At High Tide Federal Campaigners

[Jim Moffet]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

Thanks Charles, for compiling the battalion-strength list of folks that made rations for near 200 possible. I cannot speak too highly of the effort - a great job.

When a list server gets set up for period army chow, count me, Dave, and a fair number of other Western Brigade leaders in. Long overdue, and to be appreciated.

The march on Friday, in some really authentic withering heat and humidity, could not have been accomplished without months of work by another huge team. My heart-felt thnks go to all who advised, scouted, drafted and or edited both the permit request, and the addenda with requests to modify the original permit: Charles & Bev Heath; James Owens; Charlie Jarvis, Tim Shields; Mike Lavis; Buddy Zeck; Rob Murray; Stephen Osman; Marc Benedict; Tom Shaw; Tom Holbrook and others. Grace Reese at GNMP was quite helpful in working with us, and once she understood that we wanted to walk through the waist high grass with the ticks, allowed us to use authentic formations and drill, since we were not blocking the roads nor damaging the park. Crossing the Wheatfield in a line of battle is an experience none of us will ever forget. (Yes, there is quite a military crest in the center, and you cannot really see it from your car!).

Once on the march, the support team was invaluable. The weather was in the mid-nineties, with humidity you could cut with a knife. Water stops at the base of the Wheatfield and another at the Observation Tower on Seminary Ridge were handled as quickly as possible with a single spigot tank in Mr. Heath's truck. Again, I cannot thank everyone - I don't even know the names of all the folks that helped: Charles and Bev Heath (again!); Mrs. Lawson and 'her girls;' Trevor Steinbach, Don Kessler and the entire First Federal Division Medical Staff swept up any and all wilted stagglers, did some triage, and with the exception of the broken ankle incurred about 15 feet into the march (raw luck, that!), I was very happy to find that all were back in the ranks by tattoo roll call that same day. Mike Lavis and others had cars available for those who were feeling poorly. Silas Tackitt met us on Seminary Ridge, and suggested some rarely seen drill for passage of a defile, which we used as a 'teachable moment."

The march had some merciful rain near the end, cooling the column. By the time we crossed Sachs covered bridge, it was pouring, and we had to determine the best route to close south into the camp. For 45 minutes we packed 180 men into the bridge, where many hoped to spend the night! Pictures to follow.

Again, my eternal thanks to all who made this 'campaigner' part of the experience so meaningful for all who took part.

I am in your debt.

Jim Moffet
Western Brigade

[Charles Heath]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

Jim,

The listserver is going to have to happen. While the existing 19th century food listserver is a wonderful asset, but it is just not the place to speak frequently of military chow. Speaking of such, I need to look up the thread on gelatine, now that I've actually seen a documented military use of the stuff -- on a large scale. That's a research burden for another day.

Two things that I would do differently when all is said and done:

1. This nonsense of having some folks pay for rations and some folks not pay for rations caused Rob Murray and I a heck of a lot of stubby pencil work (actually spreadsheet, but you get the picture), and getting outsiders, such as the FFD involved just compounded matters. The normal practice is all or nothing, and that needs to continue; however, this was a good experience to reinforce current best practices. Admittedly, it is damned difficult to apply what we do at campaigner, progressive, and hardcore events at mainstream efforts, even improved mainstream efforts, such as AHT.

Lesson: Do rations the way we normally do rations.

2. Staff work reached an all time low at AHT, especially in the realm of federal quartermaster functions. For a mainstream event, the level of staff work at AHT was probably just fine and dandy. unfortunately, having functional staff at events has become the standard elsewhere, and that is a level of expectation which was not met whatsoever. I would have been well off to have dropped by during a pre-event work day and tied a rag around a tree. That would have saved a great amount of time, and elminated a great deal of problem compounding.

Lesson: Bypass mainstream staff. Use own resources.

This yields two distinct yet closely related opportunities. The first is to continue to identify modules from this side of the hobby that can be plugged into these mainstream events with the appropriate and normal amount of pre-event work involved. Secondly, a two to four company battalion operating on its lonesome really doesn't require much in the terms of functional staff; however, as battalions grow into brigades (by this I don't mean the 44- or 65- man brigades so famous in this region) the need for staff development becomes quite obvious. The hobby has had a number of so-called officer schools and an alleged staff college, but the fact remains that these staffers need to do more than have weight and take up space.

For what it is worth, we used approximately 140-gallons of water on the march, not including topping off the cav camp tank and horse trough when we returned from the march. Part of the absence of staff work led to a chain of events that I didn't find particularly amusing. If the two images attached, you'll see the old reliable 210-gallon water tanker that has been used and used and used and used some more at the majority of eastern campaign events since 2001. The other image is in the form of a substitute that we were able to whip into Old Whitey the Wundertruck, since the prime mover for the other was laden with barrels. Granted, we do have 5 of these 65-gallon set ups, but mainstream commo is on a different net than ours, thus a quick canvass to locate a couple of other pickup trucks was simply not going to happen. Something similar happend with Ron Myzie who had no idea his bread was sitting at the event, and no one had any way to locate in person or otherwise communicate with him. Poor Ron drove to Sharpsburg only to learn Bev had already transported the bread to the event site. Sheer comedy.

As to history, to fully understand the military crest and Sickles' desire to move forward, one has to visit the Hazel Grove area to see how the confederates used a slight elevation advantage at Chancellorsville. Standing at the lunettes and looking up (what appears to be a utility cut today) to the reb artillery positions, a person needs only about 3 seconds of thought process to realize Sickles didn't want to have a repeat performance. One of the best features of the Columbia Rifles' 2004 Chancellorsville-Wilderness NPS LH was understanding how that piece of Virginia terrain wove itself into the Gettysburg legend and lore. That nearly topped being able to stand where Rice C. Bull was in the reb "hospital," and reading his words from Soldiering after the event while looking at the little outline of the building. It is as diffucult to read that passage from Bull as it is to read the surviving Taylor brother's words while standing among the rocks along Plum Run.

Once you realized you needed a substitute for your "native guide boy," I grabbed a water bottle, and the cast of characters quickly changed to:

Terre Lawson - Wheelman in Big Whitey

Abby Walker - Wheelman in Old Whitey The Wundertruck

Bev Heath - Switchel Maker & "Lemonade" Dispenser

Trevor, Don, Mike, and the medical staff were invaluable, and you have to thank the fellows with the good sense to take themselves out of the game when they recognized the warning signs rather than waiting too long, thus requiring an ambulance.

One of our partners in crime couldn't make it Friday (go ahead and blame it on Doug, we blame most everything from bad singing to flatulence on Doug) and that would be Kabuki extraordinaire Terri Olszowy. Feel free to blame her for the wonderful food service info rolling out of the largely untapped files in NARA during the next few years.

Although you were under strict NPS orders not to interpret to the park visitors, let me tell you they were just plain ga-ga over the marchers easing through the park. I'm surprised how many followed the combined AoO/WB battalion through the park, at least as far as the observation tower on W. Confederate Avenue.

The march was a good campaigner adjunct (for those who have forgotten that phrase) or event march (to use an early term), and it added much to the experience of those who attended the event.

I learned we have a wide variety of canteens in this hobby. :D

[Gus49OVI]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

How's the leg?

Gus

[Charles Heath]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

How's the leg?

I suspect the punchline is going to be pretty good.

[Gus49OVI]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

Mr. Heath - outstanding... I greatly enjoyed our talks, your astute views - sort of a 19th Century George Carlin; also I will add to my bucket list: removing the salt pork barrel from 'whitey'. Very similar to unloading a fully loaded upright freezer, but rounder.

Mrs. Compson - I do not have enough accolades for your service, and graciousness. I do have to say that my first soiree` in hominy and molasses will result in a hope for similar sustinance for the future. I greatly appreciate your securing my box of goodies.... so do those who indulged.

Your Servant,
Gus

[Charles Heath]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

Three Years In The Army of Pork, Part I

For about 10 months now, we’ve been fooling with the ration issue for Andersburg, and that would be the ration issue for some, but not all of the individuals in the Western Brigade’s battalion, which was based on Wright’s description of the exact articles issued at Union Mills, MD. In addition, for about 6 months, I’ve been reading posts by Doug Cooper informing folks (me included, and I didn’t particularly enjoy the surprises) as to what we were doing, and how we were going to do it, but more about that later.

Wright stated the 1st Minnesota was issued salt pork, hard bread, coffee and sugar at Union Mills. In addition to those rations, a 1st Divison, 1st Army Corps badge, and a 2nd Division, 2nd Army Corps badge were to be issued to the reenactors as Andersburg. The battalion officers’ mess, which would come along later, would be mostly pot luck between whatever Terre Lawson and myself had in our grab bags and well worn boxes.

The hardtack would be baked in Minnesota at a pizza parlor. With retail hardtack at 75 cents per piece, making your own has come en vogue once again. Frankly, I miss the competition between Mechanical Baking (R.I.P.) and Bent’s Cookie Factory. After a couple of typical California we-can-do-it-better-but-it-may-be-stuffed-with-tofu nonstarters, the Brain Trust cycled back to the 1st Minnesota pizza parlor arrangement. How many crackers would we need? A man just now looking at the manual would say we needed to issue 30 crackers per man. That number seems high, but it is book smart correct, but wasteful. We decided on an average of 8 crackers per man. Due to breakage and such, some individuals would receive 5, some 6, and some up to 9 crackers depending on the company. If your haversack is empty by about 8 a.m. Sunday morning, then the estimates have been correct. If you dump $20 worth of food into the nearest fast food restaurant trash receptacle on your way home, then that’s piss poor planning.

Rob Murry, Jim Moffet, and more importantly the fellows who slaved over the hardtack back in the Most Holy Land of Lutefisk can give a price breakdown on the hardtack. The same goes for the double issue of corps badges. I said this before, but I’m going to say this again: THANK YOU FOR BAKING THE [insert colorful language here] HARD CRACKERS! On a somewhat related note, but referencing another 2008 season event, Joe, Sara, Meredith, and Ley now understand precisely what I mean by that phrase.

The pork was a different story. Most of you are familiar with the salt pork article in some issue of CWH a while back. Bev and I simply doubled the batch, and kept getting with the program. We set a cut off date in early April knowing it would take another 10 days for ration orders to piddle and bump along. Well, that was wrong, as we still had people paying double for rations as late as June. Ugh. I’ll back up here and make a suggestion, and that is pretty simple. This is the first time and the last [more colorful language] time we’ll have this a la carte rations bullmanure at an event. Standard practice is all or nothing, and not some bizarre arrangement where some people in some companies paid something for some rations, but some of the other people didn’t. What I find funny, is at least four individuals paid for rations, and are going to the GAC event this weekend. That’s right. I’d list their names, but sometime in the next 48 hours they’ll figure it out. Enjoy the smoked turkey legs and funnel cake, boys! I’m not kidding.

Pork is cheaper by the case. The salt pork was from Sam’s Club in the form of fresh, never frozen, Boston Butts on sale. This is an appropriate shoulder cut, and the pieces were butchered into “mess pork” size portions, so the 3rd Sergeant wouldn’t have to be whacking on the pork with a dull hatchet, piece of shale, or old cedar shake shingle. The springwater also came from Sam’s Club, the non-iodized salt from a variety of stores where it was on sale (wish I could buy it locally in a 50# bag, but this is the Godforsaken Maryland wasteland and we have about as much retail as the surface of Mars – unless you want a handbag or ladies’ shoes), and I went by the Ag Co-Op in Berlin (Brunswick) for some overpriced salt petre. A couple of pieces of local iron ore the Johnson Brothers missed, the top of a small barrel and a piece of a cutting board formed the hold downs. Other than that, the containers were the old feed bins from a CW centennial reenacting horse named “Tiny.” May he rest in peace. His feed bins live on so that you can eat. The meat stays cool in the underground garage (hold six cars or one person’s reenacting stuff) so that was no big deal. We checked it every two weeks, skimmed the mold, and added more springwater.

Got crackers and pork, so that left the coffee and sugar to procure. After reading about the army using “yellow coffee sugar” from the original inventories, I decided to use that instead of melado or turbinado. This didn’t make much difference, because the coffee and sugar were to be combined. You read about this often, but rarely see it done. Additionally, the coffee was a combination of a coarse hand grind, a fine machine grind, chicory, toasted corn meal, and ground dark roasted corn kernals. It tasted pretty good, and after reading page after page of coffee contractor disputes, this adulteration made good sense, and good history.

At this point in the game, it was time to containerize the vittles. The coffee/sugar mix could go into a pair of canned tomato boxes. Taking a pair of extra huge stainless steel mixing bowls, and an issue tin cup, I measured 32 cups into one box, and 22 into the other. That means small companies received 5 cups and large companies received 7 cups on their gum blanket. The rest went into the officers’ mess, and the “day and night” kettle of coffee. Rather than drag along the premeasured boxes as mentioned in the commissary instructions, the cup works just fine.

A side trip is in order. Back in the dark ages, Rob and Jim mentioned they wanted to inflict switchel on the boys during the campaigner adjunct across the battlefield. This meant the 3 gallon molasses jug and vinegar bottle would need to be filled and hauled along. Instead of using the feed mill molasses intended for keeping the dust down on cattle feed, we used store bought commercial food service grade molasses. I hope this is not a huge disappointment for anyone who was expecting to pick out insect parts and rat droppings from their refreshing drink.

The meat was to go into barrels. My #2 barrel man is still my #2 barrel man, because the 21 gallon mil spec half barrels with two extra heads and correct hoops have still not landed on my doorstep. This is okay, because my #1 barrel man is Bill Bitting, and we managed to drag along two of his Barton Brands bourbon barrels with the intent of having a fellow “bust head” with an axe. Bourbon soaked oak sure burns well. The funny part about this is the original cast of characters utilized used whiskey barrels for salt pork storage, too. They also used barrels (42 gallon) and half barrels (21 gallon) cut in half for tubs to issue meat. I’m not saying we should run down to the garden center, but there ya have it. If you look closely at the LOC photos, then you’ll see these cut down barrels.

We were going to use the hickory straps from Doug Oakes’ back yard to strap the hardtack. First, I realized these were someone else’s hardtack boxes, so they might not appreciate the nail holes and hickory residue, and, second, with the circus nature of the event itself, well, there wasn’t any time to take care of that detail. The good news is those split hickory saplings and Tremont nails will go to good use on the CR boxes.

So, you might be asking just how did one man get that barrel in the back of a truck by himself?

To be continued….

[nrandolph]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

Charles,

Well at Federal HQ, we went through about three gallons of switchel over the period from Saturday lunch to Sunday after the battle. Between the switchel served on the march and that served, from what I understand, in the enlisted camp, this had to be about the most switchel-swilling event in some time!

Neil Randolph
1st WV

[Charles Heath]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

Amber Waves of Switchel, Part II

Between the the food and march across the GNMP, across the front Ike & Mamie’s farm, and through two little bridges to Grandma’s house, or something like that, we generated something like 57 pages of emails, a bunch of photograph downloads (not a single one from Watchersweb, unfortunately) and I’m hoping most of those phone calls were on somebody’s after hours free calling network plan. Mine were.

So, what was the headcount? Friday was 169, but that included people from the Army of the Ohigh-er, who also wanted to march across the park, but the Saturday and Sunday numbers, as provided by Kevin Air were 183 and 172 respectively. The number of feds we fed would be less, and it doesn’t shatter our old record of 278 set back in 2002. In terms of real food during the real war this is microscopic. We now pause for three important messages:

1. Tom Lowe is my hero.

2. Red’s Savoy Pizza in Eagan MN is not an approved vendor, but my brother-in-law Howard eats there, and Nathan Dapper made the hardtack with their pizza ovens. I hope their pizza is better than their website: http://www.savoypizzaeagan.com/

3. 2nd Lt. Luke Friedrich was the commissary officer, and soon to be uber adjutant.

In looking at the numbers of paid individuals who had not RSVP’d “no” at the last moment (thank you, for those who did), we had on paper:

Co. A 21
Co. B 22
Co. D 35
Co. E 27
Co. G 32
Co. H 24
Co. K 22

Between the time the final roster was haggled out by email (using MS-Excel spreadsheet), and the time of the ration issue, several individuals were no shows. This doesn’t include the four fellows who are looking for their rations tonight at the other Gettysburg event on the Redding Farm.

Each company was to draw rations and prepare them in their company areas. Little did we know our battalion was to have people spread from Chambersburg to the the Old Cyclorama, but I digress. On Wednesday, we printed out duplicate rosters for seven companies in Texas Hero font, so the 3rd Sergeant could have a copy, and the commissary could also have a copy, if we had any dispute as to who paid for what. Seems 1-800-MANPOWER didn’t have any staff available with “19th century army clerk” skillsets, and I sure as heck didn’t have time to write nearly 400 names, and when all is said and done, I appreciate Company G as being the only company to actually use theirs.

Figuring the third sergeants might need a little smidge of help with all this, and not wanting to complicate the carnival atmosphere of any Gettysburg event any more than necessary, we sent along a little set of culinary hints that went through at least three authors before it reached the troops:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooking Salt Pork

“Got a skillet? Fry it. Got a couple of rammers? Broil it. Got a mess cup? Boil it. Got a board? Bake it!” OK – so you want more data than that!

BACKGROUND

What is Salt Pork? Let’s start with a primer on different kinds of pork that one might find at an event. While this is postwar information, one of the best descriptions of salt pork varieties is directly from the 1886 edition of The Grocer's Handbook:

• Mess: "Mess Pork shall be packed from sides of well-fatted hogs, cut in strips not exceeding six and one half inches wide and flanked according to diagram as nearly as possible, and not back-stripped, 196 pounds of green [not cured] meat, numbering not over sixteen pieces, including only the regular portion of flank and shoulder cuts; four layers to be packed in each barrel, with not less than forty pounds of Turk’s Island, St. Utes, or Trepanné, or 45 pounds of other good qualities of foreign or domestic coarse salt, and clear brine as strong as the salt will make it.”

• Clear: “Clear Pork shall be packed from sides of extra heavy, well-fatted hogs, cut, selected and packed in the same manner as Mess Pork, the backbone and half the rib next to it be taken out.”

• Extra Clear: “Extra Clear Pork. Same as clear, except that all the ribs and backbone shall be taken out.

• Mess Ordinary: “Mess Ordinary, or Thin Mess. Of hogs reasonably well-fatted to light for Mess Pork, cut, selected, and packed in the same manner as Mess, no restrictions whatever as to the number of pieces to the barrel.” [ This is what you will be receiving during At High Tide. – Ed.]

• Extra Prime: “Extra Prime Pork shall be made from heavy, untrimmed shoulders, cut into three pieces, according to the diagram, the leg to be cut close to the breast; to be packed 200 pounds of green meat in each barrel, with the same quantity and quality of salt as Mess Pork.”

• Prime: “Prime Mess Pork shall be made of shoulders and sides of nice, smooth and fat hogs, weighing 120 to 170 pounds each net, regularly cut into square pieces, as near 4 pounds each as possible, the shank to be cut off close to the breast; each barrel to contain 200 pounds of green meat, the proportion of 20 pieces of shoulder and 30 pieces of side cuts, and to be packed with the same quality and quantity of salt as Mess Pork. The prime pieces shall be cut free of blade bone. The shoulder pieces are not to exceed 90 pounds in each barrel. When re-salted, the brine shall be drawn off and new brine added.”

And as an aside...the 1911 edition of The Food Companion, there is also "Fat Back" which is defined as: “Often confused with salt pork (which comes from the sides and belly of a pig) fat back is the fresh layer (not salted or smoked) of fat that runs along the animal’s back. It is used to make lard and cracklings and used for cooking.” In the same publication, Salt Pork is defined as being “So named because it is salt-cured, this is a layer of fat (usually with some streaks of lean) that is cut from the pig’s belly and sides. Salt pork is often confused with fat back, which is unsalted.”

Please be very careful at the grocery store, there are some brands of slab and sliced bacon that is not salt or smoked cured, but is just "regular" bacon to which salt and artificial smoke flavoring has been added. Since it is neither salt nor smoked cured, it is NOT cured meat, and will spoil and poison one in short order.

"The westward migration owes much to salt pork. For pioneers, it was considered a staple in every larder. Homesteaders prized it above hard money. Salt pork begins as the fatty parts from the back, side, or belly of a hog. Fattier than bacon, it was cured by the dry-salt method but not smoked. Western cooks used it as a flavor and as a supplement to meat. Unlike meat, salt pork would keep awhile without spoiling. The flavor imparted to foods is unique to itself. At a time when spice racks were usually unavailable, salt pork served heroically with bland foods. [Soldiers] often carried salt pork. They fried it, sopping hardtack in the grease, thereby softening what was an otherwise jawbreaking form of bread. Cowhands in line camps generally dredged slices of salt pork in flour and then fried it. The grease served as a substitute for butter. By modern taste standards, it sounds pretty dreadful. Old-timers were damn glad to get it. The alternative was to go hungry. Off in the wilderness, several days might pass before some form of game found its way into the cooking pot. Salt pork, bread, and coffee provided a welcome supper and sustenance for tomorrow's hardships." From Matt Braun, Western Cooking.

FIELD PREPARATION

Now, armed with history, what to do with this plump portion of porcine goodness?

• Boiled Salt Pork: “Soak salt pork for several hours. Dump water and refill with fresh water. Bring to a boil. After it has thoroughly cooked, remove the fat and enjoy the meat (what little there is of it.)”

• Smith’s Original Recipe - (The Compleat Housewife - Eliza Smith, London, 1758; reprinted London, 1994) - "General Directions for Boiling" which mentions that: All salt meat must be put in when the water is cold; but fresh meat, not till it boils; and as many pounds as your piece weighs, so many quarters of an hour it will require in boiling.”

• Viele’s Extra Crispy Recipe (Handbook for Active Service) - Get your frying-pan very hot, put in some fat pork which will immediately melt, then put in the meat you wish to fry, (a small teaspoonful of salt and a quarter of a teaspoonful of pepper to every pound of meat.) When done, lay the meat on a dish, add a pint of water to the fatin the frying-pan, a few slices of onions, or 2 teaspoonsful of vinegar; thicken it with a little flour and pour it over the cooked meat. Any sauce, or a fewchopped pickles, may be substituted for the vinegar or onions.

• Western Brigade Salt Pork Fingers - “Soak for several hours. Cut into small strips. Fry in grease or butter if available. Great when added with fried potatoes.”

• Kautz’s Advice on Boiled Salt Pork. (Customs of Service) – “Salt pork is usually boiled. As with salt beef, it should be well soaked to extract the salt, and then boiled for three or four hours. The grease, which should be skimmed off and saved, may be used in various ways as a substitute for lard: in the field, however, this cannot well be done. In permanent camps and garrison it can be saved, and, if not used, can be sold to advantage and will serve to increase the company fund. When issued to small messes, salt pork, like fresh beef, can be broiled on the coals; but this is a very wasteful method of preparing it.”

• Adamson’s Salt Pork Suggestion (Grandmother in the Kitchen) – “Soak salt pork (cut into slices for broiling or frying) in a one to two quarts milk and water; soak it over night if it is for breakfast, and for several hours before any other meal. The milk maybe either fresh or sour, and it is diluted with an equal quantity of water. Before cooking the slices, rinse them in water until it is clear. It will be found a very excellent method, and when once adopted will invariably be the choice of preparation.”

• Adamson’s Salt Pork and Sour Apples. (Grandmother in the Kitchen) – “This makes a very satisfying summer dinner when served with Boiled New Potatoes. Cut the slices of pork; lay them in cold water in the spider (a spider is a frying pan with legs on the bottom - ed.); boil them for 2 to 3 minutes; then pour off the water and set the spider again on the coals; now dredge the slices in cornmeal seasoned with pepper and brown them on both sides in the spider. In another spider, fry 1/2 inch slices of good tart cored but unpeeled apples in butter or drippings after dredging them in a little flour mixed with a pinch of cinnamon or ginger. Serve the pork and apples together.”

• Viele’s Pork Soup for 25 men. (Handbook for Active Service) - In 6 gallons of cold water put 12 pounds of pork, 3 quarts of beans, 2 pounds of rice, season to suit; let boil one hour and a half. Soak the beans over night.

• Braun’s Pork and Red-Eye Gravy. (Matt Braun, Western Cooking) – “Fry pork in skillet. Remove pork but leave drippings. For each pound of pork, add 1/2 cup strong black coffee to pan drippings. Stir constantly and bring to boil. Serve over pork and crackers.”

• Viele’s Stewed Salt Pork or Beef for 25 men. (Handbook for Active Service) – “ Wash the meat well, let it soak all night, wash out the salt as much as possible; 8 pounds of salt beef, 5pounds of salt pork, 1/3 of a pound of sugar, 2 pounds of sliced onions, 0 quarts of water, and a pound of rice; let it simmer gently for two or three hours.”

• Viele’s Salt Pork with Potatoes and Cabbage for 25 men. (Handbook for Active Service) – “Take 15 pounds of pork, extract the bones, 3 pounds of potatoes, 2 winter cabbages, let it boil for two hours; 10 quarts of water. Serve the meat with vegetables round it. The gravy will make a good broth with peas, beans, or rice added, also a little onion. Ship biscuit broken into the broth makes a very nutritious soup.”

You will be surprised how good it tastes. Salt pork goes well with the assistance of a wedge of cabbage, or green apples, some dried apples, rice, corn meal, wheat flour, turnips, greens, onion, poke salad, wild onions, rutabaga, parsnips, salsify, green beans, dried beans, sauerkraut, potatoes, soaked hardtack, canned tomatoes, ground black pepper, curry powder, molasses, melado, demerara, turbinado, ground hominy, powdered mustard, tumeric, water…use your imagination. Take your time preparing your meals, and remember the old campaigner adage: “Burnt Food Sucks!”

So, let's say you are at an event near the end of June along a woodline adjoining a field west of a small creek in Adams County, Pennsylvania, not far from a covered bridge, and someone has boiled the living heck out of a couple of kettles of salt pork. They are issuing pieces of hot salt pork (that you think is way too small) and they toss it still steaming in your haversack atop a collection of hard crackers. Let's hope your coffee and sugar didn't get in the bottom of that mess. Did it? Oh, well, but there is yet another life lesson learned.

What to do? Stare at it for a while. Note the pretty rainbow colors in the greasy water dripping from the sides. Long for a potato or two – these might be a good thing to bring along! In recent years, I have become a real fan of desiccated potatoes, and when provided with a meat ration, some great hash can be made whether you have beef, chicken, turkey, salt beef, ham, salt pork, mystery meat, or even certain fish. Harmony House ( www.harmonyhousefoods.com ) sells desiccated potatoes for a reasonable price, has great customer service, and dang near delivers even large quantities overnight.

Period variety heirloom rice can be purchased from Anson Mills:

http://www.ansonmills.com/page22/page35/page35.html

THE RATION DETAIL

It will behoove your sergeant charged with subsistence matters to have with his company level mess detail at least the minimum of:


• Two sheet iron (mild steel) mess kettles – One for meat, and one for coffee.
• Two mess pans (optional) – Serving hot meat.
• Three clean gum blankets, rubber side up – Fetching crackers and meat.
• Two empty, clean, haversacks or issue feed bags – Fetching coffee and sugar.
• One axe (sharp) or froe (dull) – Splitting wood.
• One hatchet (sharp enough to shave) – Hacking through bone.
• One side knife (very sharp) – To portion meat.
• One nice, clean, scoured, board approximately 12” x 18” – Cutting surface for meat.
• One skimmer (can make one from a can) – Collecting and reserving the grease.
• One empty can – Keeping the grease.
• Two empty wooden boxes – Ration storage for late arrivals.
• One sharp bayonet – Moving the meet around in the kettle.
• One pint ladle – Removing the meat.
• Two wool mess rags (thick) – Handling the kettles.
• Four huck/other period type towels – Two for coffee and sugar, and two for clean up.
• One match safe stocked with matches in good order – Fire starting.
• Soap – Clean up.
• Firestarter – We gave away enough USCC pamphlets at Winter 1864 to burn Chicago, so use some of them.
• One good headcount per company – Not just of warm bodies, but of those who actually paid for rations. Writing this on a ration request form would be most helpful.

HINTS FOR THE CULINARY CHALLENGED

• Fill your canteen prior to arrival.
• Clean and check the working order of your fork, spoon, and pocketknife.
• Sharpen that dull pocketknife.
• Clean your mess equipment. Dirty mess gear can and will test your ability to sprint.
• A wool mess rag (hand sized blanket scraps do nicely) can and will prevent burns.
• Wash that nasty huck towel.
• Provide yourself with a seasonal fresh vegetable or two.
• Put at least three poke bags or wrapping rags in the haversack.
• A chip of soap is most useful.
• Refill your tooth powder. Find your toothbrush.
• Bring something to trade with your neighbor.
• A small tin of salve (Vaseline or Bag Balm will do) will keep you in the game once the galding starts in your most tender twig-n-berries region.

I should have printed one copy, folded it into the shape of a paper airplane, and whipped that pamphlet out of the nearest open window, but back to the food. Each one of the company forms had a code on it. The code looked like 31-168-2.5, which was from Company K, by the way. This indicated 31 pounds of salt pork, 168 crackers, and 2.5 pounds of coffee (5 scoops).This was their ration quantity, and no matter what their form stated, they were getting the amount in the code, or slightly less based on no-shows.

The ration issue itself was comical. A commissary needs a little room to lay out the rations, and we had just that…a little room. What normally takes a gum blanket was reduced to a hardcracker box top. I kept waiting for some rube to tie off his shebang on one of the barrels. Somehow we got through the ration issue. One comical character walked up with a piece of cloth for his piece of meat. That told me just how much pre-event information came his way, or he was from some other battalion and assumed we’d give him some salt pork. Yep, probably a Hoosier….

What was that yellow/brown meat that looked like wet bacon?

To be continued….

[Charles Heath]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

There is a Wee Toad in My Rations, Part III

Don't tell the rest of the companies, or they'll want one, too.

Over the months, we talked about more stearite candles such as the ones issued for years and years, but didn’t’ actually buy any. Ikea is the current vendor for these, although we still haven’t completely resolved the fluted end aspect. The good news is we didn’t really need any candles, either, as nature’s own bolts from the sky illuminated the camps just fine. Just change the numbers around and the emails, usually several pages in length, had plenty of comments such as this one: “Right now we have 171 paid for rations out of 201 The way I look at it we have 180 folks that have paid for rations. We will have between 17 and 20 officers. Maybe 2 more with Steve Dunfee and Mark Hernbroth. 2407 crackers! We'll be between 2,800 and 3,000 when done.” Time for another one of those important messages:

“To Salt Pork.--Lay in the bottom of the barrel a layer of solar salt, one and a half inch thick; pack the pork edgewise as compact as possible, cover it with a layer of salt as thick as the bottom layer, then pack another layer of pork and the same quantity of salt, etc., until the whole is packed, finishing with a layer of salt. Make a brine as strong as possible of solar salt, put a weight on the pork, and pour on the brine, until it is covered several inches. A hog weighing two hundred and fifty pounds is the best weight to buy; be sure the hog is cornfed, not fatted on still-slops, as the pork to be hard must be fatted on corn. When pork is taken from the barrel, be careful that no part of the meat is left above the brine; if this happens, it will become wormy." - (Haskell's Housekeeper's Encyclopedia, 1861, p. 362) as provided by Hank Trent

At some point, an officers’ mess was requested for a forecast headcount of 20 with this message: “I am writing to get you two to begin organizing an officer's mess for AHT that combines the WB and FFD staffs into one 'pool.” In addition to the switchel for the march, they wanted modern electrolytes in the form of Gatorade. This is a reasonable off the shelf facsimile of period powdered lemonade. By the time all was said and done, the expenses on this end (not counting crackers, multiple corps badges, alt. source salt pork, and donated items) looked like this:

Salt Pork: $310.25
Coffee & Sugar: $79.84
Molasses: $19.92
Officer Feed: $48.47
Electrolytes: $18.84

Right now, some thoughtful wag is estimating somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 people paid at mostly $10 per man, plus the $20 club, and……

So we had an officers’ mess going, and a partial issue for what became 7 infantry companies. We have become so accustomed to 2-4 company battalions, that it was darn nice having 7 companies. In a battalion arrangement we last dealt with 9 in 2002, and 10 in 1997. Strictly on the basis of number of companies, the latter would constitute a regiment, although it only had 385 officers and men in formation. To paraphrase some other folks lately, a larger group makes one feel as if part of an army, and not some isolated patrol or outpost. This mission statement, in terms of numbers, was: “The Western Brigade will be fielding a regiment at "At High Tide." Our primary portrayal will be the First Minnesota Volunteers - and we hope to be near full strength with 8 to 10 companies of approx. 30 men each.” Not bad. I was hoping our magic number would be 262.

When the ill-fated “brigade ration issue” concept was being flitted about, we only had two requests. First and foremost was this one: “…what I don't want to see is an 800-man ‘chow line." At some events, where we are the company cookhouse (Fort Ontario COI 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and Fort Donelson NPS LH 2006 is an excellent example) this works well, or at events where we are the CW version of a battalion consolidated dining facility (Camp Curtin NCWM LH 2002, Shiloh NPS LH 2007, Vicksburg NPS LH 2007) we can feed a company at a time. Sometimes the whole herd comes up to the feed shed all at once no matter what you do. The second request was a little more ephemeral, “Rather than just fling rations at the troops, I'd like to see these guys run through the paperwork drill. I last did brigade level food service paperwork for Case's brigade in 1998.” Unfortunately, we had neither brigade nor division level staff at Andersburg, so the paperwork stopped at the battalion level. The good news is the company level generation was accomplished, and done well, I might add. If any of the orderly sergeants played the add-a-head game, we’ll never know (unless they speak up), because we had neither a Friday strength report, nor did their numbers actually count this time around. The partial issue was predetermined, as previously mentioned. Now, we break a moment for yet another important message:

"The manufacturing of the rations is the real time consumer. The distribution is a relatively easy affair with some assistance in the counting out portion. We used a runner to go to each company, contact the sergeant and advise him to gather up a small group of "volunteers" armed with sacks, shelter halves and/or rubber blankets and immediately head to the commissary. They should know the correct number to draw forbefore arriving. As they are finishing up, the next would be notified and so on. How the sergeant distributes the rations was none of our business but doing it the "Hardtack and Coffee" method is always a point of remembrance for the participants (the piles laid out on a gum blanket and the sergeant with his back turned calls out a name to the question, "And who shall have this?". – Marc Benedict

Perhaps the most prophetic remark was this one: “This may be a good time to break out the spreadsheet and figure out who-may-be-forming-what in terms of the division. As difficult as this is at the battalion level (and why I no longer fool with being an adjutant), I can only imagine what it is like at division with some AAG who comes out of the woodwork once or twice each year.”

So, with about a month before the dance begins, we come up with the following missive to jiggle a few things in place: “We are about 3 weeks from the end of registration, and 5 weeks prior to the event itself, so this is a good time to find out if the battalion has been organized into companies, and the names of the company commanders. Outside of our conversations about rations, the sum total of battalion level information can be summed up in two words: "radio silence." My guess is there has been info distributed, but it hasn't been getting into the hands of those who can use it….”

Other than the absence of any and all functional federal staff above the battalion level, the lack of commo will get a good mention in the event AAR. Then again, when I read something like this, I sigh and just about swoon: “…and we had been given biographies of each man in the unit we were to portray. This is an innovative and very historic idea.” Somewhere around 9 out of 10 events have done that over the past ten years. Where does this fellow reenact? Anyway, if a little history is a first time eye popping, spank his ass, and call him Sally moment for him, that’s a good thing.

I had that same wondermus feeling as Jubilo when I quoted Col. Parr the commercial price for the amount of hardtack we needed: “Bent's Price for this amount of tack is is $2,043.60 (Does Not Include Shipping).” We all had to change our underwear after that “magic moment.”

In our recruiting for this event, we went through a number of people. Most of the people I know were smart enough to stay the Hell home. Rob Carter was invited, but he was already gigged to be some kind of staff officer. I hope he was able to attend the event. We didn’t see him the whole weekend. Ron Myzie came by for a minute to bring us a case of gout or lumbago, and I’m sure he was up to his neck in some kind of officering at Andersburg. Just what we don’t know. Bev did get his bread to him. Neill Rose, Terry Sorchy, Don Smith, Marc Benedict, Joe Smotherman, Kevin Kelley, and some other names were bobbled about. Considering we had a Terri with an I, and Terre with an E, I’m not sure we needed a Terry with a Y at this event in one spot. Instead, we got Dave. Find out where the Dave tree is located and pick a few more of these. He’s a keeper. Terre Lawson provided adult supervision for all of us, and was a darn fine “auto pen” for Col. Parr.

Yes, this is eventually going somewhere, but we have another important message:

In conscequence of the attack on Murfreesboro where our troops so ingloriously surrendered, we have been on half rations ever since we reached this place (July 14th). You should not think from this that we are in a suffering condition. Far from it. European officers have often (stated) that our army wasted an amount of provisions that would maintain one in Europe. One of the most silly things our government ever did was increasing the soldiers rations. It has made them wasteful. You would be astonished to see the amount left in our camps when we are on a march....." - Col. Horatio Van on July 27, 1862

This dovetails into another conversation, and that is one of waste and authentic foodstuffs. Anything more than about half rations tends to get wasted. For the lesser items, such as molasses and vinegar (even if made into switchel), a scant sample works best. The boys will chow down on some coffee and even those who claim only to like it black will tend to use some raw sugar in theirs at an event. Being a child of parents who grew up during the Great Depression, wasting food is one of those ingrained "bad things."

One of the most interesting side trips was the discussion about whether to have or not have a regimental sutler. History won out (how rare), but in this instance I have to say it would have been a real joy to have had Ezra Barnhouse set up (for the third time in two years) next to our operation on the correct location on the battalion street. This worked well at Shiloh 2007 and at Vicksburg 2007 where the cookhouse had bland food and the sutler had plenty of condiments at the former, and at the latter John Crabb personally planted those shade trees some four decades before. Okay, maybe a bit of a stretch with that one, but his gift of a keg of ginger beer at Andersburg was most greatly appreciated. The dregs from the keg of brown ale went into the beans, and provided a marvelous taste.

Our modest little firepit cranked out a bit of food Saturday evening in spite of the canceled tactical. We had a right fair spread planned for the gathered masses of the bestrapped and hard(ly) working officers within the battalion. The evening menu for the 9 pm Officer’s Dinner was:

Desiccated Vegetable & Ham Soup
Barbequed Pork in Mustard Sauce
Curried Cabbage with Salt Pork
Brown Ale Beans with Bacon
Fresh Bread with Butter
Fruit Pies
Lemonade
Ginger Beer
Coffee

For 20 people, that is. The scant sprinkle kept all but 6 away, and that included Silas Tackitt, a member of the friendly (when famished) Rebbanese Liberation Army, who wandered over dazed, confused, sleepy, a couple of quarts low on fluid and hoping to find a Starbucks. He liked the beans, and the men quartered around Silas later that evening reported unusually brisk “field music” in his immediate vicinity. Dave Penkert and I distributed the above mentioned largesse to the starving masses huddled in their shebangs staying dry in the lukewarm mist, which had now turned into a driving fog. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. One thing about the vast majority of the fellows I know, is that I have you people trained. If I walk by a shebang day or night, and say “cups, boys, cups!,” then a bunch of empty tin cups appear at the ready. If I say “plates!” the same happens for that especial implement of dining destruction. These people were “Huh? What?” Yewgawtsum’n?” I mean really, what would the Original Confederate Ninja do?

In the end, we had a couple of pounds of coffee left in the box. We’d brought some extra, since men drink a lot more coffee if the weather turns rainy and that gloomy summer chill sets in. Thankfully, the rain didn’t last long. Of the 160 crackers for the officers’ mess set out Saturday morning, not many were taken. A good 1/3 of a box remained, and we had at least that much left in the enlisted cracker box. Plenty of molasses was leftover, as was a good amount of vinegar. That molasses jug hasn’t been empty since before the Bentonville 2000 campaigner adjunct ration issue, so it will be folded over into the next event, as was the half gallon in the jug this time around. As to the meat, if this table comes out, this is the break down of how close the forecasting and reality came to the salt pork ration, in pounds:


A (Beedle) +3.5
B (Cooper) 0
D (Owens) +2
E (Ganz) +0.5
G (Shaw) -3
H (Butler) 0
K (Skalak) +3.5

Not bad. We also had a whole ham (officer’s mess), a hefty addition of that yellow/brown alleged “salt pork” that looked like wet back from Minnesota, and two nice chunks of slab bacon added to the mix. The slab bacon went into the brown ale beans exclusively. Those beans were good. Maybe it was the rain and cool temps, but they were exceptionally good. Dang if I know why.

How did one man get that barrel of salt pork onto the back of a truck by himself? If you remember the giggle in the CWH article where I mentioned we should have put the barrel with 100 pounds of pork into the back of the truck FIRST (before loading it), that should be a clue. I put the barrel in the back of the truck, transferred the pork and brine from the two large plastic containers, and reheaded it. The bigger question was how was one many going to remove the barrel, well, let’s just say the 2,500 lb come-along and two stump pulling chains would have made getting that barrel on the ramps pretty easy. I’d practiced with a full water barrel the week before. It was fun watching you fellows use the Armstrong method to offload the pork. I did see a couple of fellows who could have picked up that whole barrel and tossed it, but they were smart enough to be invisible during the offloading. Would that we had only had a wagon; however, with all the modern transportation needs on Thursday and Friday, I’m glad that I did not bring mine.

Magic moment: Watching a fellow I don’t even know take an axe to the head of the salt pork barrel, and watching Luke figure out his new officer’s frock might just get a good splashing if he didn’t move away from the point of action.

While this has bored most of you to tears, at least a few fellows will have mined a few nuggets to use in future events. That is what AARs used to be about

[nrandolph]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

Charles,

Thanks for all the acquisition phase and description of the operation you oversaw. I'll have to say that in stopping by for those few moments on Saturday, I was impressed. All the info you've posted is extremely interesting to me since I've somehow become a kind of Quartermaster/cook in training for some recent events.

I've lately taken to going back to my older relatives that actually grew up on a working farm and asking them questions about how this and that were done in the day. It's helped that I still remember my Grandmother's preparation for several easy to fix food items that are useful for CW cooking and frankly just not that far removed from the era when one factors in that she probably picked up the same ideas from her grandmother.

Of course, there is the Bill Watson method we put to use for the officers last week which is; make a good pot of stew the first evening and keep chucking the leftovers in and boiling...it did actually make the Saturday stew, with the addition of beans and corned beef and other things, even better than the fine stew we had Friday!

At any rate, your posts have been fun and enlightening for me to read and I thank you for taking the time to go through it all with those of us who enjoy that type of thing. Looking forward to "The Death March" in late August in northeastern Pa. Hope you'll be able to get registered soon if you haven't and maybe some folks looking for a real nice campaign event will join Doug Oakes and his group up there!

Neil Randolph
1st WV

[Hank Trent]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

Charles,

It sounds like you put in an incredible amount of work recreating period rations. Wow. I hope everyone who got them appreciated all the hard work.

At some point, an officers’ mess was requested for a forecast headcount of 20 with this message: “I am writing to get you two to begin organizing an officer's mess for AHT that combines the WB and FFD staffs into one 'pool.” In addition to the switchel for the march, they wanted modern electrolytes in the form of Gatorade.

I was over in CS medical camp, where we had to bring our own rations and I brought some for my officer too. While I was talking to another Confederate cook, he gave me the usual spiel about how vital Gatorade and coolers were for health. As I said to my officer before the event began, "I can estimate how many milligrams of sodium, potassium and magnesium I'm consuming per day on what I've brought. I wonder how many of those who insist on Gatorade for health reasons can do the same?"

So out of curiosity, here's a good chance to ask. Did the officers calculate the daily electrolytes, discover they were inadequate, and recalculate with the Gatorade included, and if so, what were the figures? What do they consider a good target amount?

That's not a question for you so much as the officers, since you were just doing what you were ordered. But I'm curious how much actual thought is put into the men's health by the officers, and how much is just a casual attitude: "Oh, Gatorade's supposed to be good. Just give 'em some of that."

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[unionprivate]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

This is related to the High Tide event, sort of. Did anyone out there happen to find the base of a flag pole somewhere between the Army of the Ohio camp and the parking lot behind the barn opposite side of the road? It would appear that it came out of the bag that carried the colors for the Army of the Ohio for the weekend. Please ask around! If found, please email me: unionprivate@verizon.net

Thanx in advance for your help!!!

[flattop32355]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

That's not a question for you so much as the officers, since you were just doing what you were ordered. But I'm curious how much actual thought is put into the men's health by the officers, and how much is just a casual attitude: "Oh, Gatorade's supposed to be good. Just give 'em some of that."

Hank, wasn't it you a while back that calculated the amount of Gatorade one would have to drink to replace electrolytes, and found it near impossible for it to do much good?

[DougCooper]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

Charles,

It sounds like you put in an incredible amount of work recreating period rations. Wow. I hope everyone who got them appreciated all the hard work.



I was over in CS medical camp, where we had to bring our own rations and I brought some for my officer too. While I was talking to another Confederate cook, he gave me the usual spiel about how vital Gatorade and coolers were for health. As I said to my officer before the event began, "I can estimate how many milligrams of sodium, potassium and magnesium I'm consuming per day on what I've brought. I wonder how many of those who insist on Gatorade for health reasons can do the same?"

So out of curiosity, here's a good chance to ask. Did the officers calculate the daily electrolytes, discover they were inadequate, and recalculate with the Gatorade included, and if so, what were the figures? What do they consider a good target amount?

That's not a question for you so much as the officers, since you were just doing what you were ordered. But I'm curious how much actual thought is put into the men's health by the officers, and how much is just a casual attitude: "Oh, Gatorade's supposed to be good. Just give 'em some of that."

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

Hank - for good officers this is an obsession, as it is in the real military. Same with good NCO's. Our calculations never include Gatorade, but plenty of water, food, shade and rest...and Switchel when we can get it :D

[Hank Trent]

Re: At High Tide Federal Campaigners

Hank - for good officers this is an obsession, as it is in the real military. Same with good NCO's. Our calculations never include Gatorade, but plenty of water, food, shade and rest...and Switchel when we can get it :D

Out of curiosity, how many electrolytes do you calculate providing per man per day, for a summer event requiring exertion, like AHT? If this is an important consideration for the health of the men when rations are supplied in hot weather, I'm curious what targets others are aiming for.

For myself, I try to provide a bare minimum of 4,000 mg sodium, 4,000 mg potassium and 400 mg magnesium. Another 1,000 mg of the first two is better. Seems to work for me, but I'm curious what's figured as an average sufficient electrolyte consumption for a large group of men.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net