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2D PENNSYLVANIA RESERVE

VOLUNTEER CORPS.

TODAY'S CIVILIANS

Civilian Conversation - with Sue Metzger

This time of the year causes many re-enactors to get cabin fever. However, if you look closely you will find that this is also the time for many to get their gear in prime condition. It is a time to clean lanterns, wash some things that don't see the washer but once a year, and repair or mend items that have been neglected during the regular season. It is a time to take stock of your belongings and decide what new items you need and what old items you want to pass on to a "fresh fish". Many women spend this time sewing new dresses or underpinnings. New shirts are made for their men or perhaps a civilian vest. It may be the time to take a course on corset making, or a time to learn how to knit or tat. A new craft skill may be just the thing to make next season more exciting than last. Perhaps you can learn how to do something that no one else in your unit or neighboring units does. Try new recipes, look for old ones. Get new books and read up on an aspect of the war that you are unfamiliar with. Become an expert on something. The time is only "wasted" if you do nothing with it. Ask around in your unit if you want to learn something or want to read a new book. Many have extensive knowledge and large libraries of books about the war. Visit a historic site and take the time to listen to the tour guides. Visit a place you don't have the time to go to during the season. There are many within a few short hours drive of here. Don't let the "down" season get you down. Be inquisitive, ask questions, learn. After all, that's how you become the one that the spectators come to for answers. It's all about the education, of both ourselves and the public. Have a great winter.

Sue Metzger
Civilian Coordinator

Conversation # 2

The question has been posed by several interested parties, how we get ready for an event. After all, when you consider the fact that some of us carry everything but the kitchen sink, some sort of plan is essential. We all have lists. This is one of the first things you learn. The second thing is to actually be sure that what is on your list gets in or on your vehicle. Having driven to Ridley and realizing we forgot our short poles, for which Rick had to drive all the way home and then back so we could finish setting up our tent in pitch black (thank you all who helped with lanterns and headlights); I speak from hard won experience. Box things as you will use them, dining ware, bedding, food, lanterns, clothing, etc. Plastic boxes or containers are a must, especially with the rainy seasons we have had. Some of my boxes have a map of what goes inside and how it's packed so that it fits every time with minimal exasperation on my part. Take plenty of large plastic garbage bags, too. Always prepare for cold weather. Take a cape or shawl until it's hot out. Extra blankets can serve as padding on the bed if you don't need to cover with them. Bring plenty of drinking water. You can always take it home but if you run out it might not be easy to find more. Food is usually plentiful. Most of us always have some to share. When packing food think safety first and keep cold items cold with ice. A cooler is a necessity if you camp. You can always use a plastic one and keep it covered in your tent. Deciding what you need to take and then packing ahead of time is useful. Keep things packed after the event if at all possible. Most of us only unpack bedding to air it out once home and sometimes dishes to re-wash at home. I wash clothing and repack our clothing boxes as the items are washed and dried. That way it's all put back where you want it. Even if you can't keep the things in your vehicle, at least the boxes are ready to go with just a quick run through to be sure everything is there. As you get events under your belt, you may decide to add or delete things you are bringing. Just keep your list updated and check off each time before leaving home and you should be in good shape for the events.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, the Union army would not hire women doctors, so Mary Edwards Walker - a physician - volunteered instead as a nurse, and served also as a spy. Later she was contracted as an assistant surgeon with the Fifty-Second Ohio Infantry - the first woman to serve with the Army Medical Corps. In 1864 she was captured and spent four months in a Confederate prison. The next year, she was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for her Civil War Service, in an order signed by President Andrew Johnson. In 1917, the government revoked 900 such medals, and asked for Walker's medal back. She stubbornly refused to return it and wore it until her death two years later. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter restored her medal posthumously, making her the first woman to hold a Congressional Medal of Honor.

Clara Barton, known as the "Angel of the Battlefield" for her heroics in helping wounded Union soldiers at the Battle of Antietam, in Maryland, September 1862, said, "What could I do but go with them [civil war soldiers], or work for them and my country? The patriot blood of my father was warm in my veins".

Book Review
By Sue Metzger

Memoirs of a Soldier, Nurse and Spy
By Sarah Emma Edmonds

This book caught my eye because it was actually written from original memoirs of a woman who served in the Civil War. The key to the novelty however, is that she undertook hazardous assignments dressed as a man, a soldier, a slave, or in other disguises to cross enemy lines to gather information for the Union cause. Her conniving and quite inventive ways of obtaining transportation, supplies, or information are amusing to read. One gets the impression that she was a very intelligent and resourceful woman who felt she had more to offer her country during the war than sitting at home wrapping bandages for the hospitals in the field. Indeed, she not only fought as a soldier (Franklin Thompson of the 2nd Michigan Infantry Regiment) and ended up herself a patient in those very hospitals, but then she worked as a male nurse in the Union hospitals and later then was allowed to work as a spy, crossing Confederate lines on many occasions. It was an interesting read.

ACTING CIVILIAN COORDINATOR

SUE PETERSEN

CONTACT SUE VIA EMAIL AT:

woodbutcher@nni.com

Contact WEBMASTER via e-mail at microCIO@ptd.net