Everything was forthwith put in a state of forwardness; provisions for three days, that is to say, three pounds of pork, with two pounds and a half of biscuit, were cooked and given to the men; the cartouch-boxes were supplied with fresh ammunition, and the arms and accoutrements handed out.
"The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans 1814-1815"
G. R. Gleig
It is likewise told of an officer of engineers, that having overtaken an American soldier, and demanded his arms, the fellow gave him his rifle very readily, but being ordered to resign a handsome silver-hilted dagger and silver-mounted cartouch-box, which graced his side, he refused to comply, alleging that they were private property, and that, by our own proclamations, private property should be respected.
"The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans 1814-1815"
G. R. Gleig
Many of them had only their arms and remnants of tattered garments, being obliged to place tufts of moss on their shoulders to prevent the friction of the cartouch straps.
"Sages and Heroes of the American Revolution"
L. Carroll Judson