| Vol. 8 | No. 1 |
Meeting of November 23, 1997
On November 23rd, Peters' Corps held its annual meeting for 1998. Peters' Corps members in attendance were: Bill and Diana Wigham, Bruce Wallace, Justin Kennick, Marcia and Chris Kennick, Mark and Carol Cafazzo, Cliff & Katherine Nichols, Dan Moraski and Brian Zawodniak.
Subjects discussed during the meeting included an election of officers, new members, the schedule for 1998, unit dues, Honorary Memberships, and Peters' Corps and the Internet.
Members who have advanced from Applicant to Probationary members: Brian Zawodniak, Cliff, Katherine, Aaron and Emily Nichols. Congratulations Brian, Cliff, Katherine, Aaron and Emily!!
Nancy Moraski completed all the requirements for admission to Peters Corps under the applicant status provisions of the unit constitution. Congratulations and welcome, Nancy!!
Honorary Memberships in the Corps were granted to John Muller, Todd Braisted, and Ware Martin.
Nominations were made and elections were held with the following results:
Old Business:
Treasurer’s Report - The Corps is doing well - but could do better. Discussion followed regarding our biggest annual bill – insurance and several possibilities of increasing revenue to the Corps including the possibility of annual unit dues. After much discussion, the subject of dues was tabled to a future date.
Quartermasters’ Report - Mark indicates a green hunting frock is currently unaccounted for and requests the membership to help in locating it. We have two muskets and other material for lending to new applicants/recruits. Mark also did a great job at two school classes as a one man "school of the soldier." Kudos to Mark!!
Sergeant’s Report - The Sergeant is pleased at the growth of the regiment over the past year and reported that last year’s activities were both numerous and went well. Our practice of rotating field command at events has proven an asset and is drawing attention from a variety of quarters.
Adjutant’s Report - Dan reports that he has received numerous inquiries from individuals seeking information about the regiment, the period, and comments. He mentioned the links on our web site to other sites: The B.A.R., Phil Weaver, The David Library, and the von Germann pictures from the Burgoyne expedition in the NY Public Library. The Adjutant passed out waivers of liability to those in the unit who have previously not completed them.
He gave a presentation by connecting to the Corps’ Web Site and that of the BAR. He showed how unit newsletters, recipes, and schedule are available on our Web Site.
New Business:
Quartermasters’ Report - Mark Cafazzo has arranged to a presentation before the U.S. Army Reserve Unit at Fort Devens on 1/11/98. (See schedule)
Marcia, Diana & Carol mentioned that the regiment has a quantity of material. This material will be available for purchase by the unit for garments. It will be brought to the next sewing session.
Unit sewing sessions will be resumed, the first of the new year to be held at Marcia’s house on 1/25/98.
All in all, it was a very interesting and productive meeting which was delightfully enhanced by food and drink provided by our gracious hosts Dan and Nancy Moraski and Diana Wigham’s freshly baked bread.
Respectfully submitted:
Dan Moraski,
Adjutant
A Special Note of Thanks from Pvt. Zawodniak
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mark Cafazzo for all of his help in getting me ready for Peters’ Corps 1997 season. Mark's time and patience were Invaluable. He Is a good teacher, willing to take time to go over the manual of arms, musket maintenance, uniform issues, classroom demonstrations, and what seems to be an endless list of miscellaneous details that give Mark the very appropriate appellation of quartermaster. His enthusiasm and dedication to Peters’ Corps is indomitable.
But I must also acknowledge the rest of Peters' Corps. Everyone has been so helpful and friendly to me. I feel quite comfortable with you all. I know I am in good company. No matter what event Peters' Corps attends, our group is recognized for its attention to detail and very gregarious nature towards the general public and our fellow reenactors. From my experience, the name Peters' Corps commands respect. This is no surprise given the combined experience of its members. I am honored to be among such good people.
God save the King! Pvt. Zawodniak
Foot Rags
A while ago I was having a beer at the club with Kurt Strehl, the coppersmith. Yugoslavia was in the news and Kurt was telling us how bad things were during WWII. For one thing, there were practically no socks available. In there place the soldiers wore "Fusslappen" (foot rags.)
Kurt described them as simply being square pieces of unbleached linen, about 24" square, and with raw edges. (Hemmed edges would have caused blisters, he explained).
One simply spread the square rags on the floor and stepped onto them with the foot aligned from one corner to the other diagonally opposite. First the corner closest to the toes was folded over the top of the foot. Then the two side corners were likewise folded over the instep while the corner next to the heel was merely gathered up. The foot, thus wrapped, was thrust into the boot and that was it.
It was an interesting bit of information, but hardly useful for an 18th century reenactor.
Later on, I was Xeroxing some information out of a book on the army of Frederick the Great. The Xerox machine was already set to copy two pages, but I did not notice that. When I realized I had shot two pages, I checked to see if there was anything on the extra page that he might be interested in. Suddenly, the word Fusslappen jumped out at me from the German text! In reading further, it became clear that the Prussians of the 18th century were using foot rags instead of socks as well as their more modern counterparts. This certainly does not mean that other armies were using foot rags during our period, but then it does not mean they were not. Certainly there was a great deal of cultural exchange between the various military establishments then, as there is today. There might just be some connection between the stories of the Revolutionary War soldiers with feet wrapped in rags and the European foot rags. Certainly there are instances of Revolutionary War units being issued linen material without any indication as to how it was to be used. At least this is something to keep in mind when you continue your research.
As a postscript to this story, Kurt offered what you might find to be amusing. They referred to their all too frequent meals of cabbage soup as "Fusslappensuppe." Obviously the soup got its name because the limp pieces of cabbage leaves floating in it remind them of foot rags.
Respectfully submitted,
Bill Wigham
Hurry-up Gingerbread
(Old recipe, Sparta, Virginia)
"Williamsburg Art of Cookery Cook Book"
Hurry-up Gingerbread
Beat together:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
Add:
1 cup molasses
Sift together:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
Add these alternately with:
1 cup sour milk, to which you have added 1 teaspoon of soda.
Bake in a shallow greased pan in moderate oven about 30 minutes.
This is one of the recipes that we used last summer. We served it with
whipped cream that was more like butter!
Marcia Kennick
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