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I am considering the development of a Western Sanitary Commission interp program at Vicksburg NMP this coming summer and am interested in locating photos and construction details of period merchandise crates, sacks, barrels, etc. such as depicted on this page: http://www.nps.gov/archive/peri/supplies.htm
If you have any detailed photos and specs of period shipping containers, or links to a site with photos, please post them here. I want to get beyond hardtack and ammo crates into something representative of what the WSC would have sent to the soldiers in the western theater.
See the following excerpt from "The Western Sanitary Commission: A Sketch of Its Orgin, History, Labors for the Sick and Wounded of the Western Armies, and Aid givent to Freedmen and Union Refugees, with Incidents of Hospital Life."
The number of articles sent to Gen. Grant's army from the Western Commission during the month of June, preceding the fall of Vicksburg, was114,697, consisting of 3,090 hospital shirts, 3,080 hospital drawers, 1,260 sheets, 4,400 bandages, 2,412 bottles of Catawba wine, 1,337 cans of fresh fruit, 1,976 cans of condensed milk, 10,000 lemons, 1,600 gallons of lager beer, 5,477 Ibs. dried apples, 2,400 Ibs. dried peaches, 2,088 Ibs. codfish, 1,850 Ibs. herring, 11,710 Ibs. crackers, 23,060 Ibs. ice, 1,800 chickens, 3,171 dozen eggs, 3,068 Ibs. butter, 1,840 Ibs. corn meal, 3,145 bushels potatoes, 2,500 fans, 6,004 books and pamphlets, and of the following articles in similar proportions : Blankets, pillows, socks, slippers, handkerchiefs, towels, Ibs. of rags, Ibs. of lint, eye shades, oil silk pads, pin cushions, rolls of adhesive plaster, tourniquets, crutches, back rests, close stools, spit cups, sponges, splints, air beds, bottles of whisky, bottles of brandy, bottles of Catawba bitters, bottles of ginger wine, bottles of cassia syrup, bottles of blackbBrry syrup, Ibs. of farina, Ibs. of corn starch, Ibs. of oat meal, Ibs. of arrowroot, Ibs. of tapioca, Ibs. of sago, Ibs. of pinola, Ibs. of flaxseed, Ibs. of cassia, Ibs. of allspice, Ibs. of mustard, Ibs. of nutmegs, Ibs. of pepper, bottles of pepper sauce, bottles of horseradish, bottles of tomato catsup, bottles of cranberry sauce, bottles of flavoring extracts, cans of clams and oysters, cans of spiced tripe, cans of jelly, cans of condensed soup, cans of cocoa paste, Ibs. of chocolate, cans of portable lemonade, gallons of ale, bottles of drugs, bottles of extract of ginger, Ibs. of dried small fruit, Ibs. of dried beef, Ibs. of extract of beef, Ibs. of mackerel, Ibs. of cheese, Ibs. of bread; Ibs. of zwieback, Ibs. of coffee, Ibs, of tea, Ibs. of sugar, Ibs. of sour krout, gallons of pickles, gallons of vinegar, bottles of sour krout, gallons of pickles, gallons of vinegar, bottles of fine pickles, ibs. of carbonate of soda, Ibs. of saleratus, Ibs. of citric acid, Ibs. of castile soap, Cook's Manual, stationery, faucets, combs and brushes, Ibs. of hops, Ibs. of tobacco, bread trays, water coolers, scales, cooking stoves, brooms, tin cups, tin basins, tin plates, tin boilers, tin buckets, tin dippers, tin skimmers, coffee pots, tea pots, spoons, stew pans, cork screws, knives and forks, and iron boilers.
Fortunate was it for these brave men that so much preparation and provision had been made for their comfort, and that loving hearts and kind hands had labored for them at home, sending contributions and agents, and volunteer surgeons and nurses, after them, wherever the fortunes of war had led them, to assist in binding up their wounds, in nursing them when sick, and in making them whole. On the fall of Vicksburg, on the following 4th of July, none rejoiced more than these untitled heroes, in the celebration of that day, by so great a victory, and none were more worthy to claim their share of its honors, and to partake in the glory of this, the greatest achievement of
the war.
If you have any detailed photos and specs of period shipping containers, or links to a site with photos, please post them here. I want to get beyond hardtack and ammo crates into something representative of what the WSC would have sent to the soldiers in the western theater.
See the following excerpt from "The Western Sanitary Commission: A Sketch of Its Orgin, History, Labors for the Sick and Wounded of the Western Armies, and Aid givent to Freedmen and Union Refugees, with Incidents of Hospital Life."
The number of articles sent to Gen. Grant's army from the Western Commission during the month of June, preceding the fall of Vicksburg, was114,697, consisting of 3,090 hospital shirts, 3,080 hospital drawers, 1,260 sheets, 4,400 bandages, 2,412 bottles of Catawba wine, 1,337 cans of fresh fruit, 1,976 cans of condensed milk, 10,000 lemons, 1,600 gallons of lager beer, 5,477 Ibs. dried apples, 2,400 Ibs. dried peaches, 2,088 Ibs. codfish, 1,850 Ibs. herring, 11,710 Ibs. crackers, 23,060 Ibs. ice, 1,800 chickens, 3,171 dozen eggs, 3,068 Ibs. butter, 1,840 Ibs. corn meal, 3,145 bushels potatoes, 2,500 fans, 6,004 books and pamphlets, and of the following articles in similar proportions : Blankets, pillows, socks, slippers, handkerchiefs, towels, Ibs. of rags, Ibs. of lint, eye shades, oil silk pads, pin cushions, rolls of adhesive plaster, tourniquets, crutches, back rests, close stools, spit cups, sponges, splints, air beds, bottles of whisky, bottles of brandy, bottles of Catawba bitters, bottles of ginger wine, bottles of cassia syrup, bottles of blackbBrry syrup, Ibs. of farina, Ibs. of corn starch, Ibs. of oat meal, Ibs. of arrowroot, Ibs. of tapioca, Ibs. of sago, Ibs. of pinola, Ibs. of flaxseed, Ibs. of cassia, Ibs. of allspice, Ibs. of mustard, Ibs. of nutmegs, Ibs. of pepper, bottles of pepper sauce, bottles of horseradish, bottles of tomato catsup, bottles of cranberry sauce, bottles of flavoring extracts, cans of clams and oysters, cans of spiced tripe, cans of jelly, cans of condensed soup, cans of cocoa paste, Ibs. of chocolate, cans of portable lemonade, gallons of ale, bottles of drugs, bottles of extract of ginger, Ibs. of dried small fruit, Ibs. of dried beef, Ibs. of extract of beef, Ibs. of mackerel, Ibs. of cheese, Ibs. of bread; Ibs. of zwieback, Ibs. of coffee, Ibs, of tea, Ibs. of sugar, Ibs. of sour krout, gallons of pickles, gallons of vinegar, bottles of sour krout, gallons of pickles, gallons of vinegar, bottles of fine pickles, ibs. of carbonate of soda, Ibs. of saleratus, Ibs. of citric acid, Ibs. of castile soap, Cook's Manual, stationery, faucets, combs and brushes, Ibs. of hops, Ibs. of tobacco, bread trays, water coolers, scales, cooking stoves, brooms, tin cups, tin basins, tin plates, tin boilers, tin buckets, tin dippers, tin skimmers, coffee pots, tea pots, spoons, stew pans, cork screws, knives and forks, and iron boilers.
Fortunate was it for these brave men that so much preparation and provision had been made for their comfort, and that loving hearts and kind hands had labored for them at home, sending contributions and agents, and volunteer surgeons and nurses, after them, wherever the fortunes of war had led them, to assist in binding up their wounds, in nursing them when sick, and in making them whole. On the fall of Vicksburg, on the following 4th of July, none rejoiced more than these untitled heroes, in the celebration of that day, by so great a victory, and none were more worthy to claim their share of its honors, and to partake in the glory of this, the greatest achievement of
the war.
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