The Continental soldier often had to provide his own eating utensils, but on occasion they came as standard issue. Maryland troops, for example, were provided a wooden trencher (plate), and bowl, as well as wooden and pewter spoons. Each man would have his knife, of course; and for quaffing his rum, cider, beer, or whiskey, a horn cup, which was extremely light compared with pewter or ceramic. Officers, as might be expected, had more refined utensils. George Washington’s mess kit, for example, was a very elaborate affair housed in a handsome fourteen-compartment wood chest lined with green wool.
Robert Edge Pine (1730—88)
Oil on canvas; 91.5cm x 73.5cm (36" x 28 15/16"). National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian), Washington, DC.
Oil on canvas. Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection, Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, Philadelphia, PA.
Oil on canvas; 90.2 x 69.9cm (35 1/2 x 27 1/2"). National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian), Washington, DC.
Oil on canvas. Independence National Historical Park, Portrait Collection (Second Bank of the United States), Philadelphia, PA.
Oil on canvas. National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian), Washington, DC.
Photomechanical Print copy c. 1916. U.S. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.
Oil on canvas. Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection, Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, Philadelphia, PA.
Patriot Battles: How the War of Independence Was Fought (2007)