Esther de Berdt Reed: The Ladies Who Sewed 2,000 Shirts

On July 4, 1780, Esther de Berdt Reed sat down in Philadelphia to write to the commander in chief. She had a number for him: 200,580 dollars in paper and 625 pounds, 6 shillings and 8 pence in coin.¹ The sum was smaller than the women had hoped, she admitted, and they waited on his directions for how to spend it. Less than a month earlier, all she had put out was an unsigned broadside.

From London to Philadelphia

Esther de Berdt was born in London on October 22, 1746, the daughter of Dennys and Martha de Berdt. The family descended from Protestant refugees from Ypres and traded with America.² She married Joseph Reed, an American studying law in London, on May 31, 1770. Her father had opposed the match and died shortly before the wedding.³ She crossed the ocean to a country that was heading for war with the one she grew up in.

She and Joseph had six children, and five lived to adulthood.³ When the war came, Joseph served Washington as military secretary and aide, and later led Pennsylvania's government, so Esther ran the household while he was away.⁴

The Sentiments of an American Woman

By 1780 the army was short of food, clothing and pay. On June 10 Philadelphia newspapers carried a broadside of about a thousand words headed "The Sentiments of an American Woman" and signed only "By An AMERICAN WOMAN."⁵ Reed wrote it. It recalls Deborah, Judith, Esther and the Maid of Orleans, then turns to American women, who had given up tea at the start of the war and could give up more. The text asks, "Shall we hesitate to wear a cloathing more simple; hair dressed less elegant," if the price of that small privation is relief for the soldiers.⁶ The women should present the gift as "the offering of the Ladies."⁶

The second half is practical, which makes it unusual. Reed proposed that "All Women and Girls will be received without exception," and that "The shilling offered by the Widow or the young Girl" be taken as willingly as the largest sum. Each county would choose a woman as treasuress, and paper would be counted at forty dollars to one in coin.⁶

One date needs care. The American Battlefield Trust's biography of Reed gives January 10, 1780, for the broadside, but the Yorktown museum dates it to Saturday, June 10, 1780, and the Wikisource text says it appeared that June.⁷⁵⁶ Another source says she wrote it on June 12.⁸ June 10 for publication is the best-supported date.

The Money and Washington's Answer

Three days later thirty-six women met to organize, and canvassers fanned out across ten districts of the city.⁹ Sources count differently on how many gave. The American Revolution Museum at Yorktown and American Heritage say more than 1,600 people; the Battlefield Trust's article on the association says more than 1,400.⁵⁹¹⁰ The total was 300,634 paper dollars by Reed's own count, worth roughly $7,500 in coin.¹⁹

Reed told Washington that the sum "does not equal our Wishes," but that the ladies were "anxious for the Soldiers to receive the benefit of it."¹ The women had meant to put cash in soldiers' hands, about two dollars each by one account.⁹ Their plan called the money "an extraordinary bounty" and said it should not pay for the subsistence, arms or clothing that the Continent already owed the army.⁶ Washington wrote back on July 14 from headquarters in Bergen County, New Jersey. He proposed "the purchasing of course Linnen, to be made into Shirts, with the whole amount of their subscription," because "A Shirt extraordinary to the Soldier will be of more service" and "do more to preserve his health than any other thing that could be procured him."¹¹ American Heritage says Reed agreed reluctantly.⁹

Counting the Shirts

Reed did not live to see them. She died of dysentery on September 18, 1780, five weeks short of her thirty-fourth birthday.³⁷ Susan Blair took over as treasurer, and Sarah Franklin Bache, Benjamin Franklin's daughter, oversaw the shirt work.¹²⁸

On December 8 Blair told Washington that 2,005 shirts were finished. Illness had slowed the work.¹² On December 26 Bache wrote that the same 2,005 were packed in three boxes and sent to Colonel Samuel Miles at Trenton, awaiting Washington's orders.¹³ Other accounts give "more than 2,000," and the Philadelphia Encyclopedia says "more than 2,200."⁸¹⁰ The letters from the women who handled the shirts give 2,005, so that is the number to use. Washington's reply of January 15, 1781 praised "our Virtuous Country Women."¹³

What the Association Left Behind

The same story spread. Reed wrote to the wives of other state executives, enclosing the broadside.⁵ Similar groups formed in New Jersey, Maryland and elsewhere in Pennsylvania.³ The Battlefield Trust quotes historians Sklar and Duffy, who say the association "embodied greater organizational and economic power than any previous organization of women in American history," and says the War of 1812 spurred women to use the same tactics.¹⁰ Her remains were moved to Laurel Hill Cemetery in 1868.³

She held no office and had no vote. She asked women to give up fine clothes and fancy hair dressing, and 2,005 shirts reached the army.

Esther de Berdt Reed's Life at a Glance

1. October 22, 1746 Born in London.
2. May 31, 1770 Marries Joseph Reed.
3. June 10, 1780 "The Sentiments of an American Woman" appears in Philadelphia.
4. July 4, 1780 Reed reports 300,634 paper dollars raised.
5. July 14, 1780 Washington proposes spending it on linen for shirts.
6. September 18, 1780 Reed dies of dysentery.
7. December 1780 The women report 2,005 shirts finished and shipped to Trenton.

Learn more

• The Sentiments of an American Woman: the full text of the broadside, including the eleven-point plan
• American Battlefield Trust: The Ladies Association of Philadelphia: a short history of the group
• Washington to Reed, 14 July 1780: the reply asking for shirts
• Bache to Washington, 26 December 1780: the shirts are counted and shipped

Notes

1. Esther De Berdt Reed to George Washington, July 4, 1780, Founders Online, Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 26, giving 200,580 dollars and 625 pounds 6 shillings 8 pence in specie, a total of 300,634 dollars in paper, and the quoted phrases. Read it online. ↩
2. American Battlefield Trust, "Esther de Berdt Reed," on her birth in London on October 22, 1746, and her family's origins in Ypres. Read it online. ↩
3. Encyclopedia.com, "Reed, Esther de Berdt," on her marriage on May 31, 1770, her father's opposition and death, her six children, her death on September 18, 1780, similar groups in other states and her reburial at Laurel Hill in 1868. Read it online. ↩
4. American Battlefield Trust, "Esther de Berdt Reed," on Joseph Reed as Washington's secretary and aide-de-camp; American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, "Esther de Berdt Reed," on Joseph Reed as governor. Read it online. ↩
5. American Revolution Museum at Yorktown, "Sentiments of a British-American Woman," on publication on Saturday, June 10, 1780, the length of about 1,000 words, the collection of over $300,000 from more than 1,600 individuals, and Reed's letters to the wives of other state executives. Read it online. ↩
6. "The Sentiments of an American Woman" (Philadelphia, 1780), transcription on Wikisource; the original broadside is at the Library of Congress. Read it online. ↩
7. American Battlefield Trust, "Esther de Berdt Reed," giving January 10, 1780, for the broadside, a death on September 18, 1780, and the statement that Washington feared soldiers would spend cash on liquor, a claim the Founders Online letter does not support. Read it online. ↩
8. Philadelphia Encyclopedia, "Ladies Association of Philadelphia," giving June 12 for the writing of the broadside, "more than 2,200" shirts and Bache's oversight of the shirt work. Read it online. ↩
9. American Heritage, article on Reed and the Ladies Association, on the first meeting, the ten canvass districts, over sixteen hundred givers, the $7,500 in coin, Reed's first idea of hard dollars for each soldier, and her reluctance about shirts. Read it online. ↩
10. American Battlefield Trust, "The Ladies Association of Philadelphia," on more than 1,400 givers, the Sklar and Duffy quotation and the later use of the model in the War of 1812. Read it online. ↩
11. George Washington to Esther De Berdt Reed, July 14, 1780, Founders Online, Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 27, with editorial notes on the letter of July 20. Read it online. ↩
12. Susan Blair to George Washington, December 8, 1780, Founders Online, vol. 29, reporting 2,005 shirts complete, illness that slowed the work, and Blair as successor to Reed. Read it online. ↩
13. Sarah Franklin Bache to George Washington, December 26, 1780, Founders Online, vol. 29, with an editorial note quoting Washington's reply of January 15, 1781. Read it online. ↩