Question on carrying tin cups.

[Jon Wood]

Where did most troops carry their tin cups ? Were there any regulations ? Some say inside the haversack. Others hanging from the haversack strap &c. I have noticed that the cups interfere with drill and make a lot of noise while marching.
Is the excessive carrying the cups on the haversack a "reenactorism? Thanks !

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[Silas]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

You should look more at period sources for your answer rather than relying upon what other reenactors are doing. You can find period references which go either way. The bulk of which that I have seen have the dipper inside the haversack. A notable exception is Hardtack and Coffee at this link : http://books.google.com/books?id=RL4...page&q&f=false where an illustration clearly shows the dipper on the outside of the haversack attached by the strap.

[Jon Wood]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

Thank you.
Jon Wood

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

Jon

There was no regulation as to where you were to store your cup. For myself where I stash it has been a matter of 20 plus years of trial and error. Personally I keep my cup inside my haversack, but when your haversack is full you have to find someplace else to keep it. If you hang it off the haversack strap it will get full of dirt, and it will rap the hand of the guy next to you. Another option is to hang it on your knapsack. Again it can get full of crud, but at least your pard will not be whining.

[Jon Wood]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

Thank you both. This settles a little issue for me about someone telling me it was a "requirement" to use the haversack strap to carry the cup. He loves the sound of 2500 troops marching with noisy cups. I think he was being tongue in cheek. To each his own.
Cheers,
Jon Wood

[cprljohnivey]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

"I have noticed that the cups interfere with drill "

Typically you are not supposed to wear your haversack during drill.

[Victor Sarna]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

And wearing them on the outside will ENSURE it will clang on something else at every other step and drive yer pards crazy on the march. The hard part is if you have a small CS haversack it may not fit inside with yer grub.

[Jon Wood]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

"Typically you are not supposed to wear your haversack during drill." Ah, there's the rub, Corporal. Time spent in drill and marching practice without the haversack. When it came time for light or heavy marching orders, you can imagine the surprise and frustration when the dangling dippers suddenly interfered with the motions so diligently learned.
Cheers !
Jon Wood

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

Thank you both. This settles a little issue for me about someone telling me it was a "requirement" to use the haversack strap to carry the cup. He loves the sound of 2500 troops marching with noisy cups. I think he was being tongue in cheek. To each his own.
Cheers,
Jon Wood

Jon

Be real careful when it comes to listening to the unit "expert".

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

If I even carry a cup I prefer to put my coffee/sugar bag in it, then put the cup between the exterior of the haversack and the removable interior bag. I think I started to do this out of an unconscious effort to keep the cup clean and separate my coffee ration from all of the nasty stuff inside of the removable interior bag. When I carry a tin cup I will have my boiler strapped to the haversack or knapsack/bed roll, but most of the time I just make do with a boiler and no cup.

There's also the practice of securing a tin cup to your canteen strap or stopper chain/twine. I've seen this in a few period photos, illustrations, and lithographs. It seems that some guys preferred to get to their cup faster than if it was stored inside of their haversack, or maybe they preferred to actually pour water from their canteens and drink from the cup instead.

[lukegilly13]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.



A couple of examples taken from previous thread. I believe that if you look at the high def pictures of the confederate prisoners taken at Gettysburg then you will find another example of a cup being carried outside the haversack. Of course, prisoner photos must be looked at as exactly that. A prisoner doesn't have to carry a gun or cartridge box etc. so the way he carries his gear might change.

[Jon Wood]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

I would like to thank you all for your kind and informative answers. I have looked at many photos and fully realize that some of the old boys did carry their dippers on their haversacks. Most did not if they had room in their sacks, which seems like it would be often since rations apparently were consumed rather quickly or were non-existent. It seems that it was a matter of personal choice. The issue of interference was most likely settled between individuals.

I read of at least one case where it was ordered that noise was to be minimized, for a night assault, and that dippers were to be placed in haversacks. Apparently officers were aware of the issue.

So, with all of your input and further study on my part, I have come to realize that it is a "reenactorism" to wear your cup on your haversack just because everyone else does or someone says it was the only way the cups were carried.

Personally, I carry my coffee, sugar, salt in a bag in my cup inside my haversack. Really how much room does it take up?

Thanks again and there is really no need to belabor the point.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
P.S. The only thing more annoying than a dangling dipper is a banging boiler. :o)

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

Hallo!

To paraprhase the modern comedian George Carlin... (yeah, the one that was not too kind on reenacting and reenactors)-

All a haversack is, is a place to put your stuff.

and

The Meaning of Life is just trying to find a place to put your stuff in.

:) :)

If one has a typical three day issuance of Federal rations in one's haversack, and the nearly universally ubiquitous large "Jarnagin" tin cup... it can change how one adapts and adopts choices from a number of Period Correct options much in the same was a CW soldier learned to deal with his in a way that worked for him.

Curt
Whose as a One or Two had his Enfield dinged a hundred times or more by tin cups Mess

[J. Donaldson]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

Through informal surveys of original photographs, I have seen several images of soldiers locating their cups any place they can find. I've seen images with cups strung on canteens, on haversacks, and on knapsack buckles. There's no hard and fast rule to something like this. You put it where you can.

[Michael Comer]

Re: Question on carrying tin cups.

I don't even carry a cup. Only thing besides food that I carry in the haversack is a canteen half or tin bowl and a spoon.