The Mess Group Leader's Guide Elizabeth McAnulty and the Company of Select Marksmen Contents Food and Cooking Baked Items Fire Shelters Guard Duty

Mess group leaders are responsible for the care and feeding of their troops. It is the most important responsibility in the hobby. It is your job to make sure that everyone is warm, dry, fed, and watered. Here's how.

Recipes

Recipes are per mess group of 6

Amounts are given in pounds/ounces so that you can determine amounts when shopping at a grocery store. (Measurement in cups is in parentheses- It will be useful to know how much your bowl and/or cup holds, so you can use it as a measure. Every 'man' should consider marking the base of his cup and or bowl with its volume in Imperial and metric. This will save time in the field!)

Boiled beef or pork with sauce

• 2 - 3 pounds of any of the following:
  • corned beef
  • ham
  • fresh pork
  • fresh beef
• 1-2 onions
• Bag of carrots--about 2 pounds
• 1-3 Large bunches of greens (depending on size)
  • for spring, summer, or fall, might use kale, chard, spinach, beet greens, etc.
  • in fall you can also use cabbage
  • in late fall or winter, you can use sauerkraut

• 1 pound dried split peas
• 2-3 pounds ham or corned beef
• 1-2 onions
• may also include spinach or other greens

• 2-3 pounds fresh beef (might also use lamb if desired)
• 6-8 turnips
• 6-8 carrots
• ½ pound rice or barley (about 1 cup)

• 2-3 pounds fresh beef (might also use lamb, corned beef, ham, etc.)
• 1 ½-2 pounds flour (about 3 ½-4 cups of flour is one pound)
• ¾-1 pound butter-use half as much butter as flour by weight (1 stick=1/4 pound=1/2 cup)

• ½ pound piece of ham
• 1-2 chickens (depending on size)
• 1 pound rice (about 2 cups)
• 2-3 onions

• 3-4 pounds beef or lamb

-usually boiled (but not always-see below)

• Late spring/early summer
  • peas
  • green beans
  • small carrots or turnips
  • greens (like turnip, beet, chard, kale, spinach, etc.)
  • spring onions
  
  
• Summer
  • corn (preferably white)
  • green beans
  • summer squashes (like yellow, patty-pan, crookneck)
  • greens
  • carrots
  • turnips
  • beets
  
  
• Fall
  • cabbage
  • root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets)
  • winter squashes (Pumpkins, Butternut, Hubbard, Buttercup)
  • greens
  
  
• Late Fall/winter, early spring
  • root vegetables
  • winter squashes
  • cabbage
  • sauerkraut
  
  

• During spring, summer, and fall-salad of greens (e.g., lettuce, spinach, etc.)
• In summer-salad of sliced cucumbers (look for pickling cucumbers-they are smaller and do not have waxed skin, so the skin is milder and more edible)

• ½-3/4 pounds corn meal-preferably white (1-1 ½ cups)
• 2 ounces Butter (about ½ stick)-optional
• 2-6 eggs if desired

• 1 pound steel cut oats-not rolled oats (1½-2 cups)
• 2 ounces butter (about ½ stick)-optional

• ½ pound flour (about 2 cups)
• ¾ stick butter
• 1-2 eggs

• Spring
  • berries (strawberries and raspberries)
  • cherries
  • dried fruit
  
  
• Summer
  • melons
  • berries (blueberries and blackberries)
  • grapes
  • peaches
  • plums
  
  
• Fall
  • apples
  • pears
  
  
• Winter
  • dried fruit, possibly apples

• About 2 loaves for a weekend (unless very small-then 3) should be enough for 2 lunches and 1 dinner-choose round or oval loaves of yeast bread, unsliced, white or brown, with no additions (e.g., seeds, herbs, etc.).
• If you want to bake bread (this is NOT necessary, as acceptable bread is almost always readily available at most grocery stores), make very plain yeast bread shaped into a round or oval loaf (do not bake in bread pan). You can use fresh pizza dough to make plain bread.

(choose from options listed below-listed from most likely thing to have had to least likely, so shop accordingly)

• Bread (or Hardtack)-part of the 2-3 loaves listed above-(hardtack is usually either homemade or issued by the quartermaster)
• Ham-not pre-sliced sandwich ham-about 2-3 pounds
• Hard cheese-preferably a white cheese-white cheddar or fresh parmesan are good options-no add-ins (e.g., peppercorns, spices)
• Fruit-dried or what's in season
• Cookies-can be bought at store, choose round sugar or spice cookies without any add-ins (e.g., chocolate chips, raisins)
• Possibly, dry sausage
• Nuts-walnuts most likely
• Anything else you want at all, as long as no one ever has to see (or hear) its wrapper, or see you eat it!

General Cooking Instructions/Information

Care and use of camp kettles

• Do not use without liquid (that means no frying or baking, only boiling)-coating will melt
• Do not let blazing fire come up side of kettle above line of liquid
• Whenever kettle is beside fire to cook things, remember that the side closer to the fire is hotter-turn kettle about every 15-20 minutes.
• Use only wooden utensils in kettles
• Clean after use
• Dry with cloth after cleaning

• To raise heat:
  • Hang kettle lower over fire
  • Move what you're cooking closer to the fire
  • Build up the fire so flames are higher

• To lower heat:
  • Raise kettle so it is higher
  • Move kettle further away from fire
  • Let fire die down
  • Move some of the fire or coals out to one side and place kettle over it propped up on rocks or two logs

Instructions for Recipes listed on Shopping List

(**salt and pepper may be added to taste for all recipes below)

Boiled Meat with Sauce, or Stewed Beef Gobbets

• 1-2 hours cooking time depending on fire, attendance to fire, and whether or not food is actually simmering (at least) for the whole time
• This recipe can boil actively, and requires a little less attention, but make sure liquid level doesn't get too low
• Don't use onions if Dave Austen is in your mess group or eating this meal
• May add dumplings or broken apart hardtack to the Boiled Meat with Sauce
• For Stewed Beef Gobbets-add rice or barley for last ½ hour of cooking

Pease Soup/Porridge

• Start soaking dried peas at breakfast (cover with water)
• 1-2 hours cooking time depending on factors listed above and whether peas have been soaked
• Don't put in onions if Dave Austen is in your mess group or eating this meal.
• Simmer until peas are tender, but watch water level, and add more if soup gets dry and thick
• As soup gets thicker, use a little less heat, but keep it simmering.

Pellow/Pilau

• About 1-2 hours cooking time (see comments above)
• Don't use onions if Dave Austen is in your mess group or eating this meal
• Just enough water to cover chicken, ham, and onions
• May remove chickens when done to keep somewhat whole, and cook rice after, or add rice for last ½ hour of cooking

Roast Meat

• Need a high, blazing fire
• Plan for about 20-30 minutes per pound of meat (hint: if meat cut into smaller portions, cooking time for whole roast is reduced)-original recipes suggest 15 minutes a pound for beef-they liked it pretty rare
• Put roast(s) on a sturdy, peeled green stick and prop between forked sticks or on stones or whatever-if roast is cut into smaller pieces, leave an inch or two between pieces of meat on the stick
• Meat should be beside the fire (not over it)-about 1 foot away
• Turn about a quarter turn every 15 minutes
• OR, just give everyone a hunk of meat and let them roast their own on a stick

Hot Cereals/Hasty Puddings

• Bring water to boil first
• ½-1 hour depending on factors discussed above
• When water is boiling, slowly shake in cornmeal or oats, stirring constantly - ADD SALT to this
• As cereal thickens, may add butter, beaten eggs, nuts, or fruit
• Monitor fire and cooking as cereal thickens, so that cereal does not burn and stick over hot fire-may need to add water or lower temperature

Dumplings

• Mash/stir butter until soft and cohesive (not chunks), or else cut up into little pieces, and mix with flour so that texture of whole is kind of uniformly crumbly
• Add egg if you have it
• Add a little bit of cold water and see if you can shape dumpling into a ball that stays pretty much a ball
• Drop balls of dumpling dough or spoonfuls of dough (if it's a little softer) into boiling broth with vegetables or boiled meat
• Dumplings are usually done when they have risen back to the top of boiling broth and cooked for 10-20 minutes (depending on size)

Beef Pudding

• Bring about ½ kettle of water to boil
• Follow directions for mixing butter and flour as described for dumplings above
• Add a little cold water and mix until you have a cohesive dough that you can shape/press into some sort of uniform shape
• Wet a large, closely woven linen cloth, and press dough into a large circle on the cloth (about ¼-1/2 inch thick)
• Place meat, cut into about 1-inch cubes or thin slices (may also leave whole, but will take longer to cook), in center of dough circle.
• Bring sides of cloth together, and tie snuggly with string, so that pudding is like a big ball or dumpling
• Drop pudding into boiling water
• Boil for 1-2 hours depending on factors listed above, and make sure that water level stays high and stays boiling throughout-also, fresh pork or corned beef will take longer than fresh beef, lamb, or ham
• May cook vegetables or meat in same kettle if there's room

Some dessert puddings; recipes are given in the original format:

An Ordinary Bread Pudding (from The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy, by Hannah Glasse, 1747)
"Take two Halfpenny Roles, slice them thin, Crust and all, pour over them a Pint of new Milk boiling hot, cover them close, let it stand some Hours to soak; then beat it well with a little melted Butter, and beat up the Yolks and Whites of two Eggs, beat all together well, with a little Salt. Boil it half an Hour; when it is done, turn it into your Dish, pour melted Butter over it and Sugar, some love a little Vinegar in the Butter. If your Roles are stale and grated, the will do better; add a little Ginger. You may bake it with a few Currans."

A Cheap Rice Pudding (from The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy, by Hannah Glasse, 1747)
"Take a quarter of a Pound of Rice, and half a Pound of Raisins stoned, and tye them in a Cloth. Give the Rice a great deal of room to swell, boil it two Hours; when it is enough, turn it into your Dish, and pour melted Butter and Sugar over it, with a little Nutmeg."

Boiled Indian Pudding (this is from a Western Massachusetts cookbook from 1805, which probably reflects New England cooking from the time of the Revolution--would probably not be something common to English people, but possibly to local people; whenever troops were issued Indian Meal, which was more of an American type of meal/flour, they probably used it to make familiar things, such as Hasty Pudding and boiled or baked puddings).
"Sifted Indian meal and warm milk (not scalding or pudding will break to pieces) should be stirred together stiff. A little salt, and two or three great spoonfuls of molasses; a spoonful of ginger. Boil it in a...very thick cloth. Leave plenty of room for Indian swells very much. Some people chop sweet suet fine and warm in the milk; others warm thin slices of sweet apple to be stirred into the pudding. Water will answer instead of milk. Boil four or five hours."

Baked items

These items are best made at home and brought to the camp. Recipes are transcribed directly from original sources; the first has been converted to modern measures, but the others are provided in their original format.

Shrewsbury Cakes (E. Smith, The Compleat Housewife, 1753)
"Take to one pound of sugar three pounds of the finest flour, a nutmeg grated, some beaten cinnamon; the sugar and spice must be sifted into the flour, and wet it with three eggs, and as much melted butter as will make it of a good thickness to roll into a paste; mould it well and roll it; cut it into what shape you please; perfume them, and prick them before they go into the oven."

• 1 pound granulated white sugar
• 3 pounds unbleached flour + some extra
• 2 to 3 thin cinnamon sticks, broken up
• 1 nutmeg
• 3 medium eggs
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) salted butter, melted
• rose water or orange flower water (be sure it's food-grade)

1. Break cinnamon sticks into mortar and grind as fine as possible with pestle. Put sugar into sieve over large bowl containing the flour and put cinnamon on top of it. Grate nutmeg on top of cinnamon and sift everything onto flour, stirring to mix well.

2. Whisk eggs in small bowl and add to flour mixture, stirring well. Stir butter slowly into the flour, mixing until it forms into a ball.

3. Divide dough into 3 or 4 parts and roll each part out as thinly as possible on a floured board. Cut into shapes with cutters or circles with a glass, prick several times with a fork, and sprinkle with rose water or orange flower water. Transfer cakes onto baking sheets and bake at 350 degrees until firm, crisp, and lightly browned.

An Ordinary Cake to eat with Butter (E. Smith, The Compleat Housewife, 1753)
"Take two pounds of flour, and rub into it half a pound of butter; then put to it some spice, a little salt, a quarter and half of sugar, half a pound of raisins stoned, and half a pound of currants; make these into a cake, with half a pint of ale yeast, four eggs and as much warm milk as you see convenient; mix it well together; an hour and half will bake it. This cake is good to eat with butter for breakfast."

Another Seed Cake (E. Smith, The Compleat Housewife, 1753)
"Dry two pounds of flour, then put two pounds of butter into it; beat ten eggs, leave out half the whites; then put to them eight spoonfuls of cream, six of ale yeast, run it through a sieve into the batter, and work them well together, and lay it a quarter of an hour before the fire; then work into it a pound of rough carraways; less than an hour bakes it."

To make Drop Biskets (E. Smith, The Compleat Housewife, 1753)
"Take eight eggs, and one pound of double refined sugar beaten fine, and twelve ounces of fine flour well dried; beat your eggs very well, then put in your sugar and beat it, and then your flour by degrees, beating it all very well together for an hour without ceasing; your oven must be as hot as for half-penny bread; then flour some sheets of tin, and drop your biskets what bigness your please and put them into the oven as fast as you can; and when you see them rise, watch them; and if they begin to colour, take them out again, and put in more; and if the first are not enough, put them in again; if they are right done, they will have a white ice on them; you may put in carraway-seeds if you please; when they are all bak'd, put them all in the oven again till they are very dry, and keep them in your stove."

To make Ginger-Bread Cakes (from The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy, by Hannah Glasse, 1747)
"Take three Pounds of Flour, one Pound of Sugar, one Pound of Butter, rubbed in very fine, two Ounces of Ginger beat fine, a large Nutmeg grated; then take a Pound of Treakle, a quarter of a Pint of Cream, make them warm together, and make up the Bread stiff, roll it out, and make it up into thin Cakes, cut them out with a Tea-Cup, or a small Glass, or roll them round like Nuts, bake them on Tin Plates in a slack Oven."

Another Sort of little Cakes (from The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy, by Hannah Glasse, 1747)
"A Pound of Flour and half a Pound of Sugar, beat half a Pound of Butter with your Hand, and mix them well together; bake it in little Cakes."

Firepits

Dig either a trench firepit or a keyhole, with the keyhole preferred (see diagram). A trench should be at least two feet wide and four long. In either case, the typical shallow pit of the reenactor is not correct and is a last resort, as is cooking on an iron plate. If you must use a plate, use two so that you can have a fire that is big and useful.

Either keyhole or trench pits must have 2 levels - that's the whole point. In a keyhole, the large round part is shallow. That's where the big, happy fire is - the fire for warmth and roasting bacon and drying socks. Then the rectangular extension slopes down to being 10-12 inches deep. That's where you sweep the coals for cooking and maintaining heat - and for roasting corn.

In a trench fire, simply slope the trench, so that it has a flat shallow area (most of it) and a deep end, rather like a swimming pool.

Finally, you'll want a tripod or set of supports to hold the kettles while cooking. The simplest is to find two forked sticks, at least 1 ½ inches in diameter, sharpen the unforked end, and plant that end at least one foot in the ground. In hard ground, build a tripod for each end. Lay a 1 ½ inch to 2 inch crossbar to hold pots and S hooks. It should be made of GREEN wood so it won't burn through. Trial and error will teach you the correct height, but at least three feet is recommended, and higher is usually better, at least if you have several S hooks.

Fire building

Many modern campers lay tepee fires - that is, they lean small sticks against each other over a central pile of kindling. This is a clumsy fire to add to, and is good for warmth but slow to cook. Lay a log cabin fire, instead, and use 1 inch to 2-inch pieces of dry wood, either round or splits, to lay the log cabin. This sort of fire will be easy to add to the top of, and has the additional benefit that it seems to make the best, fastest coals. Build the log cabin first, then lay fine kindling at the bottom and then get your tinder to light. It is too late to build the fire when the char is already afire, especially in the rain!

In the rain, keep something over the fire until it is well alight. This will make the whole prospect possible. You don't have to cover a good fire, even in a hard rain, but you must cover the makings of a fire. Also, it is more important to keep your firewood covered than it is to keep yourself covered. If you have a tarp, first shelter the wood.

Fire Keeping

Always appoint a firekeeper. This is a comfy but vital job. It should be viewed as a reward, and any failure to perform it punished ruthlessly. It is the firekeeper's job to keep the fire lit and at the strength (and place!) that the cook requires. The firekeeper has to make sure that there is always abundant wood of all the types required (some one inch and two inch wood for boiling water, and small stuff for kindling, and big stuff for coals and conversational fire.) If the fire is dying, the firekeeper should get it back to full strength. He or she should keep sweeping coals into the coal catcher (the pit in a keyhole fire, or the 'deep end' in a trench fire).

Wood and wood chopping

Everyone shares responsibility for wood. The cook will ask people to chop wood from time to time, and the firekeeper should keep him aware when wood is needed. This is often little more than a quick detail to fetch firewood. You will also want some downed wood for kindling and for quick, hot fires (one inch or two in diameter); you should try to go into local woods and pick it up as soon as you are at an event, dressed, and have your camp up. A supply of dry wood is the most important requirement for the camp after WATER.

Wood should be chopped with an axe. Wood should always be chopped onto another piece of wood, and a smart leader will always make it an early goal to secure a decent chopping block. The largest and densest piece of cut firewood will often do the trick at an event, but sometimes some luck and imagination is required. No one should ever cut wood on the ground.

Shelters

Brush huts and wigwams

The simplest brush hut (called a wigwam in the 18th c.) is built as an a-frame. Think of it as reproducing a wedge tent in brush. Build it the same way, but wider and lower to the ground. Find uprights and a ridgepole, then begin to lean decent size poles along the ridge, alternating sides. Stick the ends in the ground for a little stability. Tie off at the top as needed. When the whole is covered, weave brush THICKLY into the spaces until the whole hut is snug. Pile some more at the back. In twenty minutes, four men can make one of these that is DRY. Less than 4 men? Make it smaller. Justin Clement's at the BAR school was built for 2, and it is still standing. Think of that.

You can also build a pole lodge as per Cuthbertson. Take 8-12 long poles (at least 12 feet) and bind them at the top, then form them like a tepee. Now lean more poles onto your central structure, and weave brush thickly as above. This can hold even more men (and women) and can have a fire in the center. NOTE WELL that if you intend to have a fire in the center, you better use only green brush and make the structure BIG. Or cover it in canvas.

The easiest (but dampest) Wigwam is simply a slant roof. You still need uprights and a ridgepole, but now you only cover one side. Carry on as above. No matter what your structure, wigwams should be set up like tents, in a military manner. Just because they had to build their structures doesn't mean they weren't still in the army! And tents interspersed with brush huts it totally correct.

Field Fortifications

Keep it simple. Roger Stevenson says we should dig in whenever we stop. We should. So consider our simplest post - two short walls with a gabion at the corner. Form the wall by driving four to six stakes (at least 4 foot long and 1 ½ inch diameter, driven at least a foot deep!). Place the two stakes on the line of the wall, lay your largest bottom log against the stakes, and drive the other two (or more) on the other side of the log, so that it is firmly held. Now fill in other cut wood and brush between the stakes. No logs? Use cut brush to make fascines (see below).

Gabion - Drive 8-10 stakes deep into the ground in a circle, at least 3 feet in diameter. Now weave soft, pliable brush or weeds into the stakes until you have a basket. Historically, this would have been filled with dirt. Fill it with whatever you have - brush, straw, even dirt.

Fascines - A bundle of sticks or brush. Use hemp rope (because the public will see it) and tie three times -once in the middle, once at each end. Make the bundle tight (you are trying to stop a bullet, here) and at least 9 inches in diameter and six feet long.

Camp Layout

According to Stedman, (Via Tom Callens) a correct camp layout is a triangle, and we're going with this for the summer. Firepits go in the center, with wigwams and tents to the edges. The outside edge could then be fortified. Stevenson suggests a circle or a square, but the layout is the same, firepits in the center with shelters outside and then field works covering all approaches.

Guard Duty

There are two types - duty for show, and duty for real. Sometimes, one runs into another. Let the officers worry about duty for show, this is about for real. Set a picket whenever you are sitting to eat. Set a picket whenever you have people in camp. Set a picket at dawn and dusk. Set a picket whenever you halt for a rest.

One man can watch for the whole mess group. If he needs to be fed, someone needs to take him food. If you are in a camp, he should probably be in a covered watchpost that is screened and hidden. You may need to build that.

The picket should usually also be the night firewatch. He is in charge of keeping fires alight (if assigned) and also of knowing where people sleep, so that latecomers can be sent to their beds without waking the camp. No night watch should be longer than one hour.

Tools

Every mess group should have the following:

• Every man should have an S hook and an iron pin or spike.
• Every mess group should have at least one painted tarp (linen canvas painted red, with iron or brass rings at the corners).
• Every mess group should have an axe, a shovel, a pick, and a fascine knife.
• Every mess group should also have fifty feet of rope that they don't mind cutting up. More rope is better!
• When the new linen tents become available, every mess group should have one.

Summary

Being a mess group leader is a hard job. To help you, you should appoint a firekeeper, a cook, and an assistant (your Lance Corporal) to help you get the job done. You should have at least six men. That's enough to stand guard, cook, get firewood, and clean muskets all at the same time. Don't forget that your men and women are here for fun, and need time off. Don't forget that everyone needs to drink water. And remember that in the field, women are as valuable (or more valuable) than men. Consider training the women in your section to clean muskets. Consider how to use jobs as rewards and punishments, but in general, remember that these people are modern volunteers, and see that they stay that way. Keep the balance of work even. If there is a really nasty job... Do it yourself. And despite all that, enjoy yourself.

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