Rambling Anecdotes - Page 27

**4V50 Gary** · July 3, 2025, 05:53 PM

Frontier Army Wife. This is taken from Vanished Arizona by Martha Summerhayes. Earlier I read Daughter of the Regiment by a girl whose father was shuffled around from camp to camp. Women and children will make observations on things soldiers don't take notice of or think worthy of writing about. Tillie Pierce's (Gettysburg witness) memoirs is a good example of this.

"Jack said I should not have to buy anything at all; the Quartermaster Department furnished everything in the line of kitchen utensils; and, as his word was law, I went over to the Quartermaster store-house to select the needed articles.

"After what I haad been told, I was surprised to find nothing smaller than two-gallon tea-kettles, meat-forks a yard long, and mess-kettles deep enough to cook rations for fifty-men! I rebelled, and said I would not use such gigantic things.

"My husband said: 'Now, Mattie, be reasonable; all the army women keep house with these utensils; the regiment will move soon, and then what should we do with a lot of tin pans and such stuff? You know a second lieutenant is allowed only a thousand pounds of baggage when he changes station.' This was a hard lesson, which I learned later."

BTW, she tried boiling eggs and didn't realize that at higher altitudes, you have to cook eggs longer. Anyway, their first meal was a disaster. It took me years to learn how to hard boil eggs at close to 7k ft. (and I'm not ashamed to say I asked numerous local women; some of whom it turns out hadn't figured it out yet). Sea level I'd bring it to a boil and let it simmer for ten minutes. Always worked and no oxidation (green on yellow yolk). Up here it's age the eggs (outside the fridge for a week), then bring to boil and cook at very low boil for ten minutes.

@ricklin - check out the flick, Two Men Went to War. It's loosely based on an historical incident where two British dentists invaded Nazi occupied Europe on their own. Remember, "An Army that can't bite, is an army that can't fight." (line from the flick) https://tubitv.com/movies/100018645/two-men-went-to-war

July 3, 2025, 05:53 PM	#651
4V50 Gary Staff Join Date: November 2, 1998 Location: Colorado Posts: 22,306	Frontier Army Wife. This is taken from Vanished Arizona by Martha Summerhayes. Earlier I read Daughter of the Regiment by a girl whose father was shuffled around from camp to camp. Women and children will make observations on things soldiers don't take notice of or think worthy of writing about. Tillie Pierce's (Gettysburg witness) memoirs is a good example of this. "Jack said I should not have to buy anything at all; the Quartermaster Department furnished everything in the line of kitchen utensils; and, as his word was law, I went over to the Quartermaster store-house to select the needed articles. "After what I haad been told, I was surprised to find nothing smaller than two-gallon tea-kettles, meat-forks a yard long, and mess-kettles deep enough to cook rations for fifty-men! I rebelled, and said I would not use such gigantic things. "My husband said: 'Now, Mattie, be reasonable; all the army women keep house with these utensils; the regiment will move soon, and then what should we do with a lot of tin pans and such stuff? You know a second lieutenant is allowed only a thousand pounds of baggage when he changes station.' This was a hard lesson, which I learned later." BTW, she tried boiling eggs and didn't realize that at higher altitudes, you have to cook eggs longer. Anyway, their first meal was a disaster. It took me years to learn how to hard boil eggs at close to 7k ft. (and I'm not ashamed to say I asked numerous local women; some of whom it turns out hadn't figured it out yet). Sea level I'd bring it to a boil and let it simmer for ten minutes. Always worked and no oxidation (green on yellow yolk). Up here it's age the eggs (outside the fridge for a week), then bring to boil and cook at very low boil for ten minutes. @ricklin - check out the flick, Two Men Went to War. It's loosely based on an historical incident where two British dentists invaded Nazi occupied Europe on their own. Remember, "An Army that can't bite, is an army that can't fight." (line from the flick) https://tubitv.com/movies/100018645/two-men-went-to-war __________________ Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. *Molon Labe!*