Gents,

This might seem like kind of a dumb question, but what do you folks who (also) use the blanket roll do with the stuff you carry around in thee while sleeping in/on the blanket? Roll it up in your coat? Stick it your packets? Pile it next to you?  This is something that I've been thinking about since I started sleeping out with just my blanket roll this year.

thanks,

Hey Emilio,

If you come up with a good answer, let the rest of us know!    

I try reduce the problem by putting nothing small in my blanket roll, usually nothing more than a dry shirt and a pair of socks. All the rest of the stuff, extra ammo, housewife, candle, and whatever else, gets stuck in the pockets or put in the haversack.

When I go to bed, the socks go on my feet and the dry shirt goes on my back. The shirt I wore goes in the blanket with me. Oh yeah, I'm a member of the rubber blanket on the waist belt school of humping your equipment.      

--Last edited by Bill on 2007-09-17 12:37:24 --

The only thing I put i the blanket roll is an extra shirt,(cool or cold weather only) and an extra pair of socks. Everything else goes in my haversack.The shirt & socks go under my coat at night, with my cartridge box, as additional padding for a pillow.

It's not a stupid question.  We don't have those here.

Okay, you all might think I'm stupid, but bedroll contains a blanket and a gum blanket.  That's it.  Rarely will I put much else in there.  Shirt, socks, or a skull cap for night.

Yeah Bill, I can't shake the roving patrols of the modern Army   .

Quote :

Ken Cornett wrote : Yeah Bill, I can't shake the roving patrols of the modern Army   .

Ken,

I'm sure the Civil War Grunts had a term for "Humping a Ruck". I just don't knew what it was.    

Like most said above, I just keep a shirt, socks in my blanket roll.

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fwaro%2Fwaro0040%2F&tif=00490.TIF&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DANU4519-0040

The ORs provide a good indication of what the US Army thought a soldier should carry during active operations, and most of it was food and ammo.  For spare clothing, they assumed an extra shirt, pair of socks, and drawers.

One reads of brief expeditions where soldiers were ordered to take no more than a gum blanket, or other instances (I'm reading a bit about Fredericksburg now) where dropping packs was liberally interpreted as allowing for blankets to be taken, in addition to great coats.

So one way not to worry about where to put the little stuff is not to have it.  That said, even then folks found a way to take what they needed along (I have a couple quotes ready to hand about stationery in haversacks).  

Some things I found out pretty early I don't need:  pipe and tobacco ("campaigning" being another great incentive to quit), flask (do.), and housewife (a piece of cardboard with needle and thread wrapped around will generally do you for an emergency).  But apart from those I still carry a lot of stuff, even on marches when I don't have to, because I think I would have.

My oilcloth wallet carries greenbacks, stamps, needle & thread, thin brass buttonboard, and toothpicks, and goes in my left trouser pocket.  CDVs of the family in another oilcoth wrap go in the right trouser pocket with a pocket knife.  A matchsafe goes in my trouser watchpocket.  A notebook and pencil goes in my blouse pocket.

I generally also have a couple handkerchiefs in my pockets, along with some rags in my haversack, where I'll also put a small writing kit, a little lump of soap, and a small tin can from Jarnagins filled with four smaller tins with selected medications (nothing special -- aspirin, bismuth, & a couple of other things that H. L. Scott would approve of).  This still leaves most of the space available for food, especially coffee.

With all that, my blanket roll will still contain a shelter half, extra shirt, drawers, socks, and sleeping cap, with one gum blanket strapped to the outside and another on the belt.  Depending on the temperature, the extra clothes will bundle up under my neck (I, too, very much like the cartridge box as a pillow -- it's one thing I miss when I play officer), or go inside the blanket with me.

It doesn't take more than a few minutes to pack up in the morning, though I remember having to do it once in the dark with little bits of ice breaking under my fingertips as I rolled up a gum blanket -- one of those experiences that's much nicer as a distant memory.

One thing one doesn't see much, though perhaps one should, is the double roll, as shown in some of Forbes' drawings (e.g., "A Halt in the Line of Battle") with the blanket roll on one shoulder over a rolled shelter half on the other.

As they say, your mileage may differ, but that's what I've done.

Quote :

milo1047 wrote : "...what do you folks who (also) use the blanket roll do with the stuff you carry around in thee while sleeping in/on the blanket?"

Milo,

Less is more. You've received some good advice thus far, and if you wander over to the AC Forum, take a gander at Mark Jaeger's extracts about campaigning from a period magazine. This should be in the articles section.

Making yet another poke bag for small items is a good practice. A long and narrow bag will carry a few items you can't seem to stash elsewhere. Another handy item is something you can make yourself with some scrap rubberized cloth. Construct a billfold type pouch for your eating utensils, toothbrush, toothpowder tin, and perhaps a tin for any modern medicines or salve. This ends up being not much larger than a dollar bill and about as thick as maybe 3/4" at the most. If this is the bottom item in your haversack (right above those few slivers of lighterwood rolled in a bacon grease soaked piece of a period repop newspaper), you won't have as much fumble, feel, and grope time looking for a spoon or dentrifice. As mentioned earlier, the haversack is primarily for rations and mess furniture; however, period accounts mention a number of unrelated items within the "ol' food bag."  One of the knee jerk "campaignerisms" to haversack stuffers (gee, whiz, I did say it afterall) has been the "nothing but rations and mess furniture" mantra.

When you lay out your blanket to make a roll, the natural human tendency is to put the shirt, socks, and whatever in the middle. It looks nice and balance, but these items end up being a big lump on your shoulder. Think of an Anaconda that has recently eaten a tasty Javelina pig, and you get the picture. Assemble your blanket roll like this one time at home, and get that fuzzy blanket rubbing on your neck and cheek really well.  I'll wait.

Okay, now try it with the load offset to the back or front. You may prefer the frontload, but I like the load to be over the shoulder.  About ten years ago, the fad was the bread stick twist, where the blanket was twisted by two men as tight as it could go. You don't need to compact everything quite so tight, but a few twists will keep your drygoods from landing in the road the first time you jump a ditch.  Some of the boys like a flat blanket roll, but that 10" wide wool beauty queen sash tends to get rather warm in hot weather.

Closing the roll takes a moment of forethought. If you happen to have an extra leather strap (a spur strap is useful) you have the ne plus ultra of blanket roll fasteners, but a shoestring, length of twine, or sturdy rag will do just fine -- in dry weather. You'll find some of these options fare poorly in the rain, as they'll shrink up a good bit. This makes the knot a pain to undo. Don't fret, just get a small twig and fashion a fid (like a wooden marlinspike)to get the knot undone.

The great debate about whether the gum blanket goes on the inside or the outside rages in some circles. What works for you, works for you. Bill mentioned the gum blanket in the web belt, um, I mean waistbelt, and that is also a period correct solution. Losing said item in the briars is also a period activity, so a small piece of string can come in handy to cinch the gum blanket just below the waistbelt.  If you want a good laugh, read about the federal regiment at Cedar Mountain that wore their gum blankets rolled across the shoulder with the white side out. They made excellent targets.

The most comical thing I ever carried in a blanket roll was a huge dry sausage. It was large enough to give most everyone in the company a hefty slice of salty goodness during a water halt on a hot day. I believe Grumpy remembers that event.  

The cutest thing I've ever seen in a knapsack was a stray puppy.      

I'm new to re-enacting for the 6th Ohio. Union forever! I only have a big grey wool blanket. If I do not have a gum blanket or whatever, is it not complete? What does the gum blanket do? I have a strap and I have rolled it up and sling it over on my shoulder, not across the body.Please reply back an amswer.

Chase,

welcome to the forum.  Remember you have to sign your posts with your whole name.  Put it in the signature block in your profile so you don't forget.  

By the way, I added you to the Sixth's folder.

Quote :

Chaser Cheetah wrote :  What does the gum blanket do?

Chase,

The short answer to that question is everything. A gum or rubber blanket is the Civil War version of the modern poncho. It's a raincoat, shelter half, ration hauler, traveling checker board, seat, and most important, a vapor barrier under that big gray blanket you've got. If you put a blanket directly on the ground, mositure will come up from the ground and you'll freeze. If you're a tent camper, in cool weather, it's warmer to sleep on the ground, rather than on a cot. A cot allows the cold air to get under you. The height of reenactment luxury is a pile of straw, a rubber blanket, one or two good wool blankets and a tent that doesn't leak.

Oh yeah, put your rubber blanket on the ground with the black rubber side down. The white cloth side will absorb water. You wnat to buy a blanket that has small 1/4" grommets. Those are period correct. C & D Jarnagin is a good source.

IMHO, a rubber blanket or rubber poncho (Same thing with a neck slit) would be one of the first things I'd buy.

Excerpts taken from History of the Campaign of Mobile,  (Reprint of 1866 Edition,) by C.C. Andrews, D Van Nostrand, 192 Broadway, New York, 1867.

The little book really came from Ye Olde Post Office Antiques and Militaria, PO Box 9, Point Clear, AL, 36564-0009

These bits and pieces were taken from Major General ERS Canby’s General Order #15, Military Division of West Mississippi, dated February 5, 1865.  This was issued before the troops departed from the vicinity of Pensacola, FL, and began moving up the eastern shore of Mobile Bay.  

Pg 27  “No person, not in the military service of the United States, will be allowed to accompany any force operating in the field.”

The following were taken from the lengthy order and paraphrased by the author of the book.

Pg 29  “Clothing was limited to the suit the soldier wore, a change of underclothing, and an extra pair of shoes.  But each man had a blanket, and so also, perhaps most, took along their overcoats.  The extra articles of clothing were carried by the soldier in his knapsack.

Pg 29  “Rations were limited to the essential articles of meat (three quarters of a pound of salt meat to a man per day), bread, coffee, sugar, and salt, and one fourth rations of soap.”

Pg 29 - 30  Ammunition/Equipment  “… each man to carry forty rounds in his cartridge-box; and each company commander always to hold in his possession, and transport in the company wagon the remaining sixty round per man; but in case it could not be so transported the men carried twenty rounds of it in their knapsacks.  An additional one hundred rounds per man was carried in each division ammunition supply train under charge of the acting ordnance officer.”  “…one pick, spade, and axe were also carried to each twelve men.”..

Curtis, isn't this refrence for kanpsack only?  What about the bedroll (or horse collar as we western types call it)?

I don’t know, Ken.

I was curious why extra shoes were required but no mention made of extra socks.  Maybe with it being so late in the war the leaders assumed the infantry guys would automatically do so.

I just read the part of Si Klegg where they were just issued their gum blankets.  And then when they arrived at their camp area and there was no shelter for them.  The sketch of him and shorty standing there in their ponchos and dripping wet just made me chuckle.

After reading some of this book, I wish I had bought it sooner in my reenacting career to read..

"IMHO, a rubber blanket or rubber poncho (Same thing with a neck slit) would be one of the first things I'd buy".

How correct you are Mr. Rodman.

That is one thing that is probably the best piece of equipment that anyone can purchase.  I have learned just to carry a ground cloth. You can use it for both laying on the ground & as a poncho.  Just use some string for tying through the grommets,and presto,you got a poncho without having to carry extra piece of equipment or weight.
May I suggest getting the ground cloth before you get any blanket or poncho. If you plan on doing campaign style events then you will learn to carry just the bare nesessities,like only one item to keep you dry.  Blankets,to me, get heavy after a few hours humping across the tundra,and considering the weather a luxury when on one of those weekends where you go out on Friday, and do a marching/fighting event,with no static camps.  

--Last edited by Parault on 2008-01-20 16:38:46 --

Quote :

Blankets,to me, get heavy after a few hours humping across the tundra,and considering the weather a luxury when on one of those weekends where you go out on Friday, and do a marching/fighting event,with no static camps.

Mr. Parault,

I would not disagree, except it seems most of the events where I carry my stuff for the weekend take place in April or November. When in Virginia, in November, a warm wool blanket is a good thing.    

A blanket also comes in very handy when the mosquitoes are out in force.  It drives me to distraction with them buzzing around my ears, and pulling the blanket up over my head keeps them at bay, allowing me to sleep.

However, it does not have the same effect on buglers or first sergeants...

Bernie, I was out at Caesar's Creek a couple years ago in their hay barn.  Spent the night with more mosquito's than you could ever imagine.  I wrapped up in my blanket with a gum over top.  Those rascals still got to me!

Bernie, I was in the same hay barn that Ken was in and a gum blanket is an essential, but is does nothing for the unworldly snoring of the soldier that was sleeping next to me. It sounded like the growl of some mythical beast.Then in the middle of the night someone got up to use the sink and stepped on said soldier.The resulting commotion came very close to me soiling my gum blanket.Fear is not always on the battle field.
I agree, Si Klegg is a good book.
Keep your powder dry and your tin cup handy.
Commissary Sgt. Dan Girton , 6th Ohio