British posts on the Great Lakes were at the end of a long supply line that stretched back to Ireland and Britain. As the War of Independence progressed it became increasingly difficult for the British to ship all the supplies necessary to support the far flung garrisons of Niagara, Detroit and Mackinac. This excerpt from an inspection report shows how post commanders were sometimes forced to purchase necessary supplies for their soldiers (and their Indian allies) from local fur traders, much to the government's chagrin.
"When Troops are ordered up to a [Great Lakes] Post they should bring allong their Camp equipage, and Barrack furniture and when ordered down should leave the later at the Post...the last Barrack furniture sent up to Niagara was rotten and unfit for Service consequently condemed...when the 47th Regt or the Detachment arrived hier, they applied for Blankets and Captn Lernould was obliged to purchase them at a great expense."
(from: Captain Dietrich Brehm to General Frederick Haldimand, Detroit, 5 July 1779, in Michigan Pioneer and Historical Collections, Volume 9, 416-17.)
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