Bill,

First, We do keep our tents laid out in a military fashion.  We keep everything that should not be seen inside the tents.  Second, they are always kept closed except for one that is opened for display.  That one we have set for the spectators to see how it would be set if we were actually using tentaage.  It would be set with sleeping for six to eight troopers.  All are set with the bedrolls on the ground.  We do explain that most times our cavalry unit would not have been using these tents and would have used the bedrolls on the ground with or without the fire.  We show them how it goes on the saddle.  It is a compromise but one we make that educates while also accommodating our group.

Quote :

trappedonrr wrote : Does this mean I have to give up my 16" TV that I had planned to put in a wood crate? No, seriously.  As a New Guy I know that there are certain faux-pass that happens with us.  But there hasn't been anything that cannot be covered.  The biggest part is making sure that when spectators are among the ranks, hide your junk. As for campaigning, I doubt that I will be involved.  Chatrbug is the reason I am there.

Kevin,

Welcome aboard, it's good to see you on the boards. Don't be too sure about the campaigning thing, I know many a campaigner who started with the cot and cooler. I didn't think I would ever go the campaign way when I started either, but after I tried it I reall enjoyed it. Of course I still do a number of the typical events but I try to mix it in with the more ....... shall we say history heavy events.  

--Last edited by toptimlrd on 2007-11-28 21:23:54 --

Quote :

Barry Smithson wrote : Bill, That one we have set for the spectators to see how it would be set if we were actually using tentaage.  It would be set with sleeping for six to eight troopers.

Barry,

It sounds like you guys handle tents about the same way my unit does.

One thing, if you are using standard GI Issue A-tents, you might want to reconsider that six to eight troopers thing. A while back, there was a thread about the number of men that would fit into a standard A-tent. The numbers worked out that four fit more or less comfortably, five maybe and if you put six men in a tent, they better be real small, or gay!    

--Last edited by Bill on 2007-11-28 22:12:25 --

Good point Bill.  With cavalry companies, you usually had more than one man per ten up at a time on the picket duty in camp or on the line with the horses.  That is why we have the six to eight bedrolls set up in one tent.

Quote :

Bill wrote : At my advanced age, bacon is not usually a good option.

Get some double smoked bacon and boil it instead of frying.  Much less gut trouble by the boiling method.  It will keep over the weekend cooked or uncooked, so you can boil it before the event, toss it in a poke sack, and yer good ta go.

A good way to simulate "three days cooked rations".

Another way, also good for regular ham (foraged in a period manner, of course) is roasting.  Skewer the chunks with a couple ramrods so they won't rotate when you turn them, prop them up at an angle with a piece of wood, with another piece over the back end to keep it in place, and let the fire do the rest.  Some good eatin', that.

Both ways give you much less grease on the meat at back end, which is a good thing unless you need some to fry the eggs or make cornbread.  

--Last edited by flattop32355 on 2007-11-29 00:08:14 --

Gentlemen,
My company, (Co. A ) of the main stream 6th OVI just made me the company commissary sargent about mid-season. I only do garrison  style camp set ups with my "A" tent.Our captain and nco's are watchful about the camp as Ken pointed out.My camp and cooking gear is basic. Tin pots and one or two small sheet steel frying pans.The important thing is to rise early and have coffee ready  by 5:30 am.I like my impression of cook and try to improve at every event.I have to talk to the company at our January meeting and see in what direction they want the food to be.Period and cooked on the spot or more modern fare cooked in tin pots.No plastic or egg cartons are visable in our camp.Sometimes it is hard to cook a breakfast on cold mornings, when you can't get close to the fire for all the cold soldiers sleeping around the it.So far nobody has thrown there food at me and they have not reported any cases of dysentary. (At least not to me)
Thank you all for your postings. It is helpful to a fellow still trying to get things right.
Keep your powder dry. The Union Forever!

Commissary Sargent Dan Girton   Company A  6th Ohio

Try to be on Battalion Staff and just walk around to all the campfires.  Usually someone will offer to share their food.  Don't make a practice of it,but it sure cuts down on loading up food for the weekend.

im always willing to feed a hungry man and i always cook plenty... so if anyone is ever at an event that im at... just hunt me out and ill share although i do cast iron  but havent killed anyone yet...

Quote :

chatrbug wrote : im always willing to feed a hungry man and i always cook plenty... so if anyone is ever at an event that im at... just hunt me out and ill share although i do cast iron  but havent killed anyone yet...

[quote]

The only way she can cook lasagna is in camp.  She burns the stuff in New-age ovens

hmm... and I thought it was a good idea to have him on here. what was I thinking??

But he is correct... I can not cook a lasagna in the oven for anything (unless you like burnt cheese... which I just happen to!). But give me an open fire pit and I can make one absolutely delish lasagna... with cake for dessert.

Dulcie,

My wife is a great cook/baker in the kitchen and over a fire.  She is going through withdrawal.  The signs started two weeks ago when the Dutch oven started appearing on top of the stove again!  Bacon and egg followed next in the iron skillets!  As fast as I can clean them and re-oil them, they are in use again.  I need to get her outside and into a tent again soon.  Luckily our season is still in full swing down here!  Christmas at Old Fort Concho is this weekend!

Barry.. Im tempted to start the fireplace upstairs and through my food into it..thankfully its quite large and will fit several pots... just might have to work on some new dishes this winter too. Unfortuntely our season is pretty much over. Kiddos and I were in Harpers Ferry this past weekend, but nothing planned til at least April (shhhh dont tell Kevin.. he doesnt know yet! ). Perhaps I need to move to Texas during the winter and back to Pennsylvania in the summer... nothing like a full year of events.

Dulcie,

Not a bad idea.  We do not do events down here in the summer.  Too hot for humans and horses!  Our unit is going to make the long haul to Gettysburg this year so we have something to do this summer.  We will probably see you there.  Of course, we'll be on opposite sides.  Should not be a problem since it is not a very restrictive type of event.  My wife and I are really looking forward to it because we will get so see a lot of our East Coast Friends.  I got her started in the hobby when we were still in New England.  Most of those units should be down there for the event too.  You can bring your kiddos over to see our horses!

Barry,   We are definitely going to be at Gettysburg, already signed up, but yes... opposite sides (I wont say wrong sides... because I believe each side is right!).

I have an 11yo that we wont be able to peel away from your horses. She went to summer camp a few summer agos (before we moved from Missouri) and she got to go horse back riding. You may have to watch out for Kevin too!! Now me... the further away from a horse I am, the better.

Our biggest thing right now though is it looks like we are the only one with our unit even going. So I may see if I cant get us with another unit... waiting on their email.

Talking about this food and cooking reminds me of the time my wife went with me to Corinth.  She was in civilian camp preparing steaks on the firegrate over the open fire,when these people came up and said that the meat sure smelled good,and looked good on the fire. There was no mistake what the meat was, one inch thick  T-bone steaks.  The spectators ask her where she got the meat.  She looked at them and with a straight face said " Cow."  

She prepares baked potatoes in her Dutch Oven. Her chicken and dumplins aint to shabby either. She owns three dutch ovens of various sizes. She has in her possession many sheet metal and cast iron skillets

My wife is like you Ms.Dulcie,she loves to cook in her dutch ovens,both at events,and a home.  We have a hardwood pile in our backyard just for her to cook with.  We build a regular cooking fire like we were in camp and she enjoys it.  She likes the Firehouse rule at our house. He who cooks does not clean.  She can make any mess she wants.  In the end,it is worth it  

--Last edited by Parault on 2007-12-04 20:37:45 --

Quote :

Barry Smithson wrote :I need to get her outside and into a tent again soon.

Nothing says "I Love You" like pitching the old A-frame in the back yard...

Quote :

Bob 125th NYSVI wrote :I've never done any cooking when camp was open to the public.  The bacon/salt pork gets cooked late.

Not picking on Bob here, because others have said nearly the same thing, but why not cook bacon, salt pork, or a slab of beef when camps are open?  Isn't that part of what a soldier might have to do?  

Again, I don't have anything but mainstream events around where I live to visit, and what I find frustrating as a VISITOR is seeing too many men with too much time on their hands. I've seen other visitors (and me too) get lured over to camps when we see people cooking, cooking is a great way to get people to come over and talk.  And slab bacon's not something that the average person is really used to thinking about.

I know at one event I attended as a visitor I stopped by a pot on the fire only to find that there was just water in it.

So, I'd love to know why people don't cook bacon till after hours.

Linda  

--Last edited by Linda Trent on 2007-12-25 18:20:08 --

Quote :

Linda Trent wrote :  Not picking on Bob here, because others have said nearly the same thing, but why not cook bacon, salt pork, or a slab of beef when camps are open?  Isn't that part of what a soldier might have to do?

Linda,

At most events it would be demonstration cooking, not actual meal preparation; unless you were making a dish that requires a long cooking time. Usually breakfast in finished before the camps open to the public and dinner starts after they leave.

We do a couple of Living Histories at Gettysburg each season. I usually bring a few pieces of salt pork. I set up a little display with a piece of pork and a couple pieces of hard tack for the spectators to view. You get some funny looks when you tell folks the soldiers were known to make a sandwich out of a piece of raw pork and two crackers. Trust me, that chunk of pork, covered in salt, just doesn't look too tasty.

I will often cook up a little stew, but that's not very satisfactory, unless you are in camp when I'm cutting up the ingredients. A boiler sitting on the edge of the fire isn't very interesting.  :/

 

Quote :

Bill wrote :Usually breakfast in finished before the camps open to the public and dinner starts after they leave.

I find that food preparing/eating/cleaning up afterwards is usually an excellent way to get people to come over and see what's cooking.  As a civilian, I spend more of my time learning the things that civilians would know, and less about the military.   Yeah, a military wife, daughter, loved one would know some things, like what regiment her loved one is in, the captain and colonel's name, and a few other things, but she wouldn't necessarily know drill and day to day camp life beyond what her loved one writes home, or what she reads in the newspapers.  

Everyone has their own best way of learning something, and for me it is in the seeing and/or doing things.  Sure I can learn by book reading, but it takes me longer on several levels that way.  By watching or doing it all sinks in much quicker which is why I enjoy going to events and museums as a visitor.   But I'm also somewhat shy, which is why I need something that can help me to "break the ice."  Seeing something cooking, even if it's just water boiling to do the dishes, or to heat bath water, or freshen the salt pork/beef whatever is interesting to me, at least enough so to get me to walk over and ask what someone's cooking. And I've seen that as true with other people as well.

Quote :

I will often cook up a little stew, but that's not very satisfactory, unless you are in camp when I'm cutting up the ingredients. A boiler sitting on the edge of the fire isn't very interesting.

But salt pork, and hoe cakes is!  Hank told me about his experience down at Selma when he was cooking up hoe cakes and salt pork and several reenactors gathered around him to see how hoe cakes were made, and were commenting on how hoe cakes and salt pork were awful, but asked if they could try some.  After trying it they were surprised at how good it really was.  The point is, everyday life in the 19th century is more interesting than a lot of people think.  

At Buffington's Island, the main draw for me was seeing the steel kettle hanging over the fire and going over to it only to find it with nothing but water.  I would have loved to talk to someone about whether it was for coffee, or dishes, or what, but no one was around.  :/

While stew is a very period food, my main drawback with it is it tends to be at virtually every event I go to as a visitor.  I'm starting to think that some people think that it's the only food they had back then.  

Linda

Linda,

My wife and kids do spend quite a bit of time doing the things that may not look like fun but still need to be done.  Truth is, they do love doing it and it is a great thing to start conversations with the visitors.

My wife does spend a good part of the day preparing and cooking as well as having to clean up after the meals.  The kids have to help with that.  They get the water, wood and tend the fire and help her clean up.  The horses are another great ice breaker.  My boys know how to tend to them and do.  They groom and clean up after them.  During down time we can be found tending to the tack such as soaping, oiling or making repairs.  Hoof work and grooming are a constant and something that children raised on a farm would not only know how to do but would be expected to assist with or do depending on age.

Of course my boys look forward to reaching the age where they can take the field with dad.  That does not mean that dad does not do these things too!