Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

[FloridaConscript]

Fellows,
I re read this last night and thought I would share. Nothing ground breaking, but always good to add further documentation to some things we do here as living historians. to quote:

"We were then told to rest, which of course, was very acceptable. Several of the boys had their frying-pans along, which was one side of a tin canteen. A canteen is made in the shape of two saucers, turned tops together. Then if they are put in a fire and unsoldered the sides make two very good little frying-pans, which are light and easy to carry along."
Dorman was writing about Reams Station when he mentioned this. I wonder if this is something the boys in the 10th came to independently, or if their friends in the 2nd, 5th, and 8th Florida showed it to them?

The following passage is from "Fifty years Ago" by George Dorman of the 10th Florida Infantry. It was a small pamphlet published in the early 20th C. when his son was running for some local office. Only a handful survive and Don Hillhouse was to get it re published in an Appendix to "Heavy Artillery and Light Infantry" a book Hillhouse authored about the 1st Fla. btln which ended up being the 10th Fl. Dorman was only in the ANV from May 24 1864 until Sept 25 1864, so it is a very concise time frame. (the 9th 10th and 11th arrived in time for Cold Harbor and Dorman was injured in September).

Not sure if the canteen was picked up at Olustee in February or was issued in Virginia.

[Silas]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

The more time in the field, the more opportunities to experiment with field craft. Although the regiment was formed late, many members of the 10th and 11th had seen extensive service. We've portrayed the 2d Florida Batt'n which was folded into the 10th and 11th before Olustee. Several years ago, we did some research on Co. B of the 2d Batt'n which turned out to be an old men and boys outfit. My recollection was that this company was designated as being a partisan ranger company and was mounted during the first year of the war. Co. B was involved in the 1863 engagement at Ft. Brooks near Tampa.

I doubt many of the old guys fared well after being sent to the ANV and enduring the trench type warefare seen in the last ten months of the war. My recollection is that many arrived in Virginia, but many quickly went to hospital for reasons other than wounds.

[FloridaConscript]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

Silas,
Indeed, the 9th 10th and 11th were JV for the most part, but the reorganization happened when they got VA. My G G grandfather was in a conscript company that got attached to the 6th Fl Btln (later 9th Florida). he fell out on a forced Marsh somewhere around Hatchers Run in Feb. of 65 and was captured in a Richmond hospital. He was mid 40s I think. hence the name, FloridaConscript. Not all of those boys served "for hearth and home", many went at the end of a bayonet.

[OldKingCrow]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

My 2nd FL/ 10th FL INF ancestor was paroled at Appomattox.

[lojafan]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

I found this interesting quote in Time Life's "Soldiers Life" page 98-99. The quote is from Lieutenant Albert T. Goodloe of the 35th Alabama infantry.

"Among our cooking utensils mention must be made of the frying pans that we made by bursting open Yankee canteens, which we would hold over the fire by slipping the edge of the half canteen into the split end of a stick, which served as a handle. These canteens were made of two concavo-convex tin plates, fastened together around their edges, and which could easily be blown open by putting a little powder in them and igniting it. We would only thus destroy the canteen as such when it began to leak, for we needed all the canteens we could get for carrying water and then we would use the side that did not leak for a frying pan."

[FlatLandFed]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

While beginning research for Bummers, found this in "Private Elisha Stockwell Jr. Sees the Civil War" (14th Wisconsin veteran's memoirs written in late 1920s):

"Two men were detailed to go back in the rear, where the could get wood and water, to make coffee and boil the beef when we got beef, and bring it up to us at the front. But when on a march, each man had his coffee and a little pail made of an oyster can with a wire bail of our own make, to make coffee in, and half a canteen for a frying pan. At the front we couldn't have a fire, nor get water." (p 88)

He also talks about punching holes in a canteen half to use to grate corn for meal. Very similar to "Hardtack and Coffee" memories.

Ever forward,
Paul Hadley

[Rear Guard]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

Any evidence that the canteen half also served as a substitute for the tin plate later in the war? It would be one less thing to carry and soldiers became very good at lightening their load.

[GermanDraftee]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

My G G grandfather was in a conscript company that got attached to the 6th Fl Btln (later 9th Florida). he fell out on a forced Marsh somewhere around Hatchers Run in Feb. of 65 and was captured in a Richmond hospital. He was mid 40s I think. hence the name, FloridaConscript.

Interesting. My g-g grandfather was drafted in October of '64 and in February was with the 6th WI at Hatcher's Run. He was hospitalized after the battle, as well. (Severe frostbite from extended picket duty.) Hence the username GermanDraftee

Side note: His musket was in the family into the late 1950s. I have been told it was donated to a local vets organization for display. The musket and several other pieces were stolen in the 1960s.)

[azreb70]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

As for the fry pans, are there any known that have iron handles?

[Tom Dodson]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

Blocka// Run/// sells one that they claim was copied from a dug artifact? Fact or Fiction?
Tom Dodson

[Silas]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

It's Blockade Runner. Could be truth. Could be falsehood. The story is good for their supposedly dug canteen half with a metal (probably iron) handle, but why would you want one? The supposed original from a Monteagle camp hadn't seen much use for a reason. Looks like a fragile item with unnecessary weight. A split stick or a rag would get the half off the fire just as well.

[Mutt]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

I plan on throwin' my old leaky, rusty canteen into the fire this coming weekend! Always wanted to try it out; just couldn't let myself buy half a canteen, all shiny and new. Hopefully I'll remember to take some pics of the process or at least before and after shots.

Best,

[Tom Dodson]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

Good point on Blockade Runner's Monteagle "skillet". What would be the point of making a canteen half as heavy as a regular skillet? It could have been made then just left in camp. As mentioned, I don't believe it would last long.
Tom Dodson

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

Here's the offending item:

http://www.blockaderunner.com/Catalog/catpg26.htm

Here's a little background on what a camp on Monteagle Mountain might have had to do with the war:

http://www.mountaingoattrail.org/monteagle-tdot-enhancement-grant.htm

"The Mountain Goat Railroad was constructed in 1853 as a rail spur from the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad. The line was used to transport coal from coalmines in Tracy City through Monteagle and Sewanee and down to Cowan. The coalmining period of the rail line is an important part of the history of many families in Grundy County. The use of the railroad spur was discontinued in 1985 when the tracks were removed."

Here's a description of the action most likely to have ended the utility of said camp:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tullahoma_Campaign

So the real question becomes, not what makes most sense to reenactors with a campaign impression, but what might have made sense to a soldier garrisoned along a railroad in Tennessee for a stretch of several months in the winter and spring of 1863. Under those circumstances, replacing the third or fourth stick of wood he'd used as a handle for a frying pan (which Jonah kept using for tinder) with a more permanent solution attached with box nails might seem like a good idea. I wouldn't do it, but then I've never spent a few months in Monteagle Tennessee with little else to do but drill.

[Tom Dodson]

Re: Canteen halves as fry pans, a reference.

It does make perfect sense that such an item could have been constructed during a long, boring time in camp.
On a slightly different note, I was wondering about the stamped, lightweight skillets made by Bromwell. They were in business in the 1850's but don't know what products they could have been producing during the time frame of the War. Would there have been a chance that the said skillets, minus the addition of the aluminum cooling skin, could have been used?
I have heard it said that the only stupid question is one not asked. Maybe that still holds true.
Tom Dodson
47th Ga