I need some assistance in finding sources that discuss the manufacture,
use, designs, and analysis of Revolutionary War period shovels and
spades.  The Lake Champlain Maritime Museum recovered nearly 20 of them
from the Revolutionary War site Mount Independence.  There appears to be
six different styles in this collection.  One style has the name S:EDGE
stamped in block letters into the handle.  I believe this to represent
Samuel Edge, a blacksmith who appears in the papers of Sir William
Johnson.  He was a NYC blacksmith applying for a job on Johnson's
estate in 1772.  This is all I currently know about him.  He does not
appear in the directories of NYC or Boston.  Any information regarding
the  supplying of the American troops with tools during the Rev War would
be helpful.
 
Thank you
 
Scott A. McLaughlin
Underwater Archaeologist
Lake Champlain Maritime Museum
Ferrisburg, Vermont