Items from the sutler

[orngblsm]

Recently I have been putting together small items that could have been bought by a soldier from any of the various sutlers that followed the army of the potomac. But i have hit a wall in finding out more than what is just common knowledge. I'm looking for more than just stamps, ink, paper, etc. So i would appreciate some help on the topic of what period sutlers would have carried and sold to union soldiers.

I am also interested in how food that sutlers would have carried, such as butter, and pickled eggs, would have differed from their modern versions

Thanks,

[Doug Potter]

Re: Items from the sutler

There is a good book out there it is out of print but it may be what you are looking for it's caledl Civil war Sutler's and their wares I believe it is by Francis Lord, search some of the out of print book sites and you will find a copy
Doug

[Doug Potter]

Re: Items from the sutler

Here is a copy that is for sale.
Lord, Francis A.
CIVIL WAR SUTLERS AND THEIR WARES
New York & London: Thomas Yoseloff, 1969 Cloth. Very Good/Good +. First Ediition. 8vo - over 7ľ" - 9ľ" tall. "the sutler's status in the military, the attitudes toward them by officers and enlisted men, their pay, what they served to the soldiers--and at what price." photo-illustrated. previous owner's name blind-stamped onto free endpaper. gray boards with blue titles on spine. edges neat overall, slight fading to edges and spine-ends. book body clean and tight. black and white photo illustrated dust wrapper with some rubbing and fading, esp. at corners and top-edge. small chip top spine, otherwise fairly good. price intact, archival brodart.
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[markj]

Re: Items from the sutler

Hi,

Here's a little caveat: You will quickly discover that Francis Lord was, to put it mildly, "opinionated." I have this book and would state that it's at best "a reasonably good introduction." It's also very dated--a lot of new material has surfaced since 1969 that either fills in a lot of gaps or even flatly contradicts Lord's conclusions. His listing of sutlers in the back is also incomplete, to say the least, since he paid scant attention to state-level sources.

I think Lord's general view of sutlers, much like his view on the Christian Commission, was "decidedly less than positive." Indeed, he seems to go out of his way to disparage them although a significant number of these individuals were actually well-liked in their regiments and some ended up in harm's way. One example: The sutler of the 23rd Iowa was KIA at Prairie Grove AR in 1862 while fighting alongside the troops to whom he catered.

In short, Lord's book is interesting and often useful but take what he says with a big chunk of salt and definitely check other sources as well.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[pvtbordonaro]

Re: Items from the sutler

Ryan,
There is a book about Fort Delaware, called Unlikely Allies, that has a list of items sold at the Fort sutler's at the back of the book.
-Joe Bordonaro

[ephraim_zook]

Re: Items from the sutler

Ryan,

The following from the US Army Regs 1861, Revised '63. It goes on and on from where I left off, specifying procedures for extending credit to soldiers, rules for sutlers to follow, etc etc etc. I have underlined the list of permitted merchandise.

Approved March 13, 1862.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the inspector generals of the army shall constitute a board of officers, whose duty it shall be to prepare, immediately after the passage of this act, a list or schedule of the following articles, which may be sold by sutlers to the officers and soldiers of the volunteer service, to wit: Apples, dried apples, oranges, figs, lemons, butter, cheese, milk, syrup, molasses, raisins, candles, crackers, wallets, brooms, comforters, boots, pocket looking-glasses, pins, gloves, leather, tin washbasins, shirt-buttons, horn and brass buttons, newspapers, books, tobacco, cigars, pipes, matches, blacking, blacking-brushes, clothesbrushes, tooth-brushes, hair-brushes, coarse and fine combs, emery, crocus, pockethandkerchiefs, stationery, armot oil, sweet oil, rotten-stone, razor-strops, razors, shaving-soap, soap, suspenders, scissors, shoe strings, needles, thread, knives, pencils, and Bristol brick. Said list or schedule shall be subject, from time to time, to such revision and change as, in the judgment of the said board, the good of the service may require: Provided, always, That no intoxicating liquors shall at any time be obtained therein, or the sale of such liquors be in any way authorized by said board. A copy of said list or schedule, and of any subsequent change therein, together with a copy of this act, shall be, without delay, furnished by said board to the commanding officer of each brigade and of each regiment not attached to any brigade in the volunteer service, and also to the adjutant general of the army.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That immediately upon the receipt from said board of said list or schedule and copy of this act by the commanding officer of any such brigalde, the acting brigadier general, surgeon, quartermaster, and commissary of said brigade shall constitute a board of officers whose duty it shall be to affix to each article in said list or schedule a price for said brigade, which shall be by them forthwith reported to the commanding officer of the division, if any, to which said brigade is attached, for his approval, with or without modification, and who shall, after such approval, report the same to the inspector generals, and the same, if not disapproved by them, shall be the price not exceeding which said articles may be sold to the officers and soldiers in said brigade.

Some things appear to be conspicuously absent from the list -- ink, writing paper and envelopes jump out. I have seen plenty of references to soldiers buying edibles not listed here, too -- canned meats and vegetables, canned oysters, pies, for instance. I wonder if this was a minimum list, and sutlers could carry more (other than strong spirits).

Hope this helps.

Ron Myzie

[Bill]

Re: Items from the sutler

Ryan,

Some things appear to be conspicuously absent from the list -- ink, writing paper and envelopes jump out. I have seen plenty of references to soldiers buying edibles not listed here, too -- canned meats and vegetables, canned oysters, pies, for instance. I wonder if this was a minimum list, and sutlers could carry more (other than strong spirits).

Ron Myzie

Ron,

The ink, writing paper, etc. would have been covered by the catagory of "Stationery" in the Regulations. I was interested in the number of items sold for weapon and equipment maintenance. I also noticed the absence of any canned goods on the list of allowed items. Perhaps this was an oversight, since these products were relatively new, at the time.

[tomarch]

Re: Items from the sutler

If you look over past issues of Camp Chase, there was one by someone doing a good suttler impression last year including the results of research he did to preserve foods a suttler would be likely to carry

[Alamo Guard]

Re: Items from the sutler

Im sure the sutler might have carried certain ethnic type foods for specific regt's. For example dried fish for New England Boys, onions and cabbage for German troops etcc. Makes common sense.
Of course there were a few sutlers who snuck in a bottle or two of whiskey, and the results of being caught are well documented.
After the battle of Mansfield, the confederate soldiers stopped to pillage the wagons as the battle was winding down. They were shocked at the amount of canned goods to include such things as sardines and lobster.
Im sure Gary White might have some more information on more of what was in these wagons?

[ephraim_zook]

Re: Items from the sutler

Bill,

Quite so. I read over the list 4 or 5 times and missed "stationery" each time. <----- I know I'm needing new spectacles; evidently sooner rather than later.

regards
Ron Myzie

Ron,

The ink, writing paper, etc. would have been covered by the catagory of "Stationery" in the Regulations. I was interested in the number of items sold for weapon and equipment maintenance. I also noticed the absence of any canned goods on the list of allowed items. Perhaps this was an oversight, since these products were relatively new, at the time.

[SparksBird]

Re: Items from the sutler

Ryan,
I know that alot of info on sutlers has already been discussed on here, but to answer the second part of your question, it is quite simple. Simply look through some cookbooks from the time period and you will find your recipes for some of the items sold by sutlers. You can then compare them to some of the modern recipes that your mom or grandma used to use. Period pies and cakes, pickled vegetables and fruits, and many other such items can be found. It will also give you a chance to try making them at home. If you have ever made butter you will find it to be much better than the usual store bought varieties. Good homemade butter from a milking shorthorn cannot be beat. For more information on period cooking and foods, I would recommend looking up the website for Food History News. They usually publish some excellent articles and resources. Also, check out the MOMCC website www.momcc.org, and look under their foodways section for more info as well. Hope this part of your question is answered.

Rick Musselman
Buckeye Mess
GHTI

[artillerycorp 1st Ill]

Re: Items from the sutler

Ryan,

I’d like to add some information to what has already been suggested. Douglas Potter suggested a book by Francis Lord which I too tried to locate but had no luck. I did come across another one in my search titled,” Peddlers and Post Traders” by David M. Delo (ISBN: 0-9662218-1-8). The book covers sutlers from pre-1821 until almost to the 1900’s. This may be more than what you were looking for but it has good background information.

Tom Smith mentions an article that appeared in Camp Chase. This was titled “How to be a Skinner” by Nicky Hughes. This article suggests items to sell and how to display them. It is a pretty good article. If you would like a copy I can PDF it for you and email it to you. Contact me at Steven.curtis@sbcglobal.net and let me know. Good luck in your search.

Steve Curtis
1st Illinois Light Artillery

[markj]

Re: Items from the sutler

Greetings,

This Ph.D. dissertation might be of interest and is available through University Microfilms International (www.umi.com):

PUBLICATION NUMBER AAT 9314919

TITLE PISTOL'S LEGACY: SUTLERS, POST TRADERS, AND THE AMERICAN ARMY, 1820-1895

AUTHOR MURPHY, JOHN THOMAS

DEGREE PHD

SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

DATE 1993

PAGES 343

ADVISER SPENCE, C.

SOURCE DAI-A 54/01, p. 294, Jul 1993

SUBJECT HISTORY, UNITED STATES (0337)

Traditionally, civilians followed armies on campaign in order to supply liquor, food, or clothing, but by the sixteenth century, this practice, called sutling, had developed a questionable reputation. In Henry V, William Shakespeare depicted Pistol, a sutler with King Harry's army in France, as corrupt, unscrupulous, and cowardly. It was an image that persisted, and sutlers and post traders who served the American army from 1820 to 1895 have continued to be described as either price-gouging whiskey dealers or, at best, necessary evils. But such appraisals are simplistic and misrepresent the contributions and complexities of the sutler/post trader system. Regulations introduced in 1820 integrated sutlers into the military community and created a cooperative relationship that continued until the Civil War. The war, however, engendered complaints about high prices and questioned the methods for appointing sutlers. Though not absolutely free of problems, rules governing appointments brought competent individuals into sutling, most of whom served the army well. Obtaining a sutlership was a process reliant on political networking, good personal contacts, and proof of ability to fill the position. During the administration of Ulysses S. Grant, partisan politics intruded upon the selection of post traders, but controversy involving Grant's secretary of war, William W. Belknap, revealed that difficulties were as much organizational as ethical or moral. Despite periodic criticism, sutlers and post traders contributed to the quality of garrison life by providing merchandise and services for their customers. At each military post, the sutler's or post trader's store became a regular haven from army routine and the focal point for all community activity. The sutler/post trader system fulfilled this role for seventy-five years.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Jake Marley]

Re: Items from the sutler

markj,

How accurate do you think Lord's citations of various items' manufacturers are in the appendix?

Nic Ellis

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Items from the sutler

About a year or 18 months ago Nicky Hughes wrote a darn good article about period sutlers in "Camp Chase Gazette".