Benjamin Warner’s humble knapsack is one of fewer than six surviving from thousands made and used during the Revolutionary War. Warner, from New Haven, Connecticut, soldiered through some of the war’s toughest campaigns after joining the Continental Army in 1775. He survived the Siege of Boston, Benedict Arnold’s harrowing march up the Kennebec River in Maine, the American siege of Québec, and the British attack and capture of New York City in 1776. In addition to these dramatic events, Warner also performed vital duties guarding forts and supplies along the Hudson River and in his home state of Connecticut until 1780. Warner’s knapsack shows significant wear. The original paint has mostly worn off, and the shoulder straps and closures have torn away over time. During his time as a Continental soldier, Warner carried all his worldly possessions in this pack. After the war, he kept the knapsack as he moved to Ticonderoga, NY, settling into a relatively unassuming life. His tombstone identifies him as “A Revolutionary Soldier and a Friend to the Slave.” His belief in abolition may be linked to his understanding of the ideals for which he fought during the War for Independence. He left written instructions for his son that still survive with the knapsack, to keep it, and to pass it to his son, “and so on to the latest posterity.” Not content to simply preserve this memento, Warner instructed his ancestors to regard it as a reminder of the fragility of the promising nation he helped create, and “whilst one shred of it shall remain never surrender your libertys to a foren envador [foreign invader] or an aspiring demegog [demagogue].”