Continental Army News
. On 24 July 1777 Brig. Gen. George Clinton wrote to inform Washington that
30,000 pounds of hard bread sent in bulk to Fort Montgomery, New York,
had been "so much broken as to render it almost unfit to be used," nor
were there empty casks in which to convey it. This despite the fact that the
very next day Connecticut governor Jonathan Trumbull, Sr., could write to
Washington that "The Earth Helpeth us---I never saw it better cover'd with
its Fruits for our Support; The Enemy threaten it's [sic] Destruction;
May God prevent them!" At that time the army's most severe trial lay yet
ahead, and in fact it survived the famous winter at Valley Forge because of the
heroic efforts of Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene to reform the supply and
transportation system during the winter of 1777-1778. It would be near the war's
end, however, before Robert Morris could step in to set the army's supply system
on a solid foundation.
Colonial Map of Fort Montgomery
