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 contents vii

E-mail 135
General E-mail Guidelines 136
Reading and Processing Incoming Messages 138
Formatting and Writing E-mail 139
Replying to E-mail 140
E-mail Style and Tone 141
Routine Messages: Positive and Informative Memos and E-mail 142
Routine Messages: Request Memos 144
Routine Messages: Reply Memos and E-mail 145
Goodwill E-mail Messages 145
Follow-Up Memos and E-mail 146
Instant Messaging (IM) 148
Workshops and Discussion Forums 150
Writing Improvement Exercises 151
Case Study Exercises 152
Online Ac tivities 154

6
Routine and Goodwill Messages 156
Direct Writing Plan 157
Requests 158
Requests for Information, Credit, and Action 159
Order Requests 161
Claim Letters 163
Responses 166
Information Response 166
Personalized Form Letters 168
Order Acknowledgement 168
Messages Confirming Contracts and Arrangements 170
Claims Adjustment 172
Goodwill Messages 174
Thank-You Letters 175
Letter of Congratulations 179
Letter of Sympathy 180
Informative Letters 181
Announcements 181
Cover or Transmittal Letters 181
Instructional Letter/Memo 182
Letter Formats 185
Letter Balance and Placement 185
Letter Styles and Layouts 185
Letter Elements 185
Addressing Envelopes 191
Workshops and Discussion Forums 192
Writing Improvement Exercises 197
Case Study Exercises 198
Online Ac tivities 200

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 viii contents

7
Delivering Unfavourable News 201
Goals of Negative Messages 202
Tone in Bad News Messages 203
Organizing Bad News Messages 205
Direct Writing Plan for Bad News Messages 205
Using the Direct Writing Plan 205
Limitations of the Direct Approach 207
Indirect Writing Plan for Bad News Messages 207
Using the Indirect Approach 207
Bad News Buffers 208
Explaining the Bad News 208
Revealing the Bad News 210
Goodwill Closing 211
Indirect-Approach Message 212
Limitations of the Indirect Strategy 212
Apologies in Bad News Messages 213
Types of Bad New Messages 215
Refusing Requests for Information, Actions, and Favours 215
Refusing Claims 217
Refusing Credit 218
Turning Down Job Applicants 220
Announcing Bad News to Employees 223
Declining Invitations 225
Workshops and Discussion Forums 228
Writing Improvement Exercises 229
Case Study Exercises 230
Online Ac tivities 232

8
Persuasive Messages 233
Writing Persuasively 234
Preparing to Write Persuasively 234
Persuasive Appeals 236
Indirect Writing Plan for Persuasive Messages 238
Types of Persuasive Messages 239
Favour and Action Requests 239
Persuasive Memos 241
Claim Requests 242
Collection Letters 247
Sales Messages 250
Aiming to Make a Sale: Analyzing the Product and Audience 251
Writing Plan for Sales Letters 251
Fundraising Messages 258

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 contents ix

Workshops and Discussion Forums 260

Writing Improvement Exercises 260
Case Study Exercises 262
Online Ac tivities 264

9
Communicating for Employment 265
Analyzing Your Career Goals and Qualifications 266
Assessing Your Skills and Values 266
Assessing Your Work Preferences and Personality 267
Assessing Your Work History 267
Job-Hunting 268
Using LinkedIn and Twitter to Establish an Online Presence 271
LinkedIn 271
Twitter 273
Writing Persuasive Resumés 274
How Employers Use Resumés 274
Resumé Writing Style 274
Parts of a Standard Resumé 276
Resumé Length 279
Resumé Styles and Layouts 279
Preparing a Scannable Resumé 284
Preparing an E-mail Resumé 286
Preparing a Persuasive Application Letter 288
General Tips for Cover Letters 288
Solicited Application Letters 289
Unsolicited Application Letters 292
E-mail Cover Letters 293
Job Application Round-Up: Some Additional Tips 295
Career Portfolios and ePortfolios 295
Job Interviews 296
Before the Interview 296
Behavioural Interview Questions and How to Prepare for Them 297
At the Interview 298
After the Interview 299
Follow-Up Employment Messages 300
Follow-Up Letter 300
Thank-You Letter 300
Job-Offer Acknowledgement 300
Job-Acceptance Letter 300
Job-Refusal Letter 300
Reference-Request Letter 301
Workshops and Discussion Forums 303
Writing Improvement Exercises 306
Online Ac tivities 308

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 x contents

10
Informal Reports 309
Introduction to Report Writing 310
Factors in Successful Reports 310
Content 310
Clarity 311
Skimmability 311
Informal vs. Formal Reports 311
Distinguishing Features of Short Reports 312
Purpose 312
Frequency of Submission 313
Common Categories 313
Formats and Distribution 313
Direct and Indirect Approaches 314
Direct Approach: Informational and Analytical Reports 314
Indirect Approach: Analytical Reports 315
Writing Style for Short Reports 315
Headings 315
Steps in the Writing Process 317
Planning 317
Researching/Analyzing Data and Information 317
Composing and Revising 318
Elements of Informal Reports 320
Introductory Statement 320
Findings 320
Summary/Conclusions/Recommendations 321
Using Graphics and Visuals 321
Tables 322
Matrixes 323
Pie Charts 324
Bar Charts 325
Picture Graphs 327
Line Graphs 328
Gantt Charts 329
Flow Charts 329
Organizational Charts 330
Commonly Used Short Reports: Informational and Analytical 332
Informational Reports 332
Analytical Reports 353
Workshops and Discussion Forums 372
Writing Improvement Exercises 372
Case Study Exercises 375
Online Ac tivities 376

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 contents xi

11
Proposals and Formal Reports 377
Proposals 378
Elements of Informal Proposals 379
Elements of Formal Proposals 380
Writing Style for Proposals 382
Sample Informal Proposal 382
Common Mistakes in Writing Proposals 386
Researching and Collecting Data 387
Formal Reports 389
Preparing to Write Formal Reports 390
Writing Style for Formal Reports 391
Creating a Work Plan 391
Time Management 392
Peer-Reviewing and Team Writing 392
Elements of Formal Reports 395
Front Matter 395
Body of the Report 397
Back Matter 399
Workshops and Discussion Forums 420
Writing Improvement Exercises 420
Case Study Exercises 421
Online Ac tivities 422

12
Oral Communication 424
Oral Presentations 425
Types of Oral Presentations 426
Analyzing the Situation and Audience 426
Structuring Presentations 427
Developing a Three-Part Presentation 428
Oral Presentation Outline 429
Using Visual Aids 430
Types of Presentation Aids 431
Designing a PowerPoint Presentation 435
Prezi 437
Pecha Kucha Presentations 438
Methods of Delivery 438
Rehearsing a Presentation 440
Delivering a Presentation 441
Handling Questions 442
Team-Based Presentations 444
Special-Occasion Presentations 444

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 xii contents

Organizing and Managing Meetings 446

Types of Meetings 446
Preparing for a Meeting 446
Conducting a Meeting 449
Meeting Minutes 451
Groupware-Supported Meetings 451
Communicating by Telephone 452
Making Calls 452
Receiving Calls 453
Using Voice Mail Productively 454
Dealing with the Media 454
Workshops and Discussion Forums 457
Writing Improvement Exercises 458
Online Ac tivities 460

13
Social Media and Networking 461
Web 2.0 and the New Media Landscape 462
What Is Participatory Culture? 463
What Is Social Media? 464
Types of Social Media 466
Blogs 466
Social Networks 467
Micro-blogs 469
Photo- and Video-sharing Sites 471
The Social Media Advantage 471
The Risks and Challenges of Social Media 472
Measuring Social Media Performance 474
Workshops and Discussion Forums 476
Writing Improvement Exercises 477
Online Ac tivities 477

Appendix A: Business Usage: A Style and Mechanics Guide 479

Usage 479
Abbreviations and Acronyms 499
Numbers 500
Capitalization 502
Usage-Related Internet Resources 505
Salutations and Complimentary Closes: A User’s Guide 505
Standard Phrases and Their Plain-Language Alternatives 506

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 contents xiii

Appendix B: Grammar Handbook 507

Subject–Verb Agreement 507
Verb Tense Accuracy 511
Other Verb Problems 512
Using Passive-Voice Constructions 513
Avoiding Logically Mismatched Subjects and Verbs (Faulty Predication) 514
Using Similar Phrasing for Items in a Series (Parallelism) 515
Making Comparisons Clear and Logical (Sentences with Than or As) 515
Using Pronouns with Precision 516
Correcting Modifier Mishaps 517
Comma Usage 519
Other Forms of Punctuation 520
Internet Resources: Grammar, Style, and ESL Guides 523

Notes 524
Index 532

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 Thematic Contents
Active Listening 21–2, 31, 65, 299, 454
Audience Analysis 50, 51–4, 183, 205, 235, 251, 315, 390, 426–7, 441
Collaboration 8, 16, 64–6, 392, 395, 444, 446, 449–51
Direct Approach 157–9, 205–7, 213, 314–15, 333, 355–6
E-mail 133–4, 135–48, 149, 286, 288, 293, 294, 452
Ethics 6–7, 23–6, 53, 79–80, 166, 237–8, 251, 284, 322, 473
Indirect Approach 32, 207–13, 238, 315, 333, 356
Intercultural Communication 16, 27–32, 33–4, 90–1, 157
Non-Verbal Communication 16–20, 31, 296
Privacy/Security 5, 26, 32–6, 54, 136, 137, 295, 472–4
Reader-Centred Writing/You-Attitude 89–90, 203–4
Revising/Editing 61–3, 318–20
Social Networking 9, 269, 271–3, 466–71
Visual Aids 107–8, 321–31, 430–8

Meyer_i-xxx_FM.indd 14 14-02-12 3:05 PM

 Summary of Writing Samples
Chapter 5 Effective Credit Refusal 221
Sample Paper-Based Memo 134 Ineffective Employment Refusal (extract) 222
Ineffective Informative E-mail Draft 142 Effective Employment Refusal 223
Effective Informative E-mail 143 Announcing Bad News to Employees 225
E-mail that Requests 144 Ineffective Refusal of Invitation (extract) 226
E-mail that Responds 146 Effective Refusal of Invitation 227
Thank-You E-mail Message 147
Follow-Up E-mail Message 147 Chapter 8
Ineffective Favour Request (extract) 239
Chapter 6 Effective Favour Request 240
Ineffective Information Request (extract) 159 Ineffective Persuasive Memo (extract) 242
Improved Information Request 160 Effective Persuasive Memo 243
Sample Order Request (in simplified style) Persuasive Memo II 244
162 Ineffective Persuasive Claim (extract) 245
Ineffective Claim (extract) 163 Effective Persuasive Claim 246
Effective Claim 164 Sample Collection Reminder Letter 247
Effective Information Response 167 Sample Collection Inquiry Letter 248
Ineffective Information Response (extract) Sample Collection Demand Letter 249
168 Ineffective Sales Message (extract) 254
Sample Form Letter 169 Effective Sales Message 255
Sample Letter Confirming Arrangements 171 Effective Sales Message II 256
Ineffective Claim Response (extract) 172 Sales Follow-Up 257
Effective Claim Response 173
Appreciation for Business 176 Chapter 9
Appreciation for Hospitality 177 Chronological Resumé 280
Appreciation for Service or Favour 178 Functional Resumé 282
Letter of Congratulations 179 Combination Resumé 283
Letter of Sympathy 180 Scannable, Computer-Friendly Resumé 285
Sample Directive/Instructional Message Sample Plain-Text Resumé 287
(E-mail) 184 Ineffective Solicited Letter of Application
Putting the Elements Together 190 (extract) 290
Effective Solicited Letter of Application 291
Chapter 7 Ineffective Unsolicited Letter of Application
Ineffective Direct-Approach Message (extract) (extract) 293
206 Effective Unsolicited Letter of Application 294
Effective Direct-Approach Message 206
Refusing Requests for Information, Actions, Chapter 10
and Favours 216 Ineffective Conference Report 335
Ineffective Claim Refusal (extract) 218 Effective Trip Report (Memo) 336
Effective Claim Refusal 219 Effective Trip Report (Abbreviated E-mail) 338
Ineffective Credit Refusal (extract) 220 Activity Report 340

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 xvi c o m m u n i c at i n g f o r r e s u lt s

Sample Progress Report 342 Chapter 11

Sample Job Completion Report 345 Sample Informal Proposal 383
Sample Incident/Accident Report 348 Sample Work Plan 393
Sample Problem-Investigation Report 351 Sample Formal Report in APA Style 403
Recommendation Report: Direct Writing Plan
357 Chapter 12
Recommendation Report: Indirect Writing Plan Ineffective Transparency 433
359 Effective Transparency 434
Feasibility Report 363 Sample PowerPoint Slide 435
Comparison Report 366 Sample Meeting Agenda 448

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 Summary of Case Studies
Chapter 1 Follow-Up Letter: Confirmation of Telephone
The Ethics of Job Blogging 41 Conversation 199
Ethical Dilemmas in Fundraising 42 Information Response: Mentorship Program
Intercultural Communication Non-Starter 42 199
Cross-Cultural Communication online Order Response: Company Novelty Items
200
Chapter 2 Claim Response: Mismatched Office
Know Your Audience online Components 200
Letter of Appreciation: Country Club
Chapter 3 Afternoon 200
The Style that Confuses online Transmittal Letter: Proposal for Restoration
Project 200
Chapter 4 Is Anyone Listening?­ online
Toy Pigs and Poor Sentence Structure online
Chapter 7
Chapter 5 Refusing a Request: Case Study Article 230
E-mail that Informs: Design Show Trends 152 Refusing a Claim: Return Policy on Opened
E-mail that Informs: Counterfeit Internet CDs 230
Coupons 153 Refusing a Claim: Coverage for Additional
E-mail that Informs: Retirement Dinner 153 Moving Expenses 230
Goodwill E-mail: Retirement Congratulations Refusing a Claim: Deck Repair 230
153 Refusing Credit: Office Furniture Purchase 231
E-mail that Requests: Reaction to Proposed Announcing Bad News to Employees:
WLAN on Campus 153 Changes to Office Catering 231
E-mail that Responds: Reaction to Proposed Announcing Bad News to Employees: On-Site
WLAN on Campus 153 Fitness Program for Employees Only 231
E-mail that Informs: Relocation of Scheduled Announcing Bad News to Employees:
Retreat 154 Postponement of Holiday Party 231
E-mail that Follows Up: Confirmation of Details Announcing Bad News to Customers: Virus
for Intramural Office Teams 154 Problem for Internet Customers 232
Thanks, I Guess, and Thanks Again online Announcing Bad News to Employees: Office
Relocation 232
Chapter 6 I Regret to Inform You online
Information Request: Business Etiquette
Agencies 198 Chapter 8
Information Request: Internship Program 198 Favour Request: Volunteers for Fundraising
Order Request: Home-Decorating Items 198 Event 262
Order Request: Company Novelty Items 199 Favour Request: Judge for Fashion Show
Claim Request: Product or Service Problem 199 Benefit 262
Claim Request: Mismatched Office Favour Request: Volunteers for an Outreach
Components 199 Program 262

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 xviii c o m m u n i c at i n g f o r r e s u lt s

Persuasive Memo: Workplace Situations 262 Recommendation Report: Improvement to

Persuasive Memo: Problem-Solving 263 School Services 376
Claim Request: Adjustment to Fees 263 It’s a Matter of Form online
Claim Request: Gift Card Redemption 263
Collection Letter Series: Reminder, Inquiry, and Chapter 11
Demand 264 Informal Internal Proposal: Workplace
Sales Letter: Bicycle Courier Services 264 Improvements 421
Sales Letter: Low-Carb Catering Business 264 Informal Internal Proposal: Working from
You’re Not Going to Like This, But . . . online Home 421
Informal Internal Proposal: Mobile Devices
Chapter 9 421
Ask Not What the Company Can Do For You Informal Internal Proposal: Request for IT
online Services 421
Informal External Proposal: Public Speakers
Chapter 10 Wanted 421
Investigative Report: Equipment for Team- Formal External Proposal: Store Rebranding
Building Retreat 375 421
Investigative Report: Field Trip Destinations Formal Report: Customer Service Complaints
375 421
Periodic Report: Work–Study Placement 375 Formal Research Report Requiring Secondary
Investigative Report: Research Summary 376 Research 422
Progress Report: Project Summary 376 Am I Repeating Myself? online
Progress Report: Status of Office Renovations
376 Chapter 12
Recommendation Report: Promotional Music Too Much Information online
Salon 376

Meyer_i-xxx_FM.indd 18 14-02-12 3:05 PM

 From the Publisher
In today’s fast-paced, globally connected world, effective communication is essential to suc-
cessful business practices. With the expansion of the knowledge-based economy, Canadian
employers are—now more than ever—increasingly interested in hiring individuals who are
able to communicate clearly and effectively. Globalization poses new challenges to traditional
modes of communication, as traditional spatial barriers virtually cease to exist. New tech-
nologies can provide solutions to such challenges, but these tools must first be understood.
In addition to comprehending the changing business environment, businesspeople
must possess strong language skills. They must know not only what needs to be said but
also how to say it. An effective writing style begins with a consideration of the basics:
grammar, tone, word choice, conciseness, and rhetorical techniques. But advanced busi-
ness writers must also consider strategic composition strategies and persuasive document
planning and have a thorough understanding of their audience’s needs.
Building on the foundation of its predecessors, this third edition of Communicating
for Results continues to address these needs by providing students with a thorough un-
derstanding of how to effectively communicate in Canadian business environments. A
unique, hands-on approach engages students in the processes of critical thinking, stylistic
development, and content evaluation. Extensive models and organizational plans for let-
ters, e-mails, reports, and presentations—as well as extensive exercises based on real-life
situations—help to simplify the writing process, banish writer’s block, and ease fears about
public speaking. Checklists and review boxes, along with handbooks to grammar and
mechanics, summarize key points for easy reference.
Throughout, this approach emphasizes practical knowledge that will give students
a head start in the business world. They will develop confidence in their skills and will
ultimately have everything they need to become competent and successful communicators
who get their message across, get noticed, and get results.

Meyer_i-xxx_FM.indd 19 14-02-12 3:05 PM

 xx from the publisher

Highlights of the Third Edition

• A new chapter on social media and networking examines key social media tools
and how they can be used by individuals and businesses to identify trends, promote
products and services, and interact with customers.
• New chapter vignettes and photos illustrate each chapter’s main themes with
real-life examples.
• An expanded opening chapter introduces current trends in the workplace—such as
the globalization of business practices, the focus on team-based work environments,
the importance of corporate social responsibility, and the ever-increasing reliance on
new technologies such as social media—and identifies how these trends impact how
we communicate.
• New discussions of communicating in the new economy, writing in context, and using
social media to find employment highlight various aspects of business communication.
• Increased coverage of intercultural communication, privacy concerns, collaborative
writing, and oral presentations give more insight into these topics.
• APA and MLA documentation guidelines for business reports ensure that students
can cite their research properly.
• A marginal glossary defines key terms and concepts at their first appearance in
the text.
• An extensive suite of online ancillaries enhances student learning.

Meyer_i-xxx_FM.indd 20 14-02-12 3:05 PM

 from the publisher xxi

166 communi
c at i n g f o
r r e s u lt s

response a mess
responses
age that answers
a request or quer
y. A response is
usually most effe
ctive when it is
When you can
waste no time
respond favoura
bly to a request
prompt, informa
tive, and gets to
the point.
New boxes in each chapter
conveying the for information
readers’ attitude
details of a dec
s to policies or
news and buil
ding goodwill
business practice
or action, you
when it is nec should
essary to shape
feature links and QR codes that
ision, answer, s. A routine resp
through, or kno
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or action so read
ers can make
onse provides
informed decisio
focused direct students to articles and
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a few tips for writ
• Determine
if you are the
right person to
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or authority to
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provide what the the most importa iness relationship
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r response to uld say so in the you can
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companies use ice” to learn how r is, in effect, -
social media to some and all fact a legal contrac
and complaints: handle custome s and figures t,
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54fs. . in it
• Make your
closing work for
and expressions you. Avoid clic
such as “I hope” hés
might convey or “I trust” that
a lack of confide
closing remarks nce. View you
as an opportu r
relationships if nity to cement
they are in need
of reinforcement.
infor mation resp
inquiry a mess
age that asks for onse
seeks information. or A response to
information respo
(An inquiry or an inquiry (or
nse is a message first without the information requ
that supplies infor need for an intr est) should sup
mation.) request—which oduction. It is ply requested
is evident from unnecessary to information
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or having mad lf—or to begin ipt of a
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require you to Arranged in logi
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on gives addition
al options or prin
t a document to
and conforms
to
Asset Allocati
on
Wisconsin–madis
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also underscore the other until
stituting one for
which. Try sub sult Appendix
Trus s, auth or of Eats, pro blem corr ects itself. Con
» Lynn the ge.
es: The Zero grammar and usa
Shoots & Leav
h to B for more on soft war e is good but
Tolerance App
roac ecking
• Spe lling: Spell-ch detect
Punctuation, poin
ts out an F i g u r e 10.
9 ect. It
may not always Stocks

error in an edit
ion of the nowhere near perf as the transposition of
45%
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in Bar suc h
Toronto Star.
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commonly con adian, British,
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It may also flag are spe lled correctly.
ns that
or American) nou ing so words
per spelling sett
Choose the pro won’t be flag-
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spelled correctl
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ged unnecessari c rules of comma
n: Follow the basi
• Punctuatio inal punc-
for misplaced term
usage and watch e fragments.
ible for sentenc
tuation respons

Meyer_i-xxx_FM.indd 21 14-02-12 3:59 PM

 xxii from the publisher

5 I MEMOR
AND UMS, E-
Figures 5.2 and MAIL, AND
ROUTINE M
5.3 are two ver ESSAGES
order procedure sions of a messa 143
s for office cat ge explaining
the message in erin g services. Nume the adoption of new
Figure 5.2, wh rous faults red
describe the pur ich begins with uce the effectiv
pose or conten a vague subject eness of
a complaint firs t of the message. line that doesn’t
t, well before A sloppy, weak, accurately
message is abo important info and negative ope
ut. Random, out rmation. It isn ning puts
-of-sequence step ’t immediately
Full-text writing samples respond to s aren’t itemized clear what the
, making the ins
tructions
real-life situations and present students
with solid examples of how their own subject: New Catering
Requisition Pro
Date: Mon., Jan. 13, cedures F i g u r e 5.3
documents should look. Marginal From: Farah Aswan <Fa
2014, 10:15 AM
rah.Aswan@clic Effective Informa
tips draw students’ attention to to: Ella.Bridges@c
licksnmortar.c
ksnmortar.ca>
E-mail
tive
Dora.Juarez@clic a, Pho.Nguyen@
important features of the samples, and ksnmortar.ca clicksnmortar.ca, Accurate and des
criptive
Effective Februa subject line crea
“ineffective” samples show students online through
ry 3, all reques
ts for offi ce and event cat
message
tes focus for
the Gusto Fine ering should be
what to avoid in their own writing. As you know, Clic
Foods website. made Opening paragrap
h focuses on
ks ’n’ Mortar, Inc action to be take
n
contract to cat . recently award
er all board me ed Gusto Fine
and reception etings, on-site Foods, Inc. a
s. Gusto Fine Foo training sessio
ds specializes ns, client consul
businesses low in offering hea tations,
-carbohydrate lth- con scious
During the six- and low-calori
month introdu e alternatives to Explanation high
cto ry period ending trad itio nal office fare. lights benefits
from a specially July 31, you ma
priced produc y choose
d’oeuvre, light t line that includ
lunches, fresh es fruit platter
juices, specialty s, hot and cold
coffees, and VQ hors
You can ensure A Ontario wines.
prompt and effi
in advance and cient delivery
following this of you r order by placin
procedure: g it 24 hours
1. Visit the Gu
sto Fine Foods
2. Click on “Or we bsi te: www.gustofin
ders.” efoods.com.
3. Enter you hyperlink mak
r department es additional
number and pas information ava
4. Make you swo rd. ilable
r menu selectio
lt s 5. Fill in the ofdat their n.
for resu
communi
c at i n g
e-mail6.onlSub y by virtue time, e, loc
142
doc uments that are mit
entyoumerantord
to be ation, and guest-number fiel
is res erv ed for An y doc um er and prin ds.
Formal style proposals. t out a hard cop Procedure out
statements, and The y of the requis lined in
reports, policy tions for its typ
e. cost of each order, ssages ition. list form
transmission— sty le con ven you deprm al wa y mo st me s applicable
plu
uld conform to rapid and rinfo artmental hos nt across taxes, will be aut
printed out sho tro l in e-m ail because of the ply get ting their poipitality allotment, up to omatically ded
ucted from
con sim
cern is To a maximum of
Tone is hard to rs, the prime con learn moure d, impersonal,
colut $400 per month
many e-mail use rs who are younot by nat re abo Gusto ’se-m
extail.
.
are written. For sou nds. Use r dep artm h onl y the ir ensive caterin
g ser
how a message know5:0 them througent are invitedid vices, you and
members of
clearly and not t wa y to fellow users who 0–7 e :00
wa s p.m
inte nde
. in d. To avo tothis an information
ses sio n on
nd tha whereFoonon the Central Atr january 17, fro
or rude may sou may be inferred ds, willual beizeonthe recipients and ium. Giorgio Del m
nt, or impatience nts and their nee
ds. Vis hand to answe ect monico, presid
ent of Gusto Fin
Anger, resentme k of your recipie
tasting menu.
d your message
back to detr your questions and offe e
tandin g, thin on. The n rea eye . r you the best
misunders d in a conversati ssages with a crit
ical from his
sid er how the y might respon com pliance -ga inin
Fol g me
low ing the
con ant and order guideline
proofread import improve the qua s established thr
tonal miscues; lity and ough this new
D
Call me
IN FO RM at ext IVEif you efficiency of our in-house amenities partnership will
AT. 211 Reader benefits
ES : PO SIT IVE AN hav e any questions and client hos
ting. emphasized
AG
ROUTINE MESS
abo ut the new pro
cedure.
IL s,
MOS AND E-MA
ine
policies, guidel
ME ents, company
vey announcem ect in order for
mo s and e-mail con mu st be clear and dir
Inform ativ e me
ormative me ssa ges worde sub-
d
o a message procedures. Inf iatives. A clearly
informative mem instructions, and ry through on init ns (often in an
enumer-
er will react s into practice and car instru ctio
to which the read ective -up
readers to put dir lanation, and foll
ow ative aim.
neutrally.
, direct opening, clear expMeyer_1-155
_Ch1-5.in
sup por t the message’s inform
itive emphasis
dd
ject line 143
closing, and pos
ated list), good

14-01-31 5:34
PM
Food
F i g u r e 5.2
subject: Food, Glorious
2014, 9:45 AM
rmative Date: Mon., Jan. 13, ortar.ca>
Ineffective Info Fisk@clicksnm clicksnmortar.ca,
From: Tyler Fisk <Tyler. a, Pho.Nguyen@
E-mail Draft licksnmortar.c
Ella.Bridges@c
Subject line is
vague and to: ksnmortar.ca
Dora.Juarez@clic se
uninformative Remember tho
major headache. es of
g has always been a rs and a few cub
paragraph Arranging for
cat erin
s a box of soda cracke Gu sto

x
Slow opening eat wa wit h
what wh ere all we had to our new partnership
makes it unclear meetin gs r and we hav e
rb snacks for all
message is abo
ut se days are ove -cal and low-ca
cheese? Well, tho w we’ll hav e tas ty low
re will be a tas ting
thank for it. No receptions. The
Fine Foods to seminars, and es
rdr oom me etings, on-site the se unb elie vable sandwich
our boa can try some of
uary 17 so you
session on Jan
re.
and hors d’oeuv g is easy—just
online. Orderin
er food like this ny food
possible to ord There are so ma
Uneven tone affe
cts Soon it will be ntit ies and dates required.
em ber to spe cify qua thin g.
readability rem every single
d not to order
choices it’s har d, so forget abo
ut
n in healthy foo
pos sib le to over-indulge eve
Of course, it’s sna cks eve ry day.
d lunches and
ordering catere ise you might
be
advance, otherw
st 24 hours in online at
and lack of don ’t forg et to order at lea can find Gu sto Fine Foods
Random order And the way, you
ute to fuzzy d hungry). By
details contrib out of luck (an appétit!
or unclear focu
s efoods.com. Bon
www.gustofin

PM
14-01-31 5:34

142
_Ch1-5.indd
Meyer_1-155

Meyer_i-xxx_FM.indd 22 14-02-12 3:05 PM

 from the publisher xxiii

9 I COMMU
nIC at I n G F O R
eMPlOYM
ent
WORkSHOP 303
S AnD DISC
USSIO n FORUMS
1. identify key
words. From
or online job ban a newspaper car
k, select eers page
you are or wil an advertisement weaknesses and
l soon be qualifie for a job suggest how it
d for. Photocopy Working in gro could be improv
ad or print it the ups of three or ed.
out. Make a list revision that wil four, collabora
place an asteris of its keywords l help Nadia Sal te on a
k (*) beside the and view based on erno obtain an
Are you curren skills you pos the qualificatio inter-
tly missing skills sess. 5. create a chr ns she lists.
Extensive end-of-chapter exercises— more employab
le?
that would ma
ke you developed in
onological res
umé. Using the
2. Prepare a activity 2, cre data you
workshop and discussion forums, Professional
qualifications by Data rec
ord. Evaluate logical resumé. ate a standard chr
ono-
compiling person your 6. create a
writing improvement exercises, case your education
, work experie
al data relating
to
scannable res
resumé and use umé. Tak e
you r cur ren t
awards, and refe nce, skills, act its information
study exercises, and online activities— describe your ski
rences. Use act
ion-oriented wo
ivities, nable resumé. to prepare a sca
n-
lls and accomplis rds to 7. create an
provide realistic business situations 3. research em
ployment Pro
hments.
spects. Using
e-mail resum
given in “Prepa é. Follow the
ins
ces or the Intern library resour- ring an E-mail tru ctio ns
that encourage students to develop that might pre
et, compile a list
of five compan to prepare to
transmit your
Resumé” (page
286–8)
sent promising ies online postin resumé by e-m
their abilities in critical thinking, ment. Record
basic contact info
prospects for em
ploy- resumé to yourse
g. Send messa
ges containing
ail or
tions on how to rmation and ins lf and your ins your
problem-solving, and collaborating. corporate cultur
apply. Take not
e of informatio
n
truc- 8. revise ap
plic atio n Let
tructor.
e, size of the com (about thr ters. Working
be used in a pro pany, etc.) that ee or four, analyze the in gro ups of
specting letter might ters. How cou following applica
list of questions or help you com ld their tone, tion let-
to ask at an info pile a overall expressio professionalism
4. revise a res rmational intervie n be improved? , and
umé. The res w. a) What opi
tains numerou umé on page nion do you
s faults. Analy 305 con- form from rea
ze its strengths following extrac din g the
and t from this app
Collaborate on licant’s letter?
a revision that
is less I-centred.

I respectfully sub
mit my strong
ager. I have atta application for
ched my resum the position of
retail industry. é. I have a great regional sales
deal of experie man-
I believe this pos nce in the fashio
talents. I am mo itio n is tailor-made n
re than ready to to my considera
I have earned meet the challen ble skills and
the opportuni ges of this pos
employer such ty to work for ition. I believe
as Bryant McKay a pre stigious and we
. ll-respected
I hold a degree
in business adm
was an outstandi inis trat ion from Weste
ng student. I com rn University, wh
honours. I am pleted all of my ere I
now a great sale marketing cou
ter than those sperson. My com rses with top
of my peers. I tak mu nication skills
a managerial cap e prid e in my ability are mu ch bet-
acity. although to work well wit
I am a quick lea I do not have any h others in
rner and should public-relation
no time. My onl be able to maste s experience,
y regret in my r core public-rela
value the trem short career is tions skills in
endous contrib that my previo
utions I made us employers
to their organi did not
It would be a sha zations.
me if you were
forward to inte to miss out on
rviewing with the opportuni
you and to the ty to hire me. I
with your com possibility of ear look
r r e s u lt s pany. ning $100,000
c at i n g f o a year
306 communi

ISES
PROVEM EnT EXERC
WRITInG IM new
I also developed
Meyer_156-4
om obi le accessories. I
ting customers.
78_C
aut h6-1 3.indd 303
the careers maintained exis
m a job site or acc oun ts and
erated orders
for sales
statements. Fro s for team that gen
1. Objective ee advertisement headed a sales nito red
spaper, select thr acit y, I mo
of a new
lificatio For
each ually. In this cap
pag es
tch you r qua ns. of $3 million ann to augment a
high 14-01-31 5:43
jobs that closely
ma statement a sale s staff of seven PM

- to thr ee-line objective and trai ned

se profitability.
I also
one, write a one vice and increa
standard of ser 308 te pro duc ts.
position. d functiocns u nmo
tompro
targeted to the the following
om i c at i n g f o r r e s u lt s
és. Rewrite travel to off-roa
bs for resum and accom- for resumés.
2. action ver ant work duties ted Lan gua ge
sign ific , action-Orien s by using
description s of
umé style. Eli
minate 3. Descriptive job description
in appropriate res Improve the
followingO n L I n E A C
guage. T I V I T I E S
plis hm ent s
in poi nts with strong and ion-oriented lan
beg ly
personal pronou
ns,
nts concise, app
ly more precise, act meeting month
verbs, make poi s ve adv ice to sales staff on
specific action accomplishment a) Ga
l stru ctu re, and quantify sales quotas. 1. complectio te Onlinelud ing inte
career rnal
paralle ng fun ns, inc
kkeepicareer
tests. For various online
people, using keywords such as the
where possible. b) Did all boo tests, check out Job Star Central. Its name of your
Position: moInth . “What Do industry, geographic location, or job
a) Administr
ative Assistant aud its, onc e a Want?” sectiontim e to
feature do tec h-
s three tests, including the title. Find at
tion of h regula r clients all the least 10 to 12 people relevant to your
for the reorganiza c) Talked wit “Keirsey Temperament Sorter.” career or stud-
I was responsible n of cost- nical support. http://jene obstar. the
about r/caree ies to follow or connect with. Share
the insights you
implementatio bringls/caree
org/too
fit to r.php
procedures and red the dy of cost–b h companies for gain with your class members.
icies. I also mo nito d) Did a stu 2. researcke net wo rk inte grationWhat
Online. can you find out
containment pol terials and ord
ered s to ma
updating of PC about a compan
https://twitter.com/
all printed ma rs a lot better.
y through its website? Visit the fol-
production of two hundred use safety www.LinkedIn.com
ine d on- and off-site lowing corpora te newprepare
f in and
stafsites
supplies and ma inta
mailings. er aonteam to train a brief fact sheet 4. rate Your resumé. Try this quiz
did many mass e) Got togeth each. What distinguishes the compan from ProvenResumes.
inventories. I also procedures. of size, corpora from Mitra
ies in terms com and find out if your resumé
measures up by
nt Position: te atio
culture n
er/P roduction Assista Using inform
plication. Blackbe
, products, etc.?
a cover evaluating all its facets on a scale of
b) Sales Manag 4. Letter of ap 9.1,
rry
pag e 280 ), wri te
http://c a.black berry.com/
1 to 5.
essory needs of gure Bombar www.provenresumes.com/quiz.html
automobile acc Das’s resumé (Fi dier on pag e 307
I did a study of advertisement www.b ombardier.com
I was responsible letter that answe
rs theSchneid 5. eresumé tutorial. Visit the
following site, which
hips in Victoria. er Foods www.schneiders.ca
fifty car dealers urer of allows you to view a sample resumé
and sale s for a manufact Sobeys www.sobeys.com as you complete
for marketing 3. build a network of career and the tutorial. Gain practice in listing
industry Professionals.
job titles and
Set up a Twitter account and find pundits responsibilities, choosing an approp
riate resumé for-
, commen- mat, and creating a keyword summa
tators, organizations, and top busines ry.
s profession- http://eresumes.com/eresumes_pract
als to follow based on your existing ice.html
knowledge of a 6. government of canada trainin
specific industry. Click on the “Who g and careers Online
to Follow” tab resumé builder. Click on “Resum
to find out who the people you follow e Builder” and cre-
are following. ate a user account to create resumés
Start building relationships by retweet for your personal
ing the best use or to apply online for federal governm
tweets or writing to the authors. Set ent jobs.
up a LinkedIn www.jobbank.gc.ca
profile and use the “Advanced Search”
option to find

Meyer_i-xxx_FM.indd 23 14-02-12 3:05 PM

1-31 5:43 PM
 xxiv from the publisher

r r e s u lt s and be
c at i n g f o , and disclose
36 communi you collect, use d intrusion,
al information vent unwarrante
acc oun tab le for the person gua rds to pre
• Be security safe
tecting it with
proactive in pro es
. ause the premis
release, or misuse on the job bec
you can expect urces depart-
up som e priv acy is something r, the com pan y’s human reso loye r
Giving to your employe , and your emp
you use belong r pay and benefits
and equipment to manage you
ements on emp
loyee privacy,
ds you r per sonal information per ly. Infr ing test ing ,
ment nee g done pro -job drug
that work is bein veillance, on-the
needs to ensure mon. Video sur need to know,
bec om ing much more com are par t of an employer’s 58 loy-
are
however, stroke monitoring ts to privacy.
Fair emp
Easy-to-use review checklists, flash web-browsing
records, and key
with respect for
employees’ righ
t personal info
rmation
st be balanced es exactly wha
but this need mu tell their employe of web, e-mail,
review boxes, and quick tips give ers have clear pol
icies in plac e tha t
use d. Em plo yees should be wel l adv ised
ir Interne t use.
be of the
d and how it will any monitoring
students practical advice and provide a can be collecte
ia policies, random
surveillance, and
and social med
concise summary of key points to keep
in mind as they plan and revise their ay’s business env
ironment?
tion play in tod
does communica
own work. o What role
the diffe renc es between soft
skills and hard
skills?

o What are munication the

ory?
munication? Com and research?
o What is com
checkList areas of commu
nication study tion model? how
does
o What are the ional communica
chapter review primary element
s of the tran sact
o What are the pro cess wor k? can tho se barriers
tion cess? how
the communica munication pro
occur in the com
of barriers can
o What types t specific skills
are
be overcome? how do the y differ and wha
tion contexts.
five communica
o Name the ains of skill s and
required for eac
h? three dom
? What are the
nication defined
-verbal commu
o how is non competence?
to non-verbal
abilities that lead nica tion cue s?
-verbal commu
five roles of non communication
?
o What are the s of non-verbal
four component munication?
r r e s u lt s -voice o What are the ctive workplace com
communi
c at i n g f o to flag passive s are most esse
ntia l for effe
munication defi
ned? Give
programmed make for o Which skill and external com
g software is
112
mmar-checkin passive voice terms internal
communication
Diagnostic gra tha t not all instances of the o how are the act can the
d ations? What imp
but keep in min examples of eac
h type.
flow in organiz
constructions, information can
. ways in which
ineffective writing o What are the nal cult ure?
e on organizatio
kind of flow hav r to?
iness ethics refe
s the term bus do they occur?
o What doe mon and why
es are most com nicator?
voice to laps ethical commu
use the Passive o What ethical you employ to be an ?
and practices
can Ethnocentrism
use the active
voice to
negative news strateg ies competence?
• de-emphasize
o Wh at
inte llige nce ? Cross-cultural
rly 330 Cultural
eutral news clea sensitivity
commu
What is culture?
• state good/n
n i c at i n o
• show tact and g nication?
rcultural commu
on for re
doer of an acti s u lt
o Whsat is inte
ieW or conceal the e?
FLash rev • be direct
on • de-emphasize dimensions of
cultural differenc
writing intercul
turally?
sive doer of an acti o What are the listening, and
active and Pas • emphasize the organizat ORGanWhIZat are the best prac for speaking, -context cultures?
tice s
ional chart atIOnal low
voice chart a diagram o of high- and Canada?
that shows
how variou CH
ract eris aR
tics ts reg ulat ion in
or sectors of s levels Lookingomu What are the cha protection and dards?
an organizat ch like a fam s govern privacy ts privacy stan
related to one
another.
ion are company,o What is priv acy? Whily attrelaw
e, an orgaensure your organization mee
showing ch
KWARDNESS ainsyou w to help niz ati onal chart
clear who What steps can of follo
RORS AND AW Fig rep
o orts to wh co mm an d and ch ma ps out the
GRAMMAR ER
ur
readers’ e 10 .19 om, from fro annels of structure of
ELIMINATING es and reduce nt-line em communica a
of your messag od ati ployees all tion and ma
professionalism the likeOr liho
ganiz the way up king it
ssure can increase
onal Chart
ce erro rs det ract from the und er pre firs t line to senior ma
nagers.
Senten to say. Writing tend to make is
the PM
what you have es of errors you s in the
14-01-31 5:33
confidence in gni zing the typ ts and idea Board of
occur, but reco municate though
that errors will t that fails to com grammatical erro
rs: Directors
a finished produc most common
of defence against to some of the te
inte nde d. Here is a guide pun ctu ated like comple Meyer_1-155_C
h1-5.indd 36
way you ses
dependent clau and distortion.
To detect
frag me nts . Phrases or e amb igu ity ar-
1. Sentence ten ce frag ments—creat ce to firs t in order to sep President
ed sen last senten
sentences—call ofreading from
ment a portion
of k backward, pro completes it.
sentence frag them easily, wor atical unit that
a sentence that
is punctuated like t from the gramm n experiencin
g
ence but does not ate the fragmen Which has bee
a complete sent uss the Orkin account. complete sentenc
e]
deliver full mea
ning. Fragment: We
will disc
ative clause punctuated as a V.P. V.P.
problems lately. [rel ncing Manufactur Research an
been experie ing
unt, which has d V.P.
the Orkin acco Developme V.P.
We will discuss nt Marketing Information
Revision: ly. ss V.P.
problem s late re was weakne Services
even though the Finance
year were strong. a complete
Fragment: Sale
s figures for the
ord inat e clause punctuated as
rter. [sub
in the third qua Projects
sentence] weakness Director Publication
ugh there was s
strong even tho Director
s figures for the year were
Revision: Sale rter.
in the third qua For example,
the
erous setbacks.
experienced num example cannot
stand on
company has
Fragment: The t ind ust rial division. [The
failure of its ligh • don’t bury
ce.]
ten Qu
i c k t i Ple, the important
its own as a sen acks—for examp s
de-clutter
as much as
information
by overloa
d numerous setb graphics possible by ding a gra
has experience absolutely phic with too
The company necessary. limiting the much data.
Revision: t indu stria l divi sion. • Use a type number of
lines you use
failure of its ligh athon sentences
of graphic
that is appro to what is
, are mar • Use a scale
fused sentences full stop (semi-
that minim priate to yo
. Run-ons, or t an adequate together). izes distor ur message
sed) sentences clauses withou put a stop to
equalize the tion (e.g., wh and objec
tive.
2. Run-on (fu nde nt changes. Fig distance be en points
fused sentence
(or run-on)
com bin e two or more ind epe
(co mm a and conjunction). To ures 10.14 tween point
s so you do
are too spread
out or too
tha t element change wh and 10.15,
pendent clauses ) or connecting ile spread on page 32 n’t overplay close
two or more inde correction:
together without colon or period se form s of • Unless you out data de
-emphasizes
9 show tha
t compres
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Title: A Study of Army Camp Life during American Revolution

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A STUDY OF

ARMY CAMP LIFE DURING AMERICAN REVOLUTION ***
 Transcriber's Note
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is placed in the public domain.
Footnote 194: Missing reference page number.
Footnotes have been placed at end of their
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A STUDY OF ARMY CAMP LIFE

DURING AMERICAN
REVOLUTION
 BY
MARY HAZEL SNUFF
B. S. North-Western College, 1917.

THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
IN HISTORY
IN
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
1918
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION 1
Chapter I
HOUSING CONDITIONS 4
Chapter II
FOOD AND CLOTHING 15
Chapter III
HEALTH AND SANITATION 27
Chapter IV
RECREATION IN CAMP 37

Chapter V
RELIGION IN THE CAMP 46
Chapter VI
CAMP DUTIES AND DISCIPLINE 54

BIBLIOGRAPHY 64
 INTRODUCTION
The object of this study is to produce a picture of the private
soldier of the American Revolution as he lived, ate, was punished,
played, and worshiped in the army camp. Drawing that picture not
only from the standpoint of the continental congress, the body which
made the rules and regulations for governing the army, or from the
officer's view point as they issued orders from headquarters rather
just a study of the soldier himself in the camp conditions and his
reaction to them. It was easy for congress to determine the rations
or for the commander-in-chief to issue orders about housing
conditions and sanitation, but the opportunities for obeying those
orders were not always the best. It is just that fact, not what was
intended, but what happened, that is to be discussed.
The soldier in camp is an aspect of the Revolutionary War which
has been taken up only in a very general way by writers of that
period of history, except perhaps the conditions at Valley Forge, for
at least their terrible side is quite generally known. Charles Knowles
Bolton has studied the private soldier under Washington1, but has
emphasized other phases of the soldier's life than those taken up in
this study.
The material has been gathered mostly from letters, journals,
orderly books, and diaries of the officers and privates, written while
in camp. The difficulty confronted has been to get the diaries of the
private soldier. They have either not been published or if they have
been published they have been edited in such a way as to make
them useless for a study of social conditions in camp, the emphasis
having been placed on the military operations and tactics rather than
the every day incidents in the soldier's life.
 The soldier has been studied after he went into camp. Little has
been said about the conditions which led to the war or the
conditions as they were before the struggle began except as they
are used to explain existing facts. It has been the plan in most of the
chapters to give a brief resume of the plans made by congress or
the commander-in-chief for the working out of that particular part of
the organization, then to describe the conditions as they really were.
There has been no attempt made, for it would be an almost
impossible task, to give a picture of the life in all the camps but
rather the more representative phases have been described or
conditions in general have been discussed.
The first phase of camp life considered is that of the housing
conditions, the difficulties encountered, the description of the huts,
the method of construction, and the furnishing. This is followed in
the second chapter with a study of the food and clothing, the supply
and scarcity of those necessities. The third chapter will have to do
with the health and sanitation of the soldier while encamped, the
hospital system, the number sick, the diseases most prevalent and
the means of prevention. The soldier's leisure time will be the
subject of the fourth chapter, the sort of recreation he had been in
the habit of at home and the ways he found of amusing himself in
camp conditions. The soldier's religion forms the subject matter of
the fifth chapter, the influence of the minister before the war, his
place in the army, the religious exercises in camp and their effect
upon the individual and the war in general. The last chapter will in a
way be a recapitulation of all that has gone before by drawing a
picture of a day with a soldier in camp emphasizing the discipline
and duties of camp life.

1. Bolton, The Private Soldier Under

Washington.
 Chapter I
HOUSING CONDITIONS

The war was on, the Lexington and Concord fray was over, Paul
Revere had made his memorable ride, and the young patriots with
enthusiasm at white heat were swarming from village and
countryside leaving their work and homes. Where they were going
they did not know, they were going to fight with little thought of
where they were to live or what they were to eat and wear. There
was a continental congress but it had little authority and the fact
was that very few members of that mushroom growth army even felt
that they were fighting for a confederation for in their minds they
were for the various states, and it was to the various states they
looked for support and it was to those states that the honors were to
go. It was not until the day before the battle of Bunker Hill that
congress had appointed a commander-in-chief and it was almost a
month later when Washington took command in Boston. There was
an army of sixteen thousand men mostly from the New England
States strengthened by about three thousand from the more
southern states during the next month2. It was more nearly a mob
than an army. There was no directing force, no one to superintend
the building of barracks, no one to distribute food or to take charge
of the supplies.
The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts on hearing of
Washington's appointment ordered on June 26, 1775 "the
President's (of the college) house in Cambridge, excepting one
room, reserved for the President for his own use, be taken, cleared,
prepared, and furnished for the reception of General Washington
and General Lee"3. It seems as though the General only occupied
that house for a short time and then moved to what was called the
"Craige House" for on July 8, 1775, the committee of safety directed
that the house of John Vassel, a refugee loyalist, should be put in
condition for the reception of the commander-in-chief and later that
his welfare should be looked after, by providing him with a steward,
a housekeeper, and such articles of furniture as he might ask for.4
Such were the headquarters of the first camp of the Revolution
but the story of the privates' quarters is quite a different thing. The
troops were not quartered at one place, they were scattered about
the surrounding territory some at Roxbury, some at Winter Hill,
others at Prospect Hill and Sewall's Farm and at various small towns
along the coast.5 Some of them were living in houses and churches,
others were occupying barns6 and still others were constructing their
own places of shelter using sail cloth, logs, stones, mud, sod, rails or
anything else which would lend itself to the purpose.7 A good
description of this motley host is given us by Rev. Wm. Emerson of
Concord, "the sight is very diverting to walk among the camps. They
are as different in their form as the owners are in their dress and
every tent is a portraiture of the temper and taste of the persons
who encamp in it. Some are made of boards, some of sail cloth,
again others are made of stone and turf brick or brush. Some are
thrown up in a hurry, others curiously wrought with doors and
windows done with wreaths and withes in the manner of a basket".8
Washington wrote from Cambridge to congress on July 10, 1775
about a month after taking command and said, "we labor under
great Disadvantages for want of tents for tho' they have been help'd
out by a collection of now useless sails from the Sea Port Towns, the
number is yet far short of our Necessities"9.
When tents were used for shelter at Cambridge or at other
places it was very seldom that any thing more than "Mother Earth"
served as floors and sometimes that was so wet and miry that the
soldiers during the rainy seasons were forced to raise the ground
with "Rushes, Barks, and Flags in the dry"10 and at other times the
tents were taken down during the day for the ground to dry and
then put up again at night.
 It would be difficult to get any where more frank reactions to
housing conditions than those which were given by Dr. Waldo11 in a
poem written while in camp describing the general conditions but
particularly the tents and huts. The part quoted below describes a
stormy day and the hardships endured when the army was
encamped in tents.

"Though huts in Winter shelter give,

Yet the thin tents in which we live,
Through a long summer's hard campaign,
Are slender coverts from the rain,
And oft no friendly barn is nigh
Or friendlier house to keep us dry.

* * * * *

Move tents and baggage to some height,

And on wet cloths, wet blankets lie
Till welcome sunshine makes them dry.
Others despising storm and rain
Still in the flat and vale remain,
There sleep in water muck and mire,
Or drizzling stand before a fire
Composed of stately piles of wood,
Yet oft extinguished with the flood."12

As the weather grew colder and the men were still in tents it
was the practice to build chimneys13 on the tents or rather in front
of the tents. They were built on the outside and concealed the
entrance which served the double purpose of keeping out the wind
and also keeping in as much heat as possible.14
The tents were supposed to house about six men and no more
than fourteen tents were allowed to a company of about seventy
two.15 The tent was the most common mode of housing. It was
used whenever it was possible to get material except when the army
went into winter quarters then the log huts were built. The tents
were usually formed in two ranks in regular lines16 and often the
seasons advanced so rapidly that the snow would be four feet deep
around each tent17, it even being February before the huts were
finished in some instances18.
The furnishings of the tents were very meagre, one person even
remarking that they were greatly favored in having a supply of straw
for beds. The straw was placed on the ground and five or six soldiers
would crowd together on it hoping to keep warm19, sometimes each
had a blanket and sometimes there was one blanket for three or
four. The sentry was instructed to keep the fire burning in the
chimney outside20 which added a little to the comfort.
When the army went into winter quarters the soldiers were a
little more comfortable. Morristown and Valley Forge were the two
representative winter quarters. The location of these permanent
camps was usually chosen because of the ease with which building
materials could be obtained or because there was easy access to
food supplies.
As orders came to go into winter camp the men were divided
into companies of twelve. Each group was to build its own hut and
lucky was the group which happened to get the most carpenters, for
General Washington offered a prize of twelve dollars to the group in
each regiment which finished its hut first and did the best work.21
While the men were busy cutting the logs and bringing them in,
the superintendent appointed from the field officers marked out the
location of the huts. They were usually in two or three lines with
regular streets and avenues between them, altogether forming a
compact little village.22 The space in front of the huts was cleared
and used for a parade ground by the various regiments.23 Whenever
it was possible the huts were built on an elevation, the health of the
army being the object considered.24
 The only tools the soldier had to work with were his axe and
saw. He had no nails and no iron of any sort, just the trunks of trees
to cut into the desired lengths and a little mud and straw.25 Each hut
was fourteen by sixteen feet, with log sides six and one-half feet
high. The logs were notched on the ends and fitted together in a
dovetailing fashion. The spaces between the logs being made
airtight with clay and straw. The roof was a single sharp slope that
would shed the snow and rain easily, made of timbers and covered
with hewn slabs and straw. There might be boards for the floor, but
often there was not even a board to use for that purpose and just
dirt served instead. Each hut inhabited by privates had one window
and one door, the officers quarters usually had two windows. The
windows and doors were formed by sawing out a portion of the logs
the proper size and putting the part sawed out on wooden hinges or
sometimes in the case of windows the hole was covered with oiled
paper to let in light. The door was in one end and at the opposite
end a chimney was built, built in a manner similar to the hut itself
except that it was made of the smaller timbers and that both the
inner and outer sides were covered with a clay plaster to protect the
wood from the fire.26 The huts were in one room usually, except the
officers and theirs were divided into two apartments with a kitchen
in the rear. Each such hut was occupied by three or four under
officers, the generals had either their own private hut or else lived in
a private house near the camp.27
In the same poem as mentioned above written by Dr. Waldo is a
description of the building and furnishing of a hut which warrants
repeating.
My humble hut demands a right
To have its matter, birth and site
Described first! of ponderous logs
Whose bulk disdains the winds or fogs
The sides and ends are fitly raised
And by dove-tail each corner's brac'd;

Athwart the roof, young saplings lie

Which fire and smoke has now made dry—
Next straw wraps o'er the tender pale,
Next earth, then splints o'erlay the whole;
Although it leaks when showers are o'er
It did not leak two hours before,
Two chimneys placed at opposite angles
Keep smoke from causing oaths and wrangles,

* * * * *

Our floors of sturdy timbers made,

Clean'd from the oak and level laid;
Those cracks where zephyrs oft would play
Are tightly closed with plastic clay;
Three windows, placed all in sight,
Through oiled paper give us light;
One door on wooden hinges hung,
Lets in the friend, or sickly throng;
By wedge and beetles splitting force
The oaken planks are made though coarse.
By which is formed a strong partition
That keep us in a snug condition;
Divides the kitchen from the hall,
Though both are equal and both are small,
Yet there the cook prepares the board,
Here serves it up as to a lord,
 The above description no doubt applies in general to any of the
winter quarters. Often the camp was better situated for obtaining
the necessary supplies and, too, after the soldiers had built one such
town of huts the next would be better because of their experience.
The camp at Morristown was better than the one at Valley Forge.28
The quarters were large and huts were built to be used for social
affairs such as dances and lodge meetings.
When the army was only stationed at a place for a short time as
for instance when they were encamped near the enemy planning an
attack and did not care to build the more permanent quarters, which
took more time to complete, and when living in tents was not
practicable, they built what the French called baroques, which could
be thrown up in a day or two.29 These temporary quarters consisted
of a wall of stone heaped up, the spaces between filled with mud,
and a few planks formed the roof. A chimney was built at one end
and the only opening was a small door at the side of the chimney.30
When the army was on the march the soldiers carried their tents
with them if it was possible but a great many circumstances arose
which made that impossible. Then they had a hut of brush or sod or
even just sky to cover and protect them31. At other times they slept
in barns or churches,32 or where ever they could find a place.
As might be expected the furnishings of the huts were of a very
meagre sort. There were beds of straw usually on the floor or else
raised from the floor to get away from the dampness.33 Each man
was supposed to have with him his own blanket and cooking
utensils, but it often happened that there was but a kettle or two for
the whole company.34 Since the actual necessities were so meagre,
there surely were no unnecessary articles. There were none of those
things which would tend to make the camp quarters the least bit like
home. One man describes the difficulty of finding a place to write
and ends by saying that the railing in a near by church was the best
place.35 The only light they had was furnished by candles which
were a part of every man's rations and the tallow from the cattle
killed for camp use was made into candles.
The men crouched together in those huts and the poor
ventilation coupled with the fact that the only means of heating was
an open fire place which sent about as much smoke into the room
as it did out through the chimney produced a condition which was
almost unbearable.36
From this study it would seem as if there were at least three
classes of barracks, the tents used when practicable, the huts for
winter quarters, the barroques for temporary housing, and if one
wanted to mention a fourth, it would be just any place where ever a
soldier might lie down.
When the housing situation is looked at from one angle the view
is of the worst possible, but when on the other hand one realizes
that each time the troops went into camp the whole process had to
be gone through with from the cutting of the logs to the moving into
the huts and beside that they had no tools, the whole thing seems
wonderful.

2. Van Tyne, The American Revolution, p. 44.

3. Mass. Hist. Soc. Pro. Vol. XII, p. 257,
footnote, and Ford, Writings of Washington, Vol.
III, p. 3.
4. Mass. Hist. Soc. Pro. Vol. XII, p. 257,
footnote, and Ford, Writings of Washington, Vol.
III, p. 3.
5. Ford, Writings of Washington. Vol. III, p.11.
6. Lyman, Journal, (Nov. 17, 1775.) p. 126
7. Force, American Archives, Ser. 5, Vol. III,
Col. 593.
 8. Quoted in Trevelyon, American Revolution,
Vol. I, p. 324.
9. Ford, Writings of Washington. Vol. III, p. 11.
10. Trumbell, Journal. (Sept. 19, 1775), p. 146
11. Dr. Waldo was a surgeon in the continental
Army, 1775–1777.
12. Poem by Dr. Waldo in Historical Magazine,
Sept. 1863, p. 270.
13. Lyman, Journal, (Oct. 16, 1775). P. 121.
14. Chastellux, Travels in America, p. 104.
15. Lewis, Orderly Book, (Aug. 18, 1776), p.
78
16. Chastellux, Travels in America, p. 104.
17. Thacher, Military Journal, p. 181.
18. Greene, Life of Greene, Vol. 2, p. 185.
19. Thacher, Military Journal, p. 181.
20. Ibid., p. 176.
21. Greene, Life of Greene, Vol. 1, p. 538.
22. Greene, Life of Greene, Vol. I, p. 528.
23. Thacher, Military Journal, p. 155.
24. Chastellux, Travels in America, p. 202.
25. Thacher, Military Journal, p. 155.
26. See Chastellux, Travels in America, p. 302.
Greene, Life of Greene, Vol. I, p. 538 and
Thacher, Military Journal, p. 155.
27. Thacher, Military Journal, p. 155, and
American Hist. Mag. Vol. 3, p. 157.
 28. Greene, Life of Greene, Vol. II, p. 160.
29. Chastellux, Travels in America, p. 66.
30. Chastellux, Travels in America, Vol. II, p.
160.
31. See, Thacher, Military Journal, p. 176,
Trumbell Journal, Aug. 7, 1775; Waldo, Journal
(Nov. 29, 1777.), p. 130.
32. Squir, Journal, (Sept. 13, 1775), p. 13.
33. Lossing, Life of Washington. Vol. VI, p.
572.
34. Waldo, Journal, (Dec. 1777.), p. 131.
35. Fitch, Journal, (Aug. 20.) p. 46.
36. Greene, Life of Greene, Vol. I, p. 570.
 Chapter II
FOOD AND CLOTHING

If the problem of housing was a serious one and one which

caused a great amount of suffering the question of food was even
more serious. The theory of getting the food for the soldiers was all
very simple, but not so simple in practice. According to theory the
various colonies were apportioned the amount they were to supply
and were to deliver their portion to the camp which might be
designated by the commander-in-chief. The lack of authority of
congress which played havoc so many times with the smooth
running of affairs also played havoc in the commissary department.
The apportionment plan was carried out to some extent, but of
course was not to be depended upon for often the colonies got the
supplies to camp, but more often they did not. The amount to be
supplied was divided up among the inhabitants of the states, in the
case of meat some giving one hundred and fifty pounds and others
one hundred and eighty pounds according to their ability. The other
supplies were divided up in the same way. When a given community
was ready to send their supply some of the farmers would take the
job of driving the cattle to the camp, receiving about a dollar a day
and expenses while they were traveling.37
A Frenchman who traveled in America during the revolutionary
period told of his experience when he tried to get a room in an inn,
which was filled with farmers on their way to camp with a herd of
cattle. In that particular group there were thirteen men and two
hundred and fifty cattle.
July 19, 1775, Joseph Trumbell was made commissary general of
stores and provisions38 by the continental congress. November 4, of
the same year the following resolution was made in congress in
regard to the rations of the private soldier. "Resolved, that: A ration
consist of the following kind and quantity of provisions viz.:

1 lb. of beef, or ¾ lb. pork or 1 lb. salt fish, per day.

1 lb. bread or flour per day.
3 pints of pease or beans per week, or vegetables
equivalent, at one dollar per bushel for pease or beans.
1 pint of milk per man per day or at the rate of 1/72 of a
dollar.
1 half pint of rice, or 1 pint of indian meal per man per
week.
1 quart of spruce beer or cider per man per day, or nine
gallons of molasses per company of 100 men per week.
3 lb. candles to 100 men per week for guards.
24 lb. of soft or 8 lb. of hard soap for 100 men per
week."39

The rations mentioned in orderly books or journals were the

same as the above except that butter was added in some cases and
a pint of rum was allowed on the day a man was on fatigue duty or
on special occasions,40 but in the large the rations given at the
beginning of the war by congress were followed whenever there
were supplies enough to admit of any definite plan being followed.
The officers received rations according to their rank.41
Thus would have ended the story of the revolutionary soldiers
food if the theory had been practicable, but as it was not, there is a
different story to tell. The conditions on the march to Quebec with
Arnold were almost unendurable. The march was only started when
the soldiers were put on short rations receiving three-fourths of a
pound of meat and bread instead of a whole pound,42 and as they
proceeded the conditions only grew worse until when they were not
yet nearing their destination the last of the flour was divided. There
were just seven pints for each man. That amount was to last seven
days, thus each man had a pint a day to live on and that had to be
divided into a gill for breakfast, half a pint for dinner and the
remaining gill for supper. It was mixed with clear water with no salt
and laid on the coals to heat a little and then was nibbled as the
soldiers marched on or else it was boiled like starch and eaten in
that fashion.43 It happened sometimes that some soldier had the
good fortune to kill a partridge, much to his joy, for that meant soup
could be made.44 The condition only grew worse instead of better
and all the food was gone, the next move was to kill the dogs which
were in camp45 even the legs and claws were boiled for soup. When
the situation had become so acute that the soldiers had given up
their moose skin moccasins to boil in an attempt to get a little
nourishment,46 a moose was killed, a halt was called and soup was
made for the hungry soldiers of the entire animal, hoofs, horns and
all.47
If we follow the division of the army which was sent against the
Indians in Sullivan's expedition in 1779, the conditions will be found
to be somewhat different for that march was made during the
summer and fall rather than fall and winter as the march to Quebec
had been, and besides the western campaign was into a country
which abounded in beans, peas, corn, cucumbers, pumpkins,
squashes, and watermelons.48
The soldiers were short on rations49 and out of bread, but it was
not felt so keenly because of the substitutes they could get.50 The
main object of the expedition was to devastate the Indian's land and
one duty was to destroy or take all the food which came in their
way. When the soldiers came to a field of corn, their first duty was
to feast on it and then destroy all they could not use or carry away
with them.51 If the corn was in a condition for roasting, they did that
or made succatash; if it was too hard for roasting they converted
some old tin kettles found in the Indian villages into large graters by
punching holes in the bottom. Then one of the military duties of the
soldiers was to grate the corn into a coarse meal which was mixed
with boiled pumpkins or squash and kneaded into cakes and baked
on the coals52 and even that coarse food was relished by the men
when fatigued after a long march.
This rather amusing entry, yet terrible if true, is found in one
diary of the expedition "July 7—I eat part of a fryed Rattle Snake to
day which would have tasted very well had it not been snake".53
The conditions in the camp were somewhat different than those
on the march for in camp what the rations were depended on the
amount of supplies. If they were plentiful, full rations could be drawn
by each soldier, but when they were scarce each soldier had to take
less. The time and place of drawing supplies seemed to vary with
circumstances, and no definite plan was followed.
It is a mistake to think that the soldier of the American
Revolution was always suffering for the want of food. The picture
drawn for us most often is that of the distressing conditions. There
was a brighter side, although it is true that the soldier suffered many
times. When the camps were situated in or near an agricultural
community the farmers swarmed to camp with their produce
charging exorbitant prices, but if the soldier had any money he was
usually willing to buy. In the course of eight days the caterer of a
single mess purchased three barrels of cider, seven bushels of
chestnuts, four of apples, at twelve shillings a bushel, and a wild
turkey54 which weighed over seventeen pounds.
In winter when there was no produce to be brought in and no
way of securing provisions the story was not so bright. The
conditions at Valley Forge are quite well known. How the rations
were cut down until it was "Fire cakes and Water" for breakfast, and
water and fire cakes for dinner55 or how the soldiers ate every kind
of horse feed but hay56, and often they were without meat for eight
or ten days57 and longer without vegetables.
 Supplies were gathered from every conceivable source,
sometimes cows were part of the supply company, taken along for
the purpose of supplying milk. One man writes in his diary his
appreciation of a cow which supplied them milk on the march with
Sullivan's expedition.58
The methods used at that time for cooking seem very simple
and inefficient now. Huge bake ovens were built in the camp and
whenever there was flour to use, bakers baked the bread for the
camp.59 The quality of the bread furnished in that way was certainly
not beyond reproach for often it was sour and unwholesome.60
There were huts built for kitchens, one for each company and
there the soldiers took turns cooking for their company61 or else
each soldier cooked his own food over an open fire. At times the fuel
became so scarce that the fences62 around the camp were torn
down and burned, and after that the food had to be eaten raw
because of the lack of fuel.63 If there was material to be used for
fuel and other supplies some distance from the camp, it was no
uncommon sight to see soldiers yoked together acting the part of
horses64 in order to get the supplies to camp.
Today, this question of food for the revolutionary soldier, in the
light of present day events, looks rather inefficient and unscientific.
When there was plenty the soldiers feasted, when food was
scarce they fasted, but it must be remembered that there was no
dependable supply, no directing force, and no distributing agency,
and beside those hindrances there were no ways of preserving food
as there are today.
A naked or half clothed army did not make a very imposing
looking force, even if they did have a place to live and something to
eat. They had to have something to wear if they were to meet the
enemy on the field. Steuben wrote "The description of the dress is
most easily given. The men were literally naked some of them in the
fullest extent of the word. The officers who had coats had them of
every color and make. I saw officers at a grand parade at Valley
Forge mounting Guard in a sort of dressing gown made of an old
blanket or woolen bed cover".65 This description, no doubt was
appropriate for part of the army, part of the time, but not for all the
army all the time.
The troops as they were assembled at Boston did present a
peculiar picture, each person wearing the costume best suited to his
individual notion of a suitable uniform, with a tendency toward frill,
ruffles, and feathers, each thinking that the gorgeousness added to
the dignity and effectiveness of the whole. Some were in citizens
clothes, some in the hunting shirt of the back-woodsman, and some
even in the blanket of the Indian, for, it was the notion of some, that
riflemen should ape the manners of the savage.66
Washington took the matter into consideration and wrote
congress "I find the Army in general and the Troops raised in
Massachusetts in particular very deficient in necessary clothing upon
Inquiry there appears no probability of obtaining any supplies in this
quarter and the best consideration of this matter I am able to form I
am of the opinion that a number of hunting shirts not less than ten
thousand would in a great Degree remove this difficulty in the
cheapest and quickest manner I know nothing in a Speculative view
more trivial yet if put in practice would have a happier Tendency to
unite the men and abolish those provincial Distractions which lead to
jealousy and dissatisfaction".67
He suggested the hunting shirt because it was cheap and
"besides it is a dress justly supposed to carry no small terror to the
enemy who think every such person a complete marksman".68
It was decided that the hunting shirt should be used and also
that the continental government should supply the clothing and then
ten per cent of each man's wages should be withheld each month.69
The quartermaster general had charge of the clothing supply and at
regular intervals he was supposed to distribute clothing to the
soldier, but the supply varied to such an extent that no regular plan
could be followed.
 The following was considered an ordinary man's outfit for a year:

Two linen hunting shirts,

Two pairs of overalls,
A leathern or woolen waist coat with sleeves,
A pair of breeches,
A hat or leathern cap,
Two shirts,
Two pair of hose,
Two pair of shoes.70

The whole was to amount to about twenty dollars.

The soldier was considered in full uniform when he appeared on
parade with "a clean shirt, leggings or stockings, hair combed, shirt
collar buttoned with stock. Hunting shirt, well put on hat".71
Since the material for the hunting shirts was difficult to get, the
officers as well as the men were to dye their shirts in a uniform
manner.72
The different ranks of a soldier were shown by the hunting shirt.
A captain's was short and fringed, the private's short and plain, the
sergeant's was to have a small white cuff and be plain, and the
drummer's was to have a dark cuff. Both officers and soldiers were
to have hats cut round and bound with black, the brims of the hats
were to be two inches deep and cocked on one side with a button
and a loop, and a cockade which was to be worn on the left side.
There was also a distinction made by the wearing of a certain
colored cockade in the hat. The field officers were red or pink, the
captain yellow or buff, and the subaltern green.73
The material for the soldier's clothing was supplied by the
various colonies. The following resolution is typical of numerous ones
passed by the different colonies. "That a quanity of home made
cloth or other if that can't be obtained as far as may be of a brown
or cloth colour, sufficient for three thousand coats and the same
number of waist coats and as many blankets as can be obtained in
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