneous Details and Later-Life Circumstances
5. Conclusion
http://tinyurl.com/cayayg5
ALHFAM Bulletin, vol. XXXIII, no. 3 (Fall 2003), 23-34; no. 4 (Winter 2004), 23-34; vol.
XXXIV, no. 1 (Spring 2004), 19-28.
9. Pension deposition of James Jordan, nine-month levy 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. (For other use of the term, and various iterations, of “New Jersey
Blues” see Appendix C. 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), 14-15. "Journal of the
Votes and Proceedings of the Provincial Congress of New-Jersey... October 1775", (Burlington,
NJ, 1775), 13 October 1775, 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. 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., 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.
10. John Polhemus to William Alexander, Lord Stirling, 20 December 1775, WA/Schmidt, reel
2, vol. 4.
11. 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, 405. Maxwell to hn
Hancock, 31 January 1776, ibid., reel 99, p. 7.
12. 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.
13. 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), 214.
Deserter descriptions for the New Jersey troops in 1776-1777, in Philip Katcher, Uniforms of the
Continental Army, (York, PA, 1981), 115- 117. A reproduction of Captain Joseph Bloomfield's
portrait painted by Charles Willson Peale in April 1777 is in Lender and Martin, Citizen Soldier;
The Revolutionary Journal of Joseph Bloomfield, preceding page 1. For the arrival of the 3rd
Regiment at Ticonderoga, see ibid., 113.
14. Don Troiani, Military Buttons of the American Revolution (Gettysburg: Thomas Publications,
2001), 131. Don Troiani and James L. Kochan, Insignia of Independence: Military Buttons and
Accoutrement Plates of the American Revolution (Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, 2012), 233.
William Louis Calver and Reginald Pelham Bolton, History Written With Pick and Shovel: Military
Buttons, Belt-Plates, badges, and other Relics Excavated from Colonial, Revolutionary, and War of
1812 Camp Sites by the Field Exploration Committee of The New-York Historical Society (New
York: The New-York Historical Society, 1950), 89, 91 (photo). “No. 5. Button of the New Jersey
troops. Found at Fort Ticonderoga.” Page 89: “At Fort Ticonderoga was found also a button or two
of the New Jersey troops in the Revolution. Another specimen - a badly battered one, was found in
the British Camp at 195th Street [and] Broadway, in New York City. The New Jersey buttons are
unique in having the name of the state spelled out in full script.” Lee Hanson and Dick Ping Tsu,
Casemates and Cannonballs: Archaeological Investigations at Fort Stanwix National Monument,
Publications in Archaeology 14 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1975), 84 (photo),
85. Button “Variety f. Face cast with “New Jersey” in script. One specimen (fig. 48h) has a diameter
of 23 mm. and a thickness of 12 mm. It was a New Jersey regimental button of the Revolutionary
period; the 3rd New Jersey Regiment was at Fort Stanwix from July to October, 1776, (Luzader,
1969, pp. 56-61). Another similar specimen (but not from the same mold) was found at Fort
Ticonderoga (Calver and Bolton, 1950, p. 91).
15. James Mease to Elias Dayton, 9 May 1777, manuscript in a private collection.
16. 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), 222.
17. Charles Lefferts, Uniforms of the American, British, French and German Armies of the
American Revolution (New York, NY, 1927), 118-119.
18. For a compilation of the New Jersey deserter descriptions (abridged), 1775-1777, see
Lefferts, Uniforms, 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.
Relating to the Revolutionary History of the State of New Jersey, Second Series, (Trenton, NJ,
1901), 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), 91.
19. Israel Shreve to Washington, 22 March 1777, George Washington Papers, Presidential
Papers Microfilm, (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1961), series 4, reel 40.
20. "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.
21. 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.
22. "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), 131-135, State Records, B.2., reel 4, 1776-1788.
23. 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.
24. James Mease to Elias Dayton, 9 May 1777, manuscript in a private collection. Washington to
Israel Putnam, 10 June 1777, WGW, vol. 8 (1933), 222.
25. 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.
26. "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.
27. 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.
28. Washington to Charles Young, 10 June 1777, WGW, vol. 8 (1933), 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.

Part 1 "The Great Neglect in Provideing Cloathing... " Uniform Colors and Clothing in The New Jersey Brigade From Northern New York, 1776, To The Monmouth Campaign, 1778

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Part 1 "The Great Neglect in Provideing Cloathing... " Uniform Colors and Clothing in The New Jersey Brigade From Northern New York, 1776, To The Monmouth Campaign, 1778

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"The Great Neglect in Provideing Cloathing...

A. The Proportion of Men from the Second New Jersey of 1776

For Part 2 of, "The Great Neglect in Provideing Cloathing..."

"The Jersey Blues:" The New Jersey Battalions, 1755-1776

A deserter advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia, 11 June 1777) confirms

Unit Number of Coats Issued

1st New Jersey 184 408*

2d New Jersey 247 208 Hunting Shirts (no coats)**

3d New Jersey 300 467*

(Return of brigade strength as of 20 May 1777)

For Part 2 of, "The Great Neglect in Provideing Cloathing..."

A. The Proportion of Men from the Second New Jersey of 1776

Second New Jersey 1777 Company Composition

Stout's Stout's Company, 15 men

Yard's Brearley's Company, 15 men

Cummings' Howell's Company, 19 men

Lawrie's Lawrie's Company, 6 men

Hollinshead's Lawrie's Company, 3 men

Maxwell's Scott's Company, 12 men

Dillon's Faulkner's Company, 16 men

Anderson's Lawrie's Company, 11 men

Second New Jersey Men Newly Enlisted in 1777

Total number of men enlisted: 583

A COMPARATIVE LISTING OF CLOTHING RETURNS

1st N.J. 2nd N.J. 3rd N.J. 4th N.J.

A Return of Clothing Issued at Camp from 15 Septmr. 1777

1st N.J. 2nd N.J. 3rd N.J. 4th N.J.

1st N.J. 2nd N.J. 3rd N.J. 4th N.J.

No hunting shirts, overalls, stocks or knapsacks were shown wanting.

Issued by the Clothier General for the use of the

Coats Vests Breeches Shirts Shoes

278 220 208 224 63

C. “The Blues offered again to fight …”

“Jersey Blues”: French and Indian War, 1757-1760

1757, exact date not given:

Jersey Blues References during the War for American Independence

Nineteenth Century Pension Accounts16

Jacob Cook, 1835 (R.2258):

Spencer’s Additional Regiment, a.k.a., the “fifth” and “fourth”

“TWENTY-FOUR DOLLARS REWARD

D. “Had on when he went away …”

1st New Jersey Battalion, 1775-1776

2d New Jersey Regiment, 1777

3d New Jersey Regiment, 1777

4th New Jersey Regiment, 1777

Spencer’s Additional Regiment, 1777

Rifle shirt, no items

Rifle frock, 1 item

Hunting frock, 1 item

Information courtesy of Eric Schnitzer.

Rifle Frocks/Hunting Shirts

1780: Spencer’s is termed the 4th Regiment.

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