Zack
First Sergeant
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2017
- Location
- Los Angeles, California
I’ve been watching a bunch of Civil War Digital Digest videos about cooking and camping as well as reading generally and it’s been raising some questions for me.
From there, how did that then organize into “messes” of soldiers/pards who pooled resources for cooking and camping purposes? Soldiers who shared shelter halves and pots and canteen half’s and cups and rations and frying pans and what not? How did they acquire these items like sewing kits, writing kits, poke sacks, forks and knives and cups and frying pans?
I hope that makes sense. In the most general sense, what I’m asking is:
How did soldiers organize below the level of a company? How did they acquire and carry the items necessary for living and cooking between them? What officers were at play in these smaller-than-company-sized units and how much control did they have?
I know the most typical answer is “it varied person to person” but I’m speaking in broad/generic terms.
- What was the world of the soldier like at the lowest levels?
- How were soldiers organized below the level of company?
- How did platoons and squads work in practice and what officers (sergeants, corporals, lieutenants) would be at play?
- I understand that each company was divided into platoons and the platoons into squads (sections?) but what did that look like at a practical level?
From there, how did that then organize into “messes” of soldiers/pards who pooled resources for cooking and camping purposes? Soldiers who shared shelter halves and pots and canteen half’s and cups and rations and frying pans and what not? How did they acquire these items like sewing kits, writing kits, poke sacks, forks and knives and cups and frying pans?
I hope that makes sense. In the most general sense, what I’m asking is:
How did soldiers organize below the level of a company? How did they acquire and carry the items necessary for living and cooking between them? What officers were at play in these smaller-than-company-sized units and how much control did they have?
I know the most typical answer is “it varied person to person” but I’m speaking in broad/generic terms.