The progress of manufactures did not equal the consumption; and such was the real scarcity, that exactions from individuals produced great distress, without relieving the wants of the army.

A warm blanket was a luxury in which not many participated, either in the camp or in the country.
In the northern states, where the sea coast was too extensive, and the ports too numerous to be completely guarded, and where the people were more inclined to maritime enterprise, supplies both of arms and clothes were attainable in a more considerable degree than in those farther south; but the large sums of money expended in that part of the union for the support of the army, had lessened the value of the currency there more rapidly than elsewhere, and a consequent high nominal price was demanded for imported articles.

Congress deemed the terms on which some large contracts had been made by the clothier general in Massachusetts, so exorbitant, as to forbid their execution; and at the same time, addressed a letter to the state government, requesting that the goods should be seized for the use of the army, at prices to be fixed by the legislature, in pursuance of a resolution of the 22d of November.
These recommendations from congress, so far as they exhorted the states to supply the wants of the soldiers, were strongly supported by the General.

In his letters to the several governors, he represented the very existence of the army, and the continuance of the contest, as depending on their exertions in this respect.
{1778} [Sidenote: General Washington's exertions to increase his force, and to place it on a respectable footing before the ensuing campaign.] To recruit the army for the ensuing campaign became again an object of vital importance; and the Commander-in-chief again pressed its necessity on congress, and on the states.

To obtain a respectable number of men by voluntary enlistment had, obviously, become impossible.