Drunkenness, Desertion and Dueling

A soldier on the frontier rarely got paid on time, his clothes were ragged, his rations sometimes barely edible, and his living quarters cold, dark and damp. Many escaped the miserable conditions through desertion and drunkenness. During the march through Pennsylvania, and leading up to the the disastrous St. Clair expedition in November 1791, 15 percent of the force deserted. Under General Anthony Wayne, 52 percent of courts martial cases were related to desertion. Drunkenness was another way to escape the drudgery. Whiskey was part of the daily ration and it was the prescribed medication for the sick. Paydays were particularly boisterous times, with soldiers sometimes remaining drunk for days after getting paid. General Wayne considered  drunkenness and desertion such a problem that he eventually moved his Legions out of Pittsburgh and further down the Ohio River to  a place called Legionville.   This apparently wasn’t enough to stem another problem- violence in the officer ranks.  In this  report to Henry Knox, following the first winter encampment, Wayne describes a duel,  resulting in the death of an Ensign.

Reference: Edward M. Coffman, The Old Army: A Portrait of the American Army in Peacetime, 1784-1898. New York: Oxford University Press. 1986.