Verplanck’s Point
2nd Connecticut Brigade
Take a closer look at the line of tents of the 2nd and 4th Connecticut Regiments. Structures made of brush are visible in front of the line of tents. The structures provided shade for the soldiers and decoration for the camp.
Image: Museum of the American Revolution, Gift of the Landenberger Family Foundation
Notice the wooden structures in front of the tents of the 2nd and 4th Connecticut Regiments. On September 1, General Washington ordered that the troops should construct “shades or bowers” made of tree brush in front of their tents for sun protection and to decorate the camp for their French visitors. Jeremiah Greenman, a lieutenant in the Rhode Island Regiment, wrote in his journal at Verplanck’s Point that “the whole army’s encampment is in one right line with elegant bowers built before the tents.”
This irregular grouping of tents and brush huts may belong to sutlers. Sutlers followed the army and sold food and drink to the troops. At Verplanck’s Point, Quartermaster General Timothy Pickering regulated who could legally sell alcohol to the soldiers in an attempt to control bad behavior.
Take a closer look Learn more about Timothy Pickering