“An illustration of Major Thomas Armstrong distributing provisions to the Continental Army.”
During this prelude to the actual 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence we are looking at some of our local people who put their possessions and lives on the line for freedom for America. These are Patriots of the United States.
Today we recognize Major Thomas Armstrong.
Major Thomas Armstrong was a Sussex County Patriot, a quartermaster and later a Commissary of Issues during the Revolutionary War. The Commissary of Issues was responsible for distributing provisions to the troops. He served during the entire war.
Armstrong had settled in Wantage Township along the Papakating Creek and later moved to Frankford. He owned over 1,700 acres across Frankford and Newton townships.
While this position in logistics that both Thomas Armstrong and Thomas Anderson had may seem mundane, it was nevertheless extremely important.
“Full as I was in my representation of matters in the Commissary’s department yesterday, fresh and more powerful reasons oblige me to add, that I am now convinced beyond a doubt, that unless some great and capital change suddenly takes place in that line this Army must inevitably be reduced to one or other of these three things. Starve—dissolve—or disperse, in order to obtain subsistence in the best manner they can....” - Letter from George Washington
The Commissary Department’s main task was to purchase, pack, and distribute rations of food and supplies to the Continental Army. At Valley Forge, especially at the beginning of the encampment, the Commissary Department’s role was critical to the survival of the army.
Sussex County served the nation as a breadbasket of resources for the war. We had wheat and grain. The Marquis de Lafayette was said to come to the Sparta area to help forage for food for the horses at Morristown. Anderson helped purchase and send goods such as food stuffs and flour, chopped feed, hemp, and iron. Armstrong helped to distribute these types of items to the troops themselves.
Major Thomas Armstrong is buried in Frankford Plains Cemetery in Augusta.
Painter Louie Larsen painted his home, from front and back, in the 1880s. Images can be seen in the book, Country Lanes.
Bill Truran, Sussex County’s historian, may be contacted at billt1425@gmail.com He is the author of “Mohawk Along the Delaware: A Story of the Sewards.”
