Reminder: If you’re reading this in your email, you have to go to dpauthor.com and click on the Speaking of Which tab in order to view the actual blog post with the featured image.
For those interested, here’s a link to my latest article in the Journal of the American Revolution — on the Continental Army’s first commissary general: Joseph Trumbull and the Challenge of Feeding an Army.
Anyone who shares my obsessive preoccupation with the “Ten Crucial Days” campaign—from December 25, 1776 through January 3, 1777—will appreciate the relevance of this piece to that enterprise, as Trumbull (older brother of the famous artist John) was responsible for ensuring that the Continental Army had adequate food supplies during this critical period—so that he quite literally sustained Washington’s troops at a pivotal moment in the war. Each soldier who participated in the legendary Delaware River crossing on Christmas night 1776 was given a three-day supply of cooked rations—per the commander in chief’s orders—which tells me that Trumbull was doing his job! Recall that this was at a time when the army was critically short of various other supplies, such as winter clothing, shoes, and blankets.
PUNishment alert: Hopefully, readers won’t find the narrative in the article hard to swallow. Digestible? Something to chew on? Food for thought? Content you can really sink your teeth into?
Stay warm and a happy 2025 to all.
P.S. Was at the annual Princeton battle reenactment on Sunday, where about two thousand people and a couple of horses were present—record attendance (of people, not horses)! Here’s an article about what’s happening at Princeton Battlefield State Park.