Images(14)

Officer's Camp Chest

Dateca. 1775

OriginEngland

MediumOak, birch, cedrella, iron/steel, brass, paper, paint & ink.

DimensionsOH: 13"; OW: 29"; OD: 15"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2013-36

DescriptionRectangular chest with hinged lid; dovetailed oak sides with cedrella and birch bottom boards nailed to the sides from below. Oak lid is attached to the back of the chest with strap hinges. The back and two sides are each constructed of two separate horizontal butt joined boards that are further joined by iron plates that are inset into the wood and screwed in place with two screws, one for each board; there is one plate on each side near the back and two plates on the back board near either end. There are two iron handles, one on each end of the chest, that are a flattened heart shape and nailed in place. The nails are peened over on the inside of the chest. An iron lock is nailed to the inside of the front near the top with the corresponding tongue inset into the underside of the top. A decorative brass escutcheon surrounds the keyhole on the front. Across the front in white/light colored paint is “Hugh Cossart Baker./ 27:th Reg.”. “H. C. BAKER.” appears in iron tacks across the lid. A printed paper label attached to the underside of the lid and reads “Hugh Cossart Baker" and is inscribed in ink ".1775. Halifax”.
Label TextThis chest, which belonged to Hugh Cossart Baker of the British 27th Regiment of foot, was used in North America during the Revolutionary War, and is an extremely rare survival. When the war broke out in 1775, Baker left his native Ireland for Halifax, Nova Scotia in hopes of securing a commission as a British Army officer. Anticipating active service, Baker purchased this camp chest shortly after his arrival. A durable and necessary piece of luggage for an officer, it went wherever Baker did, and protected his personal belongings and military equipment alike.

Once the 27th Regt. reached Halifax after leaving Boston in early 1776, Baker joined them as a "gentleman volunteer" until a proper commission became available. Accompanying the 27th to New York, he received an Ensigncy in the regiment the day before Christmas 1776. By that time, Baker had fought at the Battle of Long Island and the capture of Fort Washington, in what was a highly successful campaign for the British.

The next year, Baker and the 27th fought in the Philadelphia Campaign, seeing action at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown before returning to New York City. In 1778 he purchased a Lieutenant's commission, and participated in a number of raids into New Jersey before his regiment was sent to Florida. From there it was to the West Indies in 1781 and thence home in 1785. Obtaining a Captain's commission in 1789, Baker, and his battered camp chest, retired from Army service in 1792.

A similar military-marked camp chest appears as #9 on p. 82 of George Neumann and Frank Kravic's "Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution."
InscribedAcross the front in white/light colored paint is “Hugh Cossart Baker./ 27:th Regt.”. “H. C. BAKER.” appears in iron tacks across the lid. A printed paper label attached to the underside of the lid and reads “Hugh Cossart Baker" and is inscribed in ink ".1775. Halifax”.
ProvenanceOriginally owned by Hugh Cossart Baker, born in Glanmere, Cork, Ireland in 1802. First commissioned in 1776, he attained the rank of Captain in the 27th Regiment of Foot before retiring in 1792. Baker married Dorcas Phipps back in Ireland in 1787, and died there in 1802.