Return of ordnance stores, 1777 January 1.

Return of ordnance stores, 1777 January 1.

[Boston, Massachusetts], 1777 January 1.

1 item ; 12 1/8 x 72 inches

MSS L2023F9

Manuscript ordnance return compiled by Nathaniel Barber, Jr., recording ordnance stores belonging to the Continental Army in and around Boston at the opening of 1777. The return presents in columnar format 53 categories of military stores held by the Eastern Department, including gunpowder, musket balls, cartridge paper, round shot, shells, hand bellows, pincers, funnels, ladles, harness, rope or junk, and related supplies.

Signed by Nathaniel Barber, Jr., Deputy Commissary of Military Stores in Boston.
Additional stores of powder at Roxbury and shells at Cambridge and Roxbury are recorded on the verso.
Manuscript in ink on three joined sheets of cartridge paper.

Return of ordnance stores, 1777 January 1. The American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati.

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Nathaniel Barber, Jr. was born in Boston in 1751. During the American Revolution he served in artillery and ordnance supply roles, including as Deputy Commissary of Artillery and later Deputy Commissary of Military Stores for the Continental Army’s Eastern Department in Boston.
The Eastern Department of the Continental Army was established in April 1776 after the British evacuation of Boston. Headquartered in Boston and commanded by Major General Artemas Ward, the department was responsible for guarding Boston and nearby military posts against possible British reoccupation after George Washington and the main body of the Continental Army moved to New York.

Prepared for Major General Artemas Ward, commander of the Eastern Department. The return descended through the family of Ward’s daughter Sarah and was kept in Ward’s document box. A related group of Ward records was discussed in Francis E. Clark, "Found in an Old Trunk," Christian Endeavor World, volume 24, number 48, September 1, 1910, page 942.

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