Another necessity was paper for
cartridges and wads. The cartridge of that day was a paper
envelope containing the charge of ball and powder. This served
also as a wad, after being emptied of its contents, and was
pushed home with a ramrod. A store of German Bibles in
Pennsylvania fell into the hands of the soldiers at a moment when
paper was a crying need, and the pages of these Bibles were used
for wads.
The artillery of the time seems feeble compared with the monster
weapons of death which we know in our own age. Yet it was an
important factor in the war. It is probable that before the war
not a single cannon had been made in the colonies. From the
outset Washington was hampered for lack of artillery. Neutrals,
especially the Dutch in the West Indies, sold guns to the
Americans, and France was a chief source of supply during long
periods when the British lost the command of the sea. There was
always difficulty about equipping cavalry, especially in the
North. The Virginian was at home on horseback, and in the farther
South bands of cavalry did service during the later years of the
war, but many of the fighting riders of today might tomorrow be
guiding their horses peacefully behind the plough.
The pay of the soldiers remained to Washington a baffling
problem.
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