Staying warm while on the run

[Marissa]

As Bummers will be my first authentic event, the one main thing I am worried about is staying warm. I planning on portraying a refugee that has come down with pneumonia by the events end. I might be shooting myself in the foot for this but I feel as someone with a slower pace due to the infection, I may not be in the best physical shape to haul all of my belongings. I was mainly concerned with proper bedding and what I might be able to carry as a woman on the run. I was wondering about a paleote and how common they might be for a woman of little means. Thanks!

[KarinTimour]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

Marrisa:

There are many others who are much better qualified than I to speak to the paletote issue. My advice is to think layers, and to practice carrying what you plan to bring. Put it all on and see how much it weighs. See how far you can carry it, and remember that you'll probably have to haul it through broken ground, up hills, through bushes and underbrush.

When I refugeed, I used to make a blanket roll to carry my bedding. I'd bring two oilcloths -- one for over you and one for under you. At Mahon's Outpost it frosted one night and I didn't have an oil cloth over my entire blanket. The frost melted and wet me and my blanket to the skin. Got me up about 4:30, when I really could have used every minute of possible sleep.

With regard to your own gear, think about layers, and making sure that you don't have any gaps anywhere -- scarves, gloves, pulsewarmers, wristers, knitted hoods, shawls are all wonderful tools. A wool dress with a wool flannel petticoat (or two) would be vital as well. Thin wool socks, preferably two layers, in your shoes would be a very smart idea as well. Wool drawers would be toasty, and if you have any worries about it, knitted kneewarmers are period and amazing.

If you have the option to go with one thicker layer vs. two thinner ones for any of the above, go for the two thinner layers. They will keep you much, much warmer, and you'll have a lot more flexibility than if you just have one thick layer.

My thoughts, your milage may vary,
Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Sleeping Hats, Balaclavas
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[Spinster]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

Karin covered the subject throughly.

All I have to add is some additional lessons learned.

At IPW, in a driving rain, a wool dress and a wool petticoat held up admirably and I was not nearly as chilled as some. What proved to be a shining example of A Poor Choice was the cotton petticoat sandwiched in between-it soaked up an astounding amount of water.

And while Georgia in November is not New York in February, and may very well be nice weather, I'll still likely opt for the same outfit worn at the latter: a wool petticoat, wool dress, topped by a second outfit, a loose fitting wool sacque and petticoat. One way to leave home with all your belongings is to wear them.

[Emma Bilgewater]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

I was at IPW with Mrs. Lawson enjoying that wonderful rain, plus I deal with cold at night all summer here, so this is from lots of other experiences, too. My coat at IPW was wool - it was great. I also had a wool sontag - I wear it all the time because it's light and warm. I was wearing a linen/cotton blend dress with lots of petticoats - it wasn't bad, but I wish I had worn wool, which I debated for a while and made the wrong choice. Head and feet are key for me - warm, dry socks and something to put on your head will do a lot for you. Wool is the key for both ends. I wore a slat bonnet, but I will have a wool hood next time I do this sort of thing. I brought wool mittens, and was cursing them the 1st couple of days because it was so warm, but so glad I had them when the cold set in.

I carried an oil cloth, a wool blanket, and a rubber poncho. I cursed the weight at first, but got used to it and was glad to have it from day one. Keeping as dry as possible is key to staying warm. Having someone to curl up with at night was really important - get over the stigma of sleeping close to another woman because it makes a humongous difference. The other lady in my group and I made it through that last really cold, miserable night by sitting up together all night huddled together in a pile under a wool blanket - uncomfortable, miserable, unending it seemed, but it worked. We were able to help haul everyone's stuff out that needed hauled.

If you have to make a choice between food, junk, and warm stuff, take warm stuff. I found I could live on jerky, dried apples and water the whole time without being hungry and tossed out all the other food I took because I wanted to get rid of the weight. I was grateful for every bit of clothing I had - you can always take it off and carry it, but if you don't have it, you're out of luck.

That was a lot of rambling, but I hope it helps,
Janet Wragge

[Drygoods]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

I notice that the others have made fine suggestions with wool petticoats, but I might suggest that a quilted petticoat might achieve the same result, but have less weight while walking. Likely it might be too late to get done now, but maybe next year?

If you do need a simple quick fix for a quilted petticoat, get your pieces laid together, reverse to the right side and then pin a product named "Borders Made Easy" which can be found at most quilt stores. It is a paper printed product with taped edges that will stick to your petticoat, pins help too, but you may then sew right over the paper and achieve a fast and accurate looking pattern. Some of the patterns are quite intricate, but the overall effect is that it will look as though you spent weeks making the pattern whereas it will only take a day in reality. It does turn out nice.

[PogueMahone]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

Just an observation ...

I would be careful of carrying military issue items, such as gum/rubber blankets or blankets, lest you be accused by soldiers of conspiring with bushwhackers or robbing soldiers, either crime landing you in shackles, sick or no.

Layers of wool will keep you warm. Well-thought-out layers can be removed if you become too warm. Wet wool will keep you warm. Walking about will warm you quickly enough. You want to trap heat in your head, the top of your back/neck, your lower back and your extremities. Block any wind with anything at hand - natural growth screen, cut brush, swells in the ground, painted cloth, a sleeping partner, etc. - and sleep near a fire. The warm side of the fire is the smokey side. That side also exhales all the sparks and such, so the pros are matched by cons.

Safety first! If you find yourself so cold you are shivering uncontrollably, despite all efforts to get warm, you need to find someone who isn't and get their help. Hypothermia may be setting in. Even if you have to wander into a nest of Yankees to beg a spot at their huge roaring fire (aka "your former home"), do it. They will make way for a woman.

[Emma Bilgewater]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

I would be careful of carrying military issue items, such as gum/rubber blankets or blankets, lest you be accused by soldiers of conspiring with bushwhackers or robbing soldiers, either crime landing you in shackles, sick or no.

Agreed! And we discussed this at length before the event, and I had decided not to have anything like that. However, we chose to take the risk of carrying the ponchos for this because we knew a bad storm would eventually hit us. I had read that the area near where we were "from" for this event was strewn with soldiers' stuff after a battle, so in my head, I had scooped the poncho up knowing I could be in trouble for carrying it. :-) It was worth the risk this time.

Janet Wragge

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

Agreed! And we discussed this at length before the event, and I had decided not to have anything like that. However, we chose to take the risk of carrying the ponchos for this because we knew a bad storm would eventually hit us. I had read that the area near where we were "from" for this event was strewn with soldiers' stuff after a battle, so in my head, I had scooped the poncho up knowing I could be in trouble for carrying it. :-) It was worth the risk this time.

Janet Wragge

I've thought about this off and on ever since "War on the James" -- I remember arguing with my officer (gently and respectfully :) )about his threats to confiscate gum blankets from some refugees. We had left thousands behind on the Peninsula, I said, and it had already probably been written off, replaced, or paid for. Plus, as the clerk, I was already writing out a receipt for the food he was confiscating and didn't want to do another for clothing.

I mean, you can't just take things...

Since then another argument has occurred to me. Mr. Smotherman's right in saying that a civilian's possession of military clothing is prima facie evidence of, at best, having purchased it from someone who had no right to sell it. But, while a sack coat or pale blue kersey trowsers are clearly military garments, you can't say the same thing about a gum blanket.

While our reproductions are pretty standard, the haul from the Maple Leaf suggests that military issue blankets came in a variety of sizes and patterns, few of which matched each other and none of which exactly matched QM specs. According to Woshner's book, a variety of rainwear was available before the war. There's no way, absent an inspector's mark, to say it was military to begin with. So the answer to this problem, should it arise, is that your gum blanket is yours, you bought it, either before the war or before the blockade kicked in.

On the other side of the question is just how a soldier is supposed to confiscate an article of clothing and what he then is supposed to do with it. There are examples of soldiers picking up civilian hats, trousers, etc. to replace worn items on the march through the Carolinas, but if the soldier is already equipped with a gum blanket, an extra one is just more weight or something that has to be explained on inspection (when the officer commanding may not accept the idea that "forage liberally on the countryside" means taking a lady's waterproof). To take it and turn it in to a quartermaster, like forage, may be more trouble than it's worth.

But that's not your problem. Just put your name on your poncho and tell that soldier to leave a lady's clothing alone.

[PogueMahone]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

Michael,

Read "With Blood and Fire". A system of receipts was created by the U.S. military and anything in your possession that you could not provide paperwork for was subject to confiscation. An individual soldier did not confiscate an item, the U.S. Army did. It wasn't taken to be run back through the QM, it was taken to deny the enemy any means of support, including clothing. A rubber cloth is a valuable item to a soldier and to take it from a southern sympathizer meant taking it from someone who might offer it to a southern soldier.

I agree that these various items were available through the public market, however, we don't have anyone making a variant gumblanket that does not compare to some degree to the military issue variety. The provost is going to make the assumption that, barring the proper paperwork, the item has been obtained illegally and may be used by the enemy and is subject to confiscation.

I've made these very arguments with myself in trying to create my civilian impression and it is the reason I commissioned a raincoat and have ordered a "private purchase" canteen and am sewing a carpet bag. I don't want to be carrying military items in case I am "captured" by the enemy, who might see me as a combatant, or arrested by my own army, who might see me as a spy.

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

Michael,

Read "With Blood and Fire". A system of receipts was created by the U.S. military and anything in your possession that you could not provide paperwork for was subject to confiscation. An individual soldier did not confiscate an item, the U.S. Army did. It wasn't taken to be run back through the QM, it was taken to deny the enemy any means of support, including clothing. A rubber cloth is a valuable item to a soldier and to take it from a southern sympathizer meant taking it from someone who might offer it to a southern soldier.

I agree that these various items were available through the public market, however, we don't have anyone making a variant gumblanket that does not compare to some degree to the military issue variety. The provost is going to make the assumption that, barring the proper paperwork, the item has been obtained illegally and may be used by the enemy and is subject to confiscation.

I've made these very arguments with myself in trying to create my civilian impression and it is the reason I commissioned a raincoat and have ordered a "private purchase" canteen and am sewing a carpet bag. I don't want to be carrying military items in case I am "captured" by the enemy, who might see me as a combatant, or arrested by my own army, who might see me as a spy.

I know receipts, Joe, believe me. :) No receipts were issued on Sherman's march, only certificates in hard cases. But it doesn't matter here because there's no more reason to take a gum blanket from a civilian than there is to deprive them of a quilt or wool blanket, which could also in theory be used by the army.

Anyway, Special Field Orders No. 120 specifically forbid trespassing and make no provision for taking clothes in the possession of individual citizens. They do specifically enjoin the army to be considerate of the less fortunate inhabitants, e.g.:

Soldiers must not enter the dwellings of the inhabitants, or commit any trespass, but during a halt or a camp they may be permitted to gather turnips, potatoes, and other vegetables, and to drive in stock of their camp.
...

VI. As for horses, mules, wagons, &c., belonging to the inhabitants, the cavalry and artillery may appropriate freely and without limit, discriminating, however, between the rich, who are usually hostile, and the poor or industrious, usually neutral or friendly. Foraging parties may also take mules or horses to replace the jaded animals of their trains, or to serve as pack-mules for the regiments or bridges. In all foraging, of whatever kind, the parties engaged will refrain from abusive or threatening language, and may, where the officer in command thinks proper, give written certificates of the facts, but no receipts, and they will endeavor to leave with each family a reasonable portion for their maintenance.

The point about modern reproduction gum blankets is that they aren't necessarily any more representative of period military gum blankets (which varied in size, number of grommets, etc.) than they are of gum blankets available to civilians (which also varied in those characteristics). And I think you can say exactly the same about painted blankets, at least any painted black. By assuming that they all create the presumption of military issue I think we run the risk of grossly simplifying the material culture of civilians and, more to the point, we're making it harder on civilian reenactors than the historical record justifies.

But I can understand you taking special precautions in your own case. You're known to many of the foragers you're likely to encounter and I'm pretty sure they're not going to cut you any slack -- I just hope your papers are in order. :)

[PogueMahone]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

Mike,

I'm marching WITH the foragers, not encountering them. I am a field correspondent for the Cincinnati Daily Commercial - my card, sir!

I believe it is well understood that the "special orders" were not followed. Those were given the "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" treatment.

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

Well, OK... I bet there's at least one foraging party that would hassle you anyway ;)

[Elaine Kessinger]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

A case in point.. about bags that look the least military.. I was recently re-enacting an event as a VA civilian with a gent who had upon his person a mail bag clearly marked "US MAIL" that he was using for a haversack. Each time we were stopped he thouroughly explained that "No, it is NOT a US Haversack. It is a Mail Bag he took with him when the post office, withwhom he had been employed, changed hands."
Hopefully it would be different with "bedding" and with a lady, but one never knows what a military re-enactor with sketchy research is gonna assume was only available to the military.
96 District Storehouse sells excellent waxed cotton fabric, would be great to get a bit to wrap food parcels in... just make sure you can get the string tied and untied quickly. :P I plan on using the fabric to make rainwear, as it has been since the 1700s. :)

Good luck with your event. It will be fun. :)

[Emma Bilgewater]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

This catalog of India Rubber and Gutta Percha Goods has some interesting stuff in it - it's dated 1856. Starting on page 8, the many items it sells are listed and pictured. The variety of items available is pretty amazing, but certainly demonstrates what one might possess if they have the funds.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZTQNAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false

Janet Wragge

[PogueMahone]

Re: Staying warm while on the run

Janet,

I have a copy of that saved to my pc at home. It is amazing what is available, BUT what as common, normal, usual, general, etc.? And what was impractical? If you've ever worn anything made of rubberized cloth, you know it can be unbearably hot, even a poncho worn for an extended period of time can drench you with sweat to the point that you wonder why you tried to keep out the rain.

Back to the question at hand, I was merely trying to point out that civilians wearing, using or simply possessing military goods would have been treated with suspicion and likely lost the item. I would steer clear of rubber blankets and any U.S. issued blankets simply to avoid any mistaken interpretations or "firper" gone awry, or simply loss of the item for the duration.