- Joined
- Feb 2, 2011
- Messages
- 2,310
JJDESIGNS NEWS UPDATE 22nd SEPTEMBER 2025
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY COLLECTION
THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
AMERICAN ARTILLERY
The Continental Army’s growing pains through the first years of the war caused Washington considerable irritation. Professional armies cannot be developed overnight, and the fits and starts of the Continental Army’s creation is illustrated most clearly in the establishment of the artillery. The United States had to build its artillery from scratch, but impressively by 1778 this branch of service was well regulated and effective.
Although the Continental Army’s artillery units were not affected by the uniform regulations as much as the infantry had been, there were still several different uniforms pre-the 1778 regulations.
The change imposed on the artillery by the regulations was to make all four of the Continental regiments uniform in appearance as a branch of service and do away with distinctions between the regiments. This happened in October 1779.
Prior to this, the artillery arm of the Continental army had been noted as mainly wearing dark blue coats, usually faced red.
HAMILTON’S OWN
A company was authorized by the New York Provincial Congress, to be raised in July, 1775, by Captain John Lamb, for Continental service. It was ordered to the Northern Army, and served under General Montgomery before Quebec, where they did excellent service and suffered severely.
Their uniform for dress, when first organized, was a blue coat faced with buff, which was very unusual. Most of the artillery companies raised during the war wore blue faced with scarlet, which soon became the prescribed dress of that arm of the service in the American Army.
One other exception, was that of the second artillery company formed by order of the New York Provincial Congress, in January, 1776, and a few months later captained by Alexander Hamilton, whose commission was dated March 14, 1776. This second company, known as the Colony Artillery Company, was, like Captain Lamb's, uniformed on its in blue, faced with buff, but with blue waistcoats and leather breeches,
This New York Continental Artillery Company in 1776, was an elite unit of 60 men, led by Alexander Hamilton, who started his military career as an artillery officer. He was an independent minded commander who fought with courage and skill and later served as one of Washington’s aides de camp.
This new company would see action at the Battle of White Plains, and the Battle of Trenton. The New York Provincial Company of Artillery is considered the ancestor of the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, making it the oldest active unit in the US Regular Army.
Hamilton went on to become one of Founding Fathers of the United States before being killed by Aaron Burr in an 1804 duel. But his small artillery company would live on.
On the battlefield itself, a crew of eight to ten cannoneers manned drag ropes and trail spikes to manoeuvre the guns into position, accomplished the intricate dance of loading gunpowder (mostly in bags of cloth or paper, but sometimes ladled loose down the barrel) and projectile down the muzzle of the piece, and set it in position to fire at the target. All artillery was muzzleloading and smooth-bore. Aiming was an art, accomplished by peering down the length of the tube and quickly making a rough calculation that combined distance to the target, weather conditions, quality of powder, and weight of projectile. Traverse was accomplished by manually shifting the entire carriage; changes in elevation were done by inserting a triangular wooden block, called a quoin, under the rear of the barrel. The piece had to be re-aimed after each shot, since there were no recoil mechanisms to return it to its original position after firing. The maximum effective range of artillery— even large-caliber guns firing solid shot—was about 1,200 yards (a mile and a half), and with untrained gunners using imperfect weapons and ammunition the range was about 400 yards. Because aiming was so imprecise, gunners invariably tried to minimize range before opening fire. Rates of fire varied with the pace of operations and, of course, the skill of the gun crew. The maximum rate of about eight rounds an hour could not be long sustained, both because of crew fatigue and overheating of the barrel.
A matross was literally a gunner’s assistant and was the neophyte in the artillery enlisted hierarchy. As there was no American artillery school at this time, artillerymen were trained by their officers and NCO’s in the gun companies or “on the job” in combat
That the American artillery arm gained the high level of skill and reputation it did during the war is a testament to the dedication of the gunners that manned it.
MOLLY PITCHER
The wife of William Hays of Proctor’s Artillery Regiment, Mary was in her mid twenties, common in appearance but compact and strong. There was probably little to distinguish her from the many hundreds of other women attached to the army, except exchanging the role of water bearer ( a role performed by many camp followers of the army during combat) for that of combatant. Thus Mary Ludwig Hays became “Molly Pitcher”.
She had joined her husband at the Army’s winter camp at Valley Forge in 1777, and was present at the Battle of Monmouth, where she served as a water carrier. Her husband fell and she took his place swabbing and loading the cannon, and was later commended by George Washington.
The incident was recorded by Joseph Plumb Martin in his memoir published in 1830.
“A woman whose husband belonged to the artillery and who was attached to a piece in the engagement, attended with her husband at the piece the whole time. While in the act of reaching a cartridge and having one of her feet as far before the other as she could step, a cannon shot from the enemy passed directly between her legs without doing any more damage than carrying away all the lower part of her petticoat. Looking at it with apparent unconcern, she observed that it was lucky it did not pass a little higher, for in that case it might have carried away something else, and continued her work.”
Molly Pitcher has become a symbol of women’s contributions to the American Revolutionary War. While her story has been romanticized and may contain elements of legend, it highlights the vital roles women played in supporting the war effort.
Countless more women whose names we may never know, served at the battlefront as nurses, cooks, laundresss and camp followers.
Historian Holly Mayer estimates that perhaps 7,000 women accompanied the American troops during the war.
George Washington was to complain in 1777 that “the multitude of women in particular… are a clog upon every movement”. But he knew that the soldiers would desert without them, and that their labour was necessary.
The name “Molly Pitcher” has come to represent all women who served in various capacities during the war.
Please note that the Rhode Island Train of Artillery will be available in November, and the other artillery sets will be available early next year.
Best wishes,
john jenkins
THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY COLLECTION
THE AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
AMERICAN ARTILLERY
The Continental Army’s growing pains through the first years of the war caused Washington considerable irritation. Professional armies cannot be developed overnight, and the fits and starts of the Continental Army’s creation is illustrated most clearly in the establishment of the artillery. The United States had to build its artillery from scratch, but impressively by 1778 this branch of service was well regulated and effective.
Although the Continental Army’s artillery units were not affected by the uniform regulations as much as the infantry had been, there were still several different uniforms pre-the 1778 regulations.
The change imposed on the artillery by the regulations was to make all four of the Continental regiments uniform in appearance as a branch of service and do away with distinctions between the regiments. This happened in October 1779.
Prior to this, the artillery arm of the Continental army had been noted as mainly wearing dark blue coats, usually faced red.
HAMILTON’S OWN
A company was authorized by the New York Provincial Congress, to be raised in July, 1775, by Captain John Lamb, for Continental service. It was ordered to the Northern Army, and served under General Montgomery before Quebec, where they did excellent service and suffered severely.
Their uniform for dress, when first organized, was a blue coat faced with buff, which was very unusual. Most of the artillery companies raised during the war wore blue faced with scarlet, which soon became the prescribed dress of that arm of the service in the American Army.
One other exception, was that of the second artillery company formed by order of the New York Provincial Congress, in January, 1776, and a few months later captained by Alexander Hamilton, whose commission was dated March 14, 1776. This second company, known as the Colony Artillery Company, was, like Captain Lamb's, uniformed on its in blue, faced with buff, but with blue waistcoats and leather breeches,
This New York Continental Artillery Company in 1776, was an elite unit of 60 men, led by Alexander Hamilton, who started his military career as an artillery officer. He was an independent minded commander who fought with courage and skill and later served as one of Washington’s aides de camp.
This new company would see action at the Battle of White Plains, and the Battle of Trenton. The New York Provincial Company of Artillery is considered the ancestor of the 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, making it the oldest active unit in the US Regular Army.
Hamilton went on to become one of Founding Fathers of the United States before being killed by Aaron Burr in an 1804 duel. But his small artillery company would live on.
On the battlefield itself, a crew of eight to ten cannoneers manned drag ropes and trail spikes to manoeuvre the guns into position, accomplished the intricate dance of loading gunpowder (mostly in bags of cloth or paper, but sometimes ladled loose down the barrel) and projectile down the muzzle of the piece, and set it in position to fire at the target. All artillery was muzzleloading and smooth-bore. Aiming was an art, accomplished by peering down the length of the tube and quickly making a rough calculation that combined distance to the target, weather conditions, quality of powder, and weight of projectile. Traverse was accomplished by manually shifting the entire carriage; changes in elevation were done by inserting a triangular wooden block, called a quoin, under the rear of the barrel. The piece had to be re-aimed after each shot, since there were no recoil mechanisms to return it to its original position after firing. The maximum effective range of artillery— even large-caliber guns firing solid shot—was about 1,200 yards (a mile and a half), and with untrained gunners using imperfect weapons and ammunition the range was about 400 yards. Because aiming was so imprecise, gunners invariably tried to minimize range before opening fire. Rates of fire varied with the pace of operations and, of course, the skill of the gun crew. The maximum rate of about eight rounds an hour could not be long sustained, both because of crew fatigue and overheating of the barrel.
A matross was literally a gunner’s assistant and was the neophyte in the artillery enlisted hierarchy. As there was no American artillery school at this time, artillerymen were trained by their officers and NCO’s in the gun companies or “on the job” in combat
That the American artillery arm gained the high level of skill and reputation it did during the war is a testament to the dedication of the gunners that manned it.
MOLLY PITCHER
The wife of William Hays of Proctor’s Artillery Regiment, Mary was in her mid twenties, common in appearance but compact and strong. There was probably little to distinguish her from the many hundreds of other women attached to the army, except exchanging the role of water bearer ( a role performed by many camp followers of the army during combat) for that of combatant. Thus Mary Ludwig Hays became “Molly Pitcher”.
She had joined her husband at the Army’s winter camp at Valley Forge in 1777, and was present at the Battle of Monmouth, where she served as a water carrier. Her husband fell and she took his place swabbing and loading the cannon, and was later commended by George Washington.
The incident was recorded by Joseph Plumb Martin in his memoir published in 1830.
“A woman whose husband belonged to the artillery and who was attached to a piece in the engagement, attended with her husband at the piece the whole time. While in the act of reaching a cartridge and having one of her feet as far before the other as she could step, a cannon shot from the enemy passed directly between her legs without doing any more damage than carrying away all the lower part of her petticoat. Looking at it with apparent unconcern, she observed that it was lucky it did not pass a little higher, for in that case it might have carried away something else, and continued her work.”
Molly Pitcher has become a symbol of women’s contributions to the American Revolutionary War. While her story has been romanticized and may contain elements of legend, it highlights the vital roles women played in supporting the war effort.
Countless more women whose names we may never know, served at the battlefront as nurses, cooks, laundresss and camp followers.
Historian Holly Mayer estimates that perhaps 7,000 women accompanied the American troops during the war.
George Washington was to complain in 1777 that “the multitude of women in particular… are a clog upon every movement”. But he knew that the soldiers would desert without them, and that their labour was necessary.
The name “Molly Pitcher” has come to represent all women who served in various capacities during the war.
Please note that the Rhode Island Train of Artillery will be available in November, and the other artillery sets will be available early next year.
Best wishes,
john jenkins
