January 15, 1783
Written by James from New Windsor
James wrote another letter home about a month after his mess finished their winter hut in the encampment at New Windsor, New York. The army remained largely inactive and unpaid, or, as Davenport put it, in “peace and Poverty,” leading to ongoing frustrations among the soldiery. While many Continental soldiers had a deep ideological commitment to the Revolution and had served for years, they also felt, as Davenport put it, that “the Labourer is worthy of his hire.”
James Davenport had thirteen siblings. When he wrote this letter, Josiah, Hannah, Lydia, and Sarah were living in Warwick, Massachusetts, and Joseph and Isaac Howe had died fighting in the war. The other seven were living at home with his parents, Isaac and Mary Davenport: Samuel, Mary, Ephraim, Ebenezer, John, Daniel, and Esther.
This was a slang term for young, single women.