Andrew Foutz was a pacifist Dutchman who married my gggreat aunt Rachel Merrell about 1771 in Rowan County, North Carolina. Now that was the same year that one of my gggreat uncles Benjamin Merrell was hung for treason for defying the British governor of North Carolina. Benjamin was considered a hero to a lot of the colonists, and the Merrells were rabid Sons of Liberty.
Although most of the Foutz family refused to support the Revolution, poor Andy must have felt pressure from the Merrells to join. But he tried to do a task that didn't offend his pacifist leanings. He was General Washington's cook.
According to Rise to Rebellion by Jeff Shaara, that didn't work exactly as planned.
“I have
two cooks ... one of them, Mr. Foutz ... fancies himself quite the expert in
worldly cuisine,” General Washington is quoted as telling Benjamin Franklin.
“If we fed this army in the same manner Mr. Foutz has attempted to feed me,
there would be mass desertion. He actually set out an elaborate dinner whose
main attraction was bugs. Covered in some kind of sauce, mind you, but bugs
nonetheless. I made the decision at that moment that Mr. Foutz would better serve
this army by shouldering a musket."
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