Previous Tips from Vern the Veteran
Captain Garcia sat down with Vern - at the "Old Soldiers Hacienda" and pried, umm, I mean, gleaned some pearls of bullsh..., umm, I mean, wisdom out of Vern. You may not have known this, but Vern has been around a long, long time. He's so old that he served during the Mexican War!! (I won't tell you what side he was on, but let's just say that it's not that long of a walk from Apache Canyon into Santa Fe!) Captain Garcia recently sat down with our most experienced member, (I was going to say old, but I'm being nice), to get some tips for the rest of us. Vern started out with, "...Well, back in the Old Army we didn't have all these new fangled...", but the good Captain was able to cut him off and get down to business! Here's some of Vern's printable pearls of wisdom.
Your Musket: When you put the ramrod down the bore of your musket, do not spring the rod with unnecessary force or it may batter the head and wear out the grooves of the rifle. Let the rod slide gently down, supported by the thumb and forefinger. In stacking arms, care should be taken not to injure the bayonets by excessive force, as this may break the shank, or at least, break off the front sight. According to regulations, the soldier will never dismount the following parts from the musket unless authorized to do so by an officer, 1st Sgt. Or an ordnance person: guard, screws washers, butt plate, rear sight, breech-screw, cone, and the lock should not be taken apart. A special tool is needed to remove the mainspring, or it could result in a broken spring and a hurt soldier.
Vaseline, or petroleum jelly is a period rust preventative. Before an event, you should coat the inside of your stock with the jelly, making certain that the area nearest the muzzle is well coated. Also, coat the inside of your barrel bands. This simple step will prevent water from seeping into the area between the barrel and stock and the barrel and bands, preventing corrosion. Oil is fine, but it will vaporize after a heavy firefight. A good coating of jelly will stay put. Use your extra revolver primer tins as a container.
Burnished, or polished metal will not tarnish as fast as un-burnished metal. Very fine steel wool rubbed on your barrel will help close the pores in the metal. In the field, wood ash can be used as a fine abrasive. A very fine, and period polishing agent was made out of chimney soot, and another was made from brick dust. Discolored metal is fine for a field look, but tarnish or rust is never tolerated. Garrison soldiers should always have burnished arms, as records show that garrison arms were burnished.
Vern hates going to the surgeon, unless he needs medicinal whiskey or an excuse to get out of fatigue duty. He has included some hints to keep the weekend warrior from getting into trouble, and away from the saw bones.
First off, if you have any medical condition that might be a problem at an event, make sure you let your NCOs and officers know. Let them know if you need certain medicines and where those medicines may be found. Some things like inhalers and heart medicines should be always on hand!
If you are going to a new location, an antihistamine might be worth taking with you. A weekend of sneezing and misery due to strange pollens is no fun, and neither is wasting time driving around a new area trying to find a pharmacy.
Also, if you are getting up there in years, you might take an analgesic like Tylenol before you take the field. This will help lessen the aches and pains of a full days campaign. Also before you take the field, make sure you put on a good sun block. Put in on first thing in the morning and reapply as needed. Get a buddy to check that you covered your ears, nose and neck especially.
Also, make sure you stay hydrated. Drink water! If you feel thirsty, you are already in danger of dehydration. Sodas and alcoholic drinks will not help. You have a canteen, make sure you use it carry water, and not just for show!
Here are a few more hardly helpful, er, helpful hints from Vern. Remember that your comb is for one main purpose, to remove lice and nits from your hair! Combs with fine teeth were mainly to remove the extra "critters" from hair. Kerosene and sulphur makes a good delousing solution for the head. Speaking of small things, always check your brogans before putting them on in the morning. Scorpions love to make your shoes their new home!
If mosquitos bite, use some of your vinegar ration to dab onto your skin. It helps take the itch away.
Speaking of vinegar, add some to the stew pot when you are boiling vegetables. It will not only improve the flavor, but will help tenderize and cook things faster. Vinegar also makes meat tender, although everybody knows that the Army provides only the very finest cuts of horse, er, beef for its men.
Vinegar combined with soda makes a good leavening agent for field bread when you don't have time to let yeast rise.
Make sure you stencil your name, or at least your initials and company letter to the inside of your belt. Belts are usually quickly removed in camp and needless time is spent finding your unstencilled one. Also, it prevents things from "walking away".
Wood ash makes a fine polish to buff up your musket barrel and bayonet. Rub the fine white ash on a slightly dampened cloth and buff the metal. Clean off any remaining ash from the metal, then rub with an oiled cloth. Make sure the ash contains no dirt that can scratch the metal. This treatment will make clean metal shine, but will not clean up heavy tarnish nor rust.
Always carry extra cone picks, one in your cap pouch, one in your cartridge box and even one in your haversack. You can make picks out of paper clips or similar wire. Get in the habit of cleaning your cone at every break in action and drill.
Always drink water! NCO's should watch to make sure the men are getting water, not soda, nor beer. If you have lads to young to carry a musket, have them carry extra canteens.
Lastly, always bring extra tent stakes, for it is better to have too many than go without. Also extra metal ones can be attached to trees to hang lanterns. This is quite useful to light important locations at night, like the latrines!
Hint #1: When filling your canteen, wet the wool cover. The evaporation of the water will help cool the water in the canteen.
Hint #2: At any lull in battle, always clean your musket cone. This will help prevent misfires. Keep at least one nipple pick in your cap box, and one in the tool pouch of your cartridge pouch.
Hint #3: Tired of your hat cord falling off? Sew it to the hat. Just a stitch or two on both sides will secure your cord in the strong desert winds. Make sure you sew under any leather sweat band.
CLEAN YOUR GEAR
Winter is the best time to check your gear and make needed repairs. Make sure your musket is well oiled before storage. Use a bit of furniture polish on the stock. You can re- black your haversack with a bit of liquid shoe polish, lightly dabbed, will make your haversack look like new. Use a good polish on your brogans. You should also wax your laces.
MAKE CARTRIDGES
As the weather turns bad, and you find yourself spending more time indoors, use this as an opportunity to roll cartridges. If you roll a few every couple of days or weeks, you will have plenty when the active campaign season starts. You can make more than you need, since we can always use more. You can get precut paper from Greg Taylor or Don Shoemaker. If you have the tubes ready, you don't have to fill the rounds with powder until just before the event.
Cut down on misfires – Use a dry patch to absorb gun oil before firing your musket. Oil can settle in the vent and cone area, and when combined with black powder, can quickly clog your weapon. Also, always fire at least 2 percussion caps before loading. This will help get rid of oil and water in the cone area. Another way to insure ignition is to use 3F powder, since 2 F, when un-rammed, can sometimes block the vent chamber. Also, use your cone pick whenever there is a break in the action, or after 20 shots. Percussion caps can create a hard white residue that can cause a misfire.
Keeping cool and dry – Use talcum powder to keep your body and feet cool and dry. Corn starch is good only if you can bathe daily, since the starch can create a fungal growth in those damp dark parts of your body you don’t want to spend time scratching!
Tin Cups – Never put an empty tin cup in the fire! The tin solder will run and the cup will be ruined. Cups must be filled with liquid making it safe to heat. Also, never leave lemonade in your cup. Wash it out after drinking as the acid in the lemonade will “eat” the tin coating.
Dry Firewood - Morning dew, or an evening rain shower can soak firewood and make that breakfast fire hard to start. Always take a few sticks of wood into your tent before Taps. If you sleep in the open, place some wood near your feet, then cover with your gum blanket.
Ways to Fight The Heat
Place a wet cabbage or lettuce leaf under you hat or forage cap. (I'm sure soldiers found Captain Shoemaker's cabbage patch at Ft. Union a good source for "borrowed" leaves).
Keep a pebble or hard candy in your mouth. It will keep up the flow of moisture in your mouth.
At any break, unbutton your sack coat. If your coat is wet from sweat, take it off and let it dry. Wet wool keeps the heat in from your body.
Rations on Indian Campaigns:
Jerked beef, pinole, (a sprouted, dried wheat flour) and atole (a blue corn flour). Jerky and pinole could be cooked together into a stew. Atole was added to boiling water and made into a nourishing morning beverage.
Period rations would make a good display.
Also, pinon seeds would be more authentic than peanuts in New Mexico.
Cleaning your Uniform
Although many might say, “why bother cleaning”, since you look more authentic – if you do, please be careful! Do not wash your wool uniform in warm or hot water, and NEVER put it in the dryer! Dry cleaning is the best, but you can hand-wash or use delicate cycles with cold water and mild detergent. Check your buttons and sew any that are loose before cleaning. Also give your leather a good cleaning with saddle soap. A good leather conditioner is also recommended. Do NOT try and wash your forage cap, as you will shrink the leather. If you dry clean your trousers, do not let them put a center crease in them.
Uses of Varnish
Clear varnish was used as a waterproofing agent by the Army and civilian industries. A light coat of varnish was painted onto the insides of Hardee hats (crown and brim) to both stiffen and waterproof them. A soldier who wanted to keep his hat looking regulation could lightly coat his Hardee hat. Avoid varnishing any sweatband, as this will wreck the leather. If you varnish your hat, make sure to lightly coat it. Too much will make the hat rock hard but brittle.
Lightly coated paper wrappers can be used to provide a cheap water resistant covering for toilet paper, books, and even cartridges. Wipe the varnish onto the paper with a cloth. This keeps the varnish coating even and light. Make sure the paper has dried – before wrapping up anything!
Field Tips
If you are in garrison near water, you will more than likely are pestered by flies, gnats and other pests, (especially the NCO’s). Indians in the southwest rubbed their skin with onion to keep insects away. A resourceful soldier can find an onion, and not only rub it on the skin, but add it to the stew pot. (Ed. Note: That explains a lot about Vern’s….umm, fragrance.)
Seal your tompion. Use a paint, varnish or wax sealer on your tompion to keep moisture out, which can swell the wood and make it nearly impossible to remove it from your musket, especially if the barrel is fouled.
Fun Fact
It was believed that by sleeping in a semi-seated position, consumption could be prevented.