Portable Stoves

[7thNJcoA]

I have tried to do as much research as I could. I have read numerous accounts of soldiers having a portable stove with them on campaign. Most accounts are of the men receiving them from home or purchasing from a sutler. The majority of the text talks of the boys dumping these things after there first long march or when a Veteran soldier advises them to dump the extra weight. I was wondering if anyone knows anything about these items then can educate me a little? I am trying to get photos of the stoves but havent had any luck??? any help would be great! Thank YOU!!!

[Memphis]

Scroll to the image on or about page 90. This is but one example of camp stove.

http://members.cox.net/ltclee/Vieles.htm#Rations

[Rob Weaver]

Here's a candle stove that's original. It is light, but cumbersome because of it's shape. It works pretty well, if out of the wind.

[Parault]

Mr. Weaver,

What size is that? It looks fairly small. I have never seen one of those before. I actually learned something new today

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Such stoves were lightweight, inexpensive even in the day, and pretty common in winter quarters. I have not read of them being common "in camp" other than winter quarters.

There's some info on them in the chapter on winter quarters in the CRRC2, and of course Google.com is a great resource. Some on the "Winter 1864" event committee were recently checking out some period-ish stoves online via the latter method.

[Rob Weaver]

Including the cup on the top, as pictured, it's about 8-9" tall. Made of jappanned iron. The cup is about the size of one of the small ones you see sutlers selling. I owe another gent the dimensions, so when I tot them up, I'll post them. It works pretty well (if out of the wind) with the stubs of candles or with a candle made of a small can filled with paper and wax. The tough part is getting the flame close enough to the bottom of the cup to heat, but not so close that it smothers the flame. To tell the truth, solid fuel heat tabs work really well in it, and I carry a small cache of them for last-ditch efforts. I can see why soldiers would buy these up, being light and cheap, and I can likewise see why they'd throw them away as being somewhat limited in application and fiddly. However, they weren't camping in parks where firewood is restricted or open fires banned due to fire hazard.

[tenfed1861]

Here is a pretty cool example of a small camp stove from Jim Mayo's website:http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/j_mayo/cscanteen.html
It's about a fourth of the page down, called the William Lundford stove. It doesn't look like something that would have been used on active campaign, except maybe by a very rich/high col. or general. It gives some idea of the type of stove in camp use.

[Poor Private]

Last year I saw a type of stove that really wasn't a stove it looks like the C.S. Virginia , and sits over the top of a pit fire. sucker is huge. It's about 3 feet long and 18" wide with a door that opens to feed the fire below . It, also has a smoke stack about 3 feet tall made of stove pipe. ,And it's all made of galv. tin. Wish I would have taken a photo of one so I could post this miniture river boat.

[Ephraim_Zook]

Sorry, but I couldn't find a larger image.

http://www.quartermaster.army.mil/OQMG/professional_bulletin/2002/Summer02/Images/History-civil%20war%20camp%20site2.jpg

[Fatback and Beans]

Scroll to the image on or about page 90. This is but one example of camp stove.

http://members.cox.net/ltclee/Vieles.htm#RationsI would dearly love to see those stoves repopped someday.

Here's a stereo image from the Library of Congress that shows a couple of those stoves in actual use;

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?cwnyhs:2:./temp/~ammem_MRaU::

[wmkane]

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?cwnyhs:2:./temp/~ammem_MRaU::

unfortunatly link doesn't work

[Fatback and Beans]

Bill,

Sorry about that, it was the link to the catalogue listing, but appears to have been only a temporary link. It did work when I originally posted it. However;

-------------

The Way they cook dinner in camp. [Stereograph]


Roche, Thomas C., d.1895


CREATED/PUBLISHED
ca.1861-ca.1865


MEDIUM
Stereograph


SUMMARY
Four soldiers cooking dinner on small stoves beneath a tarp.


NOTES
Roche is attributed as creator based on information from the book, Anthony: the man, the company, the camera. An American Photographic Pioneer.

Series: War views, Army of the Potomac., 2057


SUBJECTS
Cookery
Soldiers
United States. Army of the Potomac
United States. Army--Military life
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Military life
Stereograph


RELATED NAMES
E. & H.T. Anthony (Firm)


CALL NUMBER
PR-065-773-13


REPRODUCTION NUMBER
42156


SOURCE COLLECTION
Civil War Stereographs


REPOSITORY
New-York Historical Society


DIGITAL ID
nhnycw/ad ad03013

-------------

That said, here is the hard link to the image file itself;

http://memory.loc.gov/ndlpcoop/nhnycw/ad/ad03/ad03013v.jpg


Hopefully, this one should work okay.

[TimKindred]

I would dearly love to see those stoves repopped someday.

Here's a stereo image from the Library of Congress that shows a couple of those stoves in actual use;

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?cwnyhs:2:./temp/~ammem_MRaU::

Richmonville tin used to make the reporduction of the sheet-iron camp stove. These are very lightweight, despite the name, and were purhased by the thousands by the federal government. They were used in field camp by company cooks, along with the nesting kettles, etc to prepare the men's rations.

Stove of these types work very well, once you get the hang of them, and were indeed quite common in winter quarters, as well as more permanent camps. I would doubt seriously that any actually made it on campaign, however.

One other varient that works on the same principle was the "nurse lamp". It was a tin affair with either a candle or oil lamp in the base, and a rim at the top into which set a small covered container for soup, broth, bullion, tea, etc.
These could be found not only in medical units, but in almost any home in the country.

Respects,

[Fatback and Beans]

Richmonville tin used to make the reporduction of the sheet-iron camp stove.Tim,

Just to clarify, you're talking about Richmonville having in the past reproduced the "Portable Field Cooking Stove" as pictured in Viele's "Hand-Book For Active Service"?

http://members.cox.net/ltclee/Vieles_files/image014.jpg

If so, looking into getting a few reproduced would be a huge bonus here in California with our fire hazards. Many events do not allow an open fire or, at the very least, no ground fires. The Portable Field Cooking Stove would solve a whole host of issues in those respects. Thank you for the tip.

Respectfully,

[TimKindred]

Joe,

Ho. The one that Richmonville produces was a cvopy of the camp stove that looked like a single-stack casemated ironclad. It was a wonderful sheet-iron stove, and worked exceptionally well. It was placed over a firepit and captured the heat, preventing the fire from spreading as well, and arresting pesky sparks in the stack.

Respects,

[Rob Weaver]

Here are some of the dimensions for the stove I pictured on page 1. Remember, I didn't make it and I'm not a craftsman. I made exactly 1 tin item in my life - a sugar scoop that I made in shop back in middle school. Instructions were in cuneiform. And so:
The base is made of 1" strips, with 1/4" rolled edges. The height of the base from the bottom of the legs to the tops of the rim is 5 3/4". The width at the top is 4 1/2". The solid piece forming the candle stand, which is also 4 1/2", is 1" below the top rim with a 2" diameter fluted candleholder dead in the middle. The three legs flare out slightly underneath, but I don't know how to measure that. The cup is 4" wide (has little tabs to hold it to the base), 2 3/4" tall The whole made of jappaned iron.