My thanks to Jane Foley for the excellent articles on "1700 Rations" and "Dinner in the 1700s". I find these most interesting, and appreciate an insight into the daily lives of our ancestors. Our Charles Powell II was born in Stafford County, VA in 1740. He served in the First Continental Line with Geo. Washington for three years, including Valley Forge. He was a "bombardier" in Col. Harrison's Artillery Regiment; one who prepared the shot and cut the fuse for the artillery shells. He had previously served in the Spotsylvania County Militia for two years, then served three years as a Sergeant in Col. Harrison's 1st Continental Artillery, then served two more years in the Halifax County Militia. He received a land grant in Kentucky in 1783 for his service in the Continental Line, and died in Mercer County Kentucky in 1810. I can just imagine Charles and his gun crew huddled around their campfire at Valley Forge, eating their flour from a flat rock and their beef from a stick. Just as a sidenote; my Powells in the Civil War fared no better. How any of them survived I don't know, and most of them didn't. Disease and privation killed twice as many CW soldiers as combat; one can only wonder at the ratio in the Revolutionary War. Probably about the same. Once again, my thanks to Jane. Ray Walters Independence, MO