This Grand Supply the Samuel Hodgdon Letterbooks, 1778-1784. Volume 2, April 3, 1781-May 24, 1784

In July 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the appointment of a Commissary of Military Stores, who was responsible for the receipt and issuance of military stores. These letters concern the procurement, shipment, repair and sale of military stores; estimates of stores needed and on hand; construction of ordnance installations; and payment and discharge of employees. The letters were authored by three men: Commissary General of Military Stores and Assistant Quartermaster Samuel Hodgdon, Commissary General of Military Stores Benjamin Flowers, and Deputy Commissary of Military Stores Richard Frothingham; however, Samuel Hodgdon produced the majority of the letters in his various positions in the military stores operations of the Continental Army. Military stores were critical to the army’s operations, but Washington’s men also faced shortages of clothing, food, and pay throughout the war. After 1781, and Cornwallis’s surrender, there were no more major actions for the Continental Army in the North, and Hodgdon’s letters assume a less frantic tone. These documents present a literal translation with spelling, punctuation and grammar remaining as they are found in the original. Letters are introduced by the names of the addresser and addressee. Volume 1 of this two volume series covers July 19, 1778-March 31, 1781; Volume 2 covers April 3, 1781-May 24, 1784. An index to full names, places and subjects completes each volume.