Oilcloth

[jr baker]

Was solider ever issue a oilcloth to have with their bed roll?

 

[Frederick14Va]

A "ground cloth" was a standard issued item for most troops to go along with their issue blanket. Federal troops were more commonly issued one also known as a "Gum Blanket". This had a rubberized coating on one side. Confederate forces continued to use a painted cloth... aka: "oil cloth" type for the same purpose.

 

[jr baker]

That's kinda what I was thinking would they have used the oilcloth for a shelter?

 

[Allie]

That's kinda what I was thinking would they have used the oilcloth for a shelter?

Which side are you talking? I was reading something in CSO Rice's memoir, and towards the end of the war he says that for the Army of Tennessee tents and ground covers were just a fond memory. They used to build a small fire during the day, brush it out, and sleep on the ground warmed by it. Sometimes the embers would not be quite out and the bedding would catch fire in the middle of the night.

 

[MRB1863]

A nice path into everyday life of the CW soldier. Bedding catching fire....and I thought the shrill beep of my alarm clock to be a rude awakening. How soft we have life compared to the CW participant.

 

[mhn]

In my grandfather's memoirs (Union) he calls his a "gum poucher" and "oil cloth blanket (or poucher as we called it)" and describes sleeping on it as a barrier between him and the ground. He goes on to say, "The side of the poucher I lay on was white..."

 

[Hammons]

"We got rails and all the planks we could find, and made a sort of tent frame which we covered with our oil cloths. By this means we managed to fix up a very comfortable resting place." [J.W. Culpepper July 6th 61 around Winchester VA prior to 1st Manassas] Culpepper was with Company D (Echols Guards) 8th Georgia Infantry.