Incidents of Regional Variation in Winter Encampment Hut Construction

Abstract

This chapter by Daniel Cruson discusses how General von Steuben’s general orders give no guidelines for preparing floors prior to hut construction. It describes differences in the ways that floors were prepared at a boundary between one of the three New Hampshire Continental Regiments and a regiment of Canadian Volunteers at Putnam Park, in Redding, Connecticut. While the Canadians left large boulders in place, hut builders on the New Hampshire side removed large boulders and prepared the floors prior to construction. The chapter suggests that differences in “hut-building traditions” can be used to discern where different regiments were located at the winter encampments.