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Second-tier casemates, lighthouse keeper’s house, sallyport, and lean-to structure, Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida, late 1860s (U.S. National Park Service and National Archives, public domain).
As March 1863 arrived and progressed, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers who were stationed at Fort Jefferson in Florida’s Dry Tortugas became more and more comfortable with their latest garrison assignment. Members of the regiment continued to drill regularly, undergo inspections, march in dress parades, and receive additional training in the use of the fort’s defensive artillery, much as they had done during their first months at the fort.
Their duties were made more palatable by good food and recreational activities. During the early days of that month, Company C’s Henry Wharton penned another letter to his hometown newspaper, the Sunbury American, in which he noted that the regiment’s normal rations that were supplied by the federal government were supplemented by “‘pot-pie’ three times a week; apple dumplings, with good milk, semi-occasionally, and for something to remind us of days past and gone, Sgt. Peirs [sic, Pyers,] serves us with apple pie and doughnuts made in a style that would do credit to more than one I know of, who is in the baking business.”
For fun and exercise, many members of the regiment spent time strolling the wooded areas and beaches around both Fort Jefferson and Fort Taylor (Key West), exploring and studying the exotic wonders of nature around them while collecting seashells and other treasures. In a letter penned to family and friends on March 1, Private Alfred Pretz of Company I recounted one such expedition, noting that he and Sergeant-Major William Hendricks had woken up “at an early hour and started off for the south beach [in Key West] before sunrise, or just about sunrise.”
We were going to hunt seashells. It was a splendid morning, clear, still, and warm enough to be pleasant. We soon reached the seashore and commenced picking up samples of the numerous varieties that abound in profusion. We found many small reptiles which we examined so that we did not get to the principal shell grounds before it was time to return in order to be with the mess at breakfast hour. On our way back, we passed through the woods, with which the key is covered. These are little more than bushes, being small trees averaging eight feet in height, growing closely together with thick undergrowth of a beautiful shrub, and then on the ground a low, broad leaved plant. I plucked specimens of their foliage for enclosure with this letter. The smooth, stout, narrow leaf is from the tree. The tiny leaf, with thorns on the branch, is the undergrowth, the third variety is the plant I speak of. The single flower and bud is of a deep orange color and grows on trees the size of the largest trees in the Key West woods. These flower trees (I know no other name for them) are planted around the houses of town. The other flower is of a crimson color and grows in chunks like the cactus…. We never have twilight here. As soon as the sun sets darkness sets in. At present however we have bright moonlight evenings. The weather is charming.
That same evening, Private Pretz played backgammon to occupy his remaining hours before lights out.
Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1861 (public domain).
Around this same time, an alert was sounded one day at Fort Jefferson, causing members of the 47th Pennsylvania to scramble to positions across the fort in order to bolster the Union troops already standing guard. That action was ordered by the fort’s commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, who had spotted a large number of unidentified ships on the horizon. According to Emily Holder, who had been living in a small house within the fort’s walls since 1860 with her husband, who had been assigned to serve as a medical officer for the fort’s engineers:
One day, early in the spring, Colonel Alexander, who was very watchful and always on the alert, was quite alarmed by seeing some twenty vessels hovering just in sight. Extra guard was mounted, the big guns were loaded and the men slept by them all night; but the vessels passed by without coming nearer.
On another day, she noted that “The Inspector-General, after returning to Beaufort, made rather an overturning in Key West which was under the command of Colonel Morgan of the Ninetieth New York, who had been rather playing the tyrant.”
He had perverted a very good order of General Hunter into one that ordered every person who had friends in the rebel service to leave Key West allowing them only fifty pounds of baggage apiece. They protested, plead with him, even threatened, for it would almost depopulate the town, but in vain.
Justice, however, was nearer than he suspected, for just as the vessel was to start with these people who were being set adrift, a steamer came in bringing Colonel Goode [sic, Good] of the Forty-Seventh Pennsylvania to relieve Colonel Morgan.
The people were almost crazy in their excitement. They took the soldiers’ knapsacks as they marched up the street and would have carried the men on their shoulders in their joy over Morgan’s defeat.
Colonel Goode [sic, Good] came to Tortugas a few days afterwards, and while there said he might send the remainder of the Regiment down to us—something very reassuring for the summer as they were acclimated and would be more likely to withstand any epidemic that might occur.
Meanwhile, disease continued to ravage the ranks of the regiment in March—particularly at Fort Jefferson, where a total of five hundred and sixty-eight Union Army soldiers were stationed. According to H Company Corporal John A. Gardner:
One thing appears a little strange with us here, and that is, there are some five or six in each company that get night blind and some of them can’t see very well through the day. We have a Sgt. by the name of Michael C. Lynch, that can’t see but very little at any time, and a couple more that can’t see at night. I do not know the cause of it, unless it is the white sand. It is very bright and it might be possible that the sand is the cause of it. Our Doctor himself don’t know the cause of it. Otherwise, we get along fat, ragged, and saucy.
* Note: Sergeant Michael Lynch, who had officially mustered in with the 47th Pennsylvania’s H Company on September 19, 1862, at the same rank that he held at Fort Jefferson in 1863, was confined to the post hospital at Fort Jefferson on March 22, 1863, due to nyctalopia (night blindness), which progressed to a stage that rendered him unfit for continued service with the regiment. His condition was described the next month in a letter penned in April by Captain James Kacy:
Sgt. Lynch, poor fellow, is worn out and nearly blind, and is to be sent home. Many of our men are so affected, and it takes a strong eye to stand the glare of the sun on this white sand.
Corporal Lynch was subsequently discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability on June 30 of that same year. Meanwhile, E Company Corporal Peter Lyner was also confined to the hospital that same day. Suffering from chronic diarrhea, he would be hospitalized three more times before the year was out.
Jacob Henry Scheetz, M.D., assistant surgeon, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1863 (public domain).
By mid-to-late March 1863, it was clear that an epidemic of dysentery and chronic diarrhea had broken out at Fort Jefferson. Among those trying to bring comfort to the sick were Assistant Regimental Surgeon Jacob H. Scheetz, M.D., who continued to hold the position of post surgeon, and A Company Private Charles Detweiler, who had been assigned to nursing duties at Fort Jefferson’s hospital. Also readmitted for treatment during this time (on March 18) was G Company Private Joseph Hallmeier, who had developed complications related to the back wound he had sustained during the Battle of Pocotaligo on October 22, 1862. In addition, E Company Private Leonard Frankenfield had become so ill from the chronic diarrhea he had been suffering after contracting dysentery, that he, too, needed to be hospitalized—an admission that occurred on March 23.
On March 25, the schooner Nonpareil arrived at Fort Jefferson, bringing with it Colonel Good and his senior staff, Regimental Surgeon Elisha W. Baily, M.D., the regiment’s medical director, Regimental Quartermaster Francis Z. Heebner, and the 47th Pennsylvania’s Regimental Band for a short series of meetings and special events. They dined on bean soup, mush, pea soup, rice, vegetable soup, pies, coffee, and tea, and then returned to Fort Taylor four days later.
U.S. Army’s Department of the Gulf, 1864 map (U.S. Library of Congress, public domain; click to enlarge).
As the month of April wore on, more Union ships arrived, carrying supplies and more than one hundred men who were added to Fort Jefferson’s roster of prisoners. During this same period, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was transferred from the command of Brigadier-General John Brannan in the U.S. Army’s Department of the South to the command of Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks in the Department of the Gulf—a change that would ultimately place the regiment in a position of making history in 1864 during the Union’s Red River Campaign across Louisiana.
On Sunday, April 12, 1863, the men from Company H carried out Order No. 31, which directed them to appear for inspection “with haversack and canteens” on a day when the temperature was high. The only members of the company who were excused were those who were hospitalized or assigned to hospital or guard duties.
Six days later, Corporal Albert prepared H Company’s kitchen for inspection, most likely with help from Thomas Haywood, a formerly enslaved Black man who had enlisted with the regiment in November 1862 while it was stationed in Beaufort, South Carolina. Haywood had been assigned to Company H, since that time, as an “Under-Cook.”
Ailing with conjunctivitis, E Company Corporal Peter Lyner was hospitalized at Fort Jefferson on April 21, 1863—during a month that saw forty members of the 47th Pennsylvania and twenty-one prisoners admitted to the post’s hospital. Fourteen of those 47th Pennsylvanians were diagnosed with dysentery and/or chronic diarrhea, with single cases of typhoid fever, asthma, bronchitis, catarrh, conjunctivitis, phlegmon, and phthisis also documented.
On April 23, H Company Captain James Kacy issued Order No. 32:
The members of Company H shall each have his rifle taken apart immediately after breakfast tomorrow morning. The sock and barrel from the stock, the sock not to be taken apart, and the Captain will inspect at 8:30 AM on Saturday [April 25].
Unidentified Union Army artillerymen standing next to one of the fifteen-inch Rodman guns, which were installed on the third level of Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, Florida, beginning in 1862. These smoothbore Rodman weighed twenty-five tons, and was able to fire four hundred and fifty-pound shells more than three miles (U.S. National Park Service, public domain).
Around this same time, records show that the combined total strength of the 47th Pennsylvania (with its forces divided between Forts Taylor and Jefferson) was nine hundred and sixty-eight men—and that none of those men who were classified as enlisted had been paid for their service to the nation for a shocking eight months. The month of April ended with another inspection—and with the members of Companies F and K resuming their practice with the light and heavy artillery equipment at Fort Jefferson.
As the month of May arrived, inspections continued to be a regular part of the 47th Pennsylvanians’ Sunday schedules—even as temperatures in the shady spots of Fort Jefferson were reaching ninety-nine degrees by mid-afternoon. For sustenance, the men were fed either pork or beef for breakfast and supper, depending on the day’s menu, followed by bean soup for their evening meal (dinner) with meals often supplemented by eggs that had been collected by members of the regiment from birds’ nests scattered around the island. The total number of Union troops stationed here during this time was six hundred and sixty-six.
But, once again, disease reared its ugly head with forty-eight members of the 47th Pennsylvania and thirty-seven prisoners confined to the Fort Jefferson hospital—twenty-four of whom had dysentery and/or chronic diarrhea, seven who had bilious or intermittent fever, four who were diagnosed with general debility, three who were diagnosed with abscesses, two who were suffering with hernia issues, and one who had contracted cholera.
First Lieutenant Christian Seiler Beard, Company C, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1863 (public domain).
On May 2, this letter from Sergeant Christian Beard of the 47th Pennsylvania’s C Company, was published in the Sunbury Gazette:
My sentiments are the same as they were when I left home, and let come what will I am ever ready and willing to meet it as a soldier’s fate, and will not grumble, let my lot be ever so hard, for he that can’t suffer something for the good of his country is not worthy of the name of a freeman. Some men say they could not fight as well at present as they could last summer. Such men are traitors and cowards, for we are fighting in the same cause now that we were then, and I should rather suffer death than flinch or say one disrespectful word respecting the government. But at home there is something wrong, and you ought not allow it. Men like Purdy should not be permitted to discourage those men who are willing to do something for the good of the country.
Those papers are continually talking of the troops being so much demoralized, but such things are new to us here, and are really not the case: on the other hand, they are every day becoming better disciplined, and more efficient for the duty they have to perform if only the people at home would not discourage them. I have seen letters written by men not a thousand miles from your town that would make the face of a heathen blush wish shame and indignation. They tell us that we are fighting for nothing but to free n______ [racial epithet deleted], and that our government don’t do as they ought, and the President thinks more of a n_____ [racial epithet deleted] than of a white soldier; all such talk, and some even go as far as to say that a man who would fight for such a man as Lincoln or Hunter was no better than a n_____ [racial epithet deleted]. This talk is put forth with the evident intention of discouraging the men, but such pups don’t discourage me. I am just as willing to fight to-day as ever, and any man who is unwilling to fight for the cause as it now stands is not worth as much powder as would kill him. We don’t fear the rebels, and they can’t whip us; but those rebels at home, lurking in our rear, we have to fear more than the honorable foe in front, who openly stand out with gun in hand to receive us. While such things are permitted at home, we must not look for better success than we have had of late in Virginia. On the other hand, if every man, woman and child would support the Union—stand by her, and not a man give up while there is life, then we would not need to fight half so much. The rebels say that half of the people North are for them, and they expect to get help there ere long. No wonder they keep their heads out of water so long. It is the people at the North—it is their faults that so many of the soldiers have to die on the battle field. They will some day have to account for it in my opinion. There is but two sides, the one is for the Administration and the Union, the other is for the rebellion. He that disagrees with the heads of our government, and everything that us done by them, while they are doing the best they possibly can, is a rebel at heart and dare not deny it. The best thing would be to stop all newspapers, and not allow them to be sent to the army. Letters of a discouraging character should also be forbidden.
Hoping that you are well, I am yours, &c.,
C. S. BeardMay also brought revised duty assignments for a number of 47th Pennsylvanians, including F Company Private John Weiss, who was given additional duties with the post’s Ordnance Department, after having recovered from a February bout of remittent fever, K Company Private Tilghman Boger, who was assigned to kitchen duties in the officers’ mess hall, and G Company Private Cornelius Heist, who was appointed as Company Cook—an assignment that likely brought him into contact with one of the regiment’s Under-Cooks—the group of formerly enslaved Black men who had enlisted with the regiment while it was stationed in Beaufort, South Carolina in October 1862.
Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida, view from the sea, 1946 (vacation photograph collection of President Harry Truman, November 1946, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, public domain).
Another alert was sounded on May 7 when a Union gunboat chased a blockade runner from Great Britain into the harbor at Fort Jefferson, enabling D Company Captain Henry D. Woodruff and a party of his men to capture the British crew. Their prisoners were subsequently transported to Fort Taylor in Key West for processing.
Three days later, G Company Private William Eberhart died at Fort Jefferson’s hospital while being treated there for consumption (tuberculosis). According to Schmidt, he had been ill since Christmas Day of 1862, when he had first been hospitalized with dysentery. After being discharged on January 10, 1863, he had then been hospitalized again on March 3 tuberculosis-related phthisis. Quickly interred at 4 p.m. on the same day of his death (May 10), he was laid to rest with military honors somewhere on the grounds of the fort or on one of its neighboring islands where soldiers with infectious diseases were quarantined.
The next day (May 11), D Company Private Jesse D. Reynolds died from disease-related complications and was also quickly interred on the fort’s grounds or on a neighboring island. He, too, had battled a series of illnesses, having been hospitalized with hemeralopia on March 27, discharged on April 5, and readmitted to the fort’s hospital on May 8 with one of the many fever variants that plagued the regiment during the war. (An alternate date of May 30 was listed in the hospital’s death ledger.)
On May 16, D Company Captain Henry D. Woodruff and his men marched to the wharf at Fort Jefferson and climbed aboard yet another ship—this time for their return to Fort Taylor, where they resumed garrison duties under the command of Colonel Tilghman H. Good.
Two days later, G Company Private Irwin Scheirer also succumbed from tuberculosis-related complications at the fort’s hospital, after having previously been admitted and then discharged for asthma treatment on April 14 and 19, respectively. According to Schmidt, Private Scheirer’s “remains were buried at Bird Key at 2 PM by Sgt. Hutcheson, and the key and the site of the grave have been lost to time and the elements.”
The interment record of the Post Cemetery at Fort Jefferson indicated his grave was inventoried in 1873 and 1879, along with the graves of William Eberhart and Edward Frederick of the 47th, but the wooden markers were … unreadable. In 1879 it was noted that one grave contained seven bodies, and another grave contained bodies whose identification was unknown and which had been washed out to sea and returned by the Ordnance Sergeant and Fort Keeper. The following tribute of respect to Privates Scheirer and Eberhart was published in the Allentown Democrat on June 10, 1863:
‘TRIBUTE OF RESPECT—At a meeting of the members of Company G, 47th Regiment P. V., held at Fort Jefferson, Tortugas, Florida, on the evening of May 17 [sic], 1863, a committee was appointed to draft resolutions expressive of said Company G in regard to the death of two of their fellow members, viz.: William Eberhard of Bucks County, Pa., dec’d May 8, 1863, and Irvin Scheirer of Lehigh County, Pa., dec’d May 18 [sic], 1863. The following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted:
WHEREAS, It has pleased an All-wise Providence to remove from our midst, by the hand of death, within the brief period of a fortnight, two of our fellow members and companions in arms, viz.: William Eberhard and Irvin Scheirer, (who unfortunately became victims of that fell destroyer, consumption) therefore be it
RESOLVED, That by the death of these men we have lost from our ranks characters of true devotion to their country and the government thereof—such as were beloved by each of their fellow members, as well as all who knew them—kind companions and Christians.
RESOLVED, That since the connection of these men with Company G we have found them faithful to the duties they were asked to perform, obedient in all respects to their commanders; and while unfit for duty, either in the company or in the hospital—submissive to the desires of the Almighty God.
RESOLVED, That a copy of these resolutions be sent the families of each deceased, and be published in all the Allentown papers.
COMMITTEE.—Sergt. T. B. Leisenring, Corp. R. M. Fornwalt [sic, Fornwald], John Pratt, and Privates Wm. Hartz and William Steckel.
Bucks County papers please copy.’
On May 20, enlisted members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry were finally given eight months’ worth of their back pay—a significant percentage of which was quickly sent home to family members who had been struggling to make ends meet.
Five days later, G Company Private Joseph Hallmeier was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability when regimental physicians made the determination that his recovery from the back wound he had sustained during the Battle of Pocotaligo was not progressing well enough to enable him to perform any meaningful duties.
On the final day of the month, H Company Captain James Kacy issued Company Order No. 33:
Until further notice, card playing for profit or amusement in company quarters or elsewhere is strictly prohibited. Each Sergeant will visit each room twice a day to see that this order is carried out. Any Private found violating will be immediately put on a barrel in front of the guard house, there to remain for ten consecutive hours. Any non-commissioned officer playing with cards will be reduced to ranks and court martialed for disobedience of orders.
The next day, the “dreaded month of June came again and found us in Key West-to break the terrible monotony of island life,” recalled Emily Holder via an article she penned for a history magazine in the 1890s.
The feeling in Key West between the various political factions became more and more intensified as time went on. The sectional spirit had been so strong that it had almost resulted in the residents keeping entirely aloof from each other, although the greater part of them professed to be Unionists.
Those who owned the greatest number of slaves were at times defiant, although made no attempt to join the other side. Society was anything but pleasant, and we felt that the efforts of General Woodbury, who was now Military Governor, to bring people into more friendly relations were most commendable, and were seemingly successful.
Just as we were about ready to go down to the boat [at Fort Jefferson’s wharf] before starting for Key West, someone came for us to go to the ramparts as there was a fight at sea; one of our gun-boats was firing at a big steamer.
Taking the glass we were soon with the others on top of the Fort, and, surely enough, about five miles out was an immense steamer emitting a dense black smoke, which announced its character as only the Confederates used soft coal, and when they were running away, as that one evidently was, they put in pine wood or anything they had.
She was running from a little boat that in comparison was like a pigmy. Two larger steamers were trying to head her off, and they passed out of sight in that position. There were between twenty and thirty guns fired, and all in all it was quite an exciting affair.
We saw nothing of them on our way to Key West, but the day after our arrival a steamer brought into port a large Mississippi River boat, a side wheeler, loaded high upon deck with cotton—a prize valued at half a million dollars.
Colonel Alexander met one of the owners of the steamer who said that the people in the south were hopeless; but, he added, ‘we have nothing now to lose and we are going to fight as long as we can.’
I met at the hotel a lady from Mobile who ran the blockade with her husband on a vessel loaded with cotton. She said she stood on deck all the time they were being fired at, and would avow herself a Secessionist at the cannons’ mouth.
Her husband lost a large amount of property in the steamer. He was going to Europe while she returned to Mobile with her three children.
Officers’ quarters and parade grounds, interior of Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida, 1898 (U.S. National Park Service and National Archives and Records Administration, public domain).
The remainder of the month progressed in much the same manner for the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers as the first five months of the year had—drilling, training with the fort’s light and heavy artillery, standing for long periods during weekly inspections, and marching in dress parades—even in the face of the higher temperatures and humidity so common to Florida summers then and now.
During mid-June, Fort Jefferson’s commanding officer and the 47th Pennsylvania’s second-in-command, Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander, negotiated new pay structures for two of his subordinates with his superior officer, Colonel Tilghman Good. Agreeing to pay Musicians Daniel Dachrodt and William A. Heckman an additional four dollars per month for the past pay period of September to December 9, 1862, the two senior officers also agreed to pay them each thirteen dollars per month for their service from December 9, 1862 through April 30, 1863.
And, once again, the grim reaper reared his ugly head—swinging his scythe through the regiment’s ranks to claim E Company Private Leonard Frankenfield, who was laid to rest somewhere on the grounds of Fort Jefferson after succumbing to complications from dysentery on June 22.
The most significant event of the month, which would prove to be one of the more consequential of the entire war for many Union soldiers, was a directive issued by the Office of the Adjutant General in the U.S. War Department on June 25, 1863:
General Orders, No. 191
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office
June 25, 1863In order to increase the armies now in the field, volunteer infantry, cavalry, and artillery may be enlisted at any time within ninety days from this date, in the respective states, under the regulations herein later mentioned. The volunteers so enlisted, and such of the three years’ troops now in the field as may enlist in accordance with the provisions of this order, will constitute a force to be designated Veteran Volunteers. The regulations for enlisting this force are as follows:
I. The period of service for the enlistments and re-enlistments above mentioned shall be for three years, or during the war.
II. All able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, who have heretofore been enlisted, and have served for not less than nine months, and can pass the examination required by the mustering regulations of the United States, may be enlisted under this order as Veteran Volunteers, in accordance with the provisions hereafter set forth.
III. Every volunteer enlisted and mustered into service as a Veteran, under this order, shall be entitled to receive from the United States one month’s pay in advance, and a bounty and premium of four hundred and two ($402) dollars, to be paid as follows:
- Upon being mustered into the service, he shall be paid
one month’s pay in advance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13.00
First installment of bounty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Premium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.00
Total payment on muster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40.00 - At the first regular pay-day, or two months after
muster-in, an additional installment of bounty
will be paid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the first regular pay-day after six months’
service, he shall be paid an additional
installment of bounty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the first regular pay-day after the end of the
first years’ service, an additional installment of
bounty will be paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the first regular pay-day after 18 months’
service, an additional installment of bounty will
be paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the first regular pay-day after two years’
service, an additional installment of bounty will
be paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the first regular pay-day after two and a
half years’ service, an additional installment of
bounty will be paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the expiration of three years’ service, the
remainder of the bounty will be paid . . . . . . . . . . . . $75.00
IV. If the government shall not require these troops for the full period of three years, and they shall be mustered honorably out of the service before the expiration of their term of enlistment, they shall receive upon being mustered out, the whole amount of their bounty remaining unpaid, the same as if their whole term has been served. The legal heirs of volunteers who die in service shall be entitled to receive the whole bounty remaining unpaid at the time of the soldier’s death.
V. Veteran Volunteers enlisted under this order will be permitted at their option to enter old regiments now in the field; but their service will continue for the full term of their own enlistment, notwithstanding the expiration of the term for which the regiment was originally enlisted. New organizations will be officered only by persons who have been in service, and have shown themselves properly qualified for command. As a badge of honorable distinction, “service chevrons” will be furnished by the War Department, to be worn by the Veteran Volunteers.
VI. Officers of regiments whose term has expired, will be authorized, on proper application, and approval of their respective Governors, to raise companies and regiments within the period of sixty days; and if the companies and regiments authorized to be raised shall be filled up and mustered in the service within the said period of sixty days, the officers may be recommissioned on the date of their original commissions, and for the time engaged in recruiting they will be entitled to receive the pay belonging to their rank.
VII. Volunteers or Militia, now in service, whose term of service will expire within ninety days, and who then shall have been in service at least nine months, shall be entitled to the aforesaid bounty and premium of $402, provided they re-enlist, before the expiration of their present term, for three years or the war; and said bounty and premium shall be paid in the manner herein provided for other troops re-entering the service. The new term will commence from the date of re-enlistment.
VIII. After the expiration of ninety days from this date, volunteers serving in three year organizations, who may re-enlist for three years or the war, shall be entitled to the aforesaid bounty and premium of $402, to be paid in the manner herein provided for other troops entering the service. The new term will commence from date of re-enlistment.
IX. Officers in service, whose regiments or companies may re-enlist, in accordance with the provisions of this order, before the expiration of their present term, shall have their commission continued, so as to preserve their date of rank as fixed by their original muster into the United States service.
X. As soon after the expiration of their original term of enlistment as the exigencies will permit, a furlough of thirty days will be granted to men who may reenlist in accordance with the provisions of this order.
XI. Volunteers enlisted under this order will be credited as three years’ men in the quotas of their respective states. Instructions for the appointment of recruiting officers and for enlisting Veteran Volunteers will be immediately issued to the Governors of States.
By Order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant GeneralAs questions were raised by Union Army officers, who were being asked by their own subordinates for details about this potentially important change for their immediate finances and the financial futures of their families, the War Department’s Veteran Volunteers directive was followed by a clarification, in July 1863, via General Orders, No. 216:
General Orders, No. 216,
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office
Washington, July 1863I. All able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, who have heretofore been enlisted and have served for not less than nine months, have been honorably discharged, and can pass the examination required by the Mustering Regulations of the United States, may be enlisted in any Regiment they choose, new or old; and when mustered into the United States service, will be entitled to all the benefits provided by General Orders No. 191, for Recruiting “Veteran Volunteers.”
A Regiment, Battalion, or Company shall bear the title of “Veteran” only in case at least one-half its numbers, at the time of muster into the United States service, are “Veteran Volunteers.”
II. The benefits provided by General Orders, No. 191, for Veteran Volunteers, will be extended to men who re-enlisted prior to the promulgation of that order, provided they have fulfilled the conditions therein set forth.
By Order of the Secretary of War
E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant GeneralAs word continued to spread regarding the federal government’s new plan to provide improved compensation for soldiers choosing to reenlist with the Union Army, the Office of the Adjutant General at the U.S. War Department issued a series of additional general orders to refine its new policy and procedures with respect to the designation of men as “Veteran Volunteers.”
General Orders, No. 305,
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office
Washington, September 11, 1863Par. VIII, of General Orders, No. 191, from this office, relative to recruiting Veteran Volunteers, is hereby amended to read as follows:
After the expiration of ninety days from this date, (June 25,) Volunteers serving in three years’ organizations, who may re-enlist for three years or the war, in Companies or Regiments to which they now belong, and who may have, at the date of re-enlistment, less than one year to serve, shall be entitled to the aforesaid bounty and premium of $402, to be paid in the manner herein provided for other troops re-entering the service. The new term will commence from the date of re-enlistment.
By Order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant GeneralOn November 6, 1863, this further clarification was issued:
General Orders, No. 359
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office
Washington, November 6, 1863I. To carry out the provisions of paragraphs 8 and 9, General Orders, No. 191, current series, from this office, in reference to volunteers who may come within the limit for re-enlistment as Veteran Volunteers, as fixed by General Orders, No. 305, current series, the following regulations are established:
MUSTERS-OUT OF SERVICE.
- The muster-out or discharge of all men who may re-enlist, and their re-enlistments and consequent re-musters, will be under the immediate supervision and direction of the Commissaries and Assistant Commissaries of Musters for the respective Armies and Departments. The said officers will make all musters-out of and re-musters into the service.
- All men who desire to take advantage of the benefits of the Veteran Volunteer order, by re-enlistment under it, will be regularly mustered out of service on the prescribed muster-out rolls. The discharges prescribed by paragraph 79, Mustering Regulations, will be furnished in all cases. A remark will be made on the muster-out rolls, over the signature of the Commissary or Assistant Commissary of Musters, as follows: ‘Discharged by virtue of re-enlistment as a Veteran Volunteer, under the provisions of General Orders, No. 191, series of 1863, from the War Department.”RE-ENLISTMENTS AND RE-MUSTERS.
- Simultaneously with the muster-out and discharge, but of the date next following it, the Veteran Volunteers will be formally re-mustered into the United States service ‘for three years or during the war.” This will be done on the prescribed muster-in rolls (muster and descriptive rolls of recruits). These rolls will be made out from the re-enlistments and descriptive lists of the men. (See section 4 of this paragraph.) The following remark will be made on the muster-in rolls, over the signature of the Commissary or Assistant Commissary of Musters: ‘Re-mustered as Veteran Volunteers, under G. O., 191, War Department, series of 1863.’
- Regimental Commanders, under the direction of Commanders of Brigades, will select and appoint a recruiting officer for their respective commands, and charge him with the re-enlistment of the Veterans thereof. The re-enlistments will be made in duplicate, and on the blank for “Volunteer Enlistment.” A descriptive roll of the men will be made out at the same time. The duplicate re-enlistments and descriptive rolls will be forwarded, or taken, by the recruiting officer, to the Commissary or Assistant Commissary of Musters who may be in charge of the musters for the organization to which the men belong. The mustering officer will countersign the re-enlistment papers, and file the descriptive roll with the records of his office. One copy of the re-enlistment will be delivered by the mustering officer to the Paymaster, to assist him in the examination and verification of the accounts; this copy will be forwarded with the said accounts to the proper accounting officer of the Treasury. The second copy of the re-enlistments will be returned by the mustering officer to the Regimental Commander, and by him forwarded to the Adjutant General of the Army with the Monthly Recruiting Return required by par. 919 Army Regulations, from Superintendents of Regimental Recruiting Service.PAYMENTS.
- The Pay Department of the Army is hereby charged with all payments (final due under original enlistments, advanced pay, bounties, and premiums) of the volunteers discharged and re-mustered as directed in this order. The final payments under the original enlistments will be made on the muster-out rolls.The amount of the ‘total payment on Muster,’ (re-muster,) par. II, G. O. 324, A. G. O., current series, will be made under the rules set forth in General Orders, No. 163. The consolidated receipt rolls, referred to in the said order, will be certified to by the Commissary or Assistant Commissary of Musters charged with the re-muster of the Veteran Volunteers into service. The payments on discharge, and those due on re-muster, will be made at the same time, and in full, immediately after the men are re-mustered into the service.
II. Commanders of Armies and Departments are hereby charged with the faithful execution of this order, and will issue such instructions under it as in their opinion will best secure the object in view. Troops to be discharged and re-mustered as Veterans will be reported to the proper commanders, through Army or Department Headquarters, to the Paymaster General. The reports will be made at a date such as will avoid delay in the payments being made.
By Order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant GeneralThe U.S. War Department then issued yet another order related to Veteran Volunteers on November 21, 1863:
General Orders, No. 376
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office
Washington, November 21, 1863I. It is hereby ordered that volunteers now in the service, re-enlisting as Veteran Volunteers under General Orders 191 from this office, shall have a furlough of at least thirty days previous to the expiration of their original enlistment. This privilege will be secured to the volunteers either by ordering all so-re-enlisting with their officers, to report in their respective States, through the Governors, to the Superintendent of the recruiting service, for furlough and reorganization, or by granting furloughs to the men individually.
II. Mustering officers shall make the following stipulation on the muster-in rolls of Veteran Volunteers now in the service re-enlisting as above: “To have a furlough of at least thirty days in their States before expiration of original term.
III. Commanding Generals of Departments and Armies are hereby authorized to grant the aforesaid furloughs, within the limit of time fixed in compliance with this order, as the demands of the service will best permit, reporting their action to the Adjutant General of the Army.
IV. In going to and from their respective States and homes, the Veteran Volunteers furloughed as herein provided will be furnished with transportation by the Quartermaster’s Department.
V. When three-fourths of a regiment or company re-enlist, the volunteers so enlisted may be furloughed in a body, for at least thirty days as aforesaid, to go home with their officers to their respective States and districts to reorganize and recruit; and the individuals of the companies and regiments who do not re-enlist shall be assigned to duty in other companies and regiments until the expiration of their terms of service.
By Order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant GeneralAs those subsequent updates continued to be released, newspapers across the nation began carrying word to the families of soldiers about the War Department’s stepped-up efforts to retain the nation’s most experienced soldiers, including the November 29, 1863 edition of The New York Times, which reprinted the text of General Orders, No. 376 and then added the following analysis:
The above order consists substantially of the series of propositions made to the War Department, three months ago, by Gov. MORTON, of Indiana, and was the suggestion of his comprehensive care for the interests of the country as well as the soldier. We have recently had occasion—indeed, ever since the war began we have had occasion—to notice the extraordinary energy and sagacity displayed by the Executive of Indiana in the conduct of the military affairs of that heroic State; and the success that has attended his efforts, and the appreciation of those efforts by the people of his own State and of the whole country, is the fit reward which his patriotic services have received….
Another proposal of Gov. MORTON, looking to the benefit of the soldier, we find referred to in the Indianapolis Journal, and we learn that it is now under discussion, with strong influences in its favor. It is that Paymasters of the army shall be authorized to take with them “five-twenty bonds,” from $50 to any larger amount, and allow the soldiers to take them in the place of any back pay, back bounty, or advance bounty (if he should reenlist) to which he may be entitled, or invest any pay in possession or due to him, which he may choose, in them. The proposal is urged for all the troops, but has as yet been acceded to only in the case of those from Indiana. The advantages of this arrangement are obvious, and we wish we could say that they were as generally bestowed as they are manifest. The soldier has the opportunity to turn every dollar due him, if he should not need it for immediate use, into an investment which has the double advantage of being just as good as “greenbacks” for currency, if they should be needed as money, and six per cent. better if they should be preferred as an investment.
At the present price of gold, on which the interest on these bonds is paid, the income they will yield the soldier will be about 9 per cent., fully equal to the first average investments of money in loans or real estate. On the other hand, the advantage to the country in giving the soldier a pecuniary interest in the permanence of the Government is obvious. The bonds are a little better than greenbacks, and of course can be used in their stead. If the bonds should not happen to be ready for delivery when the Paymasters go round, they are to take certificates, which shall be to the soldier the same as a bond. Now, a great many soldiers will leave the service with his last installment of bounty due, $75, with his advance bounty, (if he reenlists,) in his hands, $75, with his advance pay, $13, and whatever back pay may be due, not unlikely to amount to $50 or more, and can in nine cases out of ten invest $200 to $300, a very pretty sum to lay up against a rainy day.
Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, second-in-command, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with officers from the 47th, Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida, circa 1863 (public domain).
When news of the federal government’s new inducements reached the far-flung 47th Pennsylvanians in Key West and the Dry Tortugas, Florida, hundreds of weary men who had been battered by brutal combat and the ever-present spectre of disease realized they were being given a much-needed “shot in the arm” of recognition from their elected officials and took renewed comfort in knowing that their service had, in fact, actually been valued.
In response, more than half of the men serving with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry opted to reenlist in 1863—a collective action that resulted in another historic achievement for the regiment—the permanent change of the organization’s name to the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers.
Sources:
- “A Word from Captain Gobin’s Company” (May 1863 letter from C Company Sergeant Christian S. Beard). Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Sunbury Gazette, May 2, 1873.
- Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
- “Florida’s Role in the Civil War: ‘Supplier of the Confederacy.’” Tampa, Florida: Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida, retrieved online January 15, 2020.
- General Orders of the War Department, Embracing the Years, 1861, 1862 & 1863, vol. II, pp. 217-219 (General Orders No. 191), p. 245 (General Orders No. 216), 412 (General Orders No. 305), 602-603 (General Orders No. 359), and 644 (General Orders No. 376). New York, New York: Derby & Miller and Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown, & Co., et al., 1864.
- Holder, Emily. “At the Dry Tortugas During the War.” San Francisco, California: Californian Illustrated Magazine, 1892 (part four, retrieved online, March 28, 2024, courtesy of Lit2Go, the website of the Educational Technology Clearinghouse at the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida).
- “History: Crops (Historic Florida Barge Canal Trail).” Historical Marker Database, retrieved online December 30, 2023.
- Owsley, Frank Lawrence, and Harriet Fason Chappell. King Cotton Diplomacy: Foreign Relations of the Confederate States of America. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1959.
- “Preventing Diplomatic Recognition of the Confederacy, 1861–1865,” and “The Alabama Claims, 1862–1872,” in “Milestones: 1861–1865.” Washington, D.C.: Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, United States Department of State, retrieved online December 30, 2023.
- “Re-enlistment of Veterans.; General Order. War Department, Adjutant-General’s Office.” New York, New York: The New York Times, November 29, 1863.
- Reports of Committees of the Senate of the United States for the First Session of the Fifty-First Congress, 1889-90. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1890.
- Schmidt, Lewis G. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
- Wharton, Henry. Letters from the Sunbury Guards. Sunbury, Pennsylvania: Sunbury American, 1861-1868.
- Upon being mustered into the service, he shall be paid
-
Second-tier casemates, lighthouse keeper’s house, sallyport, and lean-to structure, Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida, late 1860s (U.S. National Park Service and National Archives, public domain).
As March 1863 arrived and progressed, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers who were stationed at Fort Jefferson in Florida’s Dry Tortugas became more and more comfortable with their latest garrison assignment. Members of the regiment continued to drill regularly, undergo inspections, march in dress parades, and receive additional training in the use of the fort’s defensive artillery, much as they had done during their first months at the fort.
Their duties were made more palatable by good food and recreational activities. During the early days of that month, Company C’s Henry Wharton penned another letter to his hometown newspaper, the Sunbury American, in which he noted that the regiment’s normal rations that were supplied by the federal government were supplemented by “‘pot-pie’ three times a week; apple dumplings, with good milk, semi-occasionally, and for something to remind us of days past and gone, Sgt. Peirs [sic, Pyers,] serves us with apple pie and doughnuts made in a style that would do credit to more than one I know of, who is in the baking business.”
For fun and exercise, many members of the regiment spent time strolling the wooded areas and beaches around both Fort Jefferson and Fort Taylor (Key West), exploring and studying the exotic wonders of nature around them while collecting seashells and other treasures. In a letter penned to family and friends on March 1, Private Alfred Pretz of Company I recounted one such expedition, noting that he and Sergeant-Major William Hendricks had woken up “at an early hour and started off for the south beach [in Key West] before sunrise, or just about sunrise.”
We were going to hunt seashells. It was a splendid morning, clear, still, and warm enough to be pleasant. We soon reached the seashore and commenced picking up samples of the numerous varieties that abound in profusion. We found many small reptiles which we examined so that we did not get to the principal shell grounds before it was time to return in order to be with the mess at breakfast hour. On our way back, we passed through the woods, with which the key is covered. These are little more than bushes, being small trees averaging eight feet in height, growing closely together with thick undergrowth of a beautiful shrub, and then on the ground a low, broad leaved plant. I plucked specimens of their foliage for enclosure with this letter. The smooth, stout, narrow leaf is from the tree. The tiny leaf, with thorns on the branch, is the undergrowth, the third variety is the plant I speak of. The single flower and bud is of a deep orange color and grows on trees the size of the largest trees in the Key West woods. These flower trees (I know no other name for them) are planted around the houses of town. The other flower is of a crimson color and grows in chunks like the cactus…. We never have twilight here. As soon as the sun sets darkness sets in. At present however we have bright moonlight evenings. The weather is charming.
That same evening, Private Pretz played backgammon to occupy his remaining hours before lights out.
Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1861 (public domain).
Around this same time, an alert was sounded one day at Fort Jefferson, causing members of the 47th Pennsylvania to scramble to positions across the fort in order to bolster the Union troops already standing guard. That action was ordered by the fort’s commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, who had spotted a large number of unidentified ships on the horizon. According to Emily Holder, who had been living in a small house within the fort’s walls since 1860 with her husband, who had been assigned to serve as a medical officer for the fort’s engineers:
One day, early in the spring, Colonel Alexander, who was very watchful and always on the alert, was quite alarmed by seeing some twenty vessels hovering just in sight. Extra guard was mounted, the big guns were loaded and the men slept by them all night; but the vessels passed by without coming nearer.
On another day, she noted that “The Inspector-General, after returning to Beaufort, made rather an overturning in Key West which was under the command of Colonel Morgan of the Ninetieth New York, who had been rather playing the tyrant.”
He had perverted a very good order of General Hunter into one that ordered every person who had friends in the rebel service to leave Key West allowing them only fifty pounds of baggage apiece. They protested, plead with him, even threatened, for it would almost depopulate the town, but in vain.
Justice, however, was nearer than he suspected, for just as the vessel was to start with these people who were being set adrift, a steamer came in bringing Colonel Goode [sic, Good] of the Forty-Seventh Pennsylvania to relieve Colonel Morgan.
The people were almost crazy in their excitement. They took the soldiers’ knapsacks as they marched up the street and would have carried the men on their shoulders in their joy over Morgan’s defeat.
Colonel Goode [sic, Good] came to Tortugas a few days afterwards, and while there said he might send the remainder of the Regiment down to us—something very reassuring for the summer as they were acclimated and would be more likely to withstand any epidemic that might occur.
Meanwhile, disease continued to ravage the ranks of the regiment in March—particularly at Fort Jefferson, where a total of five hundred and sixty-eight Union Army soldiers were stationed. According to H Company Corporal John A. Gardner:
One thing appears a little strange with us here, and that is, there are some five or six in each company that get night blind and some of them can’t see very well through the day. We have a Sgt. by the name of Michael C. Lynch, that can’t see but very little at any time, and a couple more that can’t see at night. I do not know the cause of it, unless it is the white sand. It is very bright and it might be possible that the sand is the cause of it. Our Doctor himself don’t know the cause of it. Otherwise, we get along fat, ragged, and saucy.
* Note: Sergeant Michael Lynch, who had officially mustered in with the 47th Pennsylvania’s H Company on September 19, 1862, at the same rank that he held at Fort Jefferson in 1863, was confined to the post hospital at Fort Jefferson on March 22, 1863, due to nyctalopia (night blindness), which progressed to a stage that rendered him unfit for continued service with the regiment. His condition was described the next month in a letter penned in April by Captain James Kacy:
Sgt. Lynch, poor fellow, is worn out and nearly blind, and is to be sent home. Many of our men are so affected, and it takes a strong eye to stand the glare of the sun on this white sand.
Corporal Lynch was subsequently discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability on June 30 of that same year. Meanwhile, E Company Corporal Peter Lyner was also confined to the hospital that same day. Suffering from chronic diarrhea, he would be hospitalized three more times before the year was out.
Jacob Henry Scheetz, M.D., assistant surgeon, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1863 (public domain).
By mid-to-late March 1863, it was clear that an epidemic of dysentery and chronic diarrhea had broken out at Fort Jefferson. Among those trying to bring comfort to the sick were Assistant Regimental Surgeon Jacob H. Scheetz, M.D., who continued to hold the position of post surgeon, and A Company Private Charles Detweiler, who had been assigned to nursing duties at Fort Jefferson’s hospital. Also readmitted for treatment during this time (on March 18) was G Company Private Joseph Hallmeier, who had developed complications related to the back wound he had sustained during the Battle of Pocotaligo on October 22, 1862. In addition, E Company Private Leonard Frankenfield had become so ill from the chronic diarrhea he had been suffering after contracting dysentery, that he, too, needed to be hospitalized—an admission that occurred on March 23.
On March 25, the schooner Nonpareil arrived at Fort Jefferson, bringing with it Colonel Good and his senior staff, Regimental Surgeon Elisha W. Baily, M.D., the regiment’s medical director, Regimental Quartermaster Francis Z. Heebner, and the 47th Pennsylvania’s Regimental Band for a short series of meetings and special events. They dined on bean soup, mush, pea soup, rice, vegetable soup, pies, coffee, and tea, and then returned to Fort Taylor four days later.
U.S. Army’s Department of the Gulf, 1864 map (U.S. Library of Congress, public domain; click to enlarge).
As the month of April wore on, more Union ships arrived, carrying supplies and more than one hundred men who were added to Fort Jefferson’s roster of prisoners. During this same period, the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was transferred from the command of Brigadier-General John Brannan in the U.S. Army’s Department of the South to the command of Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks in the Department of the Gulf—a change that would ultimately place the regiment in a position of making history in 1864 during the Union’s Red River Campaign across Louisiana.
On Sunday, April 12, 1863, the men from Company H carried out Order No. 31, which directed them to appear for inspection “with haversack and canteens” on a day when the temperature was high. The only members of the company who were excused were those who were hospitalized or assigned to hospital or guard duties.
Six days later, Corporal Albert prepared H Company’s kitchen for inspection, most likely with help from Thomas Haywood, a formerly enslaved Black man who had enlisted with the regiment in November 1862 while it was stationed in Beaufort, South Carolina. Haywood had been assigned to Company H, since that time, as an “Under-Cook.”
Ailing with conjunctivitis, E Company Corporal Peter Lyner was hospitalized at Fort Jefferson on April 21, 1863—during a month that saw forty members of the 47th Pennsylvania and twenty-one prisoners admitted to the post’s hospital. Fourteen of those 47th Pennsylvanians were diagnosed with dysentery and/or chronic diarrhea, with single cases of typhoid fever, asthma, bronchitis, catarrh, conjunctivitis, phlegmon, and phthisis also documented.
On April 23, H Company Captain James Kacy issued Order No. 32:
The members of Company H shall each have his rifle taken apart immediately after breakfast tomorrow morning. The sock and barrel from the stock, the sock not to be taken apart, and the Captain will inspect at 8:30 AM on Saturday [April 25].
Unidentified Union Army artillerymen standing next to one of the fifteen-inch Rodman guns, which were installed on the third level of Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas, Florida, beginning in 1862. These smoothbore Rodman weighed twenty-five tons, and was able to fire four hundred and fifty-pound shells more than three miles (U.S. National Park Service, public domain).
Around this same time, records show that the combined total strength of the 47th Pennsylvania (with its forces divided between Forts Taylor and Jefferson) was nine hundred and sixty-eight men—and that none of those men who were classified as enlisted had been paid for their service to the nation for a shocking eight months. The month of April ended with another inspection—and with the members of Companies F and K resuming their practice with the light and heavy artillery equipment at Fort Jefferson.
As the month of May arrived, inspections continued to be a regular part of the 47th Pennsylvanians’ Sunday schedules—even as temperatures in the shady spots of Fort Jefferson were reaching ninety-nine degrees by mid-afternoon. For sustenance, the men were fed either pork or beef for breakfast and supper, depending on the day’s menu, followed by bean soup for their evening meal (dinner) with meals often supplemented by eggs that had been collected by members of the regiment from birds’ nests scattered around the island. The total number of Union troops stationed here during this time was six hundred and sixty-six.
But, once again, disease reared its ugly head with forty-eight members of the 47th Pennsylvania and thirty-seven prisoners confined to the Fort Jefferson hospital—twenty-four of whom had dysentery and/or chronic diarrhea, seven who had bilious or intermittent fever, four who were diagnosed with general debility, three who were diagnosed with abscesses, two who were suffering with hernia issues, and one who had contracted cholera.
First Lieutenant Christian Seiler Beard, Company C, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1863 (public domain).
On May 2, this letter from Sergeant Christian Beard of the 47th Pennsylvania’s C Company, was published in the Sunbury Gazette:
My sentiments are the same as they were when I left home, and let come what will I am ever ready and willing to meet it as a soldier’s fate, and will not grumble, let my lot be ever so hard, for he that can’t suffer something for the good of his country is not worthy of the name of a freeman. Some men say they could not fight as well at present as they could last summer. Such men are traitors and cowards, for we are fighting in the same cause now that we were then, and I should rather suffer death than flinch or say one disrespectful word respecting the government. But at home there is something wrong, and you ought not allow it. Men like Purdy should not be permitted to discourage those men who are willing to do something for the good of the country.
Those papers are continually talking of the troops being so much demoralized, but such things are new to us here, and are really not the case: on the other hand, they are every day becoming better disciplined, and more efficient for the duty they have to perform if only the people at home would not discourage them. I have seen letters written by men not a thousand miles from your town that would make the face of a heathen blush wish shame and indignation. They tell us that we are fighting for nothing but to free n______ [racial epithet deleted], and that our government don’t do as they ought, and the President thinks more of a n_____ [racial epithet deleted] than of a white soldier; all such talk, and some even go as far as to say that a man who would fight for such a man as Lincoln or Hunter was no better than a n_____ [racial epithet deleted]. This talk is put forth with the evident intention of discouraging the men, but such pups don’t discourage me. I am just as willing to fight to-day as ever, and any man who is unwilling to fight for the cause as it now stands is not worth as much powder as would kill him. We don’t fear the rebels, and they can’t whip us; but those rebels at home, lurking in our rear, we have to fear more than the honorable foe in front, who openly stand out with gun in hand to receive us. While such things are permitted at home, we must not look for better success than we have had of late in Virginia. On the other hand, if every man, woman and child would support the Union—stand by her, and not a man give up while there is life, then we would not need to fight half so much. The rebels say that half of the people North are for them, and they expect to get help there ere long. No wonder they keep their heads out of water so long. It is the people at the North—it is their faults that so many of the soldiers have to die on the battle field. They will some day have to account for it in my opinion. There is but two sides, the one is for the Administration and the Union, the other is for the rebellion. He that disagrees with the heads of our government, and everything that us done by them, while they are doing the best they possibly can, is a rebel at heart and dare not deny it. The best thing would be to stop all newspapers, and not allow them to be sent to the army. Letters of a discouraging character should also be forbidden.
Hoping that you are well, I am yours, &c.,
C. S. BeardMay also brought revised duty assignments for a number of 47th Pennsylvanians, including F Company Private John Weiss, who was given additional duties with the post’s Ordnance Department, after having recovered from a February bout of remittent fever, K Company Private Tilghman Boger, who was assigned to kitchen duties in the officers’ mess hall, and G Company Private Cornelius Heist, who was appointed as Company Cook—an assignment that likely brought him into contact with one of the regiment’s Under-Cooks—the group of formerly enslaved Black men who had enlisted with the regiment while it was stationed in Beaufort, South Carolina in October 1862.
Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida, view from the sea, 1946 (vacation photograph collection of President Harry Truman, November 1946, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, public domain).
Another alert was sounded on May 7 when a Union gunboat chased a blockade runner from Great Britain into the harbor at Fort Jefferson, enabling D Company Captain Henry D. Woodruff and a party of his men to capture the British crew. Their prisoners were subsequently transported to Fort Taylor in Key West for processing.
Three days later, G Company Private William Eberhart died at Fort Jefferson’s hospital while being treated there for consumption (tuberculosis). According to Schmidt, he had been ill since Christmas Day of 1862, when he had first been hospitalized with dysentery. After being discharged on January 10, 1863, he had then been hospitalized again on March 3 tuberculosis-related phthisis. Quickly interred at 4 p.m. on the same day of his death (May 10), he was laid to rest with military honors somewhere on the grounds of the fort or on one of its neighboring islands where soldiers with infectious diseases were quarantined.
The next day (May 11), D Company Private Jesse D. Reynolds died from disease-related complications and was also quickly interred on the fort’s grounds or on a neighboring island. He, too, had battled a series of illnesses, having been hospitalized with hemeralopia on March 27, discharged on April 5, and readmitted to the fort’s hospital on May 8 with one of the many fever variants that plagued the regiment during the war. (An alternate date of May 30 was listed in the hospital’s death ledger.)
On May 16, D Company Captain Henry D. Woodruff and his men marched to the wharf at Fort Jefferson and climbed aboard yet another ship—this time for their return to Fort Taylor, where they resumed garrison duties under the command of Colonel Tilghman H. Good.
Two days later, G Company Private Irwin Scheirer also succumbed from tuberculosis-related complications at the fort’s hospital, after having previously been admitted and then discharged for asthma treatment on April 14 and 19, respectively. According to Schmidt, Private Scheirer’s “remains were buried at Bird Key at 2 PM by Sgt. Hutcheson, and the key and the site of the grave have been lost to time and the elements.”
The interment record of the Post Cemetery at Fort Jefferson indicated his grave was inventoried in 1873 and 1879, along with the graves of William Eberhart and Edward Frederick of the 47th, but the wooden markers were … unreadable. In 1879 it was noted that one grave contained seven bodies, and another grave contained bodies whose identification was unknown and which had been washed out to sea and returned by the Ordnance Sergeant and Fort Keeper. The following tribute of respect to Privates Scheirer and Eberhart was published in the Allentown Democrat on June 10, 1863:
‘TRIBUTE OF RESPECT—At a meeting of the members of Company G, 47th Regiment P. V., held at Fort Jefferson, Tortugas, Florida, on the evening of May 17 [sic], 1863, a committee was appointed to draft resolutions expressive of said Company G in regard to the death of two of their fellow members, viz.: William Eberhard of Bucks County, Pa., dec’d May 8, 1863, and Irvin Scheirer of Lehigh County, Pa., dec’d May 18 [sic], 1863. The following preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted:
WHEREAS, It has pleased an All-wise Providence to remove from our midst, by the hand of death, within the brief period of a fortnight, two of our fellow members and companions in arms, viz.: William Eberhard and Irvin Scheirer, (who unfortunately became victims of that fell destroyer, consumption) therefore be it
RESOLVED, That by the death of these men we have lost from our ranks characters of true devotion to their country and the government thereof—such as were beloved by each of their fellow members, as well as all who knew them—kind companions and Christians.
RESOLVED, That since the connection of these men with Company G we have found them faithful to the duties they were asked to perform, obedient in all respects to their commanders; and while unfit for duty, either in the company or in the hospital—submissive to the desires of the Almighty God.
RESOLVED, That a copy of these resolutions be sent the families of each deceased, and be published in all the Allentown papers.
COMMITTEE.—Sergt. T. B. Leisenring, Corp. R. M. Fornwalt [sic, Fornwald], John Pratt, and Privates Wm. Hartz and William Steckel.
Bucks County papers please copy.’
On May 20, enlisted members of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry were finally given eight months’ worth of their back pay—a significant percentage of which was quickly sent home to family members who had been struggling to make ends meet.
Five days later, G Company Private Joseph Hallmeier was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability when regimental physicians made the determination that his recovery from the back wound he had sustained during the Battle of Pocotaligo was not progressing well enough to enable him to perform any meaningful duties.
On the final day of the month, H Company Captain James Kacy issued Company Order No. 33:
Until further notice, card playing for profit or amusement in company quarters or elsewhere is strictly prohibited. Each Sergeant will visit each room twice a day to see that this order is carried out. Any Private found violating will be immediately put on a barrel in front of the guard house, there to remain for ten consecutive hours. Any non-commissioned officer playing with cards will be reduced to ranks and court martialed for disobedience of orders.
The next day, the “dreaded month of June came again and found us in Key West-to break the terrible monotony of island life,” recalled Emily Holder via an article she penned for a history magazine in the 1890s.
The feeling in Key West between the various political factions became more and more intensified as time went on. The sectional spirit had been so strong that it had almost resulted in the residents keeping entirely aloof from each other, although the greater part of them professed to be Unionists.
Those who owned the greatest number of slaves were at times defiant, although made no attempt to join the other side. Society was anything but pleasant, and we felt that the efforts of General Woodbury, who was now Military Governor, to bring people into more friendly relations were most commendable, and were seemingly successful.
Just as we were about ready to go down to the boat [at Fort Jefferson’s wharf] before starting for Key West, someone came for us to go to the ramparts as there was a fight at sea; one of our gun-boats was firing at a big steamer.
Taking the glass we were soon with the others on top of the Fort, and, surely enough, about five miles out was an immense steamer emitting a dense black smoke, which announced its character as only the Confederates used soft coal, and when they were running away, as that one evidently was, they put in pine wood or anything they had.
She was running from a little boat that in comparison was like a pigmy. Two larger steamers were trying to head her off, and they passed out of sight in that position. There were between twenty and thirty guns fired, and all in all it was quite an exciting affair.
We saw nothing of them on our way to Key West, but the day after our arrival a steamer brought into port a large Mississippi River boat, a side wheeler, loaded high upon deck with cotton—a prize valued at half a million dollars.
Colonel Alexander met one of the owners of the steamer who said that the people in the south were hopeless; but, he added, ‘we have nothing now to lose and we are going to fight as long as we can.’
I met at the hotel a lady from Mobile who ran the blockade with her husband on a vessel loaded with cotton. She said she stood on deck all the time they were being fired at, and would avow herself a Secessionist at the cannons’ mouth.
Her husband lost a large amount of property in the steamer. He was going to Europe while she returned to Mobile with her three children.
Officers’ quarters and parade grounds, interior of Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida, 1898 (U.S. National Park Service and National Archives and Records Administration, public domain).
The remainder of the month progressed in much the same manner for the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers as the first five months of the year had—drilling, training with the fort’s light and heavy artillery, standing for long periods during weekly inspections, and marching in dress parades—even in the face of the higher temperatures and humidity so common to Florida summers then and now.
During mid-June, Fort Jefferson’s commanding officer and the 47th Pennsylvania’s second-in-command, Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander, negotiated new pay structures for two of his subordinates with his superior officer, Colonel Tilghman Good. Agreeing to pay Musicians Daniel Dachrodt and William A. Heckman an additional four dollars per month for the past pay period of September to December 9, 1862, the two senior officers also agreed to pay them each thirteen dollars per month for their service from December 9, 1862 through April 30, 1863.
And, once again, the grim reaper reared his ugly head—swinging his scythe through the regiment’s ranks to claim E Company Private Leonard Frankenfield, who was laid to rest somewhere on the grounds of Fort Jefferson after succumbing to complications from dysentery on June 22.
The most significant event of the month, which would prove to be one of the more consequential of the entire war for many Union soldiers, was a directive issued by the Office of the Adjutant General in the U.S. War Department on June 25, 1863:
General Orders, No. 191
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office
June 25, 1863In order to increase the armies now in the field, volunteer infantry, cavalry, and artillery may be enlisted at any time within ninety days from this date, in the respective states, under the regulations herein later mentioned. The volunteers so enlisted, and such of the three years’ troops now in the field as may enlist in accordance with the provisions of this order, will constitute a force to be designated Veteran Volunteers. The regulations for enlisting this force are as follows:
I. The period of service for the enlistments and re-enlistments above mentioned shall be for three years, or during the war.
II. All able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, who have heretofore been enlisted, and have served for not less than nine months, and can pass the examination required by the mustering regulations of the United States, may be enlisted under this order as Veteran Volunteers, in accordance with the provisions hereafter set forth.
III. Every volunteer enlisted and mustered into service as a Veteran, under this order, shall be entitled to receive from the United States one month’s pay in advance, and a bounty and premium of four hundred and two ($402) dollars, to be paid as follows:
- Upon being mustered into the service, he shall be paid
one month’s pay in advance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $13.00
First installment of bounty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25.00
Premium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.00
Total payment on muster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40.00 - At the first regular pay-day, or two months after
muster-in, an additional installment of bounty
will be paid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the first regular pay-day after six months’
service, he shall be paid an additional
installment of bounty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the first regular pay-day after the end of the
first years’ service, an additional installment of
bounty will be paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the first regular pay-day after 18 months’
service, an additional installment of bounty will
be paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the first regular pay-day after two years’
service, an additional installment of bounty will
be paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the first regular pay-day after two and a
half years’ service, an additional installment of
bounty will be paid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $50.00 - At the expiration of three years’ service, the
remainder of the bounty will be paid . . . . . . . . . . . . $75.00
IV. If the government shall not require these troops for the full period of three years, and they shall be mustered honorably out of the service before the expiration of their term of enlistment, they shall receive upon being mustered out, the whole amount of their bounty remaining unpaid, the same as if their whole term has been served. The legal heirs of volunteers who die in service shall be entitled to receive the whole bounty remaining unpaid at the time of the soldier’s death.
V. Veteran Volunteers enlisted under this order will be permitted at their option to enter old regiments now in the field; but their service will continue for the full term of their own enlistment, notwithstanding the expiration of the term for which the regiment was originally enlisted. New organizations will be officered only by persons who have been in service, and have shown themselves properly qualified for command. As a badge of honorable distinction, “service chevrons” will be furnished by the War Department, to be worn by the Veteran Volunteers.
VI. Officers of regiments whose term has expired, will be authorized, on proper application, and approval of their respective Governors, to raise companies and regiments within the period of sixty days; and if the companies and regiments authorized to be raised shall be filled up and mustered in the service within the said period of sixty days, the officers may be recommissioned on the date of their original commissions, and for the time engaged in recruiting they will be entitled to receive the pay belonging to their rank.
VII. Volunteers or Militia, now in service, whose term of service will expire within ninety days, and who then shall have been in service at least nine months, shall be entitled to the aforesaid bounty and premium of $402, provided they re-enlist, before the expiration of their present term, for three years or the war; and said bounty and premium shall be paid in the manner herein provided for other troops re-entering the service. The new term will commence from the date of re-enlistment.
VIII. After the expiration of ninety days from this date, volunteers serving in three year organizations, who may re-enlist for three years or the war, shall be entitled to the aforesaid bounty and premium of $402, to be paid in the manner herein provided for other troops entering the service. The new term will commence from date of re-enlistment.
IX. Officers in service, whose regiments or companies may re-enlist, in accordance with the provisions of this order, before the expiration of their present term, shall have their commission continued, so as to preserve their date of rank as fixed by their original muster into the United States service.
X. As soon after the expiration of their original term of enlistment as the exigencies will permit, a furlough of thirty days will be granted to men who may reenlist in accordance with the provisions of this order.
XI. Volunteers enlisted under this order will be credited as three years’ men in the quotas of their respective states. Instructions for the appointment of recruiting officers and for enlisting Veteran Volunteers will be immediately issued to the Governors of States.
By Order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant GeneralAs questions were raised by Union Army officers, who were being asked by their own subordinates for details about this potentially important change for their immediate finances and the financial futures of their families, the War Department’s Veteran Volunteers directive was followed by a clarification, in July 1863, via General Orders, No. 216:
General Orders, No. 216,
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office
Washington, July 1863I. All able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, who have heretofore been enlisted and have served for not less than nine months, have been honorably discharged, and can pass the examination required by the Mustering Regulations of the United States, may be enlisted in any Regiment they choose, new or old; and when mustered into the United States service, will be entitled to all the benefits provided by General Orders No. 191, for Recruiting “Veteran Volunteers.”
A Regiment, Battalion, or Company shall bear the title of “Veteran” only in case at least one-half its numbers, at the time of muster into the United States service, are “Veteran Volunteers.”
II. The benefits provided by General Orders, No. 191, for Veteran Volunteers, will be extended to men who re-enlisted prior to the promulgation of that order, provided they have fulfilled the conditions therein set forth.
By Order of the Secretary of War
E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant GeneralAs word continued to spread regarding the federal government’s new plan to provide improved compensation for soldiers choosing to reenlist with the Union Army, the Office of the Adjutant General at the U.S. War Department issued a series of additional general orders to refine its new policy and procedures with respect to the designation of men as “Veteran Volunteers.”
General Orders, No. 305,
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office
Washington, September 11, 1863Par. VIII, of General Orders, No. 191, from this office, relative to recruiting Veteran Volunteers, is hereby amended to read as follows:
After the expiration of ninety days from this date, (June 25,) Volunteers serving in three years’ organizations, who may re-enlist for three years or the war, in Companies or Regiments to which they now belong, and who may have, at the date of re-enlistment, less than one year to serve, shall be entitled to the aforesaid bounty and premium of $402, to be paid in the manner herein provided for other troops re-entering the service. The new term will commence from the date of re-enlistment.
By Order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant GeneralOn November 6, 1863, this further clarification was issued:
General Orders, No. 359
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office
Washington, November 6, 1863I. To carry out the provisions of paragraphs 8 and 9, General Orders, No. 191, current series, from this office, in reference to volunteers who may come within the limit for re-enlistment as Veteran Volunteers, as fixed by General Orders, No. 305, current series, the following regulations are established:
MUSTERS-OUT OF SERVICE.
- The muster-out or discharge of all men who may re-enlist, and their re-enlistments and consequent re-musters, will be under the immediate supervision and direction of the Commissaries and Assistant Commissaries of Musters for the respective Armies and Departments. The said officers will make all musters-out of and re-musters into the service.
- All men who desire to take advantage of the benefits of the Veteran Volunteer order, by re-enlistment under it, will be regularly mustered out of service on the prescribed muster-out rolls. The discharges prescribed by paragraph 79, Mustering Regulations, will be furnished in all cases. A remark will be made on the muster-out rolls, over the signature of the Commissary or Assistant Commissary of Musters, as follows: ‘Discharged by virtue of re-enlistment as a Veteran Volunteer, under the provisions of General Orders, No. 191, series of 1863, from the War Department.”RE-ENLISTMENTS AND RE-MUSTERS.
- Simultaneously with the muster-out and discharge, but of the date next following it, the Veteran Volunteers will be formally re-mustered into the United States service ‘for three years or during the war.” This will be done on the prescribed muster-in rolls (muster and descriptive rolls of recruits). These rolls will be made out from the re-enlistments and descriptive lists of the men. (See section 4 of this paragraph.) The following remark will be made on the muster-in rolls, over the signature of the Commissary or Assistant Commissary of Musters: ‘Re-mustered as Veteran Volunteers, under G. O., 191, War Department, series of 1863.’
- Regimental Commanders, under the direction of Commanders of Brigades, will select and appoint a recruiting officer for their respective commands, and charge him with the re-enlistment of the Veterans thereof. The re-enlistments will be made in duplicate, and on the blank for “Volunteer Enlistment.” A descriptive roll of the men will be made out at the same time. The duplicate re-enlistments and descriptive rolls will be forwarded, or taken, by the recruiting officer, to the Commissary or Assistant Commissary of Musters who may be in charge of the musters for the organization to which the men belong. The mustering officer will countersign the re-enlistment papers, and file the descriptive roll with the records of his office. One copy of the re-enlistment will be delivered by the mustering officer to the Paymaster, to assist him in the examination and verification of the accounts; this copy will be forwarded with the said accounts to the proper accounting officer of the Treasury. The second copy of the re-enlistments will be returned by the mustering officer to the Regimental Commander, and by him forwarded to the Adjutant General of the Army with the Monthly Recruiting Return required by par. 919 Army Regulations, from Superintendents of Regimental Recruiting Service.PAYMENTS.
- The Pay Department of the Army is hereby charged with all payments (final due under original enlistments, advanced pay, bounties, and premiums) of the volunteers discharged and re-mustered as directed in this order. The final payments under the original enlistments will be made on the muster-out rolls.The amount of the ‘total payment on Muster,’ (re-muster,) par. II, G. O. 324, A. G. O., current series, will be made under the rules set forth in General Orders, No. 163. The consolidated receipt rolls, referred to in the said order, will be certified to by the Commissary or Assistant Commissary of Musters charged with the re-muster of the Veteran Volunteers into service. The payments on discharge, and those due on re-muster, will be made at the same time, and in full, immediately after the men are re-mustered into the service.
II. Commanders of Armies and Departments are hereby charged with the faithful execution of this order, and will issue such instructions under it as in their opinion will best secure the object in view. Troops to be discharged and re-mustered as Veterans will be reported to the proper commanders, through Army or Department Headquarters, to the Paymaster General. The reports will be made at a date such as will avoid delay in the payments being made.
By Order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant GeneralThe U.S. War Department then issued yet another order related to Veteran Volunteers on November 21, 1863:
General Orders, No. 376
War Department, Adjutant General’s Office
Washington, November 21, 1863I. It is hereby ordered that volunteers now in the service, re-enlisting as Veteran Volunteers under General Orders 191 from this office, shall have a furlough of at least thirty days previous to the expiration of their original enlistment. This privilege will be secured to the volunteers either by ordering all so-re-enlisting with their officers, to report in their respective States, through the Governors, to the Superintendent of the recruiting service, for furlough and reorganization, or by granting furloughs to the men individually.
II. Mustering officers shall make the following stipulation on the muster-in rolls of Veteran Volunteers now in the service re-enlisting as above: “To have a furlough of at least thirty days in their States before expiration of original term.
III. Commanding Generals of Departments and Armies are hereby authorized to grant the aforesaid furloughs, within the limit of time fixed in compliance with this order, as the demands of the service will best permit, reporting their action to the Adjutant General of the Army.
IV. In going to and from their respective States and homes, the Veteran Volunteers furloughed as herein provided will be furnished with transportation by the Quartermaster’s Department.
V. When three-fourths of a regiment or company re-enlist, the volunteers so enlisted may be furloughed in a body, for at least thirty days as aforesaid, to go home with their officers to their respective States and districts to reorganize and recruit; and the individuals of the companies and regiments who do not re-enlist shall be assigned to duty in other companies and regiments until the expiration of their terms of service.
By Order of the Secretary of War:
E. D. Townsend, Assistant Adjutant GeneralAs those subsequent updates continued to be released, newspapers across the nation began carrying word to the families of soldiers about the War Department’s stepped-up efforts to retain the nation’s most experienced soldiers, including the November 29, 1863 edition of The New York Times, which reprinted the text of General Orders, No. 376 and then added the following analysis:
The above order consists substantially of the series of propositions made to the War Department, three months ago, by Gov. MORTON, of Indiana, and was the suggestion of his comprehensive care for the interests of the country as well as the soldier. We have recently had occasion—indeed, ever since the war began we have had occasion—to notice the extraordinary energy and sagacity displayed by the Executive of Indiana in the conduct of the military affairs of that heroic State; and the success that has attended his efforts, and the appreciation of those efforts by the people of his own State and of the whole country, is the fit reward which his patriotic services have received….
Another proposal of Gov. MORTON, looking to the benefit of the soldier, we find referred to in the Indianapolis Journal, and we learn that it is now under discussion, with strong influences in its favor. It is that Paymasters of the army shall be authorized to take with them “five-twenty bonds,” from $50 to any larger amount, and allow the soldiers to take them in the place of any back pay, back bounty, or advance bounty (if he should reenlist) to which he may be entitled, or invest any pay in possession or due to him, which he may choose, in them. The proposal is urged for all the troops, but has as yet been acceded to only in the case of those from Indiana. The advantages of this arrangement are obvious, and we wish we could say that they were as generally bestowed as they are manifest. The soldier has the opportunity to turn every dollar due him, if he should not need it for immediate use, into an investment which has the double advantage of being just as good as “greenbacks” for currency, if they should be needed as money, and six per cent. better if they should be preferred as an investment.
At the present price of gold, on which the interest on these bonds is paid, the income they will yield the soldier will be about 9 per cent., fully equal to the first average investments of money in loans or real estate. On the other hand, the advantage to the country in giving the soldier a pecuniary interest in the permanence of the Government is obvious. The bonds are a little better than greenbacks, and of course can be used in their stead. If the bonds should not happen to be ready for delivery when the Paymasters go round, they are to take certificates, which shall be to the soldier the same as a bond. Now, a great many soldiers will leave the service with his last installment of bounty due, $75, with his advance bounty, (if he reenlists,) in his hands, $75, with his advance pay, $13, and whatever back pay may be due, not unlikely to amount to $50 or more, and can in nine cases out of ten invest $200 to $300, a very pretty sum to lay up against a rainy day.
Lieutenant-Colonel George Warren Alexander, second-in-command, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, with officers from the 47th, Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas, Florida, circa 1863 (public domain).
When news of the federal government’s new inducements reached the far-flung 47th Pennsylvanians in Key West and the Dry Tortugas, Florida, hundreds of weary men who had been battered by brutal combat and the ever-present spectre of disease realized they were being given a much-needed “shot in the arm” of recognition from their elected officials and took renewed comfort in knowing that their service had, in fact, actually been valued.
In response, more than half of the men serving with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry opted to reenlist in 1863—a collective action that resulted in another historic achievement for the regiment—the permanent change of the organization’s name to the 47th Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers.
Sources:
- “A Word from Captain Gobin’s Company” (May 1863 letter from C Company Sergeant Christian S. Beard). Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Sunbury Gazette, May 2, 1873.
- Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
- “Florida’s Role in the Civil War: ‘Supplier of the Confederacy.’” Tampa, Florida: Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida, retrieved online January 15, 2020.
- General Orders of the War Department, Embracing the Years, 1861, 1862 & 1863, vol. II, pp. 217-219 (General Orders No. 191), p. 245 (General Orders No. 216), 412 (General Orders No. 305), 602-603 (General Orders No. 359), and 644 (General Orders No. 376). New York, New York: Derby & Miller and Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown, & Co., et al., 1864.
- Holder, Emily. “At the Dry Tortugas During the War.” San Francisco, California: Californian Illustrated Magazine, 1892 (part four, retrieved online, March 28, 2024, courtesy of Lit2Go, the website of the Educational Technology Clearinghouse at the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida).
- “History: Crops (Historic Florida Barge Canal Trail).” Historical Marker Database, retrieved online December 30, 2023.
- Owsley, Frank Lawrence, and Harriet Fason Chappell. King Cotton Diplomacy: Foreign Relations of the Confederate States of America. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1959.
- “Preventing Diplomatic Recognition of the Confederacy, 1861–1865,” and “The Alabama Claims, 1862–1872,” in “Milestones: 1861–1865.” Washington, D.C.: Office of the Historian, Foreign Service Institute, United States Department of State, retrieved online December 30, 2023.
- “Re-enlistment of Veterans.; General Order. War Department, Adjutant-General’s Office.” New York, New York: The New York Times, November 29, 1863.
- Reports of Committees of the Senate of the United States for the First Session of the Fifty-First Congress, 1889-90. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1890.
- Schmidt, Lewis G. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
- Wharton, Henry. Letters from the Sunbury Guards. Sunbury, Pennsylvania: Sunbury American, 1861-1868.
- Upon being mustered into the service, he shall be paid
-
The thread about the “Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh”; what the poor of Canongate ate in 1901
In 1901, the Public Health Committee of the Town Council of Edinburgh paid £50 to commission a then remarkable and pioneering bit of research: they asked three doctors to go out into the working classes and poor of the city and find out what they actually ate. This study took place in the city’s Canongate and followed the food purchased and eaten over a week by 15 families, totalling 94 mouths. It meticulously catalogued everything that was consumed and discarded in great detail and then analysed it for its equivalent nutritional contents in a laboratory.
Group of Women and Children in the Canongate, 1901. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesThe authors were Dr. Diarmid Noël Paton, a pioneer in physiology and its links with nutrition; Dr. James Craufurd Dunlop, a paediatrician, pioneer of combined medical and social research and later Superintendent of Statistics, then Registrar General, of the Registry Office for Scotland and; Dr. Elsie Maud Inglis, one of the first female doctors in Scotland; a specialist and pioneer of the medical care – and medical education – of women; a leading suffragist and later founder of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in WW1.
“A Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh” was published the following year (1902). It runs to 104 pages, but I have read it and summarised some of its key findings so that you don’t have to. So lets go find out what people in the city ate 120 years ago
Cover of “A Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh Carried Out Under the Auspices of the Town Council of the City of Edinburgh”The 15 subject families were categorised into 3 classes:
- A. Workmen’s families with irregular wages under 20s (20 Shillings or £1, approximately £98 in 2023) per week
- B. Families with regular wages from 20-23s per week
- C. Families with men in “good” trades and regular wages from 28-40s per week.
There were 15 adult men, 17 adult women and 62 children in the study. Two of the test households were notable for having no man in the house – as a result these were by far and away the financially worst off of the group. The average income of households in the stufy was just under 25s (£1 5/-) a week, about £122 in 2023.
Breakdown of the test subjects, giving occupation (for the man of the house), study class, the numbers of adults and children and the weekly incomes.The make-up of each household was corrected for age and sex of occupants to turn it into a standardised equivalent number of adult men, based on the understanding at the time of the relative dietary requirements of men, women and children of different ages. For instance an adult woman counted as 0.8x an adult man for the purposes of calorie requirements. The weekly spend on food was counted to the nearest farthing (¼d, d being 1 old penny, with 12d to the shilling and 240d to the £). The average spend on food was 15s 9¼d per week (£77.35 in 2023 money), or 79% of household income. Per “equivalent man”, each house spent on average 6¾d per day on food (~£2.74 in 2023).
Standardised equivalent “Number of Men” per test household and weekly expenditures on food
One of the few “advantages” in life that the poor had was just how cheap accommodation was (even if it was in a slum condition) in Edinburgh in 1901. Per household it averaged 37¼d per week, or about £61 per month in 2023. Some families made half or all their rent by their Co-op dividends alone – a measure of both just how cheap the rent was and also how important the Co-ops were to their members.
Women “getting the messages” talking outside a grocers shop at 2 High Street in the Canongate in 1901. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesWe come now to what our subjects ate. Let’s just say that their diets were monotonous. 35% by weight of what people ate was bread, a whopping 494g per “man” per day. 80% of everything eaten was one of only 6 food types – bread, potatoes, milk, sugar, beef and veg (mainly cabbage and onion, some carrots and turnips, although the study noted that many of the women didn’t seem to know about any other vegetables than potatoes). For reference, in 2013-15, the average Scottish person consumed just 80g bread (84% less), 64g of potatoes, 22g of beef per day. But milk was almost the same at 201g.
The 6 most important foodstuffs in the 1901 Canongate diet, with total and relative mass and calorific consumption for the study.People ate quite so much bread because it was cheap: that 35% of bread by weight gave them 41% of their daily calories but cost only 19% of their daily food budget. You can read more about the Scottish working class’s love affair with the Plain Loaf in this thread. In contrast, the beef consumed gave just 6% of daily calories but was 23% of expenditure. Clearly this was a luxury foodstuff relative to the others, and it was eaten for the protein content – and mainly by the man of the house. The authors pointed out an anomaly in that the traditional Scottish meat of mutton was largely lacking in the diet, even though it was cheaper and offered more protein per unit cost than beef.
People got about 11% of their daily calories from butter, jam, “syrup” (canned golden syrup or treacle) and cheese, eaten on slices of bread as a piece (an open sandwich, they weren’t closed back then!). Cheese consumption in 1901 was almost identical to Scotland’s 2013-15 average. Unsurprisingly, oatmeal was important in the diet, eaten as porridge – giving 6% of daily calories for 2.5% of expenditure. Eggs were commonly eaten, although they were relatively expensive they offered a reasonable amount of protein. The amounts of suet, dripping, sausages and offal are notably low. Small amounts of pulses and barley were eaten (in soups and broths).
All the major foodstuff consumed in the study, averaged for both total weight and total calorific intake per dayThe subjects ate almost no fruit, except small amounts of raisins and currants in the slightly better off households or in jam. It was potatoes that stopped them getting scurvy. Some teabreads were eaten (a sweetened bread, with dried fruit in it, usually spread with butter), almost nothing was spent on biscuits or sweets. Seasonally they probably did get access some fruit, when there was a glut of cheap apples etc., but it is not recorded. Confections may have been eaten on special occasions.
A woman holds her baby inside a house in the Canongate, 1908. Notice that despite the circumstances of the neighbourhood, the woman, her child and the house are all well kept, with an effort to make the place homely and comfortable; slum did not necessarily mean squalor. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesMealtimes were not coordinated or regular, the report called this the old Canongate style. The man usually kept a schedule aligned to his work, with the largest meal in the evening. Children fitted theirs around schooling with lunch the primary meal, topped up with endless bread to keep them full, if not nourished. The women had to fit in between both It has been noted that much of the meat consumption was by the man of the house; in many of the homes, the children and woman made do mainly with porridge, potatoes, broths and soup topped up with and their endless pieces. One house recorded spending 6d a week on lemonade as a luxury, otherwise children drank milk (fresh, canned or buttermilk) but also lots of tea, coffee (from essence) and cocoa. Women seemed to drink a lot of cocoa – they probably needed the sugar content to keep constantly on the go with heavy domestic labour.
Fish, although it was easily accessible from the fishing fleets of Granton, Newhaven and Fisherrow, and long part of the diet of the Scottish lower classes, was not popular or valued. While it was relatively cheap, it was not felt to be a valuable source of daily calories for the money and it was most prevalent with the poorest households. Dried and smoked fish were particularly lowly thought of and very little was consumed.
In many households the women had either part time or “piece work” (usually cleaning, “charladying” and also making bags) to make ends meet. Although they earned much less than men, in many of the households this was the only regular income on account of irregular wages for the man. The two households with no men in them paint a revealing and sorry tale of life for working class women at that time. In the first, a mother (51) and daughter (15) exist on just 8s 4d per week (£41 in 2023). The daughter made a few shillings selling papers, the rest came from a Benevolent Fund as the son/brother was away in the army in the Anglo–Boer War. They existed largely on white fish (3.3kg per week, gotten cheap through the kindness of neighbours), bread (3.3kg/wk), potatoes (3.4kg), cabbage (2kg) and buttermilk (1.1kg), plus 850g sugar and 880g oatmeal.
The other house with no man resident was described as being that of a “poor, small old woman who lived alone, chiefly occupied in sewing“. She was unable to do other work, was “very weak” and her husband was in the lunatic asylum. Her income was unknown, but she spent only 14¼d per week (!) on food (£5.80 in 2023). When standardised, that’s just over 1/3 of average expenditure on food of all the other study subjects. This pittance bought her a meagre diet, per week, of 840g milk, 840g bread (about 1 modern loaf), 310g beef, 300g dried peas, 300g leeks and carrots, 200g barley and 90g butter, and almost nothing else. This was the equivalent of 1123 calories per “equivalent man” day, less than 1/2 of the average of 2900 per day of all the study subjects. The paper noted that 1527 calories per day was the garrison’s emergency diet at the end of the 4 month Siege of Ladysmith from 1899-1900.
This 2,900 per man per day calorific intake measured for Edinburgh in the study was compared to averages for the working classes of other countries. It was:
- 4,170cal in Germany
- 4,080cal in Sweden
- 3,061cal in Russia
- 4,415cal in the US
The working poor of the slums fared better than those in the poorhouses, who in Scotland at that time got 2,380 calories per day, but worse than in the country’s prisons were it was 3,315 calories per day (or 3,717 on hard labour) and in pauper lunatic asylums where 3,435 per day was provided. The Seamen’s Federation at that time had recently secured a diet for men at sea of 4,526 calories per day. This was the sort of intake needed to live comfortably and healthily for a man (or woman) indulging in heavy physical labour.
I do want to keep this thread focussed on food, and I could go on, and on, and on into ever more detail from the study, but this isn’t really the best place for that, so I’ll look at a few more things before wrapping up. Firstly, lets look at relative costs for some foodstuffs when the report was published compared to now. I’ve worked out an approximate inflated cost of the staple food prices to compare and contrast with typical May 2023 UK grocery prices. The differences speak for themselves.
Comparative costs of the same food items in 1902 and 2023, corrected for inflationSecondly – apart from rent and food, what else was money spent on? An obvious thing was coal, required for all domestic heating, cooking and hot water. Many got it cheap through their churches or social groups, who had schemes to buy it in bulk and disburse it at a heavily discounted rate to their members. In winter, consumption of coal averaged about 1.5 bags per house per week, costing 1s 9d (about £34 a month in 2023). Some houses had a gas light and paid for that, but the use and cost was small – about £5 per month in 2023 equivalent. Other houses purchased lamp oil. After coal (and sometimes before it), the next biggest expendisture was on subscriptions to societies. Most households paid a few shillings per week towards such societies; these were either to cover sickness or funeral costs, clothing clubs, or even children’s holiday clubs for a week at the sea or in the country for them. The other main noted expenditure was “soap, black lead, etc.”, i.e. household cleaning products, about half a shilling a week (£2.45 in 2023) per household.
Most of the men smoked (women at this time mainly did not); about half a shilling again per week in pipe tobacco. Some were teetotallers, others drank. In only one family was it noted the woman drank and it was implied that both parents in this household were alcoholics. No costs were given for money spent on drink.
Canongate menfolk outside a pub, 1901. Youngers were one of the two dominant names in Edinburgh brewing alongside McEwans. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesIn most families the entire wage was turned over by the husband to his wife to manage, with 2s or 3s a week reserved by him for his tobacco, papers and drink. This was most prevalent were wages were reliable and regular. Where the man’s work was irregular, the pattern was different. His wife often had little idea what was in his wage packet from one week to the next. He often turned over just enough for the food and rent but little else, reserving the excess in better weeks for his vices. Very few of the families had enough to keep anything by for a “rainy day” and lived week to week. It was noted some lived day-to-day, buying items of food as and when they were needed throughout the day. This meant they often paid a premium compared to a weekly bulk buy, a problem just as common now for those on limited incomes as then.
I will finish off with two last points. Firstly, the study probably would have failed without Elsie Inglis’ involvement; it was her and her female medical students who convinced reluctant families – usually the housewife – to allow them to intrude on their lives. Misses G. Miller, H. Bell, Isabel Simson, May Simson, Pringle, Cunningham, Robertson, H. Maclaren and Colly and Mrs Shaw Maclaren were the students credited with gathering the actual study data from each family (down to collecting every discarded bit of potato peel to be weighed)
Elsie Inglis, from Dr. Elsie Inglis by Lady Frances Balfour. CC-by-SA 4.0 Wellcome Collection.And secondly, one little snippet of insight into the life of these families that really gave a lump to my throat when I read it. It came from family number 14, the mason’s labourer, his wife and their 9 children, who lived in a tiny 2 room house, “clean but bare-looking“. The report goes on, “the eldest girl died of consumption [TB] last year. They still keep little frames and bits of fancy-work she was doing. They gave her a grand funeral that cost £10 13s. Black suits had to be bought for the father and eldest boy“. This family had very little, yet they spent everything and more than they had and could afford to give their daughter a decent and dignified send off – over 10 weeks wages – and on account of paying off their debts could no longer pay into their own funeral society. I feet this really hit home how unpredictable life was for people 120 years ago, people living exactly where my own family was living at the time and in exactly the same circumstances. And it brings home a real sense of human dignity to the lives of people in bitter and crushing circumstances, at the bottom of the pile. Their next eldest daughter, 17 but only 4ft 10in tall, now looked after the house and 8 other children when her mother went out to work to make paper bags for 8s a week. Such were the realities of life in the Canongate at the end of the Victorian age and dawn of the 20th century.
Here’s the link to “A study of the diet of the labouring classes in Edinburgh” on Archive dot org for you to read and think about for yourself. I’ve only scratched the surface of it, and there are many other stories and insights contained within it’s yellowing pages.
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The thread about the “Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh”; what the poor of Canongate ate in 1901
In 1901, the Public Health Committee of the Town Council of Edinburgh paid £50 to commission a then remarkable and pioneering bit of research: they asked three doctors to go out into the working classes and poor of the city and find out what they actually ate. This study took place in the city’s Canongate and followed the food purchased and eaten over a week by 15 families, totalling 94 mouths. It meticulously catalogued everything that was consumed and discarded in great detail and then analysed it for its equivalent nutritional contents in a laboratory.
Group of Women and Children in the Canongate, 1901. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesThe authors were Dr. Diarmid Noël Paton, a pioneer in physiology and its links with nutrition; Dr. James Craufurd Dunlop, a paediatrician, pioneer of combined medical and social research and later Superintendent of Statistics, then Registrar General, of the Registry Office for Scotland and; Dr. Elsie Maud Inglis, one of the first female doctors in Scotland; a specialist and pioneer of the medical care – and medical education – of women; a leading suffragist and later founder of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in WW1.
“A Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh” was published the following year (1902). It runs to 104 pages, but I have read it and summarised some of its key findings so that you don’t have to. So lets go find out what people in the city ate 120 years ago
Cover of “A Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh Carried Out Under the Auspices of the Town Council of the City of Edinburgh”The 15 subject families were categorised into 3 classes:
- A. Workmen’s families with irregular wages under 20s (20 Shillings or £1, approximately £98 in 2023) per week
- B. Families with regular wages from 20-23s per week
- C. Families with men in “good” trades and regular wages from 28-40s per week.
There were 15 adult men, 17 adult women and 62 children in the study. Two of the test households were notable for having no man in the house – as a result these were by far and away the financially worst off of the group. The average income of households in the stufy was just under 25s (£1 5/-) a week, about £122 in 2023.
Breakdown of the test subjects, giving occupation (for the man of the house), study class, the numbers of adults and children and the weekly incomes.The make-up of each household was corrected for age and sex of occupants to turn it into a standardised equivalent number of adult men, based on the understanding at the time of the relative dietary requirements of men, women and children of different ages. For instance an adult woman counted as 0.8x an adult man for the purposes of calorie requirements. The weekly spend on food was counted to the nearest farthing (¼d, d being 1 old penny, with 12d to the shilling and 240d to the £). The average spend on food was 15s 9¼d per week (£77.35 in 2023 money), or 79% of household income. Per “equivalent man”, each house spent on average 6¾d per day on food (~£2.74 in 2023).
Standardised equivalent “Number of Men” per test household and weekly expenditures on food
One of the few “advantages” in life that the poor had was just how cheap accommodation was (even if it was in a slum condition) in Edinburgh in 1901. Per household it averaged 37¼d per week, or about £61 per month in 2023. Some families made half or all their rent by their Co-op dividends alone – a measure of both just how cheap the rent was and also how important the Co-ops were to their members.
Women “getting the messages” talking outside a grocers shop at 2 High Street in the Canongate in 1901. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesWe come now to what our subjects ate. Let’s just say that their diets were monotonous. 35% by weight of what people ate was bread, a whopping 494g per “man” per day. 80% of everything eaten was one of only 6 food types – bread, potatoes, milk, sugar, beef and veg (mainly cabbage and onion, some carrots and turnips, although the study noted that many of the women didn’t seem to know about any other vegetables than potatoes). For reference, in 2013-15, the average Scottish person consumed just 80g bread (84% less), 64g of potatoes, 22g of beef per day. But milk was almost the same at 201g.
The 6 most important foodstuffs in the 1901 Canongate diet, with total and relative mass and calorific consumption for the study.People ate quite so much bread because it was cheap: that 35% of bread by weight gave them 41% of their daily calories but cost only 19% of their daily food budget. You can read more about the Scottish working class’s love affair with the Plain Loaf in this thread. In contrast, the beef consumed gave just 6% of daily calories but was 23% of expenditure. Clearly this was a luxury foodstuff relative to the others, and it was eaten for the protein content – and mainly by the man of the house. The authors pointed out an anomaly in that the traditional Scottish meat of mutton was largely lacking in the diet, even though it was cheaper and offered more protein per unit cost than beef.
People got about 11% of their daily calories from butter, jam, “syrup” (canned golden syrup or treacle) and cheese, eaten on slices of bread as a piece (an open sandwich, they weren’t closed back then!). Cheese consumption in 1901 was almost identical to Scotland’s 2013-15 average. Unsurprisingly, oatmeal was important in the diet, eaten as porridge – giving 6% of daily calories for 2.5% of expenditure. Eggs were commonly eaten, although they were relatively expensive they offered a reasonable amount of protein. The amounts of suet, dripping, sausages and offal are notably low. Small amounts of pulses and barley were eaten (in soups and broths).
All the major foodstuff consumed in the study, averaged for both total weight and total calorific intake per dayThe subjects ate almost no fruit, except small amounts of raisins and currants in the slightly better off households or in jam. It was potatoes that stopped them getting scurvy. Some teabreads were eaten (a sweetened bread, with dried fruit in it, usually spread with butter), almost nothing was spent on biscuits or sweets. Seasonally they probably did get access some fruit, when there was a glut of cheap apples etc., but it is not recorded. Confections may have been eaten on special occasions.
A woman holds her baby inside a house in the Canongate, 1908. Notice that despite the circumstances of the neighbourhood, the woman, her child and the house are all well kept, with an effort to make the place homely and comfortable; slum did not necessarily mean squalor. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesMealtimes were not coordinated or regular, the report called this the old Canongate style. The man usually kept a schedule aligned to his work, with the largest meal in the evening. Children fitted theirs around schooling with lunch the primary meal, topped up with endless bread to keep them full, if not nourished. The women had to fit in between both It has been noted that much of the meat consumption was by the man of the house; in many of the homes, the children and woman made do mainly with porridge, potatoes, broths and soup topped up with and their endless pieces. One house recorded spending 6d a week on lemonade as a luxury, otherwise children drank milk (fresh, canned or buttermilk) but also lots of tea, coffee (from essence) and cocoa. Women seemed to drink a lot of cocoa – they probably needed the sugar content to keep constantly on the go with heavy domestic labour.
Fish, although it was easily accessible from the fishing fleets of Granton, Newhaven and Fisherrow, and long part of the diet of the Scottish lower classes, was not popular or valued. While it was relatively cheap, it was not felt to be a valuable source of daily calories for the money and it was most prevalent with the poorest households. Dried and smoked fish were particularly lowly thought of and very little was consumed.
In many households the women had either part time or “piece work” (usually cleaning, “charladying” and also making bags) to make ends meet. Although they earned much less than men, in many of the households this was the only regular income on account of irregular wages for the man. The two households with no men in them paint a revealing and sorry tale of life for working class women at that time. In the first, a mother (51) and daughter (15) exist on just 8s 4d per week (£41 in 2023). The daughter made a few shillings selling papers, the rest came from a Benevolent Fund as the son/brother was away in the army in the Anglo–Boer War. They existed largely on white fish (3.3kg per week, gotten cheap through the kindness of neighbours), bread (3.3kg/wk), potatoes (3.4kg), cabbage (2kg) and buttermilk (1.1kg), plus 850g sugar and 880g oatmeal.
The other house with no man resident was described as being that of a “poor, small old woman who lived alone, chiefly occupied in sewing“. She was unable to do other work, was “very weak” and her husband was in the lunatic asylum. Her income was unknown, but she spent only 14¼d per week (!) on food (£5.80 in 2023). When standardised, that’s just over 1/3 of average expenditure on food of all the other study subjects. This pittance bought her a meagre diet, per week, of 840g milk, 840g bread (about 1 modern loaf), 310g beef, 300g dried peas, 300g leeks and carrots, 200g barley and 90g butter, and almost nothing else. This was the equivalent of 1123 calories per “equivalent man” day, less than 1/2 of the average of 2900 per day of all the study subjects. The paper noted that 1527 calories per day was the garrison’s emergency diet at the end of the 4 month Siege of Ladysmith from 1899-1900.
This 2,900 per man per day calorific intake measured for Edinburgh in the study was compared to averages for the working classes of other countries. It was:
- 4,170cal in Germany
- 4,080cal in Sweden
- 3,061cal in Russia
- 4,415cal in the US
The working poor of the slums fared better than those in the poorhouses, who in Scotland at that time got 2,380 calories per day, but worse than in the country’s prisons were it was 3,315 calories per day (or 3,717 on hard labour) and in pauper lunatic asylums where 3,435 per day was provided. The Seamen’s Federation at that time had recently secured a diet for men at sea of 4,526 calories per day. This was the sort of intake needed to live comfortably and healthily for a man (or woman) indulging in heavy physical labour.
I do want to keep this thread focussed on food, and I could go on, and on, and on into ever more detail from the study, but this isn’t really the best place for that, so I’ll look at a few more things before wrapping up. Firstly, lets look at relative costs for some foodstuffs when the report was published compared to now. I’ve worked out an approximate inflated cost of the staple food prices to compare and contrast with typical May 2023 UK grocery prices. The differences speak for themselves.
Comparative costs of the same food items in 1902 and 2023, corrected for inflationSecondly – apart from rent and food, what else was money spent on? An obvious thing was coal, required for all domestic heating, cooking and hot water. Many got it cheap through their churches or social groups, who had schemes to buy it in bulk and disburse it at a heavily discounted rate to their members. In winter, consumption of coal averaged about 1.5 bags per house per week, costing 1s 9d (about £34 a month in 2023). Some houses had a gas light and paid for that, but the use and cost was small – about £5 per month in 2023 equivalent. Other houses purchased lamp oil. After coal (and sometimes before it), the next biggest expendisture was on subscriptions to societies. Most households paid a few shillings per week towards such societies; these were either to cover sickness or funeral costs, clothing clubs, or even children’s holiday clubs for a week at the sea or in the country for them. The other main noted expenditure was “soap, black lead, etc.”, i.e. household cleaning products, about half a shilling a week (£2.45 in 2023) per household.
Most of the men smoked (women at this time mainly did not); about half a shilling again per week in pipe tobacco. Some were teetotallers, others drank. In only one family was it noted the woman drank and it was implied that both parents in this household were alcoholics. No costs were given for money spent on drink.
Canongate menfolk outside a pub, 1901. Youngers were one of the two dominant names in Edinburgh brewing alongside McEwans. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesIn most families the entire wage was turned over by the husband to his wife to manage, with 2s or 3s a week reserved by him for his tobacco, papers and drink. This was most prevalent were wages were reliable and regular. Where the man’s work was irregular, the pattern was different. His wife often had little idea what was in his wage packet from one week to the next. He often turned over just enough for the food and rent but little else, reserving the excess in better weeks for his vices. Very few of the families had enough to keep anything by for a “rainy day” and lived week to week. It was noted some lived day-to-day, buying items of food as and when they were needed throughout the day. This meant they often paid a premium compared to a weekly bulk buy, a problem just as common now for those on limited incomes as then.
I will finish off with two last points. Firstly, the study probably would have failed without Elsie Inglis’ involvement; it was her and her female medical students who convinced reluctant families – usually the housewife – to allow them to intrude on their lives. Misses G. Miller, H. Bell, Isabel Simson, May Simson, Pringle, Cunningham, Robertson, H. Maclaren and Colly and Mrs Shaw Maclaren were the students credited with gathering the actual study data from each family (down to collecting every discarded bit of potato peel to be weighed)
Elsie Inglis, from Dr. Elsie Inglis by Lady Frances Balfour. CC-by-SA 4.0 Wellcome Collection.And secondly, one little snippet of insight into the life of these families that really gave a lump to my throat when I read it. It came from family number 14, the mason’s labourer, his wife and their 9 children, who lived in a tiny 2 room house, “clean but bare-looking“. The report goes on, “the eldest girl died of consumption [TB] last year. They still keep little frames and bits of fancy-work she was doing. They gave her a grand funeral that cost £10 13s. Black suits had to be bought for the father and eldest boy“. This family had very little, yet they spent everything and more than they had and could afford to give their daughter a decent and dignified send off – over 10 weeks wages – and on account of paying off their debts could no longer pay into their own funeral society. I feet this really hit home how unpredictable life was for people 120 years ago, people living exactly where my own family was living at the time and in exactly the same circumstances. And it brings home a real sense of human dignity to the lives of people in bitter and crushing circumstances, at the bottom of the pile. Their next eldest daughter, 17 but only 4ft 10in tall, now looked after the house and 8 other children when her mother went out to work to make paper bags for 8s a week. Such were the realities of life in the Canongate at the end of the Victorian age and dawn of the 20th century.
Here’s the link to “A study of the diet of the labouring classes in Edinburgh” on Archive dot org for you to read and think about for yourself. I’ve only scratched the surface of it, and there are many other stories and insights contained within it’s yellowing pages.
If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site – including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget to find further stories to bring you – by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.
These threads © 2017-2025, Andy Arthur.
NO AI TRAINING: Any use of the contents of this website to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
#Canongate #Edinburgh #Food #HolyroodCanongate #Nutrition #OldTown #Poverty #PublicHealth #Slums
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The thread about the “Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh”; what the poor of Canongate ate in 1901
In 1901, the Public Health Committee of the Town Council of Edinburgh paid £50 to commission a then remarkable and pioneering bit of research: they asked three doctors to go out into the working classes and poor of the city and find out what they actually ate. This study took place in the city’s Canongate and followed the food purchased and eaten over a week by 15 families, totalling 94 mouths. It meticulously catalogued everything that was consumed and discarded in great detail and then analysed it for its equivalent nutritional contents in a laboratory.
Group of Women and Children in the Canongate, 1901. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesThe authors were Dr. Diarmid Noël Paton, a pioneer in physiology and its links with nutrition; Dr. James Craufurd Dunlop, a paediatrician, pioneer of combined medical and social research and later Superintendent of Statistics, then Registrar General, of the Registry Office for Scotland and; Dr. Elsie Maud Inglis, one of the first female doctors in Scotland; a specialist and pioneer of the medical care – and medical education – of women; a leading suffragist and later founder of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in WW1.
“A Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh” was published the following year (1902). It runs to 104 pages, but I have read it and summarised some of its key findings so that you don’t have to. So lets go find out what people in the city ate 120 years ago
Cover of “A Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh Carried Out Under the Auspices of the Town Council of the City of Edinburgh”The 15 subject families were categorised into 3 classes:
- A. Workmen’s families with irregular wages under 20s (20 Shillings or £1, approximately £98 in 2023) per week
- B. Families with regular wages from 20-23s per week
- C. Families with men in “good” trades and regular wages from 28-40s per week.
There were 15 adult men, 17 adult women and 62 children in the study. Two of the test households were notable for having no man in the house – as a result these were by far and away the financially worst off of the group. The average income of households in the stufy was just under 25s (£1 5/-) a week, about £122 in 2023.
Breakdown of the test subjects, giving occupation (for the man of the house), study class, the numbers of adults and children and the weekly incomes.The make-up of each household was corrected for age and sex of occupants to turn it into a standardised equivalent number of adult men, based on the understanding at the time of the relative dietary requirements of men, women and children of different ages. For instance an adult woman counted as 0.8x an adult man for the purposes of calorie requirements. The weekly spend on food was counted to the nearest farthing (¼d, d being 1 old penny, with 12d to the shilling and 240d to the £). The average spend on food was 15s 9¼d per week (£77.35 in 2023 money), or 79% of household income. Per “equivalent man”, each house spent on average 6¾d per day on food (~£2.74 in 2023).
Standardised equivalent “Number of Men” per test household and weekly expenditures on food
One of the few “advantages” in life that the poor had was just how cheap accommodation was (even if it was in a slum condition) in Edinburgh in 1901. Per household it averaged 37¼d per week, or about £61 per month in 2023. Some families made half or all their rent by their Co-op dividends alone – a measure of both just how cheap the rent was and also how important the Co-ops were to their members.
Women “getting the messages” talking outside a grocers shop at 2 High Street in the Canongate in 1901. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesWe come now to what our subjects ate. Let’s just say that their diets were monotonous. 35% by weight of what people ate was bread, a whopping 494g per “man” per day. 80% of everything eaten was one of only 6 food types – bread, potatoes, milk, sugar, beef and veg (mainly cabbage and onion, some carrots and turnips, although the study noted that many of the women didn’t seem to know about any other vegetables than potatoes). For reference, in 2013-15, the average Scottish person consumed just 80g bread (84% less), 64g of potatoes, 22g of beef per day. But milk was almost the same at 201g.
The 6 most important foodstuffs in the 1901 Canongate diet, with total and relative mass and calorific consumption for the study.People ate quite so much bread because it was cheap: that 35% of bread by weight gave them 41% of their daily calories but cost only 19% of their daily food budget. You can read more about the Scottish working class’s love affair with the Plain Loaf in this thread. In contrast, the beef consumed gave just 6% of daily calories but was 23% of expenditure. Clearly this was a luxury foodstuff relative to the others, and it was eaten for the protein content – and mainly by the man of the house. The authors pointed out an anomaly in that the traditional Scottish meat of mutton was largely lacking in the diet, even though it was cheaper and offered more protein per unit cost than beef.
People got about 11% of their daily calories from butter, jam, “syrup” (canned golden syrup or treacle) and cheese, eaten on slices of bread as a piece (an open sandwich, they weren’t closed back then!). Cheese consumption in 1901 was almost identical to Scotland’s 2013-15 average. Unsurprisingly, oatmeal was important in the diet, eaten as porridge – giving 6% of daily calories for 2.5% of expenditure. Eggs were commonly eaten, although they were relatively expensive they offered a reasonable amount of protein. The amounts of suet, dripping, sausages and offal are notably low. Small amounts of pulses and barley were eaten (in soups and broths).
All the major foodstuff consumed in the study, averaged for both total weight and total calorific intake per dayThe subjects ate almost no fruit, except small amounts of raisins and currants in the slightly better off households or in jam. It was potatoes that stopped them getting scurvy. Some teabreads were eaten (a sweetened bread, with dried fruit in it, usually spread with butter), almost nothing was spent on biscuits or sweets. Seasonally they probably did get access some fruit, when there was a glut of cheap apples etc., but it is not recorded. Confections may have been eaten on special occasions.
A woman holds her baby inside a house in the Canongate, 1908. Notice that despite the circumstances of the neighbourhood, the woman, her child and the house are all well kept, with an effort to make the place homely and comfortable; slum did not necessarily mean squalor. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesMealtimes were not coordinated or regular, the report called this the old Canongate style. The man usually kept a schedule aligned to his work, with the largest meal in the evening. Children fitted theirs around schooling with lunch the primary meal, topped up with endless bread to keep them full, if not nourished. The women had to fit in between both It has been noted that much of the meat consumption was by the man of the house; in many of the homes, the children and woman made do mainly with porridge, potatoes, broths and soup topped up with and their endless pieces. One house recorded spending 6d a week on lemonade as a luxury, otherwise children drank milk (fresh, canned or buttermilk) but also lots of tea, coffee (from essence) and cocoa. Women seemed to drink a lot of cocoa – they probably needed the sugar content to keep constantly on the go with heavy domestic labour.
Fish, although it was easily accessible from the fishing fleets of Granton, Newhaven and Fisherrow, and long part of the diet of the Scottish lower classes, was not popular or valued. While it was relatively cheap, it was not felt to be a valuable source of daily calories for the money and it was most prevalent with the poorest households. Dried and smoked fish were particularly lowly thought of and very little was consumed.
In many households the women had either part time or “piece work” (usually cleaning, “charladying” and also making bags) to make ends meet. Although they earned much less than men, in many of the households this was the only regular income on account of irregular wages for the man. The two households with no men in them paint a revealing and sorry tale of life for working class women at that time. In the first, a mother (51) and daughter (15) exist on just 8s 4d per week (£41 in 2023). The daughter made a few shillings selling papers, the rest came from a Benevolent Fund as the son/brother was away in the army in the Anglo–Boer War. They existed largely on white fish (3.3kg per week, gotten cheap through the kindness of neighbours), bread (3.3kg/wk), potatoes (3.4kg), cabbage (2kg) and buttermilk (1.1kg), plus 850g sugar and 880g oatmeal.
The other house with no man resident was described as being that of a “poor, small old woman who lived alone, chiefly occupied in sewing“. She was unable to do other work, was “very weak” and her husband was in the lunatic asylum. Her income was unknown, but she spent only 14¼d per week (!) on food (£5.80 in 2023). When standardised, that’s just over 1/3 of average expenditure on food of all the other study subjects. This pittance bought her a meagre diet, per week, of 840g milk, 840g bread (about 1 modern loaf), 310g beef, 300g dried peas, 300g leeks and carrots, 200g barley and 90g butter, and almost nothing else. This was the equivalent of 1123 calories per “equivalent man” day, less than 1/2 of the average of 2900 per day of all the study subjects. The paper noted that 1527 calories per day was the garrison’s emergency diet at the end of the 4 month Siege of Ladysmith from 1899-1900.
This 2,900 per man per day calorific intake measured for Edinburgh in the study was compared to averages for the working classes of other countries. It was:
- 4,170cal in Germany
- 4,080cal in Sweden
- 3,061cal in Russia
- 4,415cal in the US
The working poor of the slums fared better than those in the poorhouses, who in Scotland at that time got 2,380 calories per day, but worse than in the country’s prisons were it was 3,315 calories per day (or 3,717 on hard labour) and in pauper lunatic asylums where 3,435 per day was provided. The Seamen’s Federation at that time had recently secured a diet for men at sea of 4,526 calories per day. This was the sort of intake needed to live comfortably and healthily for a man (or woman) indulging in heavy physical labour.
I do want to keep this thread focussed on food, and I could go on, and on, and on into ever more detail from the study, but this isn’t really the best place for that, so I’ll look at a few more things before wrapping up. Firstly, lets look at relative costs for some foodstuffs when the report was published compared to now. I’ve worked out an approximate inflated cost of the staple food prices to compare and contrast with typical May 2023 UK grocery prices. The differences speak for themselves.
Comparative costs of the same food items in 1902 and 2023, corrected for inflationSecondly – apart from rent and food, what else was money spent on? An obvious thing was coal, required for all domestic heating, cooking and hot water. Many got it cheap through their churches or social groups, who had schemes to buy it in bulk and disburse it at a heavily discounted rate to their members. In winter, consumption of coal averaged about 1.5 bags per house per week, costing 1s 9d (about £34 a month in 2023). Some houses had a gas light and paid for that, but the use and cost was small – about £5 per month in 2023 equivalent. Other houses purchased lamp oil. After coal (and sometimes before it), the next biggest expendisture was on subscriptions to societies. Most households paid a few shillings per week towards such societies; these were either to cover sickness or funeral costs, clothing clubs, or even children’s holiday clubs for a week at the sea or in the country for them. The other main noted expenditure was “soap, black lead, etc.”, i.e. household cleaning products, about half a shilling a week (£2.45 in 2023) per household.
Most of the men smoked (women at this time mainly did not); about half a shilling again per week in pipe tobacco. Some were teetotallers, others drank. In only one family was it noted the woman drank and it was implied that both parents in this household were alcoholics. No costs were given for money spent on drink.
Canongate menfolk outside a pub, 1901. Youngers were one of the two dominant names in Edinburgh brewing alongside McEwans. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesIn most families the entire wage was turned over by the husband to his wife to manage, with 2s or 3s a week reserved by him for his tobacco, papers and drink. This was most prevalent were wages were reliable and regular. Where the man’s work was irregular, the pattern was different. His wife often had little idea what was in his wage packet from one week to the next. He often turned over just enough for the food and rent but little else, reserving the excess in better weeks for his vices. Very few of the families had enough to keep anything by for a “rainy day” and lived week to week. It was noted some lived day-to-day, buying items of food as and when they were needed throughout the day. This meant they often paid a premium compared to a weekly bulk buy, a problem just as common now for those on limited incomes as then.
I will finish off with two last points. Firstly, the study probably would have failed without Elsie Inglis’ involvement; it was her and her female medical students who convinced reluctant families – usually the housewife – to allow them to intrude on their lives. Misses G. Miller, H. Bell, Isabel Simson, May Simson, Pringle, Cunningham, Robertson, H. Maclaren and Colly and Mrs Shaw Maclaren were the students credited with gathering the actual study data from each family (down to collecting every discarded bit of potato peel to be weighed)
Elsie Inglis, from Dr. Elsie Inglis by Lady Frances Balfour. CC-by-SA 4.0 Wellcome Collection.And secondly, one little snippet of insight into the life of these families that really gave a lump to my throat when I read it. It came from family number 14, the mason’s labourer, his wife and their 9 children, who lived in a tiny 2 room house, “clean but bare-looking“. The report goes on, “the eldest girl died of consumption [TB] last year. They still keep little frames and bits of fancy-work she was doing. They gave her a grand funeral that cost £10 13s. Black suits had to be bought for the father and eldest boy“. This family had very little, yet they spent everything and more than they had and could afford to give their daughter a decent and dignified send off – over 10 weeks wages – and on account of paying off their debts could no longer pay into their own funeral society. I feet this really hit home how unpredictable life was for people 120 years ago, people living exactly where my own family was living at the time and in exactly the same circumstances. And it brings home a real sense of human dignity to the lives of people in bitter and crushing circumstances, at the bottom of the pile. Their next eldest daughter, 17 but only 4ft 10in tall, now looked after the house and 8 other children when her mother went out to work to make paper bags for 8s a week. Such were the realities of life in the Canongate at the end of the Victorian age and dawn of the 20th century.
Here’s the link to “A study of the diet of the labouring classes in Edinburgh” on Archive dot org for you to read and think about for yourself. I’ve only scratched the surface of it, and there are many other stories and insights contained within it’s yellowing pages.
If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site – including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget to find further stories to bring you – by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.
These threads © 2017-2025, Andy Arthur.
NO AI TRAINING: Any use of the contents of this website to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
#Canongate #Edinburgh #Food #HolyroodCanongate #Nutrition #OldTown #Poverty #PublicHealth #Slums
-
The thread about the “Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh”; what the poor of Canongate ate in 1901
In 1901, the Public Health Committee of the Town Council of Edinburgh paid £50 to commission a then remarkable and pioneering bit of research: they asked three doctors to go out into the working classes and poor of the city and find out what they actually ate. This study took place in the city’s Canongate and followed the food purchased and eaten over a week by 15 families, totalling 94 mouths. It meticulously catalogued everything that was consumed and discarded in great detail and then analysed it for its equivalent nutritional contents in a laboratory.
Group of Women and Children in the Canongate, 1901. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesThe authors were Dr. Diarmid Noël Paton, a pioneer in physiology and its links with nutrition; Dr. James Craufurd Dunlop, a paediatrician, pioneer of combined medical and social research and later Superintendent of Statistics, then Registrar General, of the Registry Office for Scotland and; Dr. Elsie Maud Inglis, one of the first female doctors in Scotland; a specialist and pioneer of the medical care – and medical education – of women; a leading suffragist and later founder of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in WW1.
“A Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh” was published the following year (1902). It runs to 104 pages, but I have read it and summarised some of its key findings so that you don’t have to. So lets go find out what people in the city ate 120 years ago
Cover of “A Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh Carried Out Under the Auspices of the Town Council of the City of Edinburgh”The 15 subject families were categorised into 3 classes:
- A. Workmen’s families with irregular wages under 20s (20 Shillings or £1, approximately £98 in 2023) per week
- B. Families with regular wages from 20-23s per week
- C. Families with men in “good” trades and regular wages from 28-40s per week.
There were 15 adult men, 17 adult women and 62 children in the study. Two of the test households were notable for having no man in the house – as a result these were by far and away the financially worst off of the group. The average income of households in the stufy was just under 25s (£1 5/-) a week, about £122 in 2023.
Breakdown of the test subjects, giving occupation (for the man of the house), study class, the numbers of adults and children and the weekly incomes.The make-up of each household was corrected for age and sex of occupants to turn it into a standardised equivalent number of adult men, based on the understanding at the time of the relative dietary requirements of men, women and children of different ages. For instance an adult woman counted as 0.8x an adult man for the purposes of calorie requirements. The weekly spend on food was counted to the nearest farthing (¼d, d being 1 old penny, with 12d to the shilling and 240d to the £). The average spend on food was 15s 9¼d per week (£77.35 in 2023 money), or 79% of household income. Per “equivalent man”, each house spent on average 6¾d per day on food (~£2.74 in 2023).
Standardised equivalent “Number of Men” per test household and weekly expenditures on food
One of the few “advantages” in life that the poor had was just how cheap accommodation was (even if it was in a slum condition) in Edinburgh in 1901. Per household it averaged 37¼d per week, or about £61 per month in 2023. Some families made half or all their rent by their Co-op dividends alone – a measure of both just how cheap the rent was and also how important the Co-ops were to their members.
Women “getting the messages” talking outside a grocers shop at 2 High Street in the Canongate in 1901. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesWe come now to what our subjects ate. Let’s just say that their diets were monotonous. 35% by weight of what people ate was bread, a whopping 494g per “man” per day. 80% of everything eaten was one of only 6 food types – bread, potatoes, milk, sugar, beef and veg (mainly cabbage and onion, some carrots and turnips, although the study noted that many of the women didn’t seem to know about any other vegetables than potatoes). For reference, in 2013-15, the average Scottish person consumed just 80g bread (84% less), 64g of potatoes, 22g of beef per day. But milk was almost the same at 201g.
The 6 most important foodstuffs in the 1901 Canongate diet, with total and relative mass and calorific consumption for the study.People ate quite so much bread because it was cheap: that 35% of bread by weight gave them 41% of their daily calories but cost only 19% of their daily food budget. You can read more about the Scottish working class’s love affair with the Plain Loaf in this thread. In contrast, the beef consumed gave just 6% of daily calories but was 23% of expenditure. Clearly this was a luxury foodstuff relative to the others, and it was eaten for the protein content – and mainly by the man of the house. The authors pointed out an anomaly in that the traditional Scottish meat of mutton was largely lacking in the diet, even though it was cheaper and offered more protein per unit cost than beef.
People got about 11% of their daily calories from butter, jam, “syrup” (canned golden syrup or treacle) and cheese, eaten on slices of bread as a piece (an open sandwich, they weren’t closed back then!). Cheese consumption in 1901 was almost identical to Scotland’s 2013-15 average. Unsurprisingly, oatmeal was important in the diet, eaten as porridge – giving 6% of daily calories for 2.5% of expenditure. Eggs were commonly eaten, although they were relatively expensive they offered a reasonable amount of protein. The amounts of suet, dripping, sausages and offal are notably low. Small amounts of pulses and barley were eaten (in soups and broths).
All the major foodstuff consumed in the study, averaged for both total weight and total calorific intake per dayThe subjects ate almost no fruit, except small amounts of raisins and currants in the slightly better off households or in jam. It was potatoes that stopped them getting scurvy. Some teabreads were eaten (a sweetened bread, with dried fruit in it, usually spread with butter), almost nothing was spent on biscuits or sweets. Seasonally they probably did get access some fruit, when there was a glut of cheap apples etc., but it is not recorded. Confections may have been eaten on special occasions.
A woman holds her baby inside a house in the Canongate, 1908. Notice that despite the circumstances of the neighbourhood, the woman, her child and the house are all well kept, with an effort to make the place homely and comfortable; slum did not necessarily mean squalor. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesMealtimes were not coordinated or regular, the report called this the old Canongate style. The man usually kept a schedule aligned to his work, with the largest meal in the evening. Children fitted theirs around schooling with lunch the primary meal, topped up with endless bread to keep them full, if not nourished. The women had to fit in between both It has been noted that much of the meat consumption was by the man of the house; in many of the homes, the children and woman made do mainly with porridge, potatoes, broths and soup topped up with and their endless pieces. One house recorded spending 6d a week on lemonade as a luxury, otherwise children drank milk (fresh, canned or buttermilk) but also lots of tea, coffee (from essence) and cocoa. Women seemed to drink a lot of cocoa – they probably needed the sugar content to keep constantly on the go with heavy domestic labour.
Fish, although it was easily accessible from the fishing fleets of Granton, Newhaven and Fisherrow, and long part of the diet of the Scottish lower classes, was not popular or valued. While it was relatively cheap, it was not felt to be a valuable source of daily calories for the money and it was most prevalent with the poorest households. Dried and smoked fish were particularly lowly thought of and very little was consumed.
In many households the women had either part time or “piece work” (usually cleaning, “charladying” and also making bags) to make ends meet. Although they earned much less than men, in many of the households this was the only regular income on account of irregular wages for the man. The two households with no men in them paint a revealing and sorry tale of life for working class women at that time. In the first, a mother (51) and daughter (15) exist on just 8s 4d per week (£41 in 2023). The daughter made a few shillings selling papers, the rest came from a Benevolent Fund as the son/brother was away in the army in the Anglo–Boer War. They existed largely on white fish (3.3kg per week, gotten cheap through the kindness of neighbours), bread (3.3kg/wk), potatoes (3.4kg), cabbage (2kg) and buttermilk (1.1kg), plus 850g sugar and 880g oatmeal.
The other house with no man resident was described as being that of a “poor, small old woman who lived alone, chiefly occupied in sewing“. She was unable to do other work, was “very weak” and her husband was in the lunatic asylum. Her income was unknown, but she spent only 14¼d per week (!) on food (£5.80 in 2023). When standardised, that’s just over 1/3 of average expenditure on food of all the other study subjects. This pittance bought her a meagre diet, per week, of 840g milk, 840g bread (about 1 modern loaf), 310g beef, 300g dried peas, 300g leeks and carrots, 200g barley and 90g butter, and almost nothing else. This was the equivalent of 1123 calories per “equivalent man” day, less than 1/2 of the average of 2900 per day of all the study subjects. The paper noted that 1527 calories per day was the garrison’s emergency diet at the end of the 4 month Siege of Ladysmith from 1899-1900.
This 2,900 per man per day calorific intake measured for Edinburgh in the study was compared to averages for the working classes of other countries. It was:
- 4,170cal in Germany
- 4,080cal in Sweden
- 3,061cal in Russia
- 4,415cal in the US
The working poor of the slums fared better than those in the poorhouses, who in Scotland at that time got 2,380 calories per day, but worse than in the country’s prisons were it was 3,315 calories per day (or 3,717 on hard labour) and in pauper lunatic asylums where 3,435 per day was provided. The Seamen’s Federation at that time had recently secured a diet for men at sea of 4,526 calories per day. This was the sort of intake needed to live comfortably and healthily for a man (or woman) indulging in heavy physical labour.
I do want to keep this thread focussed on food, and I could go on, and on, and on into ever more detail from the study, but this isn’t really the best place for that, so I’ll look at a few more things before wrapping up. Firstly, lets look at relative costs for some foodstuffs when the report was published compared to now. I’ve worked out an approximate inflated cost of the staple food prices to compare and contrast with typical May 2023 UK grocery prices. The differences speak for themselves.
Comparative costs of the same food items in 1902 and 2023, corrected for inflationSecondly – apart from rent and food, what else was money spent on? An obvious thing was coal, required for all domestic heating, cooking and hot water. Many got it cheap through their churches or social groups, who had schemes to buy it in bulk and disburse it at a heavily discounted rate to their members. In winter, consumption of coal averaged about 1.5 bags per house per week, costing 1s 9d (about £34 a month in 2023). Some houses had a gas light and paid for that, but the use and cost was small – about £5 per month in 2023 equivalent. Other houses purchased lamp oil. After coal (and sometimes before it), the next biggest expendisture was on subscriptions to societies. Most households paid a few shillings per week towards such societies; these were either to cover sickness or funeral costs, clothing clubs, or even children’s holiday clubs for a week at the sea or in the country for them. The other main noted expenditure was “soap, black lead, etc.”, i.e. household cleaning products, about half a shilling a week (£2.45 in 2023) per household.
Most of the men smoked (women at this time mainly did not); about half a shilling again per week in pipe tobacco. Some were teetotallers, others drank. In only one family was it noted the woman drank and it was implied that both parents in this household were alcoholics. No costs were given for money spent on drink.
Canongate menfolk outside a pub, 1901. Youngers were one of the two dominant names in Edinburgh brewing alongside McEwans. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesIn most families the entire wage was turned over by the husband to his wife to manage, with 2s or 3s a week reserved by him for his tobacco, papers and drink. This was most prevalent were wages were reliable and regular. Where the man’s work was irregular, the pattern was different. His wife often had little idea what was in his wage packet from one week to the next. He often turned over just enough for the food and rent but little else, reserving the excess in better weeks for his vices. Very few of the families had enough to keep anything by for a “rainy day” and lived week to week. It was noted some lived day-to-day, buying items of food as and when they were needed throughout the day. This meant they often paid a premium compared to a weekly bulk buy, a problem just as common now for those on limited incomes as then.
I will finish off with two last points. Firstly, the study probably would have failed without Elsie Inglis’ involvement; it was her and her female medical students who convinced reluctant families – usually the housewife – to allow them to intrude on their lives. Misses G. Miller, H. Bell, Isabel Simson, May Simson, Pringle, Cunningham, Robertson, H. Maclaren and Colly and Mrs Shaw Maclaren were the students credited with gathering the actual study data from each family (down to collecting every discarded bit of potato peel to be weighed)
Elsie Inglis, from Dr. Elsie Inglis by Lady Frances Balfour. CC-by-SA 4.0 Wellcome Collection.And secondly, one little snippet of insight into the life of these families that really gave a lump to my throat when I read it. It came from family number 14, the mason’s labourer, his wife and their 9 children, who lived in a tiny 2 room house, “clean but bare-looking“. The report goes on, “the eldest girl died of consumption [TB] last year. They still keep little frames and bits of fancy-work she was doing. They gave her a grand funeral that cost £10 13s. Black suits had to be bought for the father and eldest boy“. This family had very little, yet they spent everything and more than they had and could afford to give their daughter a decent and dignified send off – over 10 weeks wages – and on account of paying off their debts could no longer pay into their own funeral society. I feet this really hit home how unpredictable life was for people 120 years ago, people living exactly where my own family was living at the time and in exactly the same circumstances. And it brings home a real sense of human dignity to the lives of people in bitter and crushing circumstances, at the bottom of the pile. Their next eldest daughter, 17 but only 4ft 10in tall, now looked after the house and 8 other children when her mother went out to work to make paper bags for 8s a week. Such were the realities of life in the Canongate at the end of the Victorian age and dawn of the 20th century.
Here’s the link to “A study of the diet of the labouring classes in Edinburgh” on Archive dot org for you to read and think about for yourself. I’ve only scratched the surface of it, and there are many other stories and insights contained within it’s yellowing pages.
If you have found this useful, informative or amusing, perhaps you would like to help contribute towards the running costs of this site – including keeping it ad-free and my book-buying budget to find further stories to bring you – by supporting me on ko-fi. Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends.
These threads © 2017-2025, Andy Arthur.
NO AI TRAINING: Any use of the contents of this website to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
#Canongate #Edinburgh #Food #HolyroodCanongate #Nutrition #OldTown #Poverty #PublicHealth #Slums
-
The thread about the “Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh”; what the poor of Canongate ate in 1901
In 1901, the Public Health Committee of the Town Council of Edinburgh paid £50 to commission a then remarkable and pioneering bit of research: they asked three doctors to go out into the working classes and poor of the city and find out what they actually ate. This study took place in the city’s Canongate and followed the food purchased and eaten over a week by 15 families, totalling 94 mouths. It meticulously catalogued everything that was consumed and discarded in great detail and then analysed it for its equivalent nutritional contents in a laboratory.
Group of Women and Children in the Canongate, 1901. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesThe authors were Dr. Diarmid Noël Paton, a pioneer in physiology and its links with nutrition; Dr. James Craufurd Dunlop, a paediatrician, pioneer of combined medical and social research and later Superintendent of Statistics, then Registrar General, of the Registry Office for Scotland and; Dr. Elsie Maud Inglis, one of the first female doctors in Scotland; a specialist and pioneer of the medical care – and medical education – of women; a leading suffragist and later founder of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals in WW1.
“A Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh” was published the following year (1902). It runs to 104 pages, but I have read it and summarised some of its key findings so that you don’t have to. So lets go find out what people in the city ate 120 years ago
Cover of “A Study of the Diet of the Labouring Classes in Edinburgh Carried Out Under the Auspices of the Town Council of the City of Edinburgh”The 15 subject families were categorised into 3 classes:
- A. Workmen’s families with irregular wages under 20s (20 Shillings or £1, approximately £98 in 2023) per week
- B. Families with regular wages from 20-23s per week
- C. Families with men in “good” trades and regular wages from 28-40s per week.
There were 15 adult men, 17 adult women and 62 children in the study. Two of the test households were notable for having no man in the house – as a result these were by far and away the financially worst off of the group. The average income of households in the stufy was just under 25s (£1 5/-) a week, about £122 in 2023.
Breakdown of the test subjects, giving occupation (for the man of the house), study class, the numbers of adults and children and the weekly incomes.The make-up of each household was corrected for age and sex of occupants to turn it into a standardised equivalent number of adult men, based on the understanding at the time of the relative dietary requirements of men, women and children of different ages. For instance an adult woman counted as 0.8x an adult man for the purposes of calorie requirements. The weekly spend on food was counted to the nearest farthing (¼d, d being 1 old penny, with 12d to the shilling and 240d to the £). The average spend on food was 15s 9¼d per week (£77.35 in 2023 money), or 79% of household income. Per “equivalent man”, each house spent on average 6¾d per day on food (~£2.74 in 2023).
Standardised equivalent “Number of Men” per test household and weekly expenditures on food
One of the few “advantages” in life that the poor had was just how cheap accommodation was (even if it was in a slum condition) in Edinburgh in 1901. Per household it averaged 37¼d per week, or about £61 per month in 2023. Some families made half or all their rent by their Co-op dividends alone – a measure of both just how cheap the rent was and also how important the Co-ops were to their members.
Women “getting the messages” talking outside a grocers shop at 2 High Street in the Canongate in 1901. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesWe come now to what our subjects ate. Let’s just say that their diets were monotonous. 35% by weight of what people ate was bread, a whopping 494g per “man” per day. 80% of everything eaten was one of only 6 food types – bread, potatoes, milk, sugar, beef and veg (mainly cabbage and onion, some carrots and turnips, although the study noted that many of the women didn’t seem to know about any other vegetables than potatoes). For reference, in 2013-15, the average Scottish person consumed just 80g bread (84% less), 64g of potatoes, 22g of beef per day. But milk was almost the same at 201g.
The 6 most important foodstuffs in the 1901 Canongate diet, with total and relative mass and calorific consumption for the study.People ate quite so much bread because it was cheap: that 35% of bread by weight gave them 41% of their daily calories but cost only 19% of their daily food budget. You can read more about the Scottish working class’s love affair with the Plain Loaf in this thread. In contrast, the beef consumed gave just 6% of daily calories but was 23% of expenditure. Clearly this was a luxury foodstuff relative to the others, and it was eaten for the protein content – and mainly by the man of the house. The authors pointed out an anomaly in that the traditional Scottish meat of mutton was largely lacking in the diet, even though it was cheaper and offered more protein per unit cost than beef.
People got about 11% of their daily calories from butter, jam, “syrup” (canned golden syrup or treacle) and cheese, eaten on slices of bread as a piece (an open sandwich, they weren’t closed back then!). Cheese consumption in 1901 was almost identical to Scotland’s 2013-15 average. Unsurprisingly, oatmeal was important in the diet, eaten as porridge – giving 6% of daily calories for 2.5% of expenditure. Eggs were commonly eaten, although they were relatively expensive they offered a reasonable amount of protein. The amounts of suet, dripping, sausages and offal are notably low. Small amounts of pulses and barley were eaten (in soups and broths).
All the major foodstuff consumed in the study, averaged for both total weight and total calorific intake per dayThe subjects ate almost no fruit, except small amounts of raisins and currants in the slightly better off households or in jam. It was potatoes that stopped them getting scurvy. Some teabreads were eaten (a sweetened bread, with dried fruit in it, usually spread with butter), almost nothing was spent on biscuits or sweets. Seasonally they probably did get access some fruit, when there was a glut of cheap apples etc., but it is not recorded. Confections may have been eaten on special occasions.
A woman holds her baby inside a house in the Canongate, 1908. Notice that despite the circumstances of the neighbourhood, the woman, her child and the house are all well kept, with an effort to make the place homely and comfortable; slum did not necessarily mean squalor. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesMealtimes were not coordinated or regular, the report called this the old Canongate style. The man usually kept a schedule aligned to his work, with the largest meal in the evening. Children fitted theirs around schooling with lunch the primary meal, topped up with endless bread to keep them full, if not nourished. The women had to fit in between both It has been noted that much of the meat consumption was by the man of the house; in many of the homes, the children and woman made do mainly with porridge, potatoes, broths and soup topped up with and their endless pieces. One house recorded spending 6d a week on lemonade as a luxury, otherwise children drank milk (fresh, canned or buttermilk) but also lots of tea, coffee (from essence) and cocoa. Women seemed to drink a lot of cocoa – they probably needed the sugar content to keep constantly on the go with heavy domestic labour.
Fish, although it was easily accessible from the fishing fleets of Granton, Newhaven and Fisherrow, and long part of the diet of the Scottish lower classes, was not popular or valued. While it was relatively cheap, it was not felt to be a valuable source of daily calories for the money and it was most prevalent with the poorest households. Dried and smoked fish were particularly lowly thought of and very little was consumed.
In many households the women had either part time or “piece work” (usually cleaning, “charladying” and also making bags) to make ends meet. Although they earned much less than men, in many of the households this was the only regular income on account of irregular wages for the man. The two households with no men in them paint a revealing and sorry tale of life for working class women at that time. In the first, a mother (51) and daughter (15) exist on just 8s 4d per week (£41 in 2023). The daughter made a few shillings selling papers, the rest came from a Benevolent Fund as the son/brother was away in the army in the Anglo–Boer War. They existed largely on white fish (3.3kg per week, gotten cheap through the kindness of neighbours), bread (3.3kg/wk), potatoes (3.4kg), cabbage (2kg) and buttermilk (1.1kg), plus 850g sugar and 880g oatmeal.
The other house with no man resident was described as being that of a “poor, small old woman who lived alone, chiefly occupied in sewing“. She was unable to do other work, was “very weak” and her husband was in the lunatic asylum. Her income was unknown, but she spent only 14¼d per week (!) on food (£5.80 in 2023). When standardised, that’s just over 1/3 of average expenditure on food of all the other study subjects. This pittance bought her a meagre diet, per week, of 840g milk, 840g bread (about 1 modern loaf), 310g beef, 300g dried peas, 300g leeks and carrots, 200g barley and 90g butter, and almost nothing else. This was the equivalent of 1123 calories per “equivalent man” day, less than 1/2 of the average of 2900 per day of all the study subjects. The paper noted that 1527 calories per day was the garrison’s emergency diet at the end of the 4 month Siege of Ladysmith from 1899-1900.
This 2,900 per man per day calorific intake measured for Edinburgh in the study was compared to averages for the working classes of other countries. It was:
- 4,170cal in Germany
- 4,080cal in Sweden
- 3,061cal in Russia
- 4,415cal in the US
The working poor of the slums fared better than those in the poorhouses, who in Scotland at that time got 2,380 calories per day, but worse than in the country’s prisons were it was 3,315 calories per day (or 3,717 on hard labour) and in pauper lunatic asylums where 3,435 per day was provided. The Seamen’s Federation at that time had recently secured a diet for men at sea of 4,526 calories per day. This was the sort of intake needed to live comfortably and healthily for a man (or woman) indulging in heavy physical labour.
I do want to keep this thread focussed on food, and I could go on, and on, and on into ever more detail from the study, but this isn’t really the best place for that, so I’ll look at a few more things before wrapping up. Firstly, lets look at relative costs for some foodstuffs when the report was published compared to now. I’ve worked out an approximate inflated cost of the staple food prices to compare and contrast with typical May 2023 UK grocery prices. The differences speak for themselves.
Comparative costs of the same food items in 1902 and 2023, corrected for inflationSecondly – apart from rent and food, what else was money spent on? An obvious thing was coal, required for all domestic heating, cooking and hot water. Many got it cheap through their churches or social groups, who had schemes to buy it in bulk and disburse it at a heavily discounted rate to their members. In winter, consumption of coal averaged about 1.5 bags per house per week, costing 1s 9d (about £34 a month in 2023). Some houses had a gas light and paid for that, but the use and cost was small – about £5 per month in 2023 equivalent. Other houses purchased lamp oil. After coal (and sometimes before it), the next biggest expendisture was on subscriptions to societies. Most households paid a few shillings per week towards such societies; these were either to cover sickness or funeral costs, clothing clubs, or even children’s holiday clubs for a week at the sea or in the country for them. The other main noted expenditure was “soap, black lead, etc.”, i.e. household cleaning products, about half a shilling a week (£2.45 in 2023) per household.
Most of the men smoked (women at this time mainly did not); about half a shilling again per week in pipe tobacco. Some were teetotallers, others drank. In only one family was it noted the woman drank and it was implied that both parents in this household were alcoholics. No costs were given for money spent on drink.
Canongate menfolk outside a pub, 1901. Youngers were one of the two dominant names in Edinburgh brewing alongside McEwans. By an unknown photographer from “The Life History of a Slum Child”, from the collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesIn most families the entire wage was turned over by the husband to his wife to manage, with 2s or 3s a week reserved by him for his tobacco, papers and drink. This was most prevalent were wages were reliable and regular. Where the man’s work was irregular, the pattern was different. His wife often had little idea what was in his wage packet from one week to the next. He often turned over just enough for the food and rent but little else, reserving the excess in better weeks for his vices. Very few of the families had enough to keep anything by for a “rainy day” and lived week to week. It was noted some lived day-to-day, buying items of food as and when they were needed throughout the day. This meant they often paid a premium compared to a weekly bulk buy, a problem just as common now for those on limited incomes as then.
I will finish off with two last points. Firstly, the study probably would have failed without Elsie Inglis’ involvement; it was her and her female medical students who convinced reluctant families – usually the housewife – to allow them to intrude on their lives. Misses G. Miller, H. Bell, Isabel Simson, May Simson, Pringle, Cunningham, Robertson, H. Maclaren and Colly and Mrs Shaw Maclaren were the students credited with gathering the actual study data from each family (down to collecting every discarded bit of potato peel to be weighed)
Elsie Inglis, from Dr. Elsie Inglis by Lady Frances Balfour. CC-by-SA 4.0 Wellcome Collection.And secondly, one little snippet of insight into the life of these families that really gave a lump to my throat when I read it. It came from family number 14, the mason’s labourer, his wife and their 9 children, who lived in a tiny 2 room house, “clean but bare-looking“. The report goes on, “the eldest girl died of consumption [TB] last year. They still keep little frames and bits of fancy-work she was doing. They gave her a grand funeral that cost £10 13s. Black suits had to be bought for the father and eldest boy“. This family had very little, yet they spent everything and more than they had and could afford to give their daughter a decent and dignified send off – over 10 weeks wages – and on account of paying off their debts could no longer pay into their own funeral society. I feet this really hit home how unpredictable life was for people 120 years ago, people living exactly where my own family was living at the time and in exactly the same circumstances. And it brings home a real sense of human dignity to the lives of people in bitter and crushing circumstances, at the bottom of the pile. Their next eldest daughter, 17 but only 4ft 10in tall, now looked after the house and 8 other children when her mother went out to work to make paper bags for 8s a week. Such were the realities of life in the Canongate at the end of the Victorian age and dawn of the 20th century.
Here’s the link to “A study of the diet of the labouring classes in Edinburgh” on Archive dot org for you to read and think about for yourself. I’ve only scratched the surface of it, and there are many other stories and insights contained within it’s yellowing pages.
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Chapter Three: The Strange Old Man
#AlteaSCigarsHouse #art #Ashwaganda #bloganuary #CozyMystery #culture #curiosity #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1908 #dailyprompt1989 #dailyprompt2153 #DaysOfYourDreams #drinks #Evernote #everyday #Facebook #facts #food #HISTORY #IFTTT #Instagram #Ireland #Irish #kitchen #LAPAGINACHEFALEFUSA #language #learning #MoiraHopes #MURDERSWITHAPASSION #MYCOCKTAILWORLD #mystery #photography #pictures #Pinterest #RECIPES #social #SPERANZA #STRANGETHINGSINTHEWORLD #taverna #TheSoundOfSmile #THESPERANZASSISTERS #TOE #travel #writing
The days in Speranza became quiet again. The sun was warm. The sky was very blue. Moira was happy. Her tea shop was safe. The village people came back to drink tea and talk. They did not talk about the bad man who died. They wanted to forget.
Ashwaganda, the big orange cat, slept in the window all day. Toe, the black cat, sat on the high shelf. He watched everyone who came in the door.
One Tuesday, the bell on the door rang. A new man walked in. He was very old. He had white hair and a long black coat. He walked with a heavy wooden stick.
Moira stood behind her counter. “Hello,” she said. “Can I help you?”
The old man looked around the shop. His eyes were small and dark. He looked at the jars of tea. He looked at the old books on the shelves. He did not look friendly.
“I am looking for something,” the old man said. His voice was slow and dry. “I am looking for a very old book.”
Moira felt her heart jump. She thought about The Days of the Dreams. The blue book was safely hidden under the counter.
“I have many old books,” Moira said in a calm voice. “What kind of book do you want?”
“A magic book,” the man said. “It has a blue cover. It has a picture of a sleeping cat on it. Do you have this book?”
Moira looked right into his dark eyes. “No. I do not have a book like that. I only sell tea and normal books.”
The old man did not look happy. He hit his wooden stick on the floor. “You are lying. I know the book is in this village. I will find it.”
He turned around and walked out of the shop. He did not say goodbye.
Moira locked the door fast. She took the blue book from under the counter. She opened it. The silver letters shined on the page.
The dark bird looks for the nest. Hide the truth. Fire is coming.
Moira read the words. Fire is coming. This was very bad. The old man wanted to hurt her and take the book.
She called her friend Altea. “Altea, it is Moira. A strange old man is in the village. He wears a black coat. Please watch him. He is dangerous.”
“I saw him,” Altea said on the phone. “He went to the old hotel. I will watch him for you.”
That night, Moira did not sleep. She sat in the dark shop. She held a heavy iron pan in her hand. The cats stayed awake with her. Toe sat by the door. Ashwaganda sat by the window.
At two o’clock in the morning, Moira heard a sound. It was a very quiet sound outside the back window. Someone was trying to open it.
Moira stood up slowly. She walked to the back room. She saw a dark shadow outside the glass.
Suddenly, the glass broke. Crash!
A hand reached inside to open the lock. Moira did not wait. She hit the hand very hard with the iron pan.
A man yelled outside. It was a loud, angry yell. Then, she heard feet running away in the dark.
Moira turned on the lights. She looked at the broken window. On the floor, there was a small drop of blood. And next to the blood, there was a strange, old coin.
Moira picked up the coin carefully. It was made of black metal. It had a picture of a bird on it. A dark bird. Just like the book said.
The next morning, the sun came up, but Moira was not happy. She looked at the broken window. She looked at the black coin.
She walked to the police station. Ispettore Salomone was drinking coffee at his desk. He looked tired.
“Moira,” he said. “Why are you here so early?”
Moira put the black coin on his desk. “Someone broke my window last night. They tried to come inside. I hit them, and they ran away. They left this.”
Salomone picked up the coin. He looked at it closely. “This is very old. It is not normal money. Who wants to break into a tea shop?”
“An old man came to my shop yesterday,” Moira said. “He wore a black coat. He asked about old books. I think it was him.”
“Altea called me about him,” Salomone said. “He is staying at the old hotel. His name is Mr. Corvo. I will go talk to him now.”
“Be careful, Ispettore,” Moira said. “He is not a good man.”
Moira walked back to her shop. She needed to clean the broken glass. When she got there, Marisa was waiting by the door. Marisa wore her clean white coat. She had a box of fresh chocolate cookies.
“Moira, I heard about the window,” Marisa said. She looked worried. “Are you okay? I brought you some sweet things.”
“Thank you, Marisa. I am fine,” Moira said. They went inside. Moira made strong black tea. They ate the chocolate cookies.
“This village is changing,” Marisa said sadly. “First the poison, now this. What do they want?”
Moira could not tell Marisa about the magic book. It was a secret. “I don’t know, Marisa. But we have to be strong.”
After Marisa left, Moira opened the blue book again. She needed help.
The silver letters grew on the yellow paper.
The dark bird hides in the dead trees. Follow the water to the cave.
Moira knew the dead trees. They were in the deep woods behind the village. There was a small river there. The trees were old and had no leaves. It was a scary place. People did not go there.
“I have to go,” Moira told her cats. “You stay here and guard the shop.”
Moira put on her heavy boots and her thick coat. She put a small flashlight in her pocket. She walked out of the village and into the woods.
The woods were very quiet. There were no birds singing. The trees were tall and dark. Moira walked next to the small river. The water moved fast over the rocks.
She walked for an hour. Her legs were tired. Then, she saw the dead trees. They looked like big, gray skeletons.
Behind the dead trees, there was a large hill made of dark stone. In the middle of the hill, there was a hole. It was a cave.
Moira turned on her flashlight. She walked slowly to the cave. It smelled like wet dirt and old leaves. She went inside.
The cave was big and cold. The light from her flashlight shined on the walls. Moira gasped. There were pictures on the walls. Old pictures painted with red and black colors. They showed people, animals, and stars.
But there was something else in the cave.
In the center of the dark room, there was a small fire. Next to the fire was a sleeping bag. And next to the sleeping bag was Mr. Corvo’s long black coat.
He was living here. The hotel room was just a trick.
Moira looked around quickly. She saw a small wooden box near the fire. She walked to it and opened it. Inside, there were more black coins. And there were maps of the village. One map had a big red circle around Moira’s tea shop.
Suddenly, Moira heard a sound behind her.
“You should not be here,” a slow, dry voice said.
Moira turned around fast. Mr. Corvo stood at the door of the cave. He held his heavy wooden stick. He looked very angry.
Moira did not move. She kept her flashlight pointed at the old man’s face.
“You broke my window,” Moira said. Her voice was strong. She was scared, but she did not show it.
“You have the book,” Mr. Corvo said. He walked slowly into the cave. “The book of the sleeping cat. My family owned that book a long time ago. It was stolen from us. I want it back.”
“The book is not yours,” Moira said. “It belongs to the tea shop now. It belongs to Speranza.”
Mr. Corvo laughed. It was a cold, ugly sound. “Speranza is a village of fools. They do not know real magic. Give me the book, or I will burn your shop to the ground.”
Fire is coming. The book was right.
“You cannot have it,” Moira said. She looked around. She needed a way to escape. The old man was blocking the door.
Mr. Corvo lifted his heavy stick. “Then you will stay here forever.”
He ran at her. He was old, but he was very fast. Moira jumped to the side. The heavy stick hit the stone wall with a loud crack.
Moira ran toward the door of the cave. But Mr. Corvo grabbed her coat. He pulled her back.
Moira remembered the herbs in her pocket. She always carried small bags of strong herbs for emergencies. She had a bag of dried chili peppers and strong black pepper powder.
She reached into her pocket. She grabbed a handful of the hot powder. She threw it right into Mr. Corvo’s face.
The old man screamed. He dropped his stick. He put his hands over his eyes. The hot pepper burned his eyes and nose. He coughed and yelled.
Moira did not wait. She ran out of the cave. She ran through the dead trees. She ran next to the river. She ran as fast as she could.
She did not stop running until she saw the houses of the village. She ran straight to the police station.
She pushed the door open. She was breathing very hard.
“Salomone!” Moira yelled.
Ispettore Salomone jumped up from his desk. “Moira! What is wrong? You look terrible.”
“Mr. Corvo,” Moira said, trying to breathe. “He is not in the hotel. He is living in a cave in the deep woods. He tried to hurt me. He has a box of strange maps and coins.”
Salomone looked very serious. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Moira said. “I threw pepper in his face. He is still in the woods.”
“Stay here,” Salomone ordered. “Lock the door. I am taking my men to the woods right now.”
Salomone and three other policemen took their guns and ran to their cars. Moira sat in Salomone’s chair. She was shaking. She locked the heavy door of the police station.
She waited for two hours. The police station was very quiet. Finally, she heard cars outside.
She unlocked the door. Salomone walked in. He looked dirty and tired, but he was smiling.
“We got him,” Salomone said. “He was washing his eyes in the river. We found his cave. We found the box and the maps.”
Moira felt a huge wave of relief. “Thank you, Ispettore.”
“Why did he want to hurt you, Moira?” Salomone asked. “What did he want?”
Moira looked down. She had to lie again to protect the magic. “He was crazy, Ispettore. He thought I had some old gold hidden in my shop. He thought I was rich.”
Salomone shook his head. “Crazy people. Well, he is going to jail for a long time. You are safe now, Moira.”
Moira walked back to her shop. The sun was going down. The sky was orange and pink.
When she walked in, the cats ran to her. They purred loudly. They knew she was safe.
Moira sat in her velvet chair. She put the blue book on her lap. She touched the cracked leather.
“We won,” she whispered to the book.
The silver letters appeared one more time.
The dark bird is locked in a cage. But the wind still blows. Rest, and drink the sweet tea.
Moira smiled. She made a pot of sweet chamomile tea. She drank it slowly. The village of Speranza was quiet again. The bad people were gone.
For now, the magic book was safe. And Moira was ready for a long, peaceful sleep.
A month passed. The weather got colder. Winter was coming to the hills. The trees lost all their leaves. The wind was sharp and bit the skin.
Moira kept the fire burning in her tea shop all day. The shop was very warm. People came in just to sit by the fire and smell the hot tea.
One morning, the shop door opened fast. The cold wind blew inside. It was Anna, from the coffee shop. She looked very scared. Her face was red from the cold.
“Moira!” Anna cried. “Please, you must help me!”
Moira put down her cup. “Anna, what is wrong? Sit down.”
“It is my nephew, little Pietro,” Anna said. She was crying. “He is only seven years old. He went to play near the old stone wall two hours ago. Now we cannot find him. The police are looking, but the woods are so big. It is too cold outside for a little boy.”
Moira felt her stomach drop. A lost child in the winter was very dangerous.
“Did you look everywhere in the village?” Moira asked.
“Everywhere,” Anna sobbed. “We looked in all the shops. We looked in the church. He is gone.”
“I will help you look,” Moira said. She put on her thickest winter coat. She put on her gloves and hat. “Stay here where it is warm, Anna. I will go.”
Moira walked out into the freezing wind. Many people from the village were outside. They were shouting Pietro’s name.
“Pietro! Pietro!”
Moira walked to the old stone wall at the edge of the village. It was near the big hills. The grass was covered in white frost. It was very cold.
She looked at the ground. It was hard to see footprints because the ground was frozen.
Moira knew she needed special help. Normal eyes could not find him fast enough.
She ran back to her shop. She locked the door. She went to the blue book.
“Please,” Moira whispered. “A little boy is lost in the cold. Tell me where he is.”
She waited. The book stayed blank for a long time. Then, very slowly, a picture started to draw itself on the paper.
It was not words this time. It was a map. Drawn in silver ink. It showed the old stone wall. Then it showed a path going up the big, steep hill. At the top of the hill, it showed a picture of a large, fallen tree. Under the tree, there was a small silver star.
Moira closed the book. She knew exactly where the big fallen tree was. It was very far up the hill. It was a hard climb.
She grabbed a thermos and filled it with hot, sweet tea. She grabbed a warm wool blanket.
She ran out of the shop and past the old stone wall. She started to climb the hill.
The wind was much stronger on the hill. It pushed against her. The cold hurt her face. Her legs burned because the hill was so steep.
“Pietro!” she yelled. The wind carried her voice away.
She climbed for forty-five minutes. She was very tired. Then, she saw it. The huge fallen tree. It was covered in dead branches.
Moira ran to the tree. “Pietro!” she called again.
She heard a very tiny sound. Like a little mouse squeaking.
She fell to her knees and looked under the big branches. Deep inside a small hole under the tree roots, she saw a piece of a blue jacket.
“Pietro!” Moira said. She crawled into the dirt and pulled the branches away.
The little boy was curled into a tight ball. His lips were blue. He was shaking very fast. He was too cold to talk. He was crying quietly.
“It is okay, Pietro. I am here,” Moira said softly.
She pulled him out of the hole. She wrapped the big wool blanket around him tightly. She opened the thermos and poured a cup of the hot, sweet tea.
“Drink this, little one,” she said. She held the cup to his lips.
Pietro drank the hot tea slowly. His shaking started to slow down. He looked at Moira with big, scared eyes.
“I got lost,” he whispered. “I chased a white rabbit. Then I didn’t know how to go home.”
“You are safe now,” Moira said. She hugged him tight to share her body heat.
She picked the boy up. He was heavy, but Moira was strong. She carried him down the steep hill. It was hard work. She had to walk very carefully so she did not fall.
When she reached the bottom of the hill, she saw Ispettore Salomone and Anna running toward her.
Anna screamed and grabbed the boy. She hugged him and kissed his cold face. “Pietro! Oh, my sweet boy!”
Salomone looked at Moira. “You found him. Where was he?”
“Up the hill, under the big fallen tree,” Moira said. She was breathing very hard. She was exhausted.
“That is a very long way,” Salomone said. “How did you know to look up there?”
Moira gave a small, tired smile. “I just had a feeling, Ispettore. A very lucky feeling.”
Anna held Moira’s hand and cried. “Thank you. Thank you. You saved his life.”
“Go home, Anna. Get him in a hot bath,” Moira said.
Moira walked slowly back to her tea shop. She was freezing and very tired.
When she got inside, she took off her coat and boots. She sat in front of the fire. Ashwaganda climbed onto her lap and purred. The warm cat felt wonderful.
She looked at the blue book on the counter. The book had helped save a life today. It was not just for fighting bad people. It was for protecting the village.
She made herself a large bowl of hot soup. She ate it quietly. The village was safe again. No one was dead. No one was lost.
The magic in Speranza was strong. And Moira was proud to be the keeper of the secrets.
A week later, a strange thing happened in the village square.
There was a very large, very old clock on the wall of the church. It was made of stone and iron. It had been there for three hundred years. It always told the perfect time.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Everyone in Speranza used the church clock. They woke up by the clock. They closed their shops by the clock.
But on Thursday morning, the clock stopped.
It stopped at exactly 8:15 AM.
The village people stood in the square and looked up at the broken clock. They were confused.
“It never stops,” Altea said. She was smoking a cigar. “My grandfather said it never stopped even during the big war.”
“It is bad luck,” Marisa said. She was rubbing her arms. “A stopped clock means time is broken.”
Moira looked at the clock. The big iron hands were perfectly still. She felt a strange feeling in the air. The village felt too quiet without the tick-tock.
She went back to her shop. She opened the blue book.
When time stands still, the shadows wake up. Find the missing tooth in the big wheel.
Moira read the words. The missing tooth in the big wheel. The book was talking about the inside of the clock. A piece of the clock was missing.
She went back to the square. Ispettore Salomone was talking to the village priest, Father Tomaso.
“We need a clockmaker from the city,” Salomone said. “It will take weeks to fix.”
“Father Tomaso,” Moira said. “Can I look inside the clock room?”
The priest looked surprised. “You, Moira? You make tea. You do not fix clocks.”
“I just want to look,” Moira said nicely. “Maybe it is a simple problem.”
Father Tomaso gave her a large, heavy iron key. “Be careful. It is very dusty up there.”
Moira unlocked the small door at the bottom of the church tower. She climbed the long, dark stairs. The stairs went round and round. It was very dirty.
At the top, there was a small room. Inside the room were the giant gears and wheels of the old clock. They were made of dark metal. They were very big.
Moira looked closely at the biggest wheel. It had many metal “teeth” around the edge.
She remembered the book’s words. Find the missing tooth.
She checked every tooth on the big wheel. She walked slowly around it. Finally, she saw it. One of the metal teeth was broken off. It was gone.
But wait. It was not just broken. It looked like someone had cut it off with a saw. The metal was shiny and clean where it was cut.
Someone had broken the clock on purpose.
Moira looked around the dusty room. She saw footprints in the thick dust. Someone had been here recently.
Then, she saw something shining on the floor.
She picked it up. It was a very small, gold ring. It was a man’s ring. It had a tiny red stone in it.
Moira knew this ring. She had seen it before.
She climbed down the stairs. She gave the key back to Father Tomaso.
“You were right, Father,” Moira said. “It is a big problem. A piece of the wheel is gone.”
She walked quickly to the Cigar House. Altea was inside, reading a newspaper.
“Altea,” Moira said. “Do you remember the man who came here yesterday to buy your most expensive cigars?”
Altea nodded. “Yes. The rich man from Milan. Mr. Rossi’s brother. He said he came to pay his respects to his dead brother.”
“Did you notice his hands?” Moira asked.
Altea thought for a moment. “Yes. He wore a fancy gold ring with a red stone on his pinky finger.”
Moira put the small gold ring on the wooden counter. “Like this one?”
Altea’s eyes got wide. “Yes! Exactly like that. Where did you find it?”
“In the church tower,” Moira said. “He broke the clock.”
“Why would a rich man from the city break our clock?” Altea asked. She looked very confused.
“I don’t know yet,” Moira said. “But he wants to stop time in Speranza. He wants to cause trouble. I need to find him.”
“He said he was leaving today,” Altea said. “He is driving a big black car.”
Moira left the shop. She ran to the edge of the village. The road leading out of Speranza was empty. She was too late. The man with the black car was gone.
Why did he cut a piece of the clock?
Moira walked back to her shop slowly. Her head hurt. So many mysteries.
She opened the blue book. She placed the gold ring on the page.
The brother seeks revenge. He takes the iron tooth to open the iron gate. The old prison below the water.
Moira read the words three times. The iron gate. The old prison below the water.
There was an old story in the village. A very old legend. Hundreds of years ago, there was a small prison built under the lake near the village. It was called the Water Dungeon. People said there was a secret treasure hidden there, locked behind a giant iron gate.
The piece of the clock… the metal tooth. It was not just a piece of a clock. It was exactly the right shape to be the key for the iron gate.
Mr. Rossi’s brother did not care about the clock. He wanted the key to the treasure. He knew the old secret.
“He is not going back to the city,” Moira said to her cats. “He is going to the lake.”
Moira had to stop him. If he opened the Water Dungeon, the old magic and old bad things might come out.
She packed her bag. She put in strong rope, a heavy flashlight, and her strongest tea.
She got in her small truck. She drove toward the big lake outside the village. The sky was turning gray. It looked like snow was coming.
She drove to the edge of the water. The lake was dark and very calm. There was an old stone building near the water. It was ruined and broken. This was the entrance to the old tunnels that led under the lake.
She parked her truck. She saw tire tracks in the mud. A big car had been here. The brother was already inside.
Moira took a deep breath. She turned on her flashlight. She walked into the dark, ruined building.
Inside, there were wet stone stairs going down into the dark. It smelled like fish and old water. It was freezing cold.
Moira climbed down the stairs carefully. The walls were wet and slippery.
At the bottom of the stairs, there was a long stone tunnel. She heard the sound of water dripping. Drip. Drip. Drip.
She walked quietly down the tunnel. She heard a noise ahead. It was the sound of metal hitting metal. Clang!
She turned a corner. She saw a large, round room. At the end of the room was a massive iron gate. It was black and rusted.
Standing in front of the gate was the man in the fancy suit. He was holding the piece of the clock wheel. He was trying to push it into a large hole in the stone wall next to the gate.
“It will not work,” Moira said loudly. Her voice echoed in the stone room.
The man jumped. He dropped the metal piece. He turned around to look at her.
“Who are you?” he shouted. “How did you follow me?”
“I am the keeper of this village,” Moira said. “You cannot open that gate. The things inside must stay asleep.”
The man laughed. It sounded crazy. “You are just a stupid woman from a stupid village! There is gold behind this gate. Roman gold! My brother died trying to find the map. I found it. It is mine!”
He picked up the metal piece again. He pushed it hard into the hole.
There was a loud grinding sound. The ground started to shake. The heavy iron gate slowly began to open.
“No!” Moira yelled.
But the gate did not open to show gold.
As the gate opened, a huge wall of dark, freezing water rushed out of the tunnel behind it. The prison was completely flooded.
The man screamed as the water hit him. The force of the water knocked him down.
Moira ran back toward the stairs. The water was rising fast. It grabbed her boots. It was so cold it burned her skin.
She climbed the stairs as fast as she could. The water followed her, rising higher and higher in the tunnel.
She reached the top of the stairs and ran out of the ruined building. She fell onto the muddy grass, breathing hard.
She looked back. The dark water was spilling out of the doorway. The man did not come out. He was trapped in the cold, dark water with his broken dream of gold.
Moira sat in the mud for a long time. The snow started to fall. Little white flakes covered the dark ground.
She stood up slowly. She was wet and freezing. She got into her truck and turned the heater on high.
She drove back to Speranza. The village was quiet. The snow was falling softly on the roofs.
She went into her warm tea shop. She locked the door. She took off her wet clothes and put on a warm, dry sweater.
She sat in her chair and looked at the blue book. It was closed on the counter.
The village had secrets. Old, dangerous secrets. Men came from the city because they were greedy. They wanted money and power. They brought death.
But Speranza had Moira. And Moira had the magic, the cats, and her brave heart.
The clock in the square was broken. It did not tell time anymore. But Moira knew the real time. It was time for peace. It was time to drink tea and let the snow cover the bad memories.
She closed her eyes and listened to the purring of Ashwaganda and Toe. The tea sanctuary was safe. And tomorrow, she would make a special warm tea for the whole village. -
Chapter Three: The Strange Old Man
#AlteaSCigarsHouse #art #Ashwaganda #bloganuary #CozyMystery #culture #curiosity #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1908 #dailyprompt1989 #dailyprompt2153 #DaysOfYourDreams #drinks #Evernote #everyday #Facebook #facts #food #HISTORY #IFTTT #Instagram #Ireland #Irish #kitchen #LAPAGINACHEFALEFUSA #language #learning #MoiraHopes #MURDERSWITHAPASSION #MYCOCKTAILWORLD #mystery #photography #pictures #Pinterest #RECIPES #social #SPERANZA #STRANGETHINGSINTHEWORLD #taverna #TheSoundOfSmile #THESPERANZASSISTERS #TOE #travel #writing
The days in Speranza became quiet again. The sun was warm. The sky was very blue. Moira was happy. Her tea shop was safe. The village people came back to drink tea and talk. They did not talk about the bad man who died. They wanted to forget.
Ashwaganda, the big orange cat, slept in the window all day. Toe, the black cat, sat on the high shelf. He watched everyone who came in the door.
One Tuesday, the bell on the door rang. A new man walked in. He was very old. He had white hair and a long black coat. He walked with a heavy wooden stick.
Moira stood behind her counter. “Hello,” she said. “Can I help you?”
The old man looked around the shop. His eyes were small and dark. He looked at the jars of tea. He looked at the old books on the shelves. He did not look friendly.
“I am looking for something,” the old man said. His voice was slow and dry. “I am looking for a very old book.”
Moira felt her heart jump. She thought about The Days of the Dreams. The blue book was safely hidden under the counter.
“I have many old books,” Moira said in a calm voice. “What kind of book do you want?”
“A magic book,” the man said. “It has a blue cover. It has a picture of a sleeping cat on it. Do you have this book?”
Moira looked right into his dark eyes. “No. I do not have a book like that. I only sell tea and normal books.”
The old man did not look happy. He hit his wooden stick on the floor. “You are lying. I know the book is in this village. I will find it.”
He turned around and walked out of the shop. He did not say goodbye.
Moira locked the door fast. She took the blue book from under the counter. She opened it. The silver letters shined on the page.
The dark bird looks for the nest. Hide the truth. Fire is coming.
Moira read the words. Fire is coming. This was very bad. The old man wanted to hurt her and take the book.
She called her friend Altea. “Altea, it is Moira. A strange old man is in the village. He wears a black coat. Please watch him. He is dangerous.”
“I saw him,” Altea said on the phone. “He went to the old hotel. I will watch him for you.”
That night, Moira did not sleep. She sat in the dark shop. She held a heavy iron pan in her hand. The cats stayed awake with her. Toe sat by the door. Ashwaganda sat by the window.
At two o’clock in the morning, Moira heard a sound. It was a very quiet sound outside the back window. Someone was trying to open it.
Moira stood up slowly. She walked to the back room. She saw a dark shadow outside the glass.
Suddenly, the glass broke. Crash!
A hand reached inside to open the lock. Moira did not wait. She hit the hand very hard with the iron pan.
A man yelled outside. It was a loud, angry yell. Then, she heard feet running away in the dark.
Moira turned on the lights. She looked at the broken window. On the floor, there was a small drop of blood. And next to the blood, there was a strange, old coin.
Moira picked up the coin carefully. It was made of black metal. It had a picture of a bird on it. A dark bird. Just like the book said.
The next morning, the sun came up, but Moira was not happy. She looked at the broken window. She looked at the black coin.
She walked to the police station. Ispettore Salomone was drinking coffee at his desk. He looked tired.
“Moira,” he said. “Why are you here so early?”
Moira put the black coin on his desk. “Someone broke my window last night. They tried to come inside. I hit them, and they ran away. They left this.”
Salomone picked up the coin. He looked at it closely. “This is very old. It is not normal money. Who wants to break into a tea shop?”
“An old man came to my shop yesterday,” Moira said. “He wore a black coat. He asked about old books. I think it was him.”
“Altea called me about him,” Salomone said. “He is staying at the old hotel. His name is Mr. Corvo. I will go talk to him now.”
“Be careful, Ispettore,” Moira said. “He is not a good man.”
Moira walked back to her shop. She needed to clean the broken glass. When she got there, Marisa was waiting by the door. Marisa wore her clean white coat. She had a box of fresh chocolate cookies.
“Moira, I heard about the window,” Marisa said. She looked worried. “Are you okay? I brought you some sweet things.”
“Thank you, Marisa. I am fine,” Moira said. They went inside. Moira made strong black tea. They ate the chocolate cookies.
“This village is changing,” Marisa said sadly. “First the poison, now this. What do they want?”
Moira could not tell Marisa about the magic book. It was a secret. “I don’t know, Marisa. But we have to be strong.”
After Marisa left, Moira opened the blue book again. She needed help.
The silver letters grew on the yellow paper.
The dark bird hides in the dead trees. Follow the water to the cave.
Moira knew the dead trees. They were in the deep woods behind the village. There was a small river there. The trees were old and had no leaves. It was a scary place. People did not go there.
“I have to go,” Moira told her cats. “You stay here and guard the shop.”
Moira put on her heavy boots and her thick coat. She put a small flashlight in her pocket. She walked out of the village and into the woods.
The woods were very quiet. There were no birds singing. The trees were tall and dark. Moira walked next to the small river. The water moved fast over the rocks.
She walked for an hour. Her legs were tired. Then, she saw the dead trees. They looked like big, gray skeletons.
Behind the dead trees, there was a large hill made of dark stone. In the middle of the hill, there was a hole. It was a cave.
Moira turned on her flashlight. She walked slowly to the cave. It smelled like wet dirt and old leaves. She went inside.
The cave was big and cold. The light from her flashlight shined on the walls. Moira gasped. There were pictures on the walls. Old pictures painted with red and black colors. They showed people, animals, and stars.
But there was something else in the cave.
In the center of the dark room, there was a small fire. Next to the fire was a sleeping bag. And next to the sleeping bag was Mr. Corvo’s long black coat.
He was living here. The hotel room was just a trick.
Moira looked around quickly. She saw a small wooden box near the fire. She walked to it and opened it. Inside, there were more black coins. And there were maps of the village. One map had a big red circle around Moira’s tea shop.
Suddenly, Moira heard a sound behind her.
“You should not be here,” a slow, dry voice said.
Moira turned around fast. Mr. Corvo stood at the door of the cave. He held his heavy wooden stick. He looked very angry.
Moira did not move. She kept her flashlight pointed at the old man’s face.
“You broke my window,” Moira said. Her voice was strong. She was scared, but she did not show it.
“You have the book,” Mr. Corvo said. He walked slowly into the cave. “The book of the sleeping cat. My family owned that book a long time ago. It was stolen from us. I want it back.”
“The book is not yours,” Moira said. “It belongs to the tea shop now. It belongs to Speranza.”
Mr. Corvo laughed. It was a cold, ugly sound. “Speranza is a village of fools. They do not know real magic. Give me the book, or I will burn your shop to the ground.”
Fire is coming. The book was right.
“You cannot have it,” Moira said. She looked around. She needed a way to escape. The old man was blocking the door.
Mr. Corvo lifted his heavy stick. “Then you will stay here forever.”
He ran at her. He was old, but he was very fast. Moira jumped to the side. The heavy stick hit the stone wall with a loud crack.
Moira ran toward the door of the cave. But Mr. Corvo grabbed her coat. He pulled her back.
Moira remembered the herbs in her pocket. She always carried small bags of strong herbs for emergencies. She had a bag of dried chili peppers and strong black pepper powder.
She reached into her pocket. She grabbed a handful of the hot powder. She threw it right into Mr. Corvo’s face.
The old man screamed. He dropped his stick. He put his hands over his eyes. The hot pepper burned his eyes and nose. He coughed and yelled.
Moira did not wait. She ran out of the cave. She ran through the dead trees. She ran next to the river. She ran as fast as she could.
She did not stop running until she saw the houses of the village. She ran straight to the police station.
She pushed the door open. She was breathing very hard.
“Salomone!” Moira yelled.
Ispettore Salomone jumped up from his desk. “Moira! What is wrong? You look terrible.”
“Mr. Corvo,” Moira said, trying to breathe. “He is not in the hotel. He is living in a cave in the deep woods. He tried to hurt me. He has a box of strange maps and coins.”
Salomone looked very serious. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Moira said. “I threw pepper in his face. He is still in the woods.”
“Stay here,” Salomone ordered. “Lock the door. I am taking my men to the woods right now.”
Salomone and three other policemen took their guns and ran to their cars. Moira sat in Salomone’s chair. She was shaking. She locked the heavy door of the police station.
She waited for two hours. The police station was very quiet. Finally, she heard cars outside.
She unlocked the door. Salomone walked in. He looked dirty and tired, but he was smiling.
“We got him,” Salomone said. “He was washing his eyes in the river. We found his cave. We found the box and the maps.”
Moira felt a huge wave of relief. “Thank you, Ispettore.”
“Why did he want to hurt you, Moira?” Salomone asked. “What did he want?”
Moira looked down. She had to lie again to protect the magic. “He was crazy, Ispettore. He thought I had some old gold hidden in my shop. He thought I was rich.”
Salomone shook his head. “Crazy people. Well, he is going to jail for a long time. You are safe now, Moira.”
Moira walked back to her shop. The sun was going down. The sky was orange and pink.
When she walked in, the cats ran to her. They purred loudly. They knew she was safe.
Moira sat in her velvet chair. She put the blue book on her lap. She touched the cracked leather.
“We won,” she whispered to the book.
The silver letters appeared one more time.
The dark bird is locked in a cage. But the wind still blows. Rest, and drink the sweet tea.
Moira smiled. She made a pot of sweet chamomile tea. She drank it slowly. The village of Speranza was quiet again. The bad people were gone.
For now, the magic book was safe. And Moira was ready for a long, peaceful sleep.
A month passed. The weather got colder. Winter was coming to the hills. The trees lost all their leaves. The wind was sharp and bit the skin.
Moira kept the fire burning in her tea shop all day. The shop was very warm. People came in just to sit by the fire and smell the hot tea.
One morning, the shop door opened fast. The cold wind blew inside. It was Anna, from the coffee shop. She looked very scared. Her face was red from the cold.
“Moira!” Anna cried. “Please, you must help me!”
Moira put down her cup. “Anna, what is wrong? Sit down.”
“It is my nephew, little Pietro,” Anna said. She was crying. “He is only seven years old. He went to play near the old stone wall two hours ago. Now we cannot find him. The police are looking, but the woods are so big. It is too cold outside for a little boy.”
Moira felt her stomach drop. A lost child in the winter was very dangerous.
“Did you look everywhere in the village?” Moira asked.
“Everywhere,” Anna sobbed. “We looked in all the shops. We looked in the church. He is gone.”
“I will help you look,” Moira said. She put on her thickest winter coat. She put on her gloves and hat. “Stay here where it is warm, Anna. I will go.”
Moira walked out into the freezing wind. Many people from the village were outside. They were shouting Pietro’s name.
“Pietro! Pietro!”
Moira walked to the old stone wall at the edge of the village. It was near the big hills. The grass was covered in white frost. It was very cold.
She looked at the ground. It was hard to see footprints because the ground was frozen.
Moira knew she needed special help. Normal eyes could not find him fast enough.
She ran back to her shop. She locked the door. She went to the blue book.
“Please,” Moira whispered. “A little boy is lost in the cold. Tell me where he is.”
She waited. The book stayed blank for a long time. Then, very slowly, a picture started to draw itself on the paper.
It was not words this time. It was a map. Drawn in silver ink. It showed the old stone wall. Then it showed a path going up the big, steep hill. At the top of the hill, it showed a picture of a large, fallen tree. Under the tree, there was a small silver star.
Moira closed the book. She knew exactly where the big fallen tree was. It was very far up the hill. It was a hard climb.
She grabbed a thermos and filled it with hot, sweet tea. She grabbed a warm wool blanket.
She ran out of the shop and past the old stone wall. She started to climb the hill.
The wind was much stronger on the hill. It pushed against her. The cold hurt her face. Her legs burned because the hill was so steep.
“Pietro!” she yelled. The wind carried her voice away.
She climbed for forty-five minutes. She was very tired. Then, she saw it. The huge fallen tree. It was covered in dead branches.
Moira ran to the tree. “Pietro!” she called again.
She heard a very tiny sound. Like a little mouse squeaking.
She fell to her knees and looked under the big branches. Deep inside a small hole under the tree roots, she saw a piece of a blue jacket.
“Pietro!” Moira said. She crawled into the dirt and pulled the branches away.
The little boy was curled into a tight ball. His lips were blue. He was shaking very fast. He was too cold to talk. He was crying quietly.
“It is okay, Pietro. I am here,” Moira said softly.
She pulled him out of the hole. She wrapped the big wool blanket around him tightly. She opened the thermos and poured a cup of the hot, sweet tea.
“Drink this, little one,” she said. She held the cup to his lips.
Pietro drank the hot tea slowly. His shaking started to slow down. He looked at Moira with big, scared eyes.
“I got lost,” he whispered. “I chased a white rabbit. Then I didn’t know how to go home.”
“You are safe now,” Moira said. She hugged him tight to share her body heat.
She picked the boy up. He was heavy, but Moira was strong. She carried him down the steep hill. It was hard work. She had to walk very carefully so she did not fall.
When she reached the bottom of the hill, she saw Ispettore Salomone and Anna running toward her.
Anna screamed and grabbed the boy. She hugged him and kissed his cold face. “Pietro! Oh, my sweet boy!”
Salomone looked at Moira. “You found him. Where was he?”
“Up the hill, under the big fallen tree,” Moira said. She was breathing very hard. She was exhausted.
“That is a very long way,” Salomone said. “How did you know to look up there?”
Moira gave a small, tired smile. “I just had a feeling, Ispettore. A very lucky feeling.”
Anna held Moira’s hand and cried. “Thank you. Thank you. You saved his life.”
“Go home, Anna. Get him in a hot bath,” Moira said.
Moira walked slowly back to her tea shop. She was freezing and very tired.
When she got inside, she took off her coat and boots. She sat in front of the fire. Ashwaganda climbed onto her lap and purred. The warm cat felt wonderful.
She looked at the blue book on the counter. The book had helped save a life today. It was not just for fighting bad people. It was for protecting the village.
She made herself a large bowl of hot soup. She ate it quietly. The village was safe again. No one was dead. No one was lost.
The magic in Speranza was strong. And Moira was proud to be the keeper of the secrets.
A week later, a strange thing happened in the village square.
There was a very large, very old clock on the wall of the church. It was made of stone and iron. It had been there for three hundred years. It always told the perfect time.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Everyone in Speranza used the church clock. They woke up by the clock. They closed their shops by the clock.
But on Thursday morning, the clock stopped.
It stopped at exactly 8:15 AM.
The village people stood in the square and looked up at the broken clock. They were confused.
“It never stops,” Altea said. She was smoking a cigar. “My grandfather said it never stopped even during the big war.”
“It is bad luck,” Marisa said. She was rubbing her arms. “A stopped clock means time is broken.”
Moira looked at the clock. The big iron hands were perfectly still. She felt a strange feeling in the air. The village felt too quiet without the tick-tock.
She went back to her shop. She opened the blue book.
When time stands still, the shadows wake up. Find the missing tooth in the big wheel.
Moira read the words. The missing tooth in the big wheel. The book was talking about the inside of the clock. A piece of the clock was missing.
She went back to the square. Ispettore Salomone was talking to the village priest, Father Tomaso.
“We need a clockmaker from the city,” Salomone said. “It will take weeks to fix.”
“Father Tomaso,” Moira said. “Can I look inside the clock room?”
The priest looked surprised. “You, Moira? You make tea. You do not fix clocks.”
“I just want to look,” Moira said nicely. “Maybe it is a simple problem.”
Father Tomaso gave her a large, heavy iron key. “Be careful. It is very dusty up there.”
Moira unlocked the small door at the bottom of the church tower. She climbed the long, dark stairs. The stairs went round and round. It was very dirty.
At the top, there was a small room. Inside the room were the giant gears and wheels of the old clock. They were made of dark metal. They were very big.
Moira looked closely at the biggest wheel. It had many metal “teeth” around the edge.
She remembered the book’s words. Find the missing tooth.
She checked every tooth on the big wheel. She walked slowly around it. Finally, she saw it. One of the metal teeth was broken off. It was gone.
But wait. It was not just broken. It looked like someone had cut it off with a saw. The metal was shiny and clean where it was cut.
Someone had broken the clock on purpose.
Moira looked around the dusty room. She saw footprints in the thick dust. Someone had been here recently.
Then, she saw something shining on the floor.
She picked it up. It was a very small, gold ring. It was a man’s ring. It had a tiny red stone in it.
Moira knew this ring. She had seen it before.
She climbed down the stairs. She gave the key back to Father Tomaso.
“You were right, Father,” Moira said. “It is a big problem. A piece of the wheel is gone.”
She walked quickly to the Cigar House. Altea was inside, reading a newspaper.
“Altea,” Moira said. “Do you remember the man who came here yesterday to buy your most expensive cigars?”
Altea nodded. “Yes. The rich man from Milan. Mr. Rossi’s brother. He said he came to pay his respects to his dead brother.”
“Did you notice his hands?” Moira asked.
Altea thought for a moment. “Yes. He wore a fancy gold ring with a red stone on his pinky finger.”
Moira put the small gold ring on the wooden counter. “Like this one?”
Altea’s eyes got wide. “Yes! Exactly like that. Where did you find it?”
“In the church tower,” Moira said. “He broke the clock.”
“Why would a rich man from the city break our clock?” Altea asked. She looked very confused.
“I don’t know yet,” Moira said. “But he wants to stop time in Speranza. He wants to cause trouble. I need to find him.”
“He said he was leaving today,” Altea said. “He is driving a big black car.”
Moira left the shop. She ran to the edge of the village. The road leading out of Speranza was empty. She was too late. The man with the black car was gone.
Why did he cut a piece of the clock?
Moira walked back to her shop slowly. Her head hurt. So many mysteries.
She opened the blue book. She placed the gold ring on the page.
The brother seeks revenge. He takes the iron tooth to open the iron gate. The old prison below the water.
Moira read the words three times. The iron gate. The old prison below the water.
There was an old story in the village. A very old legend. Hundreds of years ago, there was a small prison built under the lake near the village. It was called the Water Dungeon. People said there was a secret treasure hidden there, locked behind a giant iron gate.
The piece of the clock… the metal tooth. It was not just a piece of a clock. It was exactly the right shape to be the key for the iron gate.
Mr. Rossi’s brother did not care about the clock. He wanted the key to the treasure. He knew the old secret.
“He is not going back to the city,” Moira said to her cats. “He is going to the lake.”
Moira had to stop him. If he opened the Water Dungeon, the old magic and old bad things might come out.
She packed her bag. She put in strong rope, a heavy flashlight, and her strongest tea.
She got in her small truck. She drove toward the big lake outside the village. The sky was turning gray. It looked like snow was coming.
She drove to the edge of the water. The lake was dark and very calm. There was an old stone building near the water. It was ruined and broken. This was the entrance to the old tunnels that led under the lake.
She parked her truck. She saw tire tracks in the mud. A big car had been here. The brother was already inside.
Moira took a deep breath. She turned on her flashlight. She walked into the dark, ruined building.
Inside, there were wet stone stairs going down into the dark. It smelled like fish and old water. It was freezing cold.
Moira climbed down the stairs carefully. The walls were wet and slippery.
At the bottom of the stairs, there was a long stone tunnel. She heard the sound of water dripping. Drip. Drip. Drip.
She walked quietly down the tunnel. She heard a noise ahead. It was the sound of metal hitting metal. Clang!
She turned a corner. She saw a large, round room. At the end of the room was a massive iron gate. It was black and rusted.
Standing in front of the gate was the man in the fancy suit. He was holding the piece of the clock wheel. He was trying to push it into a large hole in the stone wall next to the gate.
“It will not work,” Moira said loudly. Her voice echoed in the stone room.
The man jumped. He dropped the metal piece. He turned around to look at her.
“Who are you?” he shouted. “How did you follow me?”
“I am the keeper of this village,” Moira said. “You cannot open that gate. The things inside must stay asleep.”
The man laughed. It sounded crazy. “You are just a stupid woman from a stupid village! There is gold behind this gate. Roman gold! My brother died trying to find the map. I found it. It is mine!”
He picked up the metal piece again. He pushed it hard into the hole.
There was a loud grinding sound. The ground started to shake. The heavy iron gate slowly began to open.
“No!” Moira yelled.
But the gate did not open to show gold.
As the gate opened, a huge wall of dark, freezing water rushed out of the tunnel behind it. The prison was completely flooded.
The man screamed as the water hit him. The force of the water knocked him down.
Moira ran back toward the stairs. The water was rising fast. It grabbed her boots. It was so cold it burned her skin.
She climbed the stairs as fast as she could. The water followed her, rising higher and higher in the tunnel.
She reached the top of the stairs and ran out of the ruined building. She fell onto the muddy grass, breathing hard.
She looked back. The dark water was spilling out of the doorway. The man did not come out. He was trapped in the cold, dark water with his broken dream of gold.
Moira sat in the mud for a long time. The snow started to fall. Little white flakes covered the dark ground.
She stood up slowly. She was wet and freezing. She got into her truck and turned the heater on high.
She drove back to Speranza. The village was quiet. The snow was falling softly on the roofs.
She went into her warm tea shop. She locked the door. She took off her wet clothes and put on a warm, dry sweater.
She sat in her chair and looked at the blue book. It was closed on the counter.
The village had secrets. Old, dangerous secrets. Men came from the city because they were greedy. They wanted money and power. They brought death.
But Speranza had Moira. And Moira had the magic, the cats, and her brave heart.
The clock in the square was broken. It did not tell time anymore. But Moira knew the real time. It was time for peace. It was time to drink tea and let the snow cover the bad memories.
She closed her eyes and listened to the purring of Ashwaganda and Toe. The tea sanctuary was safe. And tomorrow, she would make a special warm tea for the whole village. -
Chapter Three: The Strange Old Man
#AlteaSCigarsHouse #art #Ashwaganda #bloganuary #CozyMystery #culture #curiosity #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1908 #dailyprompt1989 #dailyprompt2153 #DaysOfYourDreams #drinks #Evernote #everyday #Facebook #facts #food #HISTORY #IFTTT #Instagram #Ireland #Irish #kitchen #LAPAGINACHEFALEFUSA #language #learning #MoiraHopes #MURDERSWITHAPASSION #MYCOCKTAILWORLD #mystery #photography #pictures #Pinterest #RECIPES #social #SPERANZA #STRANGETHINGSINTHEWORLD #taverna #TheSoundOfSmile #THESPERANZASSISTERS #TOE #travel #writing
The days in Speranza became quiet again. The sun was warm. The sky was very blue. Moira was happy. Her tea shop was safe. The village people came back to drink tea and talk. They did not talk about the bad man who died. They wanted to forget.
Ashwaganda, the big orange cat, slept in the window all day. Toe, the black cat, sat on the high shelf. He watched everyone who came in the door.
One Tuesday, the bell on the door rang. A new man walked in. He was very old. He had white hair and a long black coat. He walked with a heavy wooden stick.
Moira stood behind her counter. “Hello,” she said. “Can I help you?”
The old man looked around the shop. His eyes were small and dark. He looked at the jars of tea. He looked at the old books on the shelves. He did not look friendly.
“I am looking for something,” the old man said. His voice was slow and dry. “I am looking for a very old book.”
Moira felt her heart jump. She thought about The Days of the Dreams. The blue book was safely hidden under the counter.
“I have many old books,” Moira said in a calm voice. “What kind of book do you want?”
“A magic book,” the man said. “It has a blue cover. It has a picture of a sleeping cat on it. Do you have this book?”
Moira looked right into his dark eyes. “No. I do not have a book like that. I only sell tea and normal books.”
The old man did not look happy. He hit his wooden stick on the floor. “You are lying. I know the book is in this village. I will find it.”
He turned around and walked out of the shop. He did not say goodbye.
Moira locked the door fast. She took the blue book from under the counter. She opened it. The silver letters shined on the page.
The dark bird looks for the nest. Hide the truth. Fire is coming.
Moira read the words. Fire is coming. This was very bad. The old man wanted to hurt her and take the book.
She called her friend Altea. “Altea, it is Moira. A strange old man is in the village. He wears a black coat. Please watch him. He is dangerous.”
“I saw him,” Altea said on the phone. “He went to the old hotel. I will watch him for you.”
That night, Moira did not sleep. She sat in the dark shop. She held a heavy iron pan in her hand. The cats stayed awake with her. Toe sat by the door. Ashwaganda sat by the window.
At two o’clock in the morning, Moira heard a sound. It was a very quiet sound outside the back window. Someone was trying to open it.
Moira stood up slowly. She walked to the back room. She saw a dark shadow outside the glass.
Suddenly, the glass broke. Crash!
A hand reached inside to open the lock. Moira did not wait. She hit the hand very hard with the iron pan.
A man yelled outside. It was a loud, angry yell. Then, she heard feet running away in the dark.
Moira turned on the lights. She looked at the broken window. On the floor, there was a small drop of blood. And next to the blood, there was a strange, old coin.
Moira picked up the coin carefully. It was made of black metal. It had a picture of a bird on it. A dark bird. Just like the book said.
The next morning, the sun came up, but Moira was not happy. She looked at the broken window. She looked at the black coin.
She walked to the police station. Ispettore Salomone was drinking coffee at his desk. He looked tired.
“Moira,” he said. “Why are you here so early?”
Moira put the black coin on his desk. “Someone broke my window last night. They tried to come inside. I hit them, and they ran away. They left this.”
Salomone picked up the coin. He looked at it closely. “This is very old. It is not normal money. Who wants to break into a tea shop?”
“An old man came to my shop yesterday,” Moira said. “He wore a black coat. He asked about old books. I think it was him.”
“Altea called me about him,” Salomone said. “He is staying at the old hotel. His name is Mr. Corvo. I will go talk to him now.”
“Be careful, Ispettore,” Moira said. “He is not a good man.”
Moira walked back to her shop. She needed to clean the broken glass. When she got there, Marisa was waiting by the door. Marisa wore her clean white coat. She had a box of fresh chocolate cookies.
“Moira, I heard about the window,” Marisa said. She looked worried. “Are you okay? I brought you some sweet things.”
“Thank you, Marisa. I am fine,” Moira said. They went inside. Moira made strong black tea. They ate the chocolate cookies.
“This village is changing,” Marisa said sadly. “First the poison, now this. What do they want?”
Moira could not tell Marisa about the magic book. It was a secret. “I don’t know, Marisa. But we have to be strong.”
After Marisa left, Moira opened the blue book again. She needed help.
The silver letters grew on the yellow paper.
The dark bird hides in the dead trees. Follow the water to the cave.
Moira knew the dead trees. They were in the deep woods behind the village. There was a small river there. The trees were old and had no leaves. It was a scary place. People did not go there.
“I have to go,” Moira told her cats. “You stay here and guard the shop.”
Moira put on her heavy boots and her thick coat. She put a small flashlight in her pocket. She walked out of the village and into the woods.
The woods were very quiet. There were no birds singing. The trees were tall and dark. Moira walked next to the small river. The water moved fast over the rocks.
She walked for an hour. Her legs were tired. Then, she saw the dead trees. They looked like big, gray skeletons.
Behind the dead trees, there was a large hill made of dark stone. In the middle of the hill, there was a hole. It was a cave.
Moira turned on her flashlight. She walked slowly to the cave. It smelled like wet dirt and old leaves. She went inside.
The cave was big and cold. The light from her flashlight shined on the walls. Moira gasped. There were pictures on the walls. Old pictures painted with red and black colors. They showed people, animals, and stars.
But there was something else in the cave.
In the center of the dark room, there was a small fire. Next to the fire was a sleeping bag. And next to the sleeping bag was Mr. Corvo’s long black coat.
He was living here. The hotel room was just a trick.
Moira looked around quickly. She saw a small wooden box near the fire. She walked to it and opened it. Inside, there were more black coins. And there were maps of the village. One map had a big red circle around Moira’s tea shop.
Suddenly, Moira heard a sound behind her.
“You should not be here,” a slow, dry voice said.
Moira turned around fast. Mr. Corvo stood at the door of the cave. He held his heavy wooden stick. He looked very angry.
Moira did not move. She kept her flashlight pointed at the old man’s face.
“You broke my window,” Moira said. Her voice was strong. She was scared, but she did not show it.
“You have the book,” Mr. Corvo said. He walked slowly into the cave. “The book of the sleeping cat. My family owned that book a long time ago. It was stolen from us. I want it back.”
“The book is not yours,” Moira said. “It belongs to the tea shop now. It belongs to Speranza.”
Mr. Corvo laughed. It was a cold, ugly sound. “Speranza is a village of fools. They do not know real magic. Give me the book, or I will burn your shop to the ground.”
Fire is coming. The book was right.
“You cannot have it,” Moira said. She looked around. She needed a way to escape. The old man was blocking the door.
Mr. Corvo lifted his heavy stick. “Then you will stay here forever.”
He ran at her. He was old, but he was very fast. Moira jumped to the side. The heavy stick hit the stone wall with a loud crack.
Moira ran toward the door of the cave. But Mr. Corvo grabbed her coat. He pulled her back.
Moira remembered the herbs in her pocket. She always carried small bags of strong herbs for emergencies. She had a bag of dried chili peppers and strong black pepper powder.
She reached into her pocket. She grabbed a handful of the hot powder. She threw it right into Mr. Corvo’s face.
The old man screamed. He dropped his stick. He put his hands over his eyes. The hot pepper burned his eyes and nose. He coughed and yelled.
Moira did not wait. She ran out of the cave. She ran through the dead trees. She ran next to the river. She ran as fast as she could.
She did not stop running until she saw the houses of the village. She ran straight to the police station.
She pushed the door open. She was breathing very hard.
“Salomone!” Moira yelled.
Ispettore Salomone jumped up from his desk. “Moira! What is wrong? You look terrible.”
“Mr. Corvo,” Moira said, trying to breathe. “He is not in the hotel. He is living in a cave in the deep woods. He tried to hurt me. He has a box of strange maps and coins.”
Salomone looked very serious. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Moira said. “I threw pepper in his face. He is still in the woods.”
“Stay here,” Salomone ordered. “Lock the door. I am taking my men to the woods right now.”
Salomone and three other policemen took their guns and ran to their cars. Moira sat in Salomone’s chair. She was shaking. She locked the heavy door of the police station.
She waited for two hours. The police station was very quiet. Finally, she heard cars outside.
She unlocked the door. Salomone walked in. He looked dirty and tired, but he was smiling.
“We got him,” Salomone said. “He was washing his eyes in the river. We found his cave. We found the box and the maps.”
Moira felt a huge wave of relief. “Thank you, Ispettore.”
“Why did he want to hurt you, Moira?” Salomone asked. “What did he want?”
Moira looked down. She had to lie again to protect the magic. “He was crazy, Ispettore. He thought I had some old gold hidden in my shop. He thought I was rich.”
Salomone shook his head. “Crazy people. Well, he is going to jail for a long time. You are safe now, Moira.”
Moira walked back to her shop. The sun was going down. The sky was orange and pink.
When she walked in, the cats ran to her. They purred loudly. They knew she was safe.
Moira sat in her velvet chair. She put the blue book on her lap. She touched the cracked leather.
“We won,” she whispered to the book.
The silver letters appeared one more time.
The dark bird is locked in a cage. But the wind still blows. Rest, and drink the sweet tea.
Moira smiled. She made a pot of sweet chamomile tea. She drank it slowly. The village of Speranza was quiet again. The bad people were gone.
For now, the magic book was safe. And Moira was ready for a long, peaceful sleep.
A month passed. The weather got colder. Winter was coming to the hills. The trees lost all their leaves. The wind was sharp and bit the skin.
Moira kept the fire burning in her tea shop all day. The shop was very warm. People came in just to sit by the fire and smell the hot tea.
One morning, the shop door opened fast. The cold wind blew inside. It was Anna, from the coffee shop. She looked very scared. Her face was red from the cold.
“Moira!” Anna cried. “Please, you must help me!”
Moira put down her cup. “Anna, what is wrong? Sit down.”
“It is my nephew, little Pietro,” Anna said. She was crying. “He is only seven years old. He went to play near the old stone wall two hours ago. Now we cannot find him. The police are looking, but the woods are so big. It is too cold outside for a little boy.”
Moira felt her stomach drop. A lost child in the winter was very dangerous.
“Did you look everywhere in the village?” Moira asked.
“Everywhere,” Anna sobbed. “We looked in all the shops. We looked in the church. He is gone.”
“I will help you look,” Moira said. She put on her thickest winter coat. She put on her gloves and hat. “Stay here where it is warm, Anna. I will go.”
Moira walked out into the freezing wind. Many people from the village were outside. They were shouting Pietro’s name.
“Pietro! Pietro!”
Moira walked to the old stone wall at the edge of the village. It was near the big hills. The grass was covered in white frost. It was very cold.
She looked at the ground. It was hard to see footprints because the ground was frozen.
Moira knew she needed special help. Normal eyes could not find him fast enough.
She ran back to her shop. She locked the door. She went to the blue book.
“Please,” Moira whispered. “A little boy is lost in the cold. Tell me where he is.”
She waited. The book stayed blank for a long time. Then, very slowly, a picture started to draw itself on the paper.
It was not words this time. It was a map. Drawn in silver ink. It showed the old stone wall. Then it showed a path going up the big, steep hill. At the top of the hill, it showed a picture of a large, fallen tree. Under the tree, there was a small silver star.
Moira closed the book. She knew exactly where the big fallen tree was. It was very far up the hill. It was a hard climb.
She grabbed a thermos and filled it with hot, sweet tea. She grabbed a warm wool blanket.
She ran out of the shop and past the old stone wall. She started to climb the hill.
The wind was much stronger on the hill. It pushed against her. The cold hurt her face. Her legs burned because the hill was so steep.
“Pietro!” she yelled. The wind carried her voice away.
She climbed for forty-five minutes. She was very tired. Then, she saw it. The huge fallen tree. It was covered in dead branches.
Moira ran to the tree. “Pietro!” she called again.
She heard a very tiny sound. Like a little mouse squeaking.
She fell to her knees and looked under the big branches. Deep inside a small hole under the tree roots, she saw a piece of a blue jacket.
“Pietro!” Moira said. She crawled into the dirt and pulled the branches away.
The little boy was curled into a tight ball. His lips were blue. He was shaking very fast. He was too cold to talk. He was crying quietly.
“It is okay, Pietro. I am here,” Moira said softly.
She pulled him out of the hole. She wrapped the big wool blanket around him tightly. She opened the thermos and poured a cup of the hot, sweet tea.
“Drink this, little one,” she said. She held the cup to his lips.
Pietro drank the hot tea slowly. His shaking started to slow down. He looked at Moira with big, scared eyes.
“I got lost,” he whispered. “I chased a white rabbit. Then I didn’t know how to go home.”
“You are safe now,” Moira said. She hugged him tight to share her body heat.
She picked the boy up. He was heavy, but Moira was strong. She carried him down the steep hill. It was hard work. She had to walk very carefully so she did not fall.
When she reached the bottom of the hill, she saw Ispettore Salomone and Anna running toward her.
Anna screamed and grabbed the boy. She hugged him and kissed his cold face. “Pietro! Oh, my sweet boy!”
Salomone looked at Moira. “You found him. Where was he?”
“Up the hill, under the big fallen tree,” Moira said. She was breathing very hard. She was exhausted.
“That is a very long way,” Salomone said. “How did you know to look up there?”
Moira gave a small, tired smile. “I just had a feeling, Ispettore. A very lucky feeling.”
Anna held Moira’s hand and cried. “Thank you. Thank you. You saved his life.”
“Go home, Anna. Get him in a hot bath,” Moira said.
Moira walked slowly back to her tea shop. She was freezing and very tired.
When she got inside, she took off her coat and boots. She sat in front of the fire. Ashwaganda climbed onto her lap and purred. The warm cat felt wonderful.
She looked at the blue book on the counter. The book had helped save a life today. It was not just for fighting bad people. It was for protecting the village.
She made herself a large bowl of hot soup. She ate it quietly. The village was safe again. No one was dead. No one was lost.
The magic in Speranza was strong. And Moira was proud to be the keeper of the secrets.
A week later, a strange thing happened in the village square.
There was a very large, very old clock on the wall of the church. It was made of stone and iron. It had been there for three hundred years. It always told the perfect time.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Everyone in Speranza used the church clock. They woke up by the clock. They closed their shops by the clock.
But on Thursday morning, the clock stopped.
It stopped at exactly 8:15 AM.
The village people stood in the square and looked up at the broken clock. They were confused.
“It never stops,” Altea said. She was smoking a cigar. “My grandfather said it never stopped even during the big war.”
“It is bad luck,” Marisa said. She was rubbing her arms. “A stopped clock means time is broken.”
Moira looked at the clock. The big iron hands were perfectly still. She felt a strange feeling in the air. The village felt too quiet without the tick-tock.
She went back to her shop. She opened the blue book.
When time stands still, the shadows wake up. Find the missing tooth in the big wheel.
Moira read the words. The missing tooth in the big wheel. The book was talking about the inside of the clock. A piece of the clock was missing.
She went back to the square. Ispettore Salomone was talking to the village priest, Father Tomaso.
“We need a clockmaker from the city,” Salomone said. “It will take weeks to fix.”
“Father Tomaso,” Moira said. “Can I look inside the clock room?”
The priest looked surprised. “You, Moira? You make tea. You do not fix clocks.”
“I just want to look,” Moira said nicely. “Maybe it is a simple problem.”
Father Tomaso gave her a large, heavy iron key. “Be careful. It is very dusty up there.”
Moira unlocked the small door at the bottom of the church tower. She climbed the long, dark stairs. The stairs went round and round. It was very dirty.
At the top, there was a small room. Inside the room were the giant gears and wheels of the old clock. They were made of dark metal. They were very big.
Moira looked closely at the biggest wheel. It had many metal “teeth” around the edge.
She remembered the book’s words. Find the missing tooth.
She checked every tooth on the big wheel. She walked slowly around it. Finally, she saw it. One of the metal teeth was broken off. It was gone.
But wait. It was not just broken. It looked like someone had cut it off with a saw. The metal was shiny and clean where it was cut.
Someone had broken the clock on purpose.
Moira looked around the dusty room. She saw footprints in the thick dust. Someone had been here recently.
Then, she saw something shining on the floor.
She picked it up. It was a very small, gold ring. It was a man’s ring. It had a tiny red stone in it.
Moira knew this ring. She had seen it before.
She climbed down the stairs. She gave the key back to Father Tomaso.
“You were right, Father,” Moira said. “It is a big problem. A piece of the wheel is gone.”
She walked quickly to the Cigar House. Altea was inside, reading a newspaper.
“Altea,” Moira said. “Do you remember the man who came here yesterday to buy your most expensive cigars?”
Altea nodded. “Yes. The rich man from Milan. Mr. Rossi’s brother. He said he came to pay his respects to his dead brother.”
“Did you notice his hands?” Moira asked.
Altea thought for a moment. “Yes. He wore a fancy gold ring with a red stone on his pinky finger.”
Moira put the small gold ring on the wooden counter. “Like this one?”
Altea’s eyes got wide. “Yes! Exactly like that. Where did you find it?”
“In the church tower,” Moira said. “He broke the clock.”
“Why would a rich man from the city break our clock?” Altea asked. She looked very confused.
“I don’t know yet,” Moira said. “But he wants to stop time in Speranza. He wants to cause trouble. I need to find him.”
“He said he was leaving today,” Altea said. “He is driving a big black car.”
Moira left the shop. She ran to the edge of the village. The road leading out of Speranza was empty. She was too late. The man with the black car was gone.
Why did he cut a piece of the clock?
Moira walked back to her shop slowly. Her head hurt. So many mysteries.
She opened the blue book. She placed the gold ring on the page.
The brother seeks revenge. He takes the iron tooth to open the iron gate. The old prison below the water.
Moira read the words three times. The iron gate. The old prison below the water.
There was an old story in the village. A very old legend. Hundreds of years ago, there was a small prison built under the lake near the village. It was called the Water Dungeon. People said there was a secret treasure hidden there, locked behind a giant iron gate.
The piece of the clock… the metal tooth. It was not just a piece of a clock. It was exactly the right shape to be the key for the iron gate.
Mr. Rossi’s brother did not care about the clock. He wanted the key to the treasure. He knew the old secret.
“He is not going back to the city,” Moira said to her cats. “He is going to the lake.”
Moira had to stop him. If he opened the Water Dungeon, the old magic and old bad things might come out.
She packed her bag. She put in strong rope, a heavy flashlight, and her strongest tea.
She got in her small truck. She drove toward the big lake outside the village. The sky was turning gray. It looked like snow was coming.
She drove to the edge of the water. The lake was dark and very calm. There was an old stone building near the water. It was ruined and broken. This was the entrance to the old tunnels that led under the lake.
She parked her truck. She saw tire tracks in the mud. A big car had been here. The brother was already inside.
Moira took a deep breath. She turned on her flashlight. She walked into the dark, ruined building.
Inside, there were wet stone stairs going down into the dark. It smelled like fish and old water. It was freezing cold.
Moira climbed down the stairs carefully. The walls were wet and slippery.
At the bottom of the stairs, there was a long stone tunnel. She heard the sound of water dripping. Drip. Drip. Drip.
She walked quietly down the tunnel. She heard a noise ahead. It was the sound of metal hitting metal. Clang!
She turned a corner. She saw a large, round room. At the end of the room was a massive iron gate. It was black and rusted.
Standing in front of the gate was the man in the fancy suit. He was holding the piece of the clock wheel. He was trying to push it into a large hole in the stone wall next to the gate.
“It will not work,” Moira said loudly. Her voice echoed in the stone room.
The man jumped. He dropped the metal piece. He turned around to look at her.
“Who are you?” he shouted. “How did you follow me?”
“I am the keeper of this village,” Moira said. “You cannot open that gate. The things inside must stay asleep.”
The man laughed. It sounded crazy. “You are just a stupid woman from a stupid village! There is gold behind this gate. Roman gold! My brother died trying to find the map. I found it. It is mine!”
He picked up the metal piece again. He pushed it hard into the hole.
There was a loud grinding sound. The ground started to shake. The heavy iron gate slowly began to open.
“No!” Moira yelled.
But the gate did not open to show gold.
As the gate opened, a huge wall of dark, freezing water rushed out of the tunnel behind it. The prison was completely flooded.
The man screamed as the water hit him. The force of the water knocked him down.
Moira ran back toward the stairs. The water was rising fast. It grabbed her boots. It was so cold it burned her skin.
She climbed the stairs as fast as she could. The water followed her, rising higher and higher in the tunnel.
She reached the top of the stairs and ran out of the ruined building. She fell onto the muddy grass, breathing hard.
She looked back. The dark water was spilling out of the doorway. The man did not come out. He was trapped in the cold, dark water with his broken dream of gold.
Moira sat in the mud for a long time. The snow started to fall. Little white flakes covered the dark ground.
She stood up slowly. She was wet and freezing. She got into her truck and turned the heater on high.
She drove back to Speranza. The village was quiet. The snow was falling softly on the roofs.
She went into her warm tea shop. She locked the door. She took off her wet clothes and put on a warm, dry sweater.
She sat in her chair and looked at the blue book. It was closed on the counter.
The village had secrets. Old, dangerous secrets. Men came from the city because they were greedy. They wanted money and power. They brought death.
But Speranza had Moira. And Moira had the magic, the cats, and her brave heart.
The clock in the square was broken. It did not tell time anymore. But Moira knew the real time. It was time for peace. It was time to drink tea and let the snow cover the bad memories.
She closed her eyes and listened to the purring of Ashwaganda and Toe. The tea sanctuary was safe. And tomorrow, she would make a special warm tea for the whole village. -
Chapter Three: The Strange Old Man
#AlteaSCigarsHouse #art #Ashwaganda #bloganuary #CozyMystery #culture #curiosity #dailyprompt #dailyprompt1908 #dailyprompt1989 #dailyprompt2153 #DaysOfYourDreams #drinks #Evernote #everyday #Facebook #facts #food #HISTORY #IFTTT #Instagram #Ireland #Irish #kitchen #LAPAGINACHEFALEFUSA #language #learning #MoiraHopes #MURDERSWITHAPASSION #MYCOCKTAILWORLD #mystery #photography #pictures #Pinterest #RECIPES #social #SPERANZA #STRANGETHINGSINTHEWORLD #taverna #TheSoundOfSmile #THESPERANZASSISTERS #TOE #travel #writing
The days in Speranza became quiet again. The sun was warm. The sky was very blue. Moira was happy. Her tea shop was safe. The village people came back to drink tea and talk. They did not talk about the bad man who died. They wanted to forget.
Ashwaganda, the big orange cat, slept in the window all day. Toe, the black cat, sat on the high shelf. He watched everyone who came in the door.
One Tuesday, the bell on the door rang. A new man walked in. He was very old. He had white hair and a long black coat. He walked with a heavy wooden stick.
Moira stood behind her counter. “Hello,” she said. “Can I help you?”
The old man looked around the shop. His eyes were small and dark. He looked at the jars of tea. He looked at the old books on the shelves. He did not look friendly.
“I am looking for something,” the old man said. His voice was slow and dry. “I am looking for a very old book.”
Moira felt her heart jump. She thought about The Days of the Dreams. The blue book was safely hidden under the counter.
“I have many old books,” Moira said in a calm voice. “What kind of book do you want?”
“A magic book,” the man said. “It has a blue cover. It has a picture of a sleeping cat on it. Do you have this book?”
Moira looked right into his dark eyes. “No. I do not have a book like that. I only sell tea and normal books.”
The old man did not look happy. He hit his wooden stick on the floor. “You are lying. I know the book is in this village. I will find it.”
He turned around and walked out of the shop. He did not say goodbye.
Moira locked the door fast. She took the blue book from under the counter. She opened it. The silver letters shined on the page.
The dark bird looks for the nest. Hide the truth. Fire is coming.
Moira read the words. Fire is coming. This was very bad. The old man wanted to hurt her and take the book.
She called her friend Altea. “Altea, it is Moira. A strange old man is in the village. He wears a black coat. Please watch him. He is dangerous.”
“I saw him,” Altea said on the phone. “He went to the old hotel. I will watch him for you.”
That night, Moira did not sleep. She sat in the dark shop. She held a heavy iron pan in her hand. The cats stayed awake with her. Toe sat by the door. Ashwaganda sat by the window.
At two o’clock in the morning, Moira heard a sound. It was a very quiet sound outside the back window. Someone was trying to open it.
Moira stood up slowly. She walked to the back room. She saw a dark shadow outside the glass.
Suddenly, the glass broke. Crash!
A hand reached inside to open the lock. Moira did not wait. She hit the hand very hard with the iron pan.
A man yelled outside. It was a loud, angry yell. Then, she heard feet running away in the dark.
Moira turned on the lights. She looked at the broken window. On the floor, there was a small drop of blood. And next to the blood, there was a strange, old coin.
Moira picked up the coin carefully. It was made of black metal. It had a picture of a bird on it. A dark bird. Just like the book said.
The next morning, the sun came up, but Moira was not happy. She looked at the broken window. She looked at the black coin.
She walked to the police station. Ispettore Salomone was drinking coffee at his desk. He looked tired.
“Moira,” he said. “Why are you here so early?”
Moira put the black coin on his desk. “Someone broke my window last night. They tried to come inside. I hit them, and they ran away. They left this.”
Salomone picked up the coin. He looked at it closely. “This is very old. It is not normal money. Who wants to break into a tea shop?”
“An old man came to my shop yesterday,” Moira said. “He wore a black coat. He asked about old books. I think it was him.”
“Altea called me about him,” Salomone said. “He is staying at the old hotel. His name is Mr. Corvo. I will go talk to him now.”
“Be careful, Ispettore,” Moira said. “He is not a good man.”
Moira walked back to her shop. She needed to clean the broken glass. When she got there, Marisa was waiting by the door. Marisa wore her clean white coat. She had a box of fresh chocolate cookies.
“Moira, I heard about the window,” Marisa said. She looked worried. “Are you okay? I brought you some sweet things.”
“Thank you, Marisa. I am fine,” Moira said. They went inside. Moira made strong black tea. They ate the chocolate cookies.
“This village is changing,” Marisa said sadly. “First the poison, now this. What do they want?”
Moira could not tell Marisa about the magic book. It was a secret. “I don’t know, Marisa. But we have to be strong.”
After Marisa left, Moira opened the blue book again. She needed help.
The silver letters grew on the yellow paper.
The dark bird hides in the dead trees. Follow the water to the cave.
Moira knew the dead trees. They were in the deep woods behind the village. There was a small river there. The trees were old and had no leaves. It was a scary place. People did not go there.
“I have to go,” Moira told her cats. “You stay here and guard the shop.”
Moira put on her heavy boots and her thick coat. She put a small flashlight in her pocket. She walked out of the village and into the woods.
The woods were very quiet. There were no birds singing. The trees were tall and dark. Moira walked next to the small river. The water moved fast over the rocks.
She walked for an hour. Her legs were tired. Then, she saw the dead trees. They looked like big, gray skeletons.
Behind the dead trees, there was a large hill made of dark stone. In the middle of the hill, there was a hole. It was a cave.
Moira turned on her flashlight. She walked slowly to the cave. It smelled like wet dirt and old leaves. She went inside.
The cave was big and cold. The light from her flashlight shined on the walls. Moira gasped. There were pictures on the walls. Old pictures painted with red and black colors. They showed people, animals, and stars.
But there was something else in the cave.
In the center of the dark room, there was a small fire. Next to the fire was a sleeping bag. And next to the sleeping bag was Mr. Corvo’s long black coat.
He was living here. The hotel room was just a trick.
Moira looked around quickly. She saw a small wooden box near the fire. She walked to it and opened it. Inside, there were more black coins. And there were maps of the village. One map had a big red circle around Moira’s tea shop.
Suddenly, Moira heard a sound behind her.
“You should not be here,” a slow, dry voice said.
Moira turned around fast. Mr. Corvo stood at the door of the cave. He held his heavy wooden stick. He looked very angry.
Moira did not move. She kept her flashlight pointed at the old man’s face.
“You broke my window,” Moira said. Her voice was strong. She was scared, but she did not show it.
“You have the book,” Mr. Corvo said. He walked slowly into the cave. “The book of the sleeping cat. My family owned that book a long time ago. It was stolen from us. I want it back.”
“The book is not yours,” Moira said. “It belongs to the tea shop now. It belongs to Speranza.”
Mr. Corvo laughed. It was a cold, ugly sound. “Speranza is a village of fools. They do not know real magic. Give me the book, or I will burn your shop to the ground.”
Fire is coming. The book was right.
“You cannot have it,” Moira said. She looked around. She needed a way to escape. The old man was blocking the door.
Mr. Corvo lifted his heavy stick. “Then you will stay here forever.”
He ran at her. He was old, but he was very fast. Moira jumped to the side. The heavy stick hit the stone wall with a loud crack.
Moira ran toward the door of the cave. But Mr. Corvo grabbed her coat. He pulled her back.
Moira remembered the herbs in her pocket. She always carried small bags of strong herbs for emergencies. She had a bag of dried chili peppers and strong black pepper powder.
She reached into her pocket. She grabbed a handful of the hot powder. She threw it right into Mr. Corvo’s face.
The old man screamed. He dropped his stick. He put his hands over his eyes. The hot pepper burned his eyes and nose. He coughed and yelled.
Moira did not wait. She ran out of the cave. She ran through the dead trees. She ran next to the river. She ran as fast as she could.
She did not stop running until she saw the houses of the village. She ran straight to the police station.
She pushed the door open. She was breathing very hard.
“Salomone!” Moira yelled.
Ispettore Salomone jumped up from his desk. “Moira! What is wrong? You look terrible.”
“Mr. Corvo,” Moira said, trying to breathe. “He is not in the hotel. He is living in a cave in the deep woods. He tried to hurt me. He has a box of strange maps and coins.”
Salomone looked very serious. “Are you hurt?”
“No,” Moira said. “I threw pepper in his face. He is still in the woods.”
“Stay here,” Salomone ordered. “Lock the door. I am taking my men to the woods right now.”
Salomone and three other policemen took their guns and ran to their cars. Moira sat in Salomone’s chair. She was shaking. She locked the heavy door of the police station.
She waited for two hours. The police station was very quiet. Finally, she heard cars outside.
She unlocked the door. Salomone walked in. He looked dirty and tired, but he was smiling.
“We got him,” Salomone said. “He was washing his eyes in the river. We found his cave. We found the box and the maps.”
Moira felt a huge wave of relief. “Thank you, Ispettore.”
“Why did he want to hurt you, Moira?” Salomone asked. “What did he want?”
Moira looked down. She had to lie again to protect the magic. “He was crazy, Ispettore. He thought I had some old gold hidden in my shop. He thought I was rich.”
Salomone shook his head. “Crazy people. Well, he is going to jail for a long time. You are safe now, Moira.”
Moira walked back to her shop. The sun was going down. The sky was orange and pink.
When she walked in, the cats ran to her. They purred loudly. They knew she was safe.
Moira sat in her velvet chair. She put the blue book on her lap. She touched the cracked leather.
“We won,” she whispered to the book.
The silver letters appeared one more time.
The dark bird is locked in a cage. But the wind still blows. Rest, and drink the sweet tea.
Moira smiled. She made a pot of sweet chamomile tea. She drank it slowly. The village of Speranza was quiet again. The bad people were gone.
For now, the magic book was safe. And Moira was ready for a long, peaceful sleep.
A month passed. The weather got colder. Winter was coming to the hills. The trees lost all their leaves. The wind was sharp and bit the skin.
Moira kept the fire burning in her tea shop all day. The shop was very warm. People came in just to sit by the fire and smell the hot tea.
One morning, the shop door opened fast. The cold wind blew inside. It was Anna, from the coffee shop. She looked very scared. Her face was red from the cold.
“Moira!” Anna cried. “Please, you must help me!”
Moira put down her cup. “Anna, what is wrong? Sit down.”
“It is my nephew, little Pietro,” Anna said. She was crying. “He is only seven years old. He went to play near the old stone wall two hours ago. Now we cannot find him. The police are looking, but the woods are so big. It is too cold outside for a little boy.”
Moira felt her stomach drop. A lost child in the winter was very dangerous.
“Did you look everywhere in the village?” Moira asked.
“Everywhere,” Anna sobbed. “We looked in all the shops. We looked in the church. He is gone.”
“I will help you look,” Moira said. She put on her thickest winter coat. She put on her gloves and hat. “Stay here where it is warm, Anna. I will go.”
Moira walked out into the freezing wind. Many people from the village were outside. They were shouting Pietro’s name.
“Pietro! Pietro!”
Moira walked to the old stone wall at the edge of the village. It was near the big hills. The grass was covered in white frost. It was very cold.
She looked at the ground. It was hard to see footprints because the ground was frozen.
Moira knew she needed special help. Normal eyes could not find him fast enough.
She ran back to her shop. She locked the door. She went to the blue book.
“Please,” Moira whispered. “A little boy is lost in the cold. Tell me where he is.”
She waited. The book stayed blank for a long time. Then, very slowly, a picture started to draw itself on the paper.
It was not words this time. It was a map. Drawn in silver ink. It showed the old stone wall. Then it showed a path going up the big, steep hill. At the top of the hill, it showed a picture of a large, fallen tree. Under the tree, there was a small silver star.
Moira closed the book. She knew exactly where the big fallen tree was. It was very far up the hill. It was a hard climb.
She grabbed a thermos and filled it with hot, sweet tea. She grabbed a warm wool blanket.
She ran out of the shop and past the old stone wall. She started to climb the hill.
The wind was much stronger on the hill. It pushed against her. The cold hurt her face. Her legs burned because the hill was so steep.
“Pietro!” she yelled. The wind carried her voice away.
She climbed for forty-five minutes. She was very tired. Then, she saw it. The huge fallen tree. It was covered in dead branches.
Moira ran to the tree. “Pietro!” she called again.
She heard a very tiny sound. Like a little mouse squeaking.
She fell to her knees and looked under the big branches. Deep inside a small hole under the tree roots, she saw a piece of a blue jacket.
“Pietro!” Moira said. She crawled into the dirt and pulled the branches away.
The little boy was curled into a tight ball. His lips were blue. He was shaking very fast. He was too cold to talk. He was crying quietly.
“It is okay, Pietro. I am here,” Moira said softly.
She pulled him out of the hole. She wrapped the big wool blanket around him tightly. She opened the thermos and poured a cup of the hot, sweet tea.
“Drink this, little one,” she said. She held the cup to his lips.
Pietro drank the hot tea slowly. His shaking started to slow down. He looked at Moira with big, scared eyes.
“I got lost,” he whispered. “I chased a white rabbit. Then I didn’t know how to go home.”
“You are safe now,” Moira said. She hugged him tight to share her body heat.
She picked the boy up. He was heavy, but Moira was strong. She carried him down the steep hill. It was hard work. She had to walk very carefully so she did not fall.
When she reached the bottom of the hill, she saw Ispettore Salomone and Anna running toward her.
Anna screamed and grabbed the boy. She hugged him and kissed his cold face. “Pietro! Oh, my sweet boy!”
Salomone looked at Moira. “You found him. Where was he?”
“Up the hill, under the big fallen tree,” Moira said. She was breathing very hard. She was exhausted.
“That is a very long way,” Salomone said. “How did you know to look up there?”
Moira gave a small, tired smile. “I just had a feeling, Ispettore. A very lucky feeling.”
Anna held Moira’s hand and cried. “Thank you. Thank you. You saved his life.”
“Go home, Anna. Get him in a hot bath,” Moira said.
Moira walked slowly back to her tea shop. She was freezing and very tired.
When she got inside, she took off her coat and boots. She sat in front of the fire. Ashwaganda climbed onto her lap and purred. The warm cat felt wonderful.
She looked at the blue book on the counter. The book had helped save a life today. It was not just for fighting bad people. It was for protecting the village.
She made herself a large bowl of hot soup. She ate it quietly. The village was safe again. No one was dead. No one was lost.
The magic in Speranza was strong. And Moira was proud to be the keeper of the secrets.
A week later, a strange thing happened in the village square.
There was a very large, very old clock on the wall of the church. It was made of stone and iron. It had been there for three hundred years. It always told the perfect time.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Everyone in Speranza used the church clock. They woke up by the clock. They closed their shops by the clock.
But on Thursday morning, the clock stopped.
It stopped at exactly 8:15 AM.
The village people stood in the square and looked up at the broken clock. They were confused.
“It never stops,” Altea said. She was smoking a cigar. “My grandfather said it never stopped even during the big war.”
“It is bad luck,” Marisa said. She was rubbing her arms. “A stopped clock means time is broken.”
Moira looked at the clock. The big iron hands were perfectly still. She felt a strange feeling in the air. The village felt too quiet without the tick-tock.
She went back to her shop. She opened the blue book.
When time stands still, the shadows wake up. Find the missing tooth in the big wheel.
Moira read the words. The missing tooth in the big wheel. The book was talking about the inside of the clock. A piece of the clock was missing.
She went back to the square. Ispettore Salomone was talking to the village priest, Father Tomaso.
“We need a clockmaker from the city,” Salomone said. “It will take weeks to fix.”
“Father Tomaso,” Moira said. “Can I look inside the clock room?”
The priest looked surprised. “You, Moira? You make tea. You do not fix clocks.”
“I just want to look,” Moira said nicely. “Maybe it is a simple problem.”
Father Tomaso gave her a large, heavy iron key. “Be careful. It is very dusty up there.”
Moira unlocked the small door at the bottom of the church tower. She climbed the long, dark stairs. The stairs went round and round. It was very dirty.
At the top, there was a small room. Inside the room were the giant gears and wheels of the old clock. They were made of dark metal. They were very big.
Moira looked closely at the biggest wheel. It had many metal “teeth” around the edge.
She remembered the book’s words. Find the missing tooth.
She checked every tooth on the big wheel. She walked slowly around it. Finally, she saw it. One of the metal teeth was broken off. It was gone.
But wait. It was not just broken. It looked like someone had cut it off with a saw. The metal was shiny and clean where it was cut.
Someone had broken the clock on purpose.
Moira looked around the dusty room. She saw footprints in the thick dust. Someone had been here recently.
Then, she saw something shining on the floor.
She picked it up. It was a very small, gold ring. It was a man’s ring. It had a tiny red stone in it.
Moira knew this ring. She had seen it before.
She climbed down the stairs. She gave the key back to Father Tomaso.
“You were right, Father,” Moira said. “It is a big problem. A piece of the wheel is gone.”
She walked quickly to the Cigar House. Altea was inside, reading a newspaper.
“Altea,” Moira said. “Do you remember the man who came here yesterday to buy your most expensive cigars?”
Altea nodded. “Yes. The rich man from Milan. Mr. Rossi’s brother. He said he came to pay his respects to his dead brother.”
“Did you notice his hands?” Moira asked.
Altea thought for a moment. “Yes. He wore a fancy gold ring with a red stone on his pinky finger.”
Moira put the small gold ring on the wooden counter. “Like this one?”
Altea’s eyes got wide. “Yes! Exactly like that. Where did you find it?”
“In the church tower,” Moira said. “He broke the clock.”
“Why would a rich man from the city break our clock?” Altea asked. She looked very confused.
“I don’t know yet,” Moira said. “But he wants to stop time in Speranza. He wants to cause trouble. I need to find him.”
“He said he was leaving today,” Altea said. “He is driving a big black car.”
Moira left the shop. She ran to the edge of the village. The road leading out of Speranza was empty. She was too late. The man with the black car was gone.
Why did he cut a piece of the clock?
Moira walked back to her shop slowly. Her head hurt. So many mysteries.
She opened the blue book. She placed the gold ring on the page.
The brother seeks revenge. He takes the iron tooth to open the iron gate. The old prison below the water.
Moira read the words three times. The iron gate. The old prison below the water.
There was an old story in the village. A very old legend. Hundreds of years ago, there was a small prison built under the lake near the village. It was called the Water Dungeon. People said there was a secret treasure hidden there, locked behind a giant iron gate.
The piece of the clock… the metal tooth. It was not just a piece of a clock. It was exactly the right shape to be the key for the iron gate.
Mr. Rossi’s brother did not care about the clock. He wanted the key to the treasure. He knew the old secret.
“He is not going back to the city,” Moira said to her cats. “He is going to the lake.”
Moira had to stop him. If he opened the Water Dungeon, the old magic and old bad things might come out.
She packed her bag. She put in strong rope, a heavy flashlight, and her strongest tea.
She got in her small truck. She drove toward the big lake outside the village. The sky was turning gray. It looked like snow was coming.
She drove to the edge of the water. The lake was dark and very calm. There was an old stone building near the water. It was ruined and broken. This was the entrance to the old tunnels that led under the lake.
She parked her truck. She saw tire tracks in the mud. A big car had been here. The brother was already inside.
Moira took a deep breath. She turned on her flashlight. She walked into the dark, ruined building.
Inside, there were wet stone stairs going down into the dark. It smelled like fish and old water. It was freezing cold.
Moira climbed down the stairs carefully. The walls were wet and slippery.
At the bottom of the stairs, there was a long stone tunnel. She heard the sound of water dripping. Drip. Drip. Drip.
She walked quietly down the tunnel. She heard a noise ahead. It was the sound of metal hitting metal. Clang!
She turned a corner. She saw a large, round room. At the end of the room was a massive iron gate. It was black and rusted.
Standing in front of the gate was the man in the fancy suit. He was holding the piece of the clock wheel. He was trying to push it into a large hole in the stone wall next to the gate.
“It will not work,” Moira said loudly. Her voice echoed in the stone room.
The man jumped. He dropped the metal piece. He turned around to look at her.
“Who are you?” he shouted. “How did you follow me?”
“I am the keeper of this village,” Moira said. “You cannot open that gate. The things inside must stay asleep.”
The man laughed. It sounded crazy. “You are just a stupid woman from a stupid village! There is gold behind this gate. Roman gold! My brother died trying to find the map. I found it. It is mine!”
He picked up the metal piece again. He pushed it hard into the hole.
There was a loud grinding sound. The ground started to shake. The heavy iron gate slowly began to open.
“No!” Moira yelled.
But the gate did not open to show gold.
As the gate opened, a huge wall of dark, freezing water rushed out of the tunnel behind it. The prison was completely flooded.
The man screamed as the water hit him. The force of the water knocked him down.
Moira ran back toward the stairs. The water was rising fast. It grabbed her boots. It was so cold it burned her skin.
She climbed the stairs as fast as she could. The water followed her, rising higher and higher in the tunnel.
She reached the top of the stairs and ran out of the ruined building. She fell onto the muddy grass, breathing hard.
She looked back. The dark water was spilling out of the doorway. The man did not come out. He was trapped in the cold, dark water with his broken dream of gold.
Moira sat in the mud for a long time. The snow started to fall. Little white flakes covered the dark ground.
She stood up slowly. She was wet and freezing. She got into her truck and turned the heater on high.
She drove back to Speranza. The village was quiet. The snow was falling softly on the roofs.
She went into her warm tea shop. She locked the door. She took off her wet clothes and put on a warm, dry sweater.
She sat in her chair and looked at the blue book. It was closed on the counter.
The village had secrets. Old, dangerous secrets. Men came from the city because they were greedy. They wanted money and power. They brought death.
But Speranza had Moira. And Moira had the magic, the cats, and her brave heart.
The clock in the square was broken. It did not tell time anymore. But Moira knew the real time. It was time for peace. It was time to drink tea and let the snow cover the bad memories.
She closed her eyes and listened to the purring of Ashwaganda and Toe. The tea sanctuary was safe. And tomorrow, she would make a special warm tea for the whole village. -
The Enemy Doesn’t Know How Many We Are: A Proposal for Building An Insurgency
For many decades the movement for liberation in the United States has been on the back foot. Overwhelmed by the struggle to survive, many find themselves and their groups reacting to the brutality of the state through programs like Cop Watch, ICE Watch, and demonstrations or encampments. These initiatives are important, even essential, but always in response to the violent overtures of institutionalized racism. They can mitigate a rough situation, help people in a one-off crisis or show solidarity, but no recent attempt has presented a way to win the war against humanity waged by the US government. Taking example from diverse insurgent forces, this text will look at how to adapt effective organizational models to support an anarcho-communist revolution. Armed with this knowledge and committed to see a revolution through, a nascent movement would have the capacity to build a force that can overturn the state and capitalism while constructing liberatory communities of the future.
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A Proposal for Building An Insurgency
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Contents:
Dedication
Revolutionary pledge
Introduction
The US state is currently at war with its own population, those in the global south and leftist factions
The fight will be won
Rebellions
An insurgency is needed to succeed
What does it take to build an insurgency?
- political and social organizations
- fighting forces
- political education
- revolutionary culture
- material considerations
- strategic timing
Who would support an insurgency
Why an insurgency would succeed in the US
How to start building an insurgency
Until we meet
Further reading
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Dedication
Embarking on this historical mission, it is imperative to pay respects to those who have come before us, fought the most difficult battles and paved the path of struggle with their fortitude. Without them the proposals put forward in this text would not exist, nor the potential of liberation. Specifically we acknowledge Russell Maroon Shoatz, Safiya Bukhari, Carlos Marighella, Lucy Parsons, Kuwasi Balagoon, Lorenzo Orsetti, Yahya Sinwar, Sekou Odinga, Dedan Kimathi, and the many others unnamed for the sake of space, and all those whose names we will never know because they were so brave.
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Revolutionary pledge
“Positions are seldom lost because they have been destroyed, but almost invariably because the leader has decided in his own mind that the position cannot be held.”i
This observation opens up a world of possibility based on the sheer will not to be deterred. Unlike the paid mercenaries of a state army, liberation forces are gifted with a deep motivation for the struggle. As a guerrilla commander in the KurdishHPG once noted, there can be a successful action with just one fighter if they have the will and determination to succeedii. Fighting a battle is first and foremost a mental feat, and the trials people in the movement face against the armed henchmen of the United States have hardened the resolve of brave political actors. The possibilities that spring steadfastness underpins the following text. This text lays out a strategy for fighting an asymmetrical war against a much better armed and more technologically advanced enemy. The war of the small against the mighty will be won by fortitude and determination.
.Introduction
For many decades the movement for liberation in the United States has been on the back foot. Overwhelmed by the struggle to survive, many find themselves and their groups reacting to the brutality of the state through programs like Cop Watch, ICE Watch, and demonstrations or encampments. These initiatives are important, even essential, but always in response to the violent overtures of institutionalized racism. They can mitigate a rough situation, help people in a one-off crisis or show solidarity, but no recent attempt has presented a way to win the war against humanity waged by the US government.
There are many examples of oppressed people throughout history overcoming their oppressors or colonizers, but not many with a long standing anarcho-communist result. On the other hand, there are a lot of far left groups that currently exist that mean well and have excellent analyses but could benefit from strategic direction in order to become revolutionaries. The question for all those on the side of humanity: how to win the war that has been launched against communities of color? How to effectively overthrow the state? How to organize towards a liberated society? Taking example from diverse insurgent forces, this text will look at how to adapt effective organizational models to support an anarcho-communist revolution. Armed with this knowledge and committed to see a revolution through, a nascent movement would have the capacity to build a force that can overturn the state and capitalism while constructing liberatory communities of the future.
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The US state is currently at war with its own population, those in the global south and leftist factions
The US was built on human misery, from the slave trade to the genocide of indigenous people. This foundation has seeped through its ideology. With its mentality of domination, the US wants to obliterate its adversaries rather than see people live with dignity or according to revolutionary principles. The COINTELPRO attacks against the Black Panthers and the bombing of the MOVE headquarters line up squarely with its support of the far right in Central and South America. The weight of this reality can be read on the faces of people and felt in day to day interactions: people have to accept the brutality of the United States to live here.
The state makes its war against people of color clear through the development of Cop Cities, the blatantly racist judicial system, routine torture in state and federal prisons, its brutal reaction to uprisings and the military tactics and equipment they bring into city police departments.iii The United States views not only people of color as enemy combatants but those on the left who fight for marginalized people. The legacy of the Red Scare and the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti is alive and well, and visible in the inability of the left to counter ICE raids and police executions. The question isn’t if the movement should start a war with the state. The war is already here. Instead the question is if people of conscience who live under this regime decide to fight back.
Fighting back allows people who have historically been oppressed to fully realize themselves through revolutionary struggle. Contrary to what US propaganda espouses, people are not individualized, separate entities. Everyone rises or falls together. When the state tortures someone in prison, bulldozes families in Palestine, or when a person walks past someone sleeping on the street, pieces of their shared humanity are shaved off. The only way to gain them back is through collective struggle: stopping the perpetrators of violence by fighting back with and for others.Commenting on the self-sacrificing action that HPG fighters took against Turkish Aerospace Industries, one writer noted “It is not an exaggeration to say that the only way to truly live is to wage a continuous struggle.”i
Similarly, Wayne Pharr, a Black Panther Party member, who participated in the firefight against police when they raided the BPP office in Los Angeles, explained how he felt in that moment, “I felt free. I felt absolutely free. I was a free negro. I was making my own route. You couldn’t get in, I couldn’t get out. But in my space, I was the king. In that little space I had, I was the king.”v In this moment the historical degradation by the US was overturned when Pharr and his comrades picked up their guns and shot back.
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The fight will be won
It is infinitely possible to win this war that has been launched by the US against the population, and humanity in general. What does it mean to win? Winning in this text is defined as: destroying the state structure and capitalism and replacing them with liberatory and egalitarian ways of existing as a society. The organization of a liberated community holds just as true today as it did in revolutionary Spain or the Korean People’s Association in
Manchuria: self-governance through a federation of councils, production by collectives, personal property held by use rather than private property, defense militias structured according to and defending revolutionary values, resources distributed appropriately amongst the population, expropriation of the enemy class: turning the assets of the enemy into the collective wealth of the new society and prohibiting them from rising and exploiting again.
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Rebellions
Rebellions and uprisings do not have the capacity to change people’s day to day reality. For example, after the Ferguson Uprising, the police returned with a vengeance. With the state empowered and the movement on the back foot, many of the key participants died in suspicious circumstances, presumably executed by the state. There wasn’t sufficient advancement on an organizational level to expel the police from Ferguson, and defense was not commensurate with any of the gains. There are countless examples in the US of rebellions that are an important expression of dissatisfaction, but without organization, people cannot force the state to permanently retreat and create a new reality in their communities. Even a rebellion that overthrows the regime in power does not go far enough. In 2011 Tunisian President Ben Ali left at the behest of protesters but the entire government structure remained, with remnants of the old regime in power. Even though gains were won, such as dismantling the secret police and women’s rights, the same fundamental political structure persisted. Likewise in Egypt, President Mubarak fled in response to uprisings, but after a few shifts in power, an American puppet president, El-Sisi took power. These uprisings of the Arab Spring unseated leaders, however without concerted reorganization of society, a transformation was impossible.
It is essential to formulate the struggle not as a reform of or rebellion against the current system, but as a revolutionary movement with clear goals and outcomes. The state must be completely dismantled and social structures have to be rebuilt from the basis of liberatory values.
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An insurgency is needed to succeed
Using armed force and social organizations, the goal of an insurgency is to make it impossible for the state to govern its territory, and through political, social and economic organization, effect a liberatory change within that territory. This starts with guerrilla warfare, political polarization, the mobilization of local support, and develops as partisans replace state and capitalist functions with their own.
The objective of an insurgency is to permanently eliminate the state and create long-lasting liberation. This change should replace a capitalist economy with a collective one, change a federal representative government to locally-centered self-governance, remove an exploitative social ethic and instill one that values all members of society and shift from poisoning the land and water to protecting the environment. Fighting forces and political-social organizations are built up simultaneously to, on the one hand, develop liberatory self-governance and collective economies, and, on the other, protect political gains while destroying the state.
Anti-colonial Guinea Bissau shows what an insurgency looks like in practice. Resistance forces built up parallel political and social organizations for years to develop popular support for the struggle. The revolutionary African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) party initiated educational systems, roving hospitals that served fighters and local people and barter bazaars. Amilcar Cabral, the founder of the PAIGC and an agronomist, taught people how to grow food to sustain themselves while also feeding the fighting forces, who would help work the fields with the people. The intertwined growth of revolutionary social organizations and fighting forces made for a complete social transformation within the liberated zones in rural areas that were entirely resistant to Portuguese colonizers. What characterizes an insurgency and differentiates it from a rebellion is that 1) war is waged for abolition of the state, 2) social organizations for self-governance, justice, education, medical care, and other important social projects are built up simultaneously with the war effort, and 3) revolutionary forces work to transform society in the areas they hold.
The remit of an anarcho-communist insurgency is to build a society that is driven by the self-governance of the people. Through the process of engaging in self-governance, people become collectively-minded, self-actualized and responsible for their entire communities. It is ideologically consistent and strategically important to facilitate this type of social organization because: an insurgency is a war for the population. If people agree with the political project, they will want to participate and help the fighters. A salient example is the bank tellers who drove Black Liberation Army (BLA) fighters to Chicago from New York overnight when they needed to hide out, or people from local neighborhoods who would give BLA members their guns if they lost theirs during a firefight.vi This would not have happened without community support and a certain level of organization created by aboveground groups. An insurgency has been described by counterinsurgent experts as 20% military and 80% political;vii another way of articulating the famous Clausewitz quote, “War is a continuation of the policy by other means.” Without people supporting the insurgent forces, it is impossible to have a struggle, and people will support if insurgents are creating sustainable means for true liberation.
This text lays out how the comprehensive process of building an insurgency is integral to engaging many people with a range of capacities and abilities in the revolutionary process, increases the development of all people and creates new economic and political systems, all while materially supporting revolutionary fighters.
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What does it take to build an insurgency?
There are six main fields to consider: 1) political and social organizations 2) fighting forces 3) political education 4) revolutionary culture 5) material considerations and 6) strategic timing.
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1) Political and Social Organizations
Political organizations are expansive assemblies of political actors. Political organizations set up armed factions and social organizations and create the ideological and strategic foundation for both, which, due to this connection, follow consistent political objectives.
Political organizations also set up the means for people to administer their own regions. This self-governance can happen through, for example, neighborhood councils, which form the basis for bottom-up style administration. The council is a forum people can use to coordinate to meet their needs, designating groups to handle that work.
Social organizations are responsible for the production and distribution of resources and the creation of infrastructure. Organizations can include food production, hospitals, schools, construction and activities can range from mediating conflicts to providing medical care and education to producing necessities. These organizations are structured in an egalitarian manner and are based on revolutionary perspectives. They displace those of capitalist businesses and the state.
Effective examples of such political organizations had been developed by the DTK in Northern Kurdistanviii. There were neighborhood councils, conflict resolution bodies, and youth and women’s groups. These bodies made the government of the Turkish state less relevant, as Kurdish people would, for example, utilize DTK mediation over state courts.
Self-governance structures and social organizations create the means for people to feel engaged in day to day life, have determination over their environments and create a material impact. Participation allows for a fundamental shift in values from alienation and competition to looking out for other community members. The well-being of the entire society becomes the responsibility of each person. This reflects the political tenets of the movement, creates collectivity and elicits engagement in revolutionary society and its defense.
In Chiapas the healthcare system was developed after significant and lengthy discussions with many different parts of the population, incorporating their knowledge, outlooks and concerns. For example, traditional healers were initially hesitant to share their methods but the proposal to care for the greatest amount of people possible convinced them. The final result was an overwhelmingly successful healthcare system tended by volunteer health providers, who administer traditional and Western medicine at regional hospitals. The hospitals serve community members, who, in turn, support the healthcare providers.ixx
Social organizations also serve the needs of the armed struggle, intertwining the livelihoods of the fighters and the local community. The fruits of this work are exemplified by Hezbollah. Hezbollah had created armed and social components: welfare, schools, hospitals, supporters with rocket launch rooms in Southern Lebanon. They demonstrated that they care about people’s well-being, giving credence to Hezbollah’s armed defense of the region. The ‘Israeli’ pager attacks on Hezbollah members were thus viewed as attacks on the whole population, bringing much of society, even political opponents, together in support of the organization. Immediately following the incident, one prospective eye donor, a taxi-driver named Hussein, explained his motivations to a local broadcaster. “How can I continue to see while they have been blinded?” he said. “The eye that I will donate will protect the nation.”xi
When people participate in the process of building and running social organizations, they are actively eroding the state’s administrative control. Local people become fighters without ever picking up a gun. An insurgency mobilizes support by normalizing revolutionary social organizations so that regular people use them to, for example, go to the doctor, get food and clothes, become educated, etc. Regular people become political partisans when they participate in self-governance as in the neighbor councils and grandma-run food distributions that cropped up during the Estallido Social uprising in Chile. Or, for example, in Barcelona during the Spanish revolution, neighbors were empowered to physically block bailiffs from entering their neighborhoods to conduct evictions.xii
In essence, the battle for administrative functions is what will determine if the state remains in a region or if the insurgent will be successful. Both the insurgent and the state will win legitimacy if people participate in their social organizations. If people call the police when they have a problem, they are strengthening the state, if they call revolutionaries, they strengthen the insurgency.
If the relationship is strong enough, the enemy’s attempt to undermine social organizations will be unsuccessful. The Zionist regime enters Tulkarm Refugee Camp in the West Bank of Palestine to destroy infrastructure to try to erode the support base of the resistance. Al-Quds Brigades reports that the effect is the opposite: “Once the raid is over, many people check in on us and express their gratitude that we are safe. When they look at the destruction of the camp, they just say, ‘better to lose your wealth than lose your children.’”xiii
Starting the armed struggle and ultimately maintaining a territory is based on the consent of the people in it. Truly liberatory political and social organizations are the key. If people agree with what revolutionaries are doing, they will participate in the self-governance of their neighborhoods and protect the guerrillas, if they disagree, they won’t sustain the insurgency.
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2) Fighting Forces
“The urban guerrilla’s weapons are inferior to the enemy’s, but from the moral point of view, the urban guerrilla has an undeniable superiority.”xiv – Marighella
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Guerrilla Struggle
The goal of fighting forces is to demoralize the enemy and win popular support. The armed work of an insurgency starts with guerrilla units. Due to flexibility and mobility, the guerrilla has the ability to launch attacks anywhere and disappear. Hidden amongst the population, the insurgent chooses when and where to attack, making their attacks unpredictable.
The tactical advantage is with the insurgent at this stage. The state must prove that it can retain order, whereas the insurgent only has to challenge the authority of the state. The state has to spend a lot of money to protect its assets and chase down insurgents, but insurgents can launch effective attacks very inexpensively at targets which are plentiful and in the open.
Time is on the side of the insurgent. An insurgent force can be assembled long before a single bullet is fired.xv Fighters can prepare for years or decades, striking only when the time is right. The EZLN built its forces for over ten years before attacking the state, presenting revolutionary ideas to villagers and systematically recruiting fighters. Taking time to build armed groups concertedly and growing slowly in qualitative force allows for the development of politically aligned and well-trained guerrillas, ready to take action when the time is right.
Guerrilla units are small groups consisting of only a few people, who independently launch attacks to harass the enemy. They are self-contained cells that pick their own targets, but are connected to other units through the guerrilla code, political objectives and allegiance to the overall mission. There is a role for each member of a guerrilla cell, and these roles should overlap in case one person is captured or killed. They can be assembled into columns or sections for larger attacks like ambushes if the conditions are right.
The purpose of the guerrilla forces is to make it impossible for the state to govern (by overextending the enemy, controlling the pace of the fight, for example), defend the population (by attacking state forces who brutalize people), survive (by planning attacks wisely, evading capture, setting up secure infrastructure), support political initiatives, and eventually to take and defend territory.
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Beyond theGuerrilla Struggle
Building of social organizations, the solidarity of the population and the strength of fighting forces will allow guerrillas at a certain point to establish bases and expel the state from their strongholds. Insurgent-controlled areas are those where revolutionary organizations and values prevail and the state no longer has control through administration or force. At this point the guerrilla struggle continues in new areas that are now contested, partially governed by the state.
The transition between hit and run guerrilla warfare and the security of a liberated area necessitates a delicate balance. Forces are needed to both defend the area and to contest regions beyond that territory. For revolutionary fighting forces to drive out the state and maintain a liberated territory, there needs to be a higher level of coordination, strategy and organization.
If we look at the example of the Great Dismal Swamp Maroon, it becomes clear that it is difficult to maintain an island of liberated land within enemy territory. Formerly enslaved people who escape plantations took refuge in the forbidding terrain of the Great Dismal Swamp. Here armed groups would coalesce as needed to coordinate on raids, defend their territory and free other enslaved people. At first the Maroon was impossible to broach by enemy forces due to impassible geography, but eventually the state developed the land, making it no longer functional as a refuge.
The state was able to destroy the territory because its economic and administrative structure remained intact. An insurgent movement needs to push the state’s administrative structure into disarray otherwise the enemy will be able to challenge a liberated area through means beyond armed force.
On the other hand, it is not feasible to go to war outside a liberated area without sufficient protection for that region. The Shinmin Prefecture was an anarchist region in Manchuria comprised of 2 million people. The Korean Anarchist Federation had established self-governing institutions such as mutual banks, workers cooperatives, and liberatory education. Their local militia was supplemented by guerrilla fighters and the region supported guerrilla attacks against imperial Japan in Korea from 1929-1931. However these attacks drew the ire of the Japanese, who sent their agents to infiltrate and assassinate key figures and without sufficient defense of the territory to support the guerrilla actions abroad, an invasion was the death blow.
The Great Dismal Swamp was strong on defense, while the Shinmin Prefecture was more focused on destroying their enemies abroad. Both regions had the problem of being stand alone territories where 1) the guerrillas were not hidden within a enemy-administered populations 2) the insurgents were not able to achieve the balance between defense and attack and 3) the growth of liberated territories was not commensurate with balanced defense and offense.
What is also clear from these examples is that forces defending a territory cannot maintain a guerrilla characteristic and expect longterm existence. A different formation is needed to defend a liberated area. The defense of a territory must be sufficient, and include an offensive component to challenge the terrain of the enemy. Offensive actions and their range must be chosen wisely so as not to generate more enemies than a liberated area can handle. There needs to be a high level of strategic coordination between guerrillas and defense forces of a liberated area.
While at the current moment it seems the movement is some time off from taking and holding territory, it is important to consider the structure and participation in the defense of a territory even during the nascent part of building guerrilla forces. More complex forms of organization and coordination are needed. There can be a strong connection between fighters and councils on a local level, tying defense to political will, but there also needs to be a means for fighting forces working together across broad swathes of geography, and much more concerted coordination in terms of strategy, tactics and logistical support. As fighting groups are trained and built, so should the organizational apparatus that will sustain the fight past the guerrilla stage. This stage is very advantageous tactically for the insurgent, but also the most precarious.
Holding territory can be dangerous while the state is still powerful. The guerrillas can ebb and flow from regions, establishing bases when it is politically and militarily feasible, and ceding it temporarily so as not to get into a head-on fight. Often making a stand does not play to the strengths of an insurgent force. When temporarily ceding territory, informants, sleeper cells and political organizations can remain in place to coordinate with returning guerrillas and make it hard for the state to truly regain a foothold.
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3) Political Education
Insurgencies thrive by being able to address grievances that the state will not. Anarcho-communism presents a range of salient proposals for nearly every facet of life, from collective self-governance to justice to ecology, but there will be strategic moments when putting one or two of those points forward will have the strongest, most wide-spread appeal. Picking the right points to center on at the right times is essential for rallying people toward the cause. For example, the height of the George Floyd Uprising would not be the right time to focus on ecology. The rallying point(s) can change depending on current events and can even be different for different segments of the population. An essential factor is that the points chosen should not be ones the state can fix; they must last the duration of the insurgency.
Propaganda and media serve the important role of isolating the state from the people, making it clear that the hardships people suffer are the unnecessary effects of the US government and capitalist economy. They also work in tandem with revolutionary school curriculum to reinforce a revolutionary narrative.
Revolutionary schools have the important role of helping people understand the role of the state and capitalism, familiarizing people with the history of resistance and building skills that are relevant and useful for a revolutionary society. All subjects taught in these schools are oriented towards creating a better society for all people. For example, Zapatista education provides knowledge about agronomy which helps people in Chiapas become self-sufficient. Or Black Panther schools recounted the history of the United states from the perspective of their communities.
It is impossible for people to get behind a cause when they don’t understand the basic political spectrum. People in the United States are heavily propagandized and most have received poor education. It is essential to build up people’s political understanding and inform them about the histories of oppression and resistance. Political education can take place through multiple mediums such as revolutionary schools, mass propaganda and the guerrilla struggle itself.
Organizing can work as propaganda to draw clear battle lines and create conditions for the struggle. For example, to demonstrate the necessity of guerrilla struggle, revolutionaries can launch a community campaign. Black Liberation Army founder, Dhoruba Bin Wahad, has suggested calling for community control of the police, which is a logical proposal to help solve their rampant murders of black and brown people. However it is a request that the state will never meet. The proposal functions to organize communities of opposition on a local level and the intransigence of the state demonstrates the necessity for revolutionary defense forces to step in.
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4) Revolutionary Culture
A fundamental cultural shift is essential for revolutionary work in the US. Political and social organizations and fighting forces embody this culture, creating goodwill within local communities.xvi
Revolutionary culture requires a collective approach to the struggle. Political actors should be selfless, stand up, steadfast, hold true to their word and show respect for themselves and those who are most disadvantaged in bourgeois society. These qualities are fundamental for achieving a society where every member cares for and is responsible for all the others. The welfare of those who are the most vulnerable become the obligation of all. A leftist revolutionary movement demonstrates a commitment to life and community.
Revolutionary culture runs counter to acculturation in the US, which has indoctrinated people to act against their self-interest. People are socialized from a young age to distrust their neighbors, turn their backs on people in need and look out for themselves before anyone else. This may be the hardest aspect to overcome for developing an effective movement in the US.
The evidence of US culture permeating the movement lies in the thousands of failed political groups, the constant fractures and insurmountable conflicts between comrades, people using the movement to fundraise or do research for their careers, individuals demanding social credit for their revolutionary contributions, an ideological emphasis on isolated, personal initiatives to drive political work and political groups whose policy it is to instrumentalize people in order to achieve their goals.
It is important for people involved in revolutionary work to shed the alienating and competitive ways that have been forced on people by the US regime, in order to build effective collaboration and trust. Cooperation and trust are the bedrock of the the movement, holding it together through difficult situations, and demonstrating the types of relationships that unite a liberatory political project. When people join the movement, they will be acculturated to cooperating with each other.
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5) Material Considerations for Success
Infrastructure requirements include access to and control over communications, food, finances, arms, transportation, means to disseminate information and the ability to supply resources to insurgents and the population.
Logistic and communication networks, independent of the state, serves fighting forces and the population. They are set up with the consideration that the state will try to surveil and disrupt, fully understanding that removing pipelines of resources and information is a good way to incapacitate the insurgent force.
Arms and tactics training are key. This can happen with a supportive army. For example, in 1982 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) set up a training camp in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon in response to ‘Israel’s’ invasion.xvii Many insurgent groups such as PFLP, Hezbollah, Asala, the Red Brigades and the PKK trained there.Armed training can also happen within the army of the enemy state. Many of the great militants of the Black Liberation Army, like Kuwasi Balagoon were trained by the US army.
Intelligence on state capacity, enemy figures in key position, arsenal and plans of action is essential. Infiltration of the police and armed forces can be established prior to the initiation of the armed struggle and provide pertinent information. The state has contingency plans for crises and responding to attacks, which are readily available. Insurgents use this information to set traps to use their own plans against them.
An important part of a revolutionary insurgent struggle is that it intends to build a different economic system. This alternative system begins at the outset of a struggle as a way of circulating resources to those who are participants. However money will certainly be necessary. Funding can be planned well in advance of the beginning of the armed struggle, diversifying sources and obscuring where they are held. Funding can come in the form of external support, draining that of the enemy, and community support.
With these factors in mind, it is clear why an analysis of multiple insurgencies suggests that the likelihood of success will increase based on 1) the remoteness from the center of the counterinsurgent’s power 2) the ability for the insurgent to move across an international border 3) international alliances and 4) a local administrative vacuum. In consideration of the physical demands of an insurgency a temperate climate and a spread out population add an advantage.xviii While all these conditions may not necessarily be met in every case where political organizations form, they are useful to consider when launching a struggle.
6) Strategic Timing
An insurgency has the tactical advantage of being able to wait, building up sufficient forces and popular support and striking at a time and location of its choosing. Training and organization can be developed to a high degree before the armed struggle begins.
A crisis or weakening of the state is helpful for launching an insurgency. For example, anti-colonial insurgencies didn’t succeed before 1938, when World War II weakened European states. The insurgent can wait for a moment when the US is tied up in military conflicts and has exhausted its resources, or is lacking popular support. A war on its own soil against an external enemy could, for example, provide the right conditions. Or engaging in multiple armed conflicts abroad would weaken the US state and diminish its international standing, creating an opening for the insurgent.
Strategic timing does not just refer to selecting an appropriate time for the initiation of armed action, but also choices made throughout the conflict.
Once armed action begins, it is important to keep up the pacing and pressure. The state will have the strongest chance of stamping out an insurgency during the initial period, the guerrilla struggle, due to functioning administrative control. To quash an insurgency, the state needs to arrest guerrillas, regain the trust of the population and instate compliant leaders through elections. For this work the state depends on pre-existing civil structures like the police, non-profits, local representatives and social services. This administrative power is very effective at stifling rebellions. The momentum of the George Floyd Uprising was successfully derailed by coordinated civil actions including elected representatives speaking out at marches, legal proceedings being issued against Derek Chauvin and city-to-city coordinated police action against demonstrators.xix
It is important for the insurgent to make the state’s civic bodies unable to function, drawing the conflict into a military terrain. The US Army Marine Counterinsurgency Manual confirms: “Controlling the level of violence is a key aspect of the struggle. A high level of violence often benefits insurgents. The societal insecurity that violence brings discourages or precludes nonmilitary organizations, particularly [administrative proxies of the counter-insurgent]”, which the Manual identifies as, “diplomats, police, politicians, humanitarian aid workers, contractors, and local leaders.”xx The guerrilla, Carlos Marighella confirms, “The role of the urban guerrilla, in order to win the support of the population, is to continue fighting…heightening the disastrous situation within which the government must act.”xxi
Marghiella also emphasizes that, “keeping in mind the interests of the people,” during this process is essential. The insurgent must precisely balance the need to combatively overwhelm the administrative capacity of the state with the need to maintain the goodwill of the population. During the early stages, the insurgent can control the pacing and tenor of the fight and can time it to best suit the social and strategic conditions at each moment.
However launching the armed attack is not just about watching and waiting for an opening, but creating the conditions for the struggle to flourish. It is essential to undermine US civic institutions, eroding popular faith in them, sowing dissent within their ranks and drawing people toward revolutionary social organizations. Increasing distrust in US civic bodies is not a difficult proposal. With dissatisfaction already quite high, insurgent social organizations have fertile ground to grow.
The considerations about strategic timing demonstrate that an insurgency requires a lengthy investment of time. From comprehensive training and research to creating the ideal social conditions for the armed struggle, it is a longterm commitment on the part of the insurgent.
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Who would support an insurgency
In counterinsurgency theory the population is broken down into a perhaps overly simplistic, yet useful, formula: an active minority on the side of the state, an active minority on the side of the insurgent, and a large group of people in the middle that want to go about their daily lives with reasonable stability. Victory will theoretically tilt in favor of the side that can provide the better life.xxii
Currently, without an institutionalized left, and with the lack of general political understanding, the politics of the center produce an acceptance for a brutal and degraded life. It is impossible to talk about a war for the population without acknowledging that the political tenor in the US is by and large extremely right wing.
The question is how to move people further to the left. Part of the answer lies in the armed struggle itself. Armed action from the radical left moves the center further left. It galvanizes people, forcing them to take sides and it creates a new pole of far left politics. When the seriousness of the demands is expressed by the requisite force to achieve it, it is more convincing than rhetoric.
This precedent is reflected in the boom in membership in the Black Panther Party following their armed protest on the floor of the California state Capitol. It can also be observed in the public assistance for armed struggle groups in the 1960’s-1980’s, and the support of radicals in the US for the events of October 7th in Palestine.
Furthermore, during uprisings, sympathy for radical change becomes far more widespread. The George Floyd Uprising elicited support from many sectors of society. Both potential political actors and unpoliticized people were won over by the widespread demonstration of popular sentiment and the virulence of the uprisings. As demonstrators began challenging the police, support for their initiative grew and acceptance of the police fell dramatically.
Being very clear and open about armed struggle can quickly bring in participants. In Chiapas, the EZLN started their work by explicitly building a guerrilla force and clearly expressing their intention to initiate an armed struggle to potential supporters. This drew people towards the struggle by demonstrating a commitment to success and means for people to effect a material change within their communities. There already exists an impetus to take armed action against colonial adversaries, like Willem van Spronsen’s attack on ICE. These public displays demonstrate a groundswell of popular sentiment that could be organized into a cohesive force.
While armed action pushes prevailing opinion further left, armed action complemented by social organizations becomes a thoroughly convincing force. Social programs indicate the genuine intention of political actors to better people’s lives and facilitate people joining the effort.
The combination of armed struggle and social organizations counteract the feeling of helplessness that the state wants to project on people. In the US, there are many communities that are targeted or sidelined by the state, but no one wants to accept a victim role. In fact, this is a dynamic that helps the state control people, and also one that the non-profit industry preys on. Creating an alternative where people can live with dignity, cultivating a culture of respect and creating the capacity to win is key for building self-actualization through struggle. The genuine self-sufficiency of revolutionary communities is an attractive proposal to people who have historically been oppressed.
One of the greatest examples of US brutality is the prison system. It is also the most concentrated population of politicized people in the country. This legacy is thanks to prison organizers like the Nation of Islam, George Jackson, the Black Panthers and incarcerated members of armed struggle groups like the United Freedom Front and the Black Liberation Army. The teachings of comrades from previous generations set the stage for continued work in this vein and for prison uprisings like Attica, Lucasville, and the Vaughn Prison Uprising and the multitude of prison strikes set in motion by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and many others. People locked up and terrorized daily by the state forces understand the force required to stop them. The proliferation of George Jackson style study groups in many prisons today, some named after him, is testament to this continued political legacy.
Many of those organizing inside would like to participate in movements on the outside but have to deal with the very real problem of securing housing, food, etc. once released. The infrastructure inherent in building an insurgency has the capacity of creating a support structure for these militants, as well as counteracting the state’s intention to rob people of their means of survival. In revolutionary Spain, for example, it wasn’t just liberated fighters reuniting with the battalions who broke open prisons; many people they had politicized joined as well.xxiii
People in prison are an acute example of people who support an insurgency, but there are many others who are routinely terrorized like young people of color, migrants, people lacking money and resources and politicized young people. An insurgent strategy offers a path towards stability and respect.
It is clear is that through an insurgent struggle not everyone will shift further to the left or change their views. While armed leftist action brings the political center toward the left, it also serves to further entrench elements of the right in its anti-social positions. There will always be the minority that supports reactionary objectives. There are two points to consider: Balkanization and suppression.
A common misconception in revolutionary work is that the entire territory of the US needs to be liberated. This is a difficult proposal given many people’s right-wing views and vastness of the geography. A more realistic idea is akin to the proposal of the Republic of New Africa to section off a part of the South – a Balkanization of the territory occupied by the United states.
There remains the question: how protect the movement from actors with a right wing political ideology. First, getting people to sympathize and participate in the movement will create fewer enemies. While there is a right-wing political bent currently throughout the US, this should not be considered a static fact. It is important to consider that the many communities that vocalize right wing views didn’t always do so and do so now because of concerted propaganda efforts on the part of state actors. Being a proactive political movement means engaging in activities and messaging that will effect a change in this failing perspective. Yet it is important to note at this point that reactionaries should not be the focus of efforts. Propaganda efforts can be far reaching enough that they happen to reach right wing people, driving a wedge between those who are deeply racist, xenophobic, etc, and those who actually care about others.
The ideologically hardened right wingers are essentially enemy combatants. Whether they are currently active is not so much a question. If allowed to remain in a territory, they may be or could become agents of the counterinsurgent. They must be thoroughly disabled and removed from liberated territories. It is important to begin considering how to deal with these factions from the perspective of an abolitionist movement. Complete annihilation is essential.
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Why an insurgency would succeed in the US
The strengths of the US become its weaknesses in the face of an insurgency.
The US is hubristically proud of its military might. Military spending far outpaces any other nation, with its spending in 2020 amounting to the same as the next nine highest nations. Equipment and tactics developed in the military are deployed in local police departments as well. From SWAT teams to the FBI to the Department of Homeland Security to militarized police, local residents are bombarded with highly technological and militarized state force.
Within the dynamics of asymmetrical warfare, these are the conditions where the insurgent has the advantage. A more technologically advanced and equipment-laden enemy is too cumbersome to counter guerrilla fighters. Complex apparatuses become a hindrance and the top-down structure can’t pivot quickly enough. Even the Marines agree, “A modern military force capable of waging war against a large conventional force may find itself ill-prepared for a ‘small’ war against a lightly equipped guerrilla force.”xxiv Meticulously recorded videos of the resistance in Palestine show fighters emerging from tunnels to plant bombs on tanks that are not equipped to counter such a close and agile combatant. The modern military is weighed down by its own equipment and structure. Tanks become lumbering death traps. The tactical advantage is with the fighters who don’t have their assets in the open and have the ability for evasion. An insurgent has the capacity to remain invisible on its home terrain and arise at unexpected points to attack and quickly disappear.
An insurgency is cheap for the insurgents, while it is expensive for the state. To appear in control, the state must do its best to stamp out fighters, which takes a great deal of resources, manpower and equipment. Insurgents can use cheaply made weapons to precipitate a great expense for the state. For example, drones made from styrofoam are able to evade detection or tiny drone boats in the Red Sea can damage an aircraft carrier many more times their size and cost. Handmade explosives have the capacity to destroy a tank. Small, cheap and effective devices make it difficult for the counterinsurgent to avoid attacks.
Counterinsurgency doctrine of the Army and Marines is considered to be the most forward thinking treatise on this type of military strategy. Even with lessons learned from military debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US doctrine still demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding about the motivations of an insurgent. Given the extreme lack of empathy for people’s lives, it is seemingly impossible for military strategists to fathom that others may be driven by genuine concern for their fellow humansxxv. The lack of compassion for the people coupled with a misreading of their adversary makes it difficult for the institutions of the US state to respond appropriately to challenges.
For example, in Afghanistan, US soldiers stationed in Restrepo held a weekly meeting with local elders meant to create connections to win them over and solicit their help routing out insurgents. When questioned by an elder about someone they detained, the soldier in charge became frustrated and finally exclaimed, “You’re not understanding that I don’t fucking care!”xxvi This poignant example illustrates the overall military culture, not to mention US culture, that demonstrates a fundamental disinterest in effective counterinsurgency tactics, even when they are in its best interest.
For its own sake, the counterinsurgent should not respond to guerrilla attacks with overwhelming force, as it risks alienating people and driving them further from its cause.
For example, Safiya Bukhari astutely noted that the New York Police Department made her a member of Black Panther Party. Bukhari was a middle class college student who got involved in the movement after she was arrested for defending a Black Panther from police harassment. She learned from this episode that she had no rights, which galvanized her to join the Party and eventually the Black Liberation Army.
Trump’s execution of Michael Reinoehl in cold blood when he was on the run for shooting a fascist, South Carolina bringing back the firing squad for ‘legal’ executionsxxvii, the popularity of the shooting of a healthcare CEO, the impunity of police to shoot people of color, masked ICE agents tearing families apart, all show that the US state is dead set on losing the war for the population. The overriding indifference of the US government to recognize the humanity of people, particularly people of color, within its borders creates a situation where people want to rid themselves of its hegemony.
The oligarchic nature of the US state, coupled with massive wealth disparity creates the potential ground for class war.xxviii The US’s dependence on capitalist infrastructure further exacerbates its problems. This is a major issue for the state in the face of internal armed struggle, and a huge field of potential for the insurgent. Without a social safety net, the population in the US is vulnerable to natural and economic catastrophes. This is quite apparent with the supply-chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic or the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Even day to day social problems, like lack of access to medical care, are severe, creating questions about the state’s ability to administer its population.
The very existence of an insurgency necessitates the development of functional and revolutionary supply chains – a direct challenge to the administration of the state. This is understood by US government and the reason why it felt threatened by Black Panther Party breakfast program, ambulance services, health clinics and education programs. Yet its policy of deprivation continues, creating a need for what insurgents have to offer.
Currently, western civilization is catapulting itself towards impending demise. The failure of Ukraine to gain the upper hand against Russia despite the US pouring money into the conflict and the success of the Axis of Resistance against ‘Israel’, particularly Ansar Allah’s defeat of the US Navy, demonstrate that Western military might is waning. The rise of anti-colonial, anti-West movements in the Sahel and West Asia would not have been possible without this weakening. The BRICS alignment is forcing the West to reckon with a new geopolitical order. Seemingly grasping at straws to try to retain its dominant position, the US has been threatening to start a plethora of wars without clear ability to succeed. Furthermore, internal politics in the US have never been more contentious and divisive. With the rise of fascism, and it’s conspiracy-prone base, those who care about people and approach social organization logically are looking for alternatives. The perfect conditions for an insurgency are amassing: the US is waning as a global power, it hosts a wildly divided population and has no plan in place for people’s survival.
The potential success of an insurgent struggle is greater now than ever before. The global order will look very different in the span of a few years to decades. The fall of the brutal hegemony of the US could lead to a restructuring of political and economic relations around the globe. It would be ideal if new forms of society had a liberatory characteristic and to do that comrades in the US can start laying the groundwork for an insurgency.
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How to start building an insurgency
The first step is to set up political organization(s). Members should be aligned in terms of ideology, strategy and, most importantly, around revolutionary rather than radical or reformist goals.
Participants can form either one large organization or facilitate a network of aligned groups. The choice between a network or organization depends on the dispositions of those involved and currently existing formations. Political groups should agree on a structure for their organization and roles of the members, while networks should agree on how organizations will communicate effectively with each other and roles of each group. Both should agree on revolutionary outcomes, codes of behavior, political outlook and ways of measuring success
The political position of this proposal is intended for the revolutionary left, following an anti-capitalist and anti-colonial perspective. Political groups should be fully committed to the destruction of the United States and its racist history and culture. The guiding question that should inform debates is: what would improve the lives of those who have been and are currently most disadvantaged by white supremacist American society: people of color and those who lack money and resources?
Political organizations can focus their work on building militant, political and economic infrastructure. To do so they should start developing social organizations and fighting forces. There are two ways to start: 1) identify the material needs of an insurgency and comrades with the skills to create those organizations and 2) take stock of groups and resources that already exist that could be aligned to further develop the strategic goals.
While social organizations can be based on the skills and abilities of current members, they shouldn’t be exclusively determined on that basis. Consideration should be given to needs of the fighters and needs of community members. For example, some basics needed to support an insurgency include: logistics and infrastructure, communication networks, sources for food and goods for living, community decision making bodies, medical care, and revolutionary education. Likewise, political organizations can consider the acute needs of the people in their areas.
Political education is a foundational aspect of developing the struggle because propaganda and classes can bring in new comrades. Political classes about revolutionary struggle and ideas can attract people who would like to join the political organization, and practical workshops can give them the skills to build out social organizations. Classes and schools can be both for potential organization members and for broader society.
The intention for the social programs is that they should be of far better quality than those of capitalist society. For example, food should be more delicious and wholesome; medical care should be more preventative, caring and accessible; classes should be conducted with the highest level of preparation and research, showing respect for all involved.
There are many revolutionary projects that exist currently that translate well to an insurgent strategy. Food distributions can expand their operations and be further developed to become supplied by comrade farms, for example, increasing self-sufficiency. Conflict resolution groups could be made available to the public to create a body for justice outside of the court system. Medics could receive further training to help build out community health programs and provide medical care for fighters. Always resist the temptation to work with nonprofits. They are structurally aligned with the state.
Even though much groundwork needs to be done before fighting forces start their work, it would be ideal to recruit and train as many people as possible and as early as possible to be ready to act when the time is right. To do this correctly requires a lengthy process. A few members of political organizations can be tasked with doing this. It is important to keep a separation between fighting forces and social organizations.
Building out the fighting forces must be done with the highest level of discretion. Only comrades who are well known to the recruiter should be invited to participate. Comrades with combat experience can train others. This can happen at ranges but also it will be useful to find and utilize surreptitious training areas. A training program for skills and study can de developed to make sure fighters have the skills they need to do actions and resist entrapment. These skills should be practiced regularly.
Many nighttime affinity groups currently exist whose structure and actions mirror that of a guerrilla unit, as a guerrilla warrior doesn’t have to wait for orders to be able to make decisions.xxix They are relatively independent, politically well-versed, conduct hit and run strikes, are fluid and flexible, secure because they don’t necessarily have to know who comprises other groups and able to produce their own propaganda materials. These groups can be a source of fighters.
It is important however to note the differences between nighttime groups and a developed guerrilla struggle. The extensive tunnel networks in Gaza and Vietnam, for example, could not have been constructed without major coordination and organization. Fighting forces need to decide on a secure structure and a means for coordination from the start. Guerrillas don’t need to necessarily know who is in other cells but should have a way to communicate. There should also be a way to communicate between political organizations and fighting forces that should includes ways of determining a greater war strategy. Its important from the outset to also develop plans for sizing up formations in the later stages of the struggle.
Field Marshall DC counsels: “In organizing self-defense groups… the most important consideration is whether or not the person to be incorporated into the group understands fully that what he or she is doing is the right thing to do.”xxx Those who hold guns and are fighting the state should embody the most stand up characteristics of a revolutionary. Fighters should be motivated by the political outcomes, embody what it means to be a political actor and carry a full commitment to the struggle because, just like all political organizations, fighting forces should be a prime example of their own liberatory politics. This is conveyed by how guerrillas treat each other and the people, the types of actions taken and the messaging around actions. Independent motivation is also important because guerrilla units need to act without direction, deciding their own missions and developing their own propaganda.
Finding resolute and committed revolutionaries to become guerrillas is essential, but also the act of participating in revolutionary war builds the characters of those involved. “[T]o be an assailant or terrorist is a quality that ennobles any honorable man because it is an act worthy of a revolutionary engaged in armed struggle against the shameful military dictatorship and its monstrosities.” (Marighella) The sheer engagement in fighting back against the brutal state, and the motivation of love for oppressed people, is enriching for the participants. Even more so, through the participation in collective armed action, fighters develop qualities such as steadfastness and circumspection, which are ideal qualities for people participating in a revolutionary society. The necessary collectivity of an armed unit increases the fighters’ collaborative spirit and ability to think about the whole.
Selflessness is an important quality for a revolutionary, but it is not to indicate a rush towards death. The next sentence that follows the opening Marighella quote for this section is, “Thanks to it, the urban guerrilla can accomplish his principle duty, which is to attack and survive.”xxxi This is not just pragmatic, being that there are far less insurgents than there are of the enemy, but more importantly, it reflects a value system spread throughout all the insurgent forces and organizations. The well-being of the overall community must be synonymous with fighting prowess. Revolutionary culture is a culture of life.
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Revolutionary Culture
The tenure of revolutionary work is presented to the greater public through the culture of political actors. Revolutionary culture should be built on a foundation of participants who are humble, genuine, true to their words and share a longterm commitment to the political struggle. This culture should permeate every activity of a political organization.
All members should be clear, open, honest and hold themselves to the highest standards in terms of their treatment of others. It is important for all political actors to evaluate their motivations: are they doing political work for the sake of their ego, do they have insecurities or are they dealing with mental health challenges? There is role for everyone in developing an insurgency and it is essential that everyone is very honest with themselves and others about their abilities, limitations and personal challenges to know what their role should be. This self-knowledge is essential. Marighella suggests that, “[Guerrilla warfare] is a pledge which the guerrilla makes to himself. When he can no longer face the difficulties, or if he knows that he lacks the patience to wait, then it is better for him to relinquish his role before he betrays his pledge.”xxxii
In order to begin developing revolutionary culture collectively, it is important to forge agreements on expected behaviors of comrades towards each other and towards the public, their commitments to the organization, what qualities to look for in people who want to join and the process and expectations for people leaving the organization.
Collectivity may be atypical for anyone who was acculturated in the US, but active steps can be taken to develop this skill and set a new standard for revolutionary work. Look to members who did not grow up in the US for advice on this matter. They will often have a better model for sociability. Conduct active listening workshops where members practice hearing each other out on matters that don’t have high stakes.
A forum for discussing and resolving disagreements is essential. Conflicts can be headed off by principled critique/self-critique sessions, and handled after the fact by mediation teams, for example. Any critique that is issued should come from a place of trust, commitment and belief that the other member is also committed and open to change.
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Funding
In the beginning stages multiple and diverse sources of funding should be established. Political work may be supported through monetary and in-kind donations, self-sustaining projects, international funding, kidnapping, extortion and expropriation of the enemy class.
Social organizations can be sustained through donations of the participants and supporters. For example, a school or collective kitchen can take sliding scale or monthly donations.
Comrade businesses can have a dual use of making money for comrades but also, when needed, offering logistical support. For example, companies that use trucks or warehouses will one day be useful for storing and moving materiel. Members who have a clean record can apply for a Federal Firearms License in order to sell arms for their livelihood but also offer a friendly place for comrades to acquire them at cost.
Social organizations can be developed for self-sustainability like growing food, producing clothes, building internet mesh networks, weapons or fuel production. As the US economy continues its downward trajectory, these resources will be necessary not just for supporting the fighters but for broader society.
International support can be sought. Ideologically close allies are ideal for trade and funding. There are many enemies of the US who would be eager to support an insurgency in the US but this must be weighed out with the potential of becoming their proxy.
Kidnapping, extortion and expropriation can be used with caution. They should have the dual purpose of putting pressure on the enemy while also gaining funds. These endeavors should be undertaken in the safest way possible, when the odds are stacked in favor of those doing the actions. It is important not to get too many fighters caught up by activities that should support the growth of the insurgency. For example, digital bank robberies are safer and potentially more lucrative than ones in person or extortion can be based out of another country to decrease the risk.
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Summary
- Decide on the goals, commitments and community agreements of the political organization(s).
- Determine organizational structure, means of communication and a plan for growth.
- Create a plan for developing revolutionary culture and conflict resolution.
- Assign specific duties to each member, making sure these duties overlap.
- Develop a method for bringing in new members.
- Develop a metric for measuring success.
- Develop a multi-pronged fundraising strategy, with proposed expansion for different stages of the struggle.
- Identify existing social organizations and decide which essential ones need to be developed.
- Develop a plan for recruiting and training fighters.
- Decide on a structure for units.
- Decide on a means for secure communication.
- Develop a means to confer between political groups and fighting cells on political direction and strategy.
- Decide what issues to focus on for widespread propaganda.
- Develop social organizations.
- Members with key skills and knowledge start building agreed upon social organizations.
- Assigned members speak with already existing projects about joining forces.
- Offer political education for potential new members and/or the public.
- Develop a comprehensive educational program.
- Have a clear system in place for new members to join.
- Recruit fighters.
- Develop a training regimen and assign members to carry out this program.
- Put material needs in place: safe houses, armories, training areas, workshops.
- Develop a plan for weapons procurement.
Until we meet
Setting out to build an insurgency in the US from the current state of the movement might seem like a monumental task but it is important to keep some precedents in mind.
Every organization and every armed struggle had to start from nothing. Many began in even less favorable conditions and with much less support. Know that it is possible to fight through extreme adversity when our organizations are strong, and always remember that it is possible to create the best conditions for the movement.
The situation in the US makes it ripe for political change. The US is flailing politically and economically. People are searching for solutions for basic survival and want to see the development of a capable struggle. Concerted and functional organization creates confidence in people and an insurgency has the capacity to turn a sustainable and humanizing society into a reality.
The tides of political change have been decisively shifting within the last 20 years. The veneer of civil society has eroded, making activism essentially useless. Where previously many on the far left have vocalized a more tempered political vision, now they are taking their cues from the most serious insurgent forces like the Resistance in Palestine. The fact that this is one of the last Western colonial bastions materially connects our struggles, giving political actors psychological fortitude and demonstrating how to fight a more militarized enemy. People in the movement in the US are no longer presenting themselves as radicals, but as revolutionaries, a fundamental perspective necessary to transform a wavering movement into a solid and impenetrable insurgency.
We are never too few and it is never too late to start building. Our determination and steadfastness will lead to our success.
This text is written with love for fellow revolutionaries and belief in our collective capacity. Though many will never know who wrote this document, we convey our respect for everyone who chooses this path.
See you on the battlefield!
Written with love by Sofia Valencia
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Further reading
Warfare Manuals
The Art of War, Sun Tzu
On Organizing Urban Guerrilla Units, Field Marshall D.C.
Handbook for Volunteers of the Irish Republican Army
On Guerrilla Warfare, Mao Tse-Tung
Guerrilla Warfare, Che Guevara
The Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, Carlos Marighella
The Life and Death of the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front, Max Res
Experiences in the Struggle
My Life in the Black Panther Party, Field Marshall D.C.
Maroon the Implacable: The Collected Writings of Russell Maroon Shoatz
Democratic Autonomy in Northern Kurdistan
The Fire and the Word: A History of the Zapatista Movement, Gloria Muñoz Ramírez
Mau Mau From Within a book by Karari Njama, Donald L Barnett
The War Before: A True Life Story, Safiya Bukhari
Counterinsurgency
The Other Side of COIN Kristian Williams
Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, David Galula
Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam, John A. Nagl
The U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, David Petraeus
Warfighting, US Marine Corps
Theory
The Philosophy of the Urban Guerrilla, Abraham Guillen
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Further reading
iUS Marine Corps. Warfighting, 2018. iiThe People’s Defence Forces (Kurdish: Hêzên Parastina Gel, HPG) iiiWilliams, Kristian. The Other Side of COIN: Counterinsurgency and Community Policing, 2011. ivAxîn, Tekoşin. Understanding the self-sacrificial fighters marching to victory and changing the course of history, 2024. https://anfenglishmobile.com/features/understanding-the-self-sacrificial-fighters-marching-to-victory-and-changing-the-course-of-history-76052 vNelson, Stanley. Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, 2015. viBlack Liberation Media. Soldiers Stories, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Tz0ZEiprQ vii Galula, David. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, 1964. pp 63.viii TATORT Kurdistan. Democratic Autonomy in Northern Kurdistan, 2013.
ix Villarreal, Ginna. Health Care Organized from Below: The Zapatista Experience, 2007. https://www.narconews.com/Issue44/article2502.html
x Warfield, Cian. Understanding Zapatista Autonomy: An Analysis of Healthcare and Education, 2014. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/cian-warfield-understanding-zapatista-autonomy
xi Abouzeid, Rania. Are Israel and Hezbollah Headed Toward an “Open-Ended Battle”? 2024. https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/are-israel-and-hezbollah-headed-toward-an-open-ended-battle?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us
xii Ealham, Chris. Anarchism and the City, 2010. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/chris-ealham-anarchism-and-the-city
xiii Hanaysha, Shatha.‘Our freedom is close’: why these young Palestinian men choose armed resistance, 2024. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/10/our-freedom-is-close-why-these-young-palestinian-men-choose-armed-resistance/
xiv Marighella, Carlos. Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, 1969. xv Galula, David. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice,1964. xvi Tse-Tung, Mao. On Guerrilla Warfare, 1937. xvii Ali, Mohanad Hage. Hezbollah and Syria From 1982 to 2011: Power Points Defining the Syria-Hezbollah Relationship, 2019, pp. 3-8. xviii Galula, David. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, 1964. xix Schoots-McAlpine, Martin. Anatomy of a counter-insurgency: Efforts to undermine the George Floyd uprising. 2020 xx Petraeus, David. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, 2006. pp 54. xxi Marighella, Carlos. The Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, 1969. xxii Galula, David. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, 1964. pp 53. xxiii The Iron Column. A Day Mournful and Overcast, 1937. https://files.libcom.org/files/Uncontrollable-A_day_mournful-read.pdf xxiv US Marine Corps. Warfighting, pp 2-7. xxv Petraeus, David. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, 2006. pp 27-28. xxvi Hetherington, Tim and Sebastian Junger. Restrepo, 2010. 40:58. https://watchdocumentaries.com/restrepo/ xxvii Sottile, Zoe, Devon M. Sayers, Michelle Watson and Ryan Young,. South Carolina inmate executed by firing squad for first time in US since 2010, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/us/brad-sigmon-south-carolina-firing-squad-execution xxviii Galula, David. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice,1964. xxix Devillé, Jozef. No Friends but the Mountains, 2018. 13:30. https://vimeo.com/257718365 xxx Field Marshall D.C. On Organizing Urban Guerrilla Units, 1970. xxxi Marighella, Carlos. The Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, 1969. xxxii Marighella, Carlos. The Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, 1969.https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=23059
#anarchism #anarchocommunism #antiColonialism #antiImperialism #burkinaFaso #communism #counterinsurgency #guineaBissau #insurgency #palestine #resistance #revolution #westernHegemony
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The Enemy Doesn’t Know How Many We Are: A Proposal for Building An Insurgency
For many decades the movement for liberation in the United States has been on the back foot. Overwhelmed by the struggle to survive, many find themselves and their groups reacting to the brutality of the state through programs like Cop Watch, ICE Watch, and demonstrations or encampments. These initiatives are important, even essential, but always in response to the violent overtures of institutionalized racism. They can mitigate a rough situation, help people in a one-off crisis or show solidarity, but no recent attempt has presented a way to win the war against humanity waged by the US government. Taking example from diverse insurgent forces, this text will look at how to adapt effective organizational models to support an anarcho-communist revolution. Armed with this knowledge and committed to see a revolution through, a nascent movement would have the capacity to build a force that can overturn the state and capitalism while constructing liberatory communities of the future.
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A Proposal for Building An Insurgency
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Contents:
Dedication
Revolutionary pledge
Introduction
The US state is currently at war with its own population, those in the global south and leftist factions
The fight will be won
Rebellions
An insurgency is needed to succeed
What does it take to build an insurgency?
- political and social organizations
- fighting forces
- political education
- revolutionary culture
- material considerations
- strategic timing
Who would support an insurgency
Why an insurgency would succeed in the US
How to start building an insurgency
Until we meet
Further reading
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Dedication
Embarking on this historical mission, it is imperative to pay respects to those who have come before us, fought the most difficult battles and paved the path of struggle with their fortitude. Without them the proposals put forward in this text would not exist, nor the potential of liberation. Specifically we acknowledge Russell Maroon Shoatz, Safiya Bukhari, Carlos Marighella, Lucy Parsons, Kuwasi Balagoon, Lorenzo Orsetti, Yahya Sinwar, Sekou Odinga, Dedan Kimathi, and the many others unnamed for the sake of space, and all those whose names we will never know because they were so brave.
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Revolutionary pledge
“Positions are seldom lost because they have been destroyed, but almost invariably because the leader has decided in his own mind that the position cannot be held.”i
This observation opens up a world of possibility based on the sheer will not to be deterred. Unlike the paid mercenaries of a state army, liberation forces are gifted with a deep motivation for the struggle. As a guerrilla commander in the KurdishHPG once noted, there can be a successful action with just one fighter if they have the will and determination to succeedii. Fighting a battle is first and foremost a mental feat, and the trials people in the movement face against the armed henchmen of the United States have hardened the resolve of brave political actors. The possibilities that spring steadfastness underpins the following text. This text lays out a strategy for fighting an asymmetrical war against a much better armed and more technologically advanced enemy. The war of the small against the mighty will be won by fortitude and determination.
.Introduction
For many decades the movement for liberation in the United States has been on the back foot. Overwhelmed by the struggle to survive, many find themselves and their groups reacting to the brutality of the state through programs like Cop Watch, ICE Watch, and demonstrations or encampments. These initiatives are important, even essential, but always in response to the violent overtures of institutionalized racism. They can mitigate a rough situation, help people in a one-off crisis or show solidarity, but no recent attempt has presented a way to win the war against humanity waged by the US government.
There are many examples of oppressed people throughout history overcoming their oppressors or colonizers, but not many with a long standing anarcho-communist result. On the other hand, there are a lot of far left groups that currently exist that mean well and have excellent analyses but could benefit from strategic direction in order to become revolutionaries. The question for all those on the side of humanity: how to win the war that has been launched against communities of color? How to effectively overthrow the state? How to organize towards a liberated society? Taking example from diverse insurgent forces, this text will look at how to adapt effective organizational models to support an anarcho-communist revolution. Armed with this knowledge and committed to see a revolution through, a nascent movement would have the capacity to build a force that can overturn the state and capitalism while constructing liberatory communities of the future.
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The US state is currently at war with its own population, those in the global south and leftist factions
The US was built on human misery, from the slave trade to the genocide of indigenous people. This foundation has seeped through its ideology. With its mentality of domination, the US wants to obliterate its adversaries rather than see people live with dignity or according to revolutionary principles. The COINTELPRO attacks against the Black Panthers and the bombing of the MOVE headquarters line up squarely with its support of the far right in Central and South America. The weight of this reality can be read on the faces of people and felt in day to day interactions: people have to accept the brutality of the United States to live here.
The state makes its war against people of color clear through the development of Cop Cities, the blatantly racist judicial system, routine torture in state and federal prisons, its brutal reaction to uprisings and the military tactics and equipment they bring into city police departments.iii The United States views not only people of color as enemy combatants but those on the left who fight for marginalized people. The legacy of the Red Scare and the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti is alive and well, and visible in the inability of the left to counter ICE raids and police executions. The question isn’t if the movement should start a war with the state. The war is already here. Instead the question is if people of conscience who live under this regime decide to fight back.
Fighting back allows people who have historically been oppressed to fully realize themselves through revolutionary struggle. Contrary to what US propaganda espouses, people are not individualized, separate entities. Everyone rises or falls together. When the state tortures someone in prison, bulldozes families in Palestine, or when a person walks past someone sleeping on the street, pieces of their shared humanity are shaved off. The only way to gain them back is through collective struggle: stopping the perpetrators of violence by fighting back with and for others.Commenting on the self-sacrificing action that HPG fighters took against Turkish Aerospace Industries, one writer noted “It is not an exaggeration to say that the only way to truly live is to wage a continuous struggle.”i
Similarly, Wayne Pharr, a Black Panther Party member, who participated in the firefight against police when they raided the BPP office in Los Angeles, explained how he felt in that moment, “I felt free. I felt absolutely free. I was a free negro. I was making my own route. You couldn’t get in, I couldn’t get out. But in my space, I was the king. In that little space I had, I was the king.”v In this moment the historical degradation by the US was overturned when Pharr and his comrades picked up their guns and shot back.
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The fight will be won
It is infinitely possible to win this war that has been launched by the US against the population, and humanity in general. What does it mean to win? Winning in this text is defined as: destroying the state structure and capitalism and replacing them with liberatory and egalitarian ways of existing as a society. The organization of a liberated community holds just as true today as it did in revolutionary Spain or the Korean People’s Association in
Manchuria: self-governance through a federation of councils, production by collectives, personal property held by use rather than private property, defense militias structured according to and defending revolutionary values, resources distributed appropriately amongst the population, expropriation of the enemy class: turning the assets of the enemy into the collective wealth of the new society and prohibiting them from rising and exploiting again.
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Rebellions
Rebellions and uprisings do not have the capacity to change people’s day to day reality. For example, after the Ferguson Uprising, the police returned with a vengeance. With the state empowered and the movement on the back foot, many of the key participants died in suspicious circumstances, presumably executed by the state. There wasn’t sufficient advancement on an organizational level to expel the police from Ferguson, and defense was not commensurate with any of the gains. There are countless examples in the US of rebellions that are an important expression of dissatisfaction, but without organization, people cannot force the state to permanently retreat and create a new reality in their communities. Even a rebellion that overthrows the regime in power does not go far enough. In 2011 Tunisian President Ben Ali left at the behest of protesters but the entire government structure remained, with remnants of the old regime in power. Even though gains were won, such as dismantling the secret police and women’s rights, the same fundamental political structure persisted. Likewise in Egypt, President Mubarak fled in response to uprisings, but after a few shifts in power, an American puppet president, El-Sisi took power. These uprisings of the Arab Spring unseated leaders, however without concerted reorganization of society, a transformation was impossible.
It is essential to formulate the struggle not as a reform of or rebellion against the current system, but as a revolutionary movement with clear goals and outcomes. The state must be completely dismantled and social structures have to be rebuilt from the basis of liberatory values.
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An insurgency is needed to succeed
Using armed force and social organizations, the goal of an insurgency is to make it impossible for the state to govern its territory, and through political, social and economic organization, effect a liberatory change within that territory. This starts with guerrilla warfare, political polarization, the mobilization of local support, and develops as partisans replace state and capitalist functions with their own.
The objective of an insurgency is to permanently eliminate the state and create long-lasting liberation. This change should replace a capitalist economy with a collective one, change a federal representative government to locally-centered self-governance, remove an exploitative social ethic and instill one that values all members of society and shift from poisoning the land and water to protecting the environment. Fighting forces and political-social organizations are built up simultaneously to, on the one hand, develop liberatory self-governance and collective economies, and, on the other, protect political gains while destroying the state.
Anti-colonial Guinea Bissau shows what an insurgency looks like in practice. Resistance forces built up parallel political and social organizations for years to develop popular support for the struggle. The revolutionary African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) party initiated educational systems, roving hospitals that served fighters and local people and barter bazaars. Amilcar Cabral, the founder of the PAIGC and an agronomist, taught people how to grow food to sustain themselves while also feeding the fighting forces, who would help work the fields with the people. The intertwined growth of revolutionary social organizations and fighting forces made for a complete social transformation within the liberated zones in rural areas that were entirely resistant to Portuguese colonizers. What characterizes an insurgency and differentiates it from a rebellion is that 1) war is waged for abolition of the state, 2) social organizations for self-governance, justice, education, medical care, and other important social projects are built up simultaneously with the war effort, and 3) revolutionary forces work to transform society in the areas they hold.
The remit of an anarcho-communist insurgency is to build a society that is driven by the self-governance of the people. Through the process of engaging in self-governance, people become collectively-minded, self-actualized and responsible for their entire communities. It is ideologically consistent and strategically important to facilitate this type of social organization because: an insurgency is a war for the population. If people agree with the political project, they will want to participate and help the fighters. A salient example is the bank tellers who drove Black Liberation Army (BLA) fighters to Chicago from New York overnight when they needed to hide out, or people from local neighborhoods who would give BLA members their guns if they lost theirs during a firefight.vi This would not have happened without community support and a certain level of organization created by aboveground groups. An insurgency has been described by counterinsurgent experts as 20% military and 80% political;vii another way of articulating the famous Clausewitz quote, “War is a continuation of the policy by other means.” Without people supporting the insurgent forces, it is impossible to have a struggle, and people will support if insurgents are creating sustainable means for true liberation.
This text lays out how the comprehensive process of building an insurgency is integral to engaging many people with a range of capacities and abilities in the revolutionary process, increases the development of all people and creates new economic and political systems, all while materially supporting revolutionary fighters.
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What does it take to build an insurgency?
There are six main fields to consider: 1) political and social organizations 2) fighting forces 3) political education 4) revolutionary culture 5) material considerations and 6) strategic timing.
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1) Political and Social Organizations
Political organizations are expansive assemblies of political actors. Political organizations set up armed factions and social organizations and create the ideological and strategic foundation for both, which, due to this connection, follow consistent political objectives.
Political organizations also set up the means for people to administer their own regions. This self-governance can happen through, for example, neighborhood councils, which form the basis for bottom-up style administration. The council is a forum people can use to coordinate to meet their needs, designating groups to handle that work.
Social organizations are responsible for the production and distribution of resources and the creation of infrastructure. Organizations can include food production, hospitals, schools, construction and activities can range from mediating conflicts to providing medical care and education to producing necessities. These organizations are structured in an egalitarian manner and are based on revolutionary perspectives. They displace those of capitalist businesses and the state.
Effective examples of such political organizations had been developed by the DTK in Northern Kurdistanviii. There were neighborhood councils, conflict resolution bodies, and youth and women’s groups. These bodies made the government of the Turkish state less relevant, as Kurdish people would, for example, utilize DTK mediation over state courts.
Self-governance structures and social organizations create the means for people to feel engaged in day to day life, have determination over their environments and create a material impact. Participation allows for a fundamental shift in values from alienation and competition to looking out for other community members. The well-being of the entire society becomes the responsibility of each person. This reflects the political tenets of the movement, creates collectivity and elicits engagement in revolutionary society and its defense.
In Chiapas the healthcare system was developed after significant and lengthy discussions with many different parts of the population, incorporating their knowledge, outlooks and concerns. For example, traditional healers were initially hesitant to share their methods but the proposal to care for the greatest amount of people possible convinced them. The final result was an overwhelmingly successful healthcare system tended by volunteer health providers, who administer traditional and Western medicine at regional hospitals. The hospitals serve community members, who, in turn, support the healthcare providers.ixx
Social organizations also serve the needs of the armed struggle, intertwining the livelihoods of the fighters and the local community. The fruits of this work are exemplified by Hezbollah. Hezbollah had created armed and social components: welfare, schools, hospitals, supporters with rocket launch rooms in Southern Lebanon. They demonstrated that they care about people’s well-being, giving credence to Hezbollah’s armed defense of the region. The ‘Israeli’ pager attacks on Hezbollah members were thus viewed as attacks on the whole population, bringing much of society, even political opponents, together in support of the organization. Immediately following the incident, one prospective eye donor, a taxi-driver named Hussein, explained his motivations to a local broadcaster. “How can I continue to see while they have been blinded?” he said. “The eye that I will donate will protect the nation.”xi
When people participate in the process of building and running social organizations, they are actively eroding the state’s administrative control. Local people become fighters without ever picking up a gun. An insurgency mobilizes support by normalizing revolutionary social organizations so that regular people use them to, for example, go to the doctor, get food and clothes, become educated, etc. Regular people become political partisans when they participate in self-governance as in the neighbor councils and grandma-run food distributions that cropped up during the Estallido Social uprising in Chile. Or, for example, in Barcelona during the Spanish revolution, neighbors were empowered to physically block bailiffs from entering their neighborhoods to conduct evictions.xii
In essence, the battle for administrative functions is what will determine if the state remains in a region or if the insurgent will be successful. Both the insurgent and the state will win legitimacy if people participate in their social organizations. If people call the police when they have a problem, they are strengthening the state, if they call revolutionaries, they strengthen the insurgency.
If the relationship is strong enough, the enemy’s attempt to undermine social organizations will be unsuccessful. The Zionist regime enters Tulkarm Refugee Camp in the West Bank of Palestine to destroy infrastructure to try to erode the support base of the resistance. Al-Quds Brigades reports that the effect is the opposite: “Once the raid is over, many people check in on us and express their gratitude that we are safe. When they look at the destruction of the camp, they just say, ‘better to lose your wealth than lose your children.’”xiii
Starting the armed struggle and ultimately maintaining a territory is based on the consent of the people in it. Truly liberatory political and social organizations are the key. If people agree with what revolutionaries are doing, they will participate in the self-governance of their neighborhoods and protect the guerrillas, if they disagree, they won’t sustain the insurgency.
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2) Fighting Forces
“The urban guerrilla’s weapons are inferior to the enemy’s, but from the moral point of view, the urban guerrilla has an undeniable superiority.”xiv – Marighella
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Guerrilla Struggle
The goal of fighting forces is to demoralize the enemy and win popular support. The armed work of an insurgency starts with guerrilla units. Due to flexibility and mobility, the guerrilla has the ability to launch attacks anywhere and disappear. Hidden amongst the population, the insurgent chooses when and where to attack, making their attacks unpredictable.
The tactical advantage is with the insurgent at this stage. The state must prove that it can retain order, whereas the insurgent only has to challenge the authority of the state. The state has to spend a lot of money to protect its assets and chase down insurgents, but insurgents can launch effective attacks very inexpensively at targets which are plentiful and in the open.
Time is on the side of the insurgent. An insurgent force can be assembled long before a single bullet is fired.xv Fighters can prepare for years or decades, striking only when the time is right. The EZLN built its forces for over ten years before attacking the state, presenting revolutionary ideas to villagers and systematically recruiting fighters. Taking time to build armed groups concertedly and growing slowly in qualitative force allows for the development of politically aligned and well-trained guerrillas, ready to take action when the time is right.
Guerrilla units are small groups consisting of only a few people, who independently launch attacks to harass the enemy. They are self-contained cells that pick their own targets, but are connected to other units through the guerrilla code, political objectives and allegiance to the overall mission. There is a role for each member of a guerrilla cell, and these roles should overlap in case one person is captured or killed. They can be assembled into columns or sections for larger attacks like ambushes if the conditions are right.
The purpose of the guerrilla forces is to make it impossible for the state to govern (by overextending the enemy, controlling the pace of the fight, for example), defend the population (by attacking state forces who brutalize people), survive (by planning attacks wisely, evading capture, setting up secure infrastructure), support political initiatives, and eventually to take and defend territory.
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Beyond theGuerrilla Struggle
Building of social organizations, the solidarity of the population and the strength of fighting forces will allow guerrillas at a certain point to establish bases and expel the state from their strongholds. Insurgent-controlled areas are those where revolutionary organizations and values prevail and the state no longer has control through administration or force. At this point the guerrilla struggle continues in new areas that are now contested, partially governed by the state.
The transition between hit and run guerrilla warfare and the security of a liberated area necessitates a delicate balance. Forces are needed to both defend the area and to contest regions beyond that territory. For revolutionary fighting forces to drive out the state and maintain a liberated territory, there needs to be a higher level of coordination, strategy and organization.
If we look at the example of the Great Dismal Swamp Maroon, it becomes clear that it is difficult to maintain an island of liberated land within enemy territory. Formerly enslaved people who escape plantations took refuge in the forbidding terrain of the Great Dismal Swamp. Here armed groups would coalesce as needed to coordinate on raids, defend their territory and free other enslaved people. At first the Maroon was impossible to broach by enemy forces due to impassible geography, but eventually the state developed the land, making it no longer functional as a refuge.
The state was able to destroy the territory because its economic and administrative structure remained intact. An insurgent movement needs to push the state’s administrative structure into disarray otherwise the enemy will be able to challenge a liberated area through means beyond armed force.
On the other hand, it is not feasible to go to war outside a liberated area without sufficient protection for that region. The Shinmin Prefecture was an anarchist region in Manchuria comprised of 2 million people. The Korean Anarchist Federation had established self-governing institutions such as mutual banks, workers cooperatives, and liberatory education. Their local militia was supplemented by guerrilla fighters and the region supported guerrilla attacks against imperial Japan in Korea from 1929-1931. However these attacks drew the ire of the Japanese, who sent their agents to infiltrate and assassinate key figures and without sufficient defense of the territory to support the guerrilla actions abroad, an invasion was the death blow.
The Great Dismal Swamp was strong on defense, while the Shinmin Prefecture was more focused on destroying their enemies abroad. Both regions had the problem of being stand alone territories where 1) the guerrillas were not hidden within a enemy-administered populations 2) the insurgents were not able to achieve the balance between defense and attack and 3) the growth of liberated territories was not commensurate with balanced defense and offense.
What is also clear from these examples is that forces defending a territory cannot maintain a guerrilla characteristic and expect longterm existence. A different formation is needed to defend a liberated area. The defense of a territory must be sufficient, and include an offensive component to challenge the terrain of the enemy. Offensive actions and their range must be chosen wisely so as not to generate more enemies than a liberated area can handle. There needs to be a high level of strategic coordination between guerrillas and defense forces of a liberated area.
While at the current moment it seems the movement is some time off from taking and holding territory, it is important to consider the structure and participation in the defense of a territory even during the nascent part of building guerrilla forces. More complex forms of organization and coordination are needed. There can be a strong connection between fighters and councils on a local level, tying defense to political will, but there also needs to be a means for fighting forces working together across broad swathes of geography, and much more concerted coordination in terms of strategy, tactics and logistical support. As fighting groups are trained and built, so should the organizational apparatus that will sustain the fight past the guerrilla stage. This stage is very advantageous tactically for the insurgent, but also the most precarious.
Holding territory can be dangerous while the state is still powerful. The guerrillas can ebb and flow from regions, establishing bases when it is politically and militarily feasible, and ceding it temporarily so as not to get into a head-on fight. Often making a stand does not play to the strengths of an insurgent force. When temporarily ceding territory, informants, sleeper cells and political organizations can remain in place to coordinate with returning guerrillas and make it hard for the state to truly regain a foothold.
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3) Political Education
Insurgencies thrive by being able to address grievances that the state will not. Anarcho-communism presents a range of salient proposals for nearly every facet of life, from collective self-governance to justice to ecology, but there will be strategic moments when putting one or two of those points forward will have the strongest, most wide-spread appeal. Picking the right points to center on at the right times is essential for rallying people toward the cause. For example, the height of the George Floyd Uprising would not be the right time to focus on ecology. The rallying point(s) can change depending on current events and can even be different for different segments of the population. An essential factor is that the points chosen should not be ones the state can fix; they must last the duration of the insurgency.
Propaganda and media serve the important role of isolating the state from the people, making it clear that the hardships people suffer are the unnecessary effects of the US government and capitalist economy. They also work in tandem with revolutionary school curriculum to reinforce a revolutionary narrative.
Revolutionary schools have the important role of helping people understand the role of the state and capitalism, familiarizing people with the history of resistance and building skills that are relevant and useful for a revolutionary society. All subjects taught in these schools are oriented towards creating a better society for all people. For example, Zapatista education provides knowledge about agronomy which helps people in Chiapas become self-sufficient. Or Black Panther schools recounted the history of the United states from the perspective of their communities.
It is impossible for people to get behind a cause when they don’t understand the basic political spectrum. People in the United States are heavily propagandized and most have received poor education. It is essential to build up people’s political understanding and inform them about the histories of oppression and resistance. Political education can take place through multiple mediums such as revolutionary schools, mass propaganda and the guerrilla struggle itself.
Organizing can work as propaganda to draw clear battle lines and create conditions for the struggle. For example, to demonstrate the necessity of guerrilla struggle, revolutionaries can launch a community campaign. Black Liberation Army founder, Dhoruba Bin Wahad, has suggested calling for community control of the police, which is a logical proposal to help solve their rampant murders of black and brown people. However it is a request that the state will never meet. The proposal functions to organize communities of opposition on a local level and the intransigence of the state demonstrates the necessity for revolutionary defense forces to step in.
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4) Revolutionary Culture
A fundamental cultural shift is essential for revolutionary work in the US. Political and social organizations and fighting forces embody this culture, creating goodwill within local communities.xvi
Revolutionary culture requires a collective approach to the struggle. Political actors should be selfless, stand up, steadfast, hold true to their word and show respect for themselves and those who are most disadvantaged in bourgeois society. These qualities are fundamental for achieving a society where every member cares for and is responsible for all the others. The welfare of those who are the most vulnerable become the obligation of all. A leftist revolutionary movement demonstrates a commitment to life and community.
Revolutionary culture runs counter to acculturation in the US, which has indoctrinated people to act against their self-interest. People are socialized from a young age to distrust their neighbors, turn their backs on people in need and look out for themselves before anyone else. This may be the hardest aspect to overcome for developing an effective movement in the US.
The evidence of US culture permeating the movement lies in the thousands of failed political groups, the constant fractures and insurmountable conflicts between comrades, people using the movement to fundraise or do research for their careers, individuals demanding social credit for their revolutionary contributions, an ideological emphasis on isolated, personal initiatives to drive political work and political groups whose policy it is to instrumentalize people in order to achieve their goals.
It is important for people involved in revolutionary work to shed the alienating and competitive ways that have been forced on people by the US regime, in order to build effective collaboration and trust. Cooperation and trust are the bedrock of the the movement, holding it together through difficult situations, and demonstrating the types of relationships that unite a liberatory political project. When people join the movement, they will be acculturated to cooperating with each other.
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5) Material Considerations for Success
Infrastructure requirements include access to and control over communications, food, finances, arms, transportation, means to disseminate information and the ability to supply resources to insurgents and the population.
Logistic and communication networks, independent of the state, serves fighting forces and the population. They are set up with the consideration that the state will try to surveil and disrupt, fully understanding that removing pipelines of resources and information is a good way to incapacitate the insurgent force.
Arms and tactics training are key. This can happen with a supportive army. For example, in 1982 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) set up a training camp in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon in response to ‘Israel’s’ invasion.xvii Many insurgent groups such as PFLP, Hezbollah, Asala, the Red Brigades and the PKK trained there.Armed training can also happen within the army of the enemy state. Many of the great militants of the Black Liberation Army, like Kuwasi Balagoon were trained by the US army.
Intelligence on state capacity, enemy figures in key position, arsenal and plans of action is essential. Infiltration of the police and armed forces can be established prior to the initiation of the armed struggle and provide pertinent information. The state has contingency plans for crises and responding to attacks, which are readily available. Insurgents use this information to set traps to use their own plans against them.
An important part of a revolutionary insurgent struggle is that it intends to build a different economic system. This alternative system begins at the outset of a struggle as a way of circulating resources to those who are participants. However money will certainly be necessary. Funding can be planned well in advance of the beginning of the armed struggle, diversifying sources and obscuring where they are held. Funding can come in the form of external support, draining that of the enemy, and community support.
With these factors in mind, it is clear why an analysis of multiple insurgencies suggests that the likelihood of success will increase based on 1) the remoteness from the center of the counterinsurgent’s power 2) the ability for the insurgent to move across an international border 3) international alliances and 4) a local administrative vacuum. In consideration of the physical demands of an insurgency a temperate climate and a spread out population add an advantage.xviii While all these conditions may not necessarily be met in every case where political organizations form, they are useful to consider when launching a struggle.
6) Strategic Timing
An insurgency has the tactical advantage of being able to wait, building up sufficient forces and popular support and striking at a time and location of its choosing. Training and organization can be developed to a high degree before the armed struggle begins.
A crisis or weakening of the state is helpful for launching an insurgency. For example, anti-colonial insurgencies didn’t succeed before 1938, when World War II weakened European states. The insurgent can wait for a moment when the US is tied up in military conflicts and has exhausted its resources, or is lacking popular support. A war on its own soil against an external enemy could, for example, provide the right conditions. Or engaging in multiple armed conflicts abroad would weaken the US state and diminish its international standing, creating an opening for the insurgent.
Strategic timing does not just refer to selecting an appropriate time for the initiation of armed action, but also choices made throughout the conflict.
Once armed action begins, it is important to keep up the pacing and pressure. The state will have the strongest chance of stamping out an insurgency during the initial period, the guerrilla struggle, due to functioning administrative control. To quash an insurgency, the state needs to arrest guerrillas, regain the trust of the population and instate compliant leaders through elections. For this work the state depends on pre-existing civil structures like the police, non-profits, local representatives and social services. This administrative power is very effective at stifling rebellions. The momentum of the George Floyd Uprising was successfully derailed by coordinated civil actions including elected representatives speaking out at marches, legal proceedings being issued against Derek Chauvin and city-to-city coordinated police action against demonstrators.xix
It is important for the insurgent to make the state’s civic bodies unable to function, drawing the conflict into a military terrain. The US Army Marine Counterinsurgency Manual confirms: “Controlling the level of violence is a key aspect of the struggle. A high level of violence often benefits insurgents. The societal insecurity that violence brings discourages or precludes nonmilitary organizations, particularly [administrative proxies of the counter-insurgent]”, which the Manual identifies as, “diplomats, police, politicians, humanitarian aid workers, contractors, and local leaders.”xx The guerrilla, Carlos Marighella confirms, “The role of the urban guerrilla, in order to win the support of the population, is to continue fighting…heightening the disastrous situation within which the government must act.”xxi
Marghiella also emphasizes that, “keeping in mind the interests of the people,” during this process is essential. The insurgent must precisely balance the need to combatively overwhelm the administrative capacity of the state with the need to maintain the goodwill of the population. During the early stages, the insurgent can control the pacing and tenor of the fight and can time it to best suit the social and strategic conditions at each moment.
However launching the armed attack is not just about watching and waiting for an opening, but creating the conditions for the struggle to flourish. It is essential to undermine US civic institutions, eroding popular faith in them, sowing dissent within their ranks and drawing people toward revolutionary social organizations. Increasing distrust in US civic bodies is not a difficult proposal. With dissatisfaction already quite high, insurgent social organizations have fertile ground to grow.
The considerations about strategic timing demonstrate that an insurgency requires a lengthy investment of time. From comprehensive training and research to creating the ideal social conditions for the armed struggle, it is a longterm commitment on the part of the insurgent.
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Who would support an insurgency
In counterinsurgency theory the population is broken down into a perhaps overly simplistic, yet useful, formula: an active minority on the side of the state, an active minority on the side of the insurgent, and a large group of people in the middle that want to go about their daily lives with reasonable stability. Victory will theoretically tilt in favor of the side that can provide the better life.xxii
Currently, without an institutionalized left, and with the lack of general political understanding, the politics of the center produce an acceptance for a brutal and degraded life. It is impossible to talk about a war for the population without acknowledging that the political tenor in the US is by and large extremely right wing.
The question is how to move people further to the left. Part of the answer lies in the armed struggle itself. Armed action from the radical left moves the center further left. It galvanizes people, forcing them to take sides and it creates a new pole of far left politics. When the seriousness of the demands is expressed by the requisite force to achieve it, it is more convincing than rhetoric.
This precedent is reflected in the boom in membership in the Black Panther Party following their armed protest on the floor of the California state Capitol. It can also be observed in the public assistance for armed struggle groups in the 1960’s-1980’s, and the support of radicals in the US for the events of October 7th in Palestine.
Furthermore, during uprisings, sympathy for radical change becomes far more widespread. The George Floyd Uprising elicited support from many sectors of society. Both potential political actors and unpoliticized people were won over by the widespread demonstration of popular sentiment and the virulence of the uprisings. As demonstrators began challenging the police, support for their initiative grew and acceptance of the police fell dramatically.
Being very clear and open about armed struggle can quickly bring in participants. In Chiapas, the EZLN started their work by explicitly building a guerrilla force and clearly expressing their intention to initiate an armed struggle to potential supporters. This drew people towards the struggle by demonstrating a commitment to success and means for people to effect a material change within their communities. There already exists an impetus to take armed action against colonial adversaries, like Willem van Spronsen’s attack on ICE. These public displays demonstrate a groundswell of popular sentiment that could be organized into a cohesive force.
While armed action pushes prevailing opinion further left, armed action complemented by social organizations becomes a thoroughly convincing force. Social programs indicate the genuine intention of political actors to better people’s lives and facilitate people joining the effort.
The combination of armed struggle and social organizations counteract the feeling of helplessness that the state wants to project on people. In the US, there are many communities that are targeted or sidelined by the state, but no one wants to accept a victim role. In fact, this is a dynamic that helps the state control people, and also one that the non-profit industry preys on. Creating an alternative where people can live with dignity, cultivating a culture of respect and creating the capacity to win is key for building self-actualization through struggle. The genuine self-sufficiency of revolutionary communities is an attractive proposal to people who have historically been oppressed.
One of the greatest examples of US brutality is the prison system. It is also the most concentrated population of politicized people in the country. This legacy is thanks to prison organizers like the Nation of Islam, George Jackson, the Black Panthers and incarcerated members of armed struggle groups like the United Freedom Front and the Black Liberation Army. The teachings of comrades from previous generations set the stage for continued work in this vein and for prison uprisings like Attica, Lucasville, and the Vaughn Prison Uprising and the multitude of prison strikes set in motion by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and many others. People locked up and terrorized daily by the state forces understand the force required to stop them. The proliferation of George Jackson style study groups in many prisons today, some named after him, is testament to this continued political legacy.
Many of those organizing inside would like to participate in movements on the outside but have to deal with the very real problem of securing housing, food, etc. once released. The infrastructure inherent in building an insurgency has the capacity of creating a support structure for these militants, as well as counteracting the state’s intention to rob people of their means of survival. In revolutionary Spain, for example, it wasn’t just liberated fighters reuniting with the battalions who broke open prisons; many people they had politicized joined as well.xxiii
People in prison are an acute example of people who support an insurgency, but there are many others who are routinely terrorized like young people of color, migrants, people lacking money and resources and politicized young people. An insurgent strategy offers a path towards stability and respect.
It is clear is that through an insurgent struggle not everyone will shift further to the left or change their views. While armed leftist action brings the political center toward the left, it also serves to further entrench elements of the right in its anti-social positions. There will always be the minority that supports reactionary objectives. There are two points to consider: Balkanization and suppression.
A common misconception in revolutionary work is that the entire territory of the US needs to be liberated. This is a difficult proposal given many people’s right-wing views and vastness of the geography. A more realistic idea is akin to the proposal of the Republic of New Africa to section off a part of the South – a Balkanization of the territory occupied by the United states.
There remains the question: how protect the movement from actors with a right wing political ideology. First, getting people to sympathize and participate in the movement will create fewer enemies. While there is a right-wing political bent currently throughout the US, this should not be considered a static fact. It is important to consider that the many communities that vocalize right wing views didn’t always do so and do so now because of concerted propaganda efforts on the part of state actors. Being a proactive political movement means engaging in activities and messaging that will effect a change in this failing perspective. Yet it is important to note at this point that reactionaries should not be the focus of efforts. Propaganda efforts can be far reaching enough that they happen to reach right wing people, driving a wedge between those who are deeply racist, xenophobic, etc, and those who actually care about others.
The ideologically hardened right wingers are essentially enemy combatants. Whether they are currently active is not so much a question. If allowed to remain in a territory, they may be or could become agents of the counterinsurgent. They must be thoroughly disabled and removed from liberated territories. It is important to begin considering how to deal with these factions from the perspective of an abolitionist movement. Complete annihilation is essential.
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Why an insurgency would succeed in the US
The strengths of the US become its weaknesses in the face of an insurgency.
The US is hubristically proud of its military might. Military spending far outpaces any other nation, with its spending in 2020 amounting to the same as the next nine highest nations. Equipment and tactics developed in the military are deployed in local police departments as well. From SWAT teams to the FBI to the Department of Homeland Security to militarized police, local residents are bombarded with highly technological and militarized state force.
Within the dynamics of asymmetrical warfare, these are the conditions where the insurgent has the advantage. A more technologically advanced and equipment-laden enemy is too cumbersome to counter guerrilla fighters. Complex apparatuses become a hindrance and the top-down structure can’t pivot quickly enough. Even the Marines agree, “A modern military force capable of waging war against a large conventional force may find itself ill-prepared for a ‘small’ war against a lightly equipped guerrilla force.”xxiv Meticulously recorded videos of the resistance in Palestine show fighters emerging from tunnels to plant bombs on tanks that are not equipped to counter such a close and agile combatant. The modern military is weighed down by its own equipment and structure. Tanks become lumbering death traps. The tactical advantage is with the fighters who don’t have their assets in the open and have the ability for evasion. An insurgent has the capacity to remain invisible on its home terrain and arise at unexpected points to attack and quickly disappear.
An insurgency is cheap for the insurgents, while it is expensive for the state. To appear in control, the state must do its best to stamp out fighters, which takes a great deal of resources, manpower and equipment. Insurgents can use cheaply made weapons to precipitate a great expense for the state. For example, drones made from styrofoam are able to evade detection or tiny drone boats in the Red Sea can damage an aircraft carrier many more times their size and cost. Handmade explosives have the capacity to destroy a tank. Small, cheap and effective devices make it difficult for the counterinsurgent to avoid attacks.
Counterinsurgency doctrine of the Army and Marines is considered to be the most forward thinking treatise on this type of military strategy. Even with lessons learned from military debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US doctrine still demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding about the motivations of an insurgent. Given the extreme lack of empathy for people’s lives, it is seemingly impossible for military strategists to fathom that others may be driven by genuine concern for their fellow humansxxv. The lack of compassion for the people coupled with a misreading of their adversary makes it difficult for the institutions of the US state to respond appropriately to challenges.
For example, in Afghanistan, US soldiers stationed in Restrepo held a weekly meeting with local elders meant to create connections to win them over and solicit their help routing out insurgents. When questioned by an elder about someone they detained, the soldier in charge became frustrated and finally exclaimed, “You’re not understanding that I don’t fucking care!”xxvi This poignant example illustrates the overall military culture, not to mention US culture, that demonstrates a fundamental disinterest in effective counterinsurgency tactics, even when they are in its best interest.
For its own sake, the counterinsurgent should not respond to guerrilla attacks with overwhelming force, as it risks alienating people and driving them further from its cause.
For example, Safiya Bukhari astutely noted that the New York Police Department made her a member of Black Panther Party. Bukhari was a middle class college student who got involved in the movement after she was arrested for defending a Black Panther from police harassment. She learned from this episode that she had no rights, which galvanized her to join the Party and eventually the Black Liberation Army.
Trump’s execution of Michael Reinoehl in cold blood when he was on the run for shooting a fascist, South Carolina bringing back the firing squad for ‘legal’ executionsxxvii, the popularity of the shooting of a healthcare CEO, the impunity of police to shoot people of color, masked ICE agents tearing families apart, all show that the US state is dead set on losing the war for the population. The overriding indifference of the US government to recognize the humanity of people, particularly people of color, within its borders creates a situation where people want to rid themselves of its hegemony.
The oligarchic nature of the US state, coupled with massive wealth disparity creates the potential ground for class war.xxviii The US’s dependence on capitalist infrastructure further exacerbates its problems. This is a major issue for the state in the face of internal armed struggle, and a huge field of potential for the insurgent. Without a social safety net, the population in the US is vulnerable to natural and economic catastrophes. This is quite apparent with the supply-chain disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic or the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Even day to day social problems, like lack of access to medical care, are severe, creating questions about the state’s ability to administer its population.
The very existence of an insurgency necessitates the development of functional and revolutionary supply chains – a direct challenge to the administration of the state. This is understood by US government and the reason why it felt threatened by Black Panther Party breakfast program, ambulance services, health clinics and education programs. Yet its policy of deprivation continues, creating a need for what insurgents have to offer.
Currently, western civilization is catapulting itself towards impending demise. The failure of Ukraine to gain the upper hand against Russia despite the US pouring money into the conflict and the success of the Axis of Resistance against ‘Israel’, particularly Ansar Allah’s defeat of the US Navy, demonstrate that Western military might is waning. The rise of anti-colonial, anti-West movements in the Sahel and West Asia would not have been possible without this weakening. The BRICS alignment is forcing the West to reckon with a new geopolitical order. Seemingly grasping at straws to try to retain its dominant position, the US has been threatening to start a plethora of wars without clear ability to succeed. Furthermore, internal politics in the US have never been more contentious and divisive. With the rise of fascism, and it’s conspiracy-prone base, those who care about people and approach social organization logically are looking for alternatives. The perfect conditions for an insurgency are amassing: the US is waning as a global power, it hosts a wildly divided population and has no plan in place for people’s survival.
The potential success of an insurgent struggle is greater now than ever before. The global order will look very different in the span of a few years to decades. The fall of the brutal hegemony of the US could lead to a restructuring of political and economic relations around the globe. It would be ideal if new forms of society had a liberatory characteristic and to do that comrades in the US can start laying the groundwork for an insurgency.
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How to start building an insurgency
The first step is to set up political organization(s). Members should be aligned in terms of ideology, strategy and, most importantly, around revolutionary rather than radical or reformist goals.
Participants can form either one large organization or facilitate a network of aligned groups. The choice between a network or organization depends on the dispositions of those involved and currently existing formations. Political groups should agree on a structure for their organization and roles of the members, while networks should agree on how organizations will communicate effectively with each other and roles of each group. Both should agree on revolutionary outcomes, codes of behavior, political outlook and ways of measuring success
The political position of this proposal is intended for the revolutionary left, following an anti-capitalist and anti-colonial perspective. Political groups should be fully committed to the destruction of the United States and its racist history and culture. The guiding question that should inform debates is: what would improve the lives of those who have been and are currently most disadvantaged by white supremacist American society: people of color and those who lack money and resources?
Political organizations can focus their work on building militant, political and economic infrastructure. To do so they should start developing social organizations and fighting forces. There are two ways to start: 1) identify the material needs of an insurgency and comrades with the skills to create those organizations and 2) take stock of groups and resources that already exist that could be aligned to further develop the strategic goals.
While social organizations can be based on the skills and abilities of current members, they shouldn’t be exclusively determined on that basis. Consideration should be given to needs of the fighters and needs of community members. For example, some basics needed to support an insurgency include: logistics and infrastructure, communication networks, sources for food and goods for living, community decision making bodies, medical care, and revolutionary education. Likewise, political organizations can consider the acute needs of the people in their areas.
Political education is a foundational aspect of developing the struggle because propaganda and classes can bring in new comrades. Political classes about revolutionary struggle and ideas can attract people who would like to join the political organization, and practical workshops can give them the skills to build out social organizations. Classes and schools can be both for potential organization members and for broader society.
The intention for the social programs is that they should be of far better quality than those of capitalist society. For example, food should be more delicious and wholesome; medical care should be more preventative, caring and accessible; classes should be conducted with the highest level of preparation and research, showing respect for all involved.
There are many revolutionary projects that exist currently that translate well to an insurgent strategy. Food distributions can expand their operations and be further developed to become supplied by comrade farms, for example, increasing self-sufficiency. Conflict resolution groups could be made available to the public to create a body for justice outside of the court system. Medics could receive further training to help build out community health programs and provide medical care for fighters. Always resist the temptation to work with nonprofits. They are structurally aligned with the state.
Even though much groundwork needs to be done before fighting forces start their work, it would be ideal to recruit and train as many people as possible and as early as possible to be ready to act when the time is right. To do this correctly requires a lengthy process. A few members of political organizations can be tasked with doing this. It is important to keep a separation between fighting forces and social organizations.
Building out the fighting forces must be done with the highest level of discretion. Only comrades who are well known to the recruiter should be invited to participate. Comrades with combat experience can train others. This can happen at ranges but also it will be useful to find and utilize surreptitious training areas. A training program for skills and study can de developed to make sure fighters have the skills they need to do actions and resist entrapment. These skills should be practiced regularly.
Many nighttime affinity groups currently exist whose structure and actions mirror that of a guerrilla unit, as a guerrilla warrior doesn’t have to wait for orders to be able to make decisions.xxix They are relatively independent, politically well-versed, conduct hit and run strikes, are fluid and flexible, secure because they don’t necessarily have to know who comprises other groups and able to produce their own propaganda materials. These groups can be a source of fighters.
It is important however to note the differences between nighttime groups and a developed guerrilla struggle. The extensive tunnel networks in Gaza and Vietnam, for example, could not have been constructed without major coordination and organization. Fighting forces need to decide on a secure structure and a means for coordination from the start. Guerrillas don’t need to necessarily know who is in other cells but should have a way to communicate. There should also be a way to communicate between political organizations and fighting forces that should includes ways of determining a greater war strategy. Its important from the outset to also develop plans for sizing up formations in the later stages of the struggle.
Field Marshall DC counsels: “In organizing self-defense groups… the most important consideration is whether or not the person to be incorporated into the group understands fully that what he or she is doing is the right thing to do.”xxx Those who hold guns and are fighting the state should embody the most stand up characteristics of a revolutionary. Fighters should be motivated by the political outcomes, embody what it means to be a political actor and carry a full commitment to the struggle because, just like all political organizations, fighting forces should be a prime example of their own liberatory politics. This is conveyed by how guerrillas treat each other and the people, the types of actions taken and the messaging around actions. Independent motivation is also important because guerrilla units need to act without direction, deciding their own missions and developing their own propaganda.
Finding resolute and committed revolutionaries to become guerrillas is essential, but also the act of participating in revolutionary war builds the characters of those involved. “[T]o be an assailant or terrorist is a quality that ennobles any honorable man because it is an act worthy of a revolutionary engaged in armed struggle against the shameful military dictatorship and its monstrosities.” (Marighella) The sheer engagement in fighting back against the brutal state, and the motivation of love for oppressed people, is enriching for the participants. Even more so, through the participation in collective armed action, fighters develop qualities such as steadfastness and circumspection, which are ideal qualities for people participating in a revolutionary society. The necessary collectivity of an armed unit increases the fighters’ collaborative spirit and ability to think about the whole.
Selflessness is an important quality for a revolutionary, but it is not to indicate a rush towards death. The next sentence that follows the opening Marighella quote for this section is, “Thanks to it, the urban guerrilla can accomplish his principle duty, which is to attack and survive.”xxxi This is not just pragmatic, being that there are far less insurgents than there are of the enemy, but more importantly, it reflects a value system spread throughout all the insurgent forces and organizations. The well-being of the overall community must be synonymous with fighting prowess. Revolutionary culture is a culture of life.
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Revolutionary Culture
The tenure of revolutionary work is presented to the greater public through the culture of political actors. Revolutionary culture should be built on a foundation of participants who are humble, genuine, true to their words and share a longterm commitment to the political struggle. This culture should permeate every activity of a political organization.
All members should be clear, open, honest and hold themselves to the highest standards in terms of their treatment of others. It is important for all political actors to evaluate their motivations: are they doing political work for the sake of their ego, do they have insecurities or are they dealing with mental health challenges? There is role for everyone in developing an insurgency and it is essential that everyone is very honest with themselves and others about their abilities, limitations and personal challenges to know what their role should be. This self-knowledge is essential. Marighella suggests that, “[Guerrilla warfare] is a pledge which the guerrilla makes to himself. When he can no longer face the difficulties, or if he knows that he lacks the patience to wait, then it is better for him to relinquish his role before he betrays his pledge.”xxxii
In order to begin developing revolutionary culture collectively, it is important to forge agreements on expected behaviors of comrades towards each other and towards the public, their commitments to the organization, what qualities to look for in people who want to join and the process and expectations for people leaving the organization.
Collectivity may be atypical for anyone who was acculturated in the US, but active steps can be taken to develop this skill and set a new standard for revolutionary work. Look to members who did not grow up in the US for advice on this matter. They will often have a better model for sociability. Conduct active listening workshops where members practice hearing each other out on matters that don’t have high stakes.
A forum for discussing and resolving disagreements is essential. Conflicts can be headed off by principled critique/self-critique sessions, and handled after the fact by mediation teams, for example. Any critique that is issued should come from a place of trust, commitment and belief that the other member is also committed and open to change.
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Funding
In the beginning stages multiple and diverse sources of funding should be established. Political work may be supported through monetary and in-kind donations, self-sustaining projects, international funding, kidnapping, extortion and expropriation of the enemy class.
Social organizations can be sustained through donations of the participants and supporters. For example, a school or collective kitchen can take sliding scale or monthly donations.
Comrade businesses can have a dual use of making money for comrades but also, when needed, offering logistical support. For example, companies that use trucks or warehouses will one day be useful for storing and moving materiel. Members who have a clean record can apply for a Federal Firearms License in order to sell arms for their livelihood but also offer a friendly place for comrades to acquire them at cost.
Social organizations can be developed for self-sustainability like growing food, producing clothes, building internet mesh networks, weapons or fuel production. As the US economy continues its downward trajectory, these resources will be necessary not just for supporting the fighters but for broader society.
International support can be sought. Ideologically close allies are ideal for trade and funding. There are many enemies of the US who would be eager to support an insurgency in the US but this must be weighed out with the potential of becoming their proxy.
Kidnapping, extortion and expropriation can be used with caution. They should have the dual purpose of putting pressure on the enemy while also gaining funds. These endeavors should be undertaken in the safest way possible, when the odds are stacked in favor of those doing the actions. It is important not to get too many fighters caught up by activities that should support the growth of the insurgency. For example, digital bank robberies are safer and potentially more lucrative than ones in person or extortion can be based out of another country to decrease the risk.
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Summary
- Decide on the goals, commitments and community agreements of the political organization(s).
- Determine organizational structure, means of communication and a plan for growth.
- Create a plan for developing revolutionary culture and conflict resolution.
- Assign specific duties to each member, making sure these duties overlap.
- Develop a method for bringing in new members.
- Develop a metric for measuring success.
- Develop a multi-pronged fundraising strategy, with proposed expansion for different stages of the struggle.
- Identify existing social organizations and decide which essential ones need to be developed.
- Develop a plan for recruiting and training fighters.
- Decide on a structure for units.
- Decide on a means for secure communication.
- Develop a means to confer between political groups and fighting cells on political direction and strategy.
- Decide what issues to focus on for widespread propaganda.
- Develop social organizations.
- Members with key skills and knowledge start building agreed upon social organizations.
- Assigned members speak with already existing projects about joining forces.
- Offer political education for potential new members and/or the public.
- Develop a comprehensive educational program.
- Have a clear system in place for new members to join.
- Recruit fighters.
- Develop a training regimen and assign members to carry out this program.
- Put material needs in place: safe houses, armories, training areas, workshops.
- Develop a plan for weapons procurement.
Until we meet
Setting out to build an insurgency in the US from the current state of the movement might seem like a monumental task but it is important to keep some precedents in mind.
Every organization and every armed struggle had to start from nothing. Many began in even less favorable conditions and with much less support. Know that it is possible to fight through extreme adversity when our organizations are strong, and always remember that it is possible to create the best conditions for the movement.
The situation in the US makes it ripe for political change. The US is flailing politically and economically. People are searching for solutions for basic survival and want to see the development of a capable struggle. Concerted and functional organization creates confidence in people and an insurgency has the capacity to turn a sustainable and humanizing society into a reality.
The tides of political change have been decisively shifting within the last 20 years. The veneer of civil society has eroded, making activism essentially useless. Where previously many on the far left have vocalized a more tempered political vision, now they are taking their cues from the most serious insurgent forces like the Resistance in Palestine. The fact that this is one of the last Western colonial bastions materially connects our struggles, giving political actors psychological fortitude and demonstrating how to fight a more militarized enemy. People in the movement in the US are no longer presenting themselves as radicals, but as revolutionaries, a fundamental perspective necessary to transform a wavering movement into a solid and impenetrable insurgency.
We are never too few and it is never too late to start building. Our determination and steadfastness will lead to our success.
This text is written with love for fellow revolutionaries and belief in our collective capacity. Though many will never know who wrote this document, we convey our respect for everyone who chooses this path.
See you on the battlefield!
Written with love by Sofia Valencia
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Further reading
Warfare Manuals
The Art of War, Sun Tzu
On Organizing Urban Guerrilla Units, Field Marshall D.C.
Handbook for Volunteers of the Irish Republican Army
On Guerrilla Warfare, Mao Tse-Tung
Guerrilla Warfare, Che Guevara
The Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, Carlos Marighella
The Life and Death of the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front, Max Res
Experiences in the Struggle
My Life in the Black Panther Party, Field Marshall D.C.
Maroon the Implacable: The Collected Writings of Russell Maroon Shoatz
Democratic Autonomy in Northern Kurdistan
The Fire and the Word: A History of the Zapatista Movement, Gloria Muñoz Ramírez
Mau Mau From Within a book by Karari Njama, Donald L Barnett
The War Before: A True Life Story, Safiya Bukhari
Counterinsurgency
The Other Side of COIN Kristian Williams
Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, David Galula
Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam, John A. Nagl
The U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, David Petraeus
Warfighting, US Marine Corps
Theory
The Philosophy of the Urban Guerrilla, Abraham Guillen
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Further reading
iUS Marine Corps. Warfighting, 2018. iiThe People’s Defence Forces (Kurdish: Hêzên Parastina Gel, HPG) iiiWilliams, Kristian. The Other Side of COIN: Counterinsurgency and Community Policing, 2011. ivAxîn, Tekoşin. Understanding the self-sacrificial fighters marching to victory and changing the course of history, 2024. https://anfenglishmobile.com/features/understanding-the-self-sacrificial-fighters-marching-to-victory-and-changing-the-course-of-history-76052 vNelson, Stanley. Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, 2015. viBlack Liberation Media. Soldiers Stories, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Tz0ZEiprQ vii Galula, David. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, 1964. pp 63.viii TATORT Kurdistan. Democratic Autonomy in Northern Kurdistan, 2013.
ix Villarreal, Ginna. Health Care Organized from Below: The Zapatista Experience, 2007. https://www.narconews.com/Issue44/article2502.html
x Warfield, Cian. Understanding Zapatista Autonomy: An Analysis of Healthcare and Education, 2014. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/cian-warfield-understanding-zapatista-autonomy
xi Abouzeid, Rania. Are Israel and Hezbollah Headed Toward an “Open-Ended Battle”? 2024. https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-lede/are-israel-and-hezbollah-headed-toward-an-open-ended-battle?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us
xii Ealham, Chris. Anarchism and the City, 2010. https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/chris-ealham-anarchism-and-the-city
xiii Hanaysha, Shatha.‘Our freedom is close’: why these young Palestinian men choose armed resistance, 2024. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/10/our-freedom-is-close-why-these-young-palestinian-men-choose-armed-resistance/
xiv Marighella, Carlos. Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, 1969. xv Galula, David. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice,1964. xvi Tse-Tung, Mao. On Guerrilla Warfare, 1937. xvii Ali, Mohanad Hage. Hezbollah and Syria From 1982 to 2011: Power Points Defining the Syria-Hezbollah Relationship, 2019, pp. 3-8. xviii Galula, David. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, 1964. xix Schoots-McAlpine, Martin. Anatomy of a counter-insurgency: Efforts to undermine the George Floyd uprising. 2020 xx Petraeus, David. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, 2006. pp 54. xxi Marighella, Carlos. The Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, 1969. xxii Galula, David. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice, 1964. pp 53. xxiii The Iron Column. A Day Mournful and Overcast, 1937. https://files.libcom.org/files/Uncontrollable-A_day_mournful-read.pdf xxiv US Marine Corps. Warfighting, pp 2-7. xxv Petraeus, David. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual, 2006. pp 27-28. xxvi Hetherington, Tim and Sebastian Junger. Restrepo, 2010. 40:58. https://watchdocumentaries.com/restrepo/ xxvii Sottile, Zoe, Devon M. Sayers, Michelle Watson and Ryan Young,. South Carolina inmate executed by firing squad for first time in US since 2010, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/us/brad-sigmon-south-carolina-firing-squad-execution xxviii Galula, David. Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice,1964. xxix Devillé, Jozef. No Friends but the Mountains, 2018. 13:30. https://vimeo.com/257718365 xxx Field Marshall D.C. On Organizing Urban Guerrilla Units, 1970. xxxi Marighella, Carlos. The Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, 1969. xxxii Marighella, Carlos. The Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla, 1969.https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=23059
#anarchism #anarchocommunism #antiColonialism #antiImperialism #burkinaFaso #communism #counterinsurgency #guineaBissau #insurgency #palestine #resistance #revolution #westernHegemony
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Tomorrow's soup is Chicken and Dumplings from the Magnolia Table cookbook. I've made it for my mom a couple times and she really likes it. I've never had it but it looks tasty. I'm a little worried about texture issues with the dumplings, but I'm still willing to try it.
My mom hurt her ribs coughing (she had a cold last week and she has osteoporosis so sometimes she cracks a rib coughing) and is in a lot of pain. She could really use a good meal.
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This is it.
Today I’ll finish the targeted edit on the novella. How wonderful that I also have a wicked cold. No problem. I’ve faced worse, like drafting with Covid last December.
How about, drafting during a relapse of my HP in November of 2016? Yeah, that was a fun time.
So, I’ll finish my edit, cold or no cold, and smile in my satisfaction—while consuming a lot of soup.
Be everwell.
#AmWriting #WritingCommunity #AmWritingFantasy #Fantasy #FantasyFiction #Fiction
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Last time (see parent post) the tourists actually recommended the spicy pork bone soup, but considering that scraping meat take time (and eating it otherwise is ugly in public), this time I ordered spicy tofu soup instead (rice is included but not pictured).
上次（请见上文）两个游客给我推荐的是麻辣猪骨汤，不过考虑到把肉刮下来耗时耗力（直接啃又多不检点呀），这次就点了麻辣豆腐汤（有饭，没拍出来）。
#SundubuJjigae (w/ #Bulgogi Beef), $14.95
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Last time (see parent post) the tourists actually recommended the spicy pork bone soup, but considering that scraping meat take time (and eating it otherwise is ugly in public), this time I ordered spicy tofu soup instead (rice is included but not pictured).
上次（请见上文）两个游客给我推荐的是麻辣猪骨汤，不过考虑到把肉刮下来耗时耗力（直接啃又多不检点呀），这次就点了麻辣豆腐汤（有饭，没拍出来）。
#SundubuJjigae (w/ #Bulgogi Beef), $14.95
-
Last time (see parent post) the tourists actually recommended the spicy pork bone soup, but considering that scraping meat take time (and eating it otherwise is ugly in public), this time I ordered spicy tofu soup instead (rice is included but not pictured).
上次（请见上文）两个游客给我推荐的是麻辣猪骨汤，不过考虑到把肉刮下来耗时耗力（直接啃又多不检点呀），这次就点了麻辣豆腐汤（有饭，没拍出来）。
#SundubuJjigae (w/ #Bulgogi Beef), $14.95
-
Last time (see parent post) the tourists actually recommended the spicy pork bone soup, but considering that scraping meat take time (and eating it otherwise is ugly in public), this time I ordered spicy tofu soup instead (rice is included but not pictured).
上次（请见上文）两个游客给我推荐的是麻辣猪骨汤，不过考虑到把肉刮下来耗时耗力（直接啃又多不检点呀），这次就点了麻辣豆腐汤（有饭，没拍出来）。
#SundubuJjigae (w/ #Bulgogi Beef), $14.95
-
Last time (see parent post) the tourists actually recommended the spicy pork bone soup, but considering that scraping meat take time (and eating it otherwise is ugly in public), this time I ordered spicy tofu soup instead (rice is included but not pictured).
上次（请见上文）两个游客给我推荐的是麻辣猪骨汤，不过考虑到把肉刮下来耗时耗力（直接啃又多不检点呀），这次就点了麻辣豆腐汤（有饭，没拍出来）。
#SundubuJjigae (w/ #Bulgogi Beef), $14.95
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Here's a recipe I came up with when I was on a #Macrobiotic diet. It's a hearty and warming soup on cool nights!
Lentil Soup with Kombo Seaweed
The most expensive ingredient in this soup is the seaweed, but if kept dry, a package of dried Maine Sea Vegetables lasts a long time. Doesn't have to be Kombu -- I've used other seaweeds successfully. Other than the initial Seaweed investment, this stuff is cheap, filling and has gotten me through many a fallow period during my Boston days.
8 oz lentils
6 inch (15 cm) strip of kombu seaweed (or any other seaweed)
2 onions, diced
2 pints water (or more if needed)
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 lb carrots, diced
Pinch of sea salt or 1 tablespoon tamari/shoyu soya sauce
Brown rice elbow pasta (optional)1. Rinse the lentils.
2. Place the kombu on the bottom of a heavy soup pot and cover with the onion, lentils and water.
3. Cover and bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes
4. After 20 minutes add the remaining vegetables and the seasoning. -
Here's a recipe I came up with when I was on a #Macrobiotic diet. It's a hearty and warming soup on cool nights!
Lentil Soup with Kombo Seaweed
The most expensive ingredient in this soup is the seaweed, but if kept dry, a package of dried Maine Sea Vegetables lasts a long time. Doesn't have to be Kombu -- I've used other seaweeds successfully. Other than the initial Seaweed investment, this stuff is cheap, filling and has gotten me through many a fallow period during my Boston days.
8 oz lentils
6 inch (15 cm) strip of kombu seaweed (or any other seaweed)
2 onions, diced
2 pints water (or more if needed)
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 lb carrots, diced
Pinch of sea salt or 1 tablespoon tamari/shoyu soya sauce
Brown rice elbow pasta (optional)1. Rinse the lentils.
2. Place the kombu on the bottom of a heavy soup pot and cover with the onion, lentils and water.
3. Cover and bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes
4. After 20 minutes add the remaining vegetables and the seasoning. -
Here's a recipe I came up with when I was on a #Macrobiotic diet. It's a hearty and warming soup on cool nights!
Lentil Soup with Kombo Seaweed
The most expensive ingredient in this soup is the seaweed, but if kept dry, a package of dried Maine Sea Vegetables lasts a long time. Doesn't have to be Kombu -- I've used other seaweeds successfully. Other than the initial Seaweed investment, this stuff is cheap, filling and has gotten me through many a fallow period during my Boston days.
8 oz lentils
6 inch (15 cm) strip of kombu seaweed (or any other seaweed)
2 onions, diced
2 pints water (or more if needed)
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 lb carrots, diced
Pinch of sea salt or 1 tablespoon tamari/shoyu soya sauce
Brown rice elbow pasta (optional)1. Rinse the lentils.
2. Place the kombu on the bottom of a heavy soup pot and cover with the onion, lentils and water.
3. Cover and bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes
4. After 20 minutes add the remaining vegetables and the seasoning. -
Here's a recipe I came up with when I was on a #Macrobiotic diet. It's a hearty and warming soup on cool nights!
Lentil Soup with Kombo Seaweed
The most expensive ingredient in this soup is the seaweed, but if kept dry, a package of dried Maine Sea Vegetables lasts a long time. Doesn't have to be Kombu -- I've used other seaweeds successfully. Other than the initial Seaweed investment, this stuff is cheap, filling and has gotten me through many a fallow period during my Boston days.
8 oz lentils
6 inch (15 cm) strip of kombu seaweed (or any other seaweed)
2 onions, diced
2 pints water (or more if needed)
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 lb carrots, diced
Pinch of sea salt or 1 tablespoon tamari/shoyu soya sauce
Brown rice elbow pasta (optional)1. Rinse the lentils.
2. Place the kombu on the bottom of a heavy soup pot and cover with the onion, lentils and water.
3. Cover and bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes
4. After 20 minutes add the remaining vegetables and the seasoning. -
Here's a recipe I came up with when I was on a #Macrobiotic diet. It's a hearty and warming soup on cool nights!
Lentil Soup with Kombo Seaweed
The most expensive ingredient in this soup is the seaweed, but if kept dry, a package of dried Maine Sea Vegetables lasts a long time. Doesn't have to be Kombu -- I've used other seaweeds successfully. Other than the initial Seaweed investment, this stuff is cheap, filling and has gotten me through many a fallow period during my Boston days.
8 oz lentils
6 inch (15 cm) strip of kombu seaweed (or any other seaweed)
2 onions, diced
2 pints water (or more if needed)
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 lb carrots, diced
Pinch of sea salt or 1 tablespoon tamari/shoyu soya sauce
Brown rice elbow pasta (optional)1. Rinse the lentils.
2. Place the kombu on the bottom of a heavy soup pot and cover with the onion, lentils and water.
3. Cover and bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes
4. After 20 minutes add the remaining vegetables and the seasoning. -
The MezJam
Mezrab, Sunday, June 14 at 08:00 PM GMT+2
Don’t you think it’s time to jam together again?
Every second Sunday evening of the month, the finest and best musicians from all over the world come together and go wild with their instruments.
And you know what: you can be right in the middle of it. Bring your harp, trumpet, bugle, setar or Steinway Grand Piano and join in.We have no idea where the tunes will take us, and that’s exactly what we like so much here at Mezrab.
The hosts for this evening is Babak Amiri.
The Sunday Mez Jam ♫
Three sets of music from around the world.Doors open at 19.00, event starts at 20.00.
Dad is making soup.
Entrance: Donations.
Language: English. -
Pearls on a String
Mezrab, Tuesday, June 23 at 08:00 PM GMT+2
Hey there!
Are you ready for the awesome storytelling event called “Pearls on a String”?
It’s going to be a super fun mix of stories, music, and improv. Get ready to see how these things come together for a great time! 🎤🎶😄Doors open at 19.00, event starts at 20.00.
Dad is making soup.
Entrance: Donations.
Language: English. -
Pearls on a String
Mezrab, Tuesday, May 26 at 08:00 PM GMT+2
Hey there!
Are you ready for the awesome storytelling event called “Pearls on a String”?
It’s going to be a super fun mix of stories, music, and improv. Get ready to see how these things come together for a great time! 🎤🎶😄Doors open at 19.00, event starts at 20.00.
Dad is making soup.
Entrance: Donations.
Language: English. -
Pearls on a String
Mezrab, Tuesday, June 23 at 08:00 PM GMT+2
Hey there!
Are you ready for the awesome storytelling event called “Pearls on a String”?
It’s going to be a super fun mix of stories, music, and improv. Get ready to see how these things come together for a great time! 🎤🎶😄Doors open at 19.00, event starts at 20.00.
Dad is making soup.
Entrance: Donations.
Language: English. -
Naruto Ultimate Ninja with Cory Byrd (Byrds Eye View Comics)
Grab your custom jutsu hand seals and prepare to feel a crushing sense of inadequacy when comparing your reaction time to a ninja’s because we’re diving shadow clone deep into the first Naruto Ultimate Ninja game on PlayStation 2! This week we’re channeling our inner shinobi to explore how Bandai Namco took Masashi Kishimoto’s legendary manga about a determined orange-suited underdog and transformed it into a frantic button-mashing tournament fighter that somehow convinced an entire generation of fans that they could recreate iconic Naruto moments if they just hit the attack button fast enough and screamed at their TV harder than Naruto himself.
Released during the golden age of anime-to-console adaptations, the Naruto Ultimate Ninja games became the de facto way fans could live out their ninja fantasies—assuming your ninja fantasy involves janky camera angles, occasionally unresponsive inputs, and the kind of special effect visual soup that makes you wonder if you’re actually watching a jutsu or if your PS2 is just having a mild aneurysm. With fighters pulled straight from the Hidden Leaf Village and beyond, these games proved that sometimes the best way to honor a beloved manga is to give players the chance to make Naruto fight characters he had absolutely no reason to fight (looking at you, random filler villains).
This episode, we’re absolutely stoked to welcome Cory Byrd from Byrds Eye View Comics—a fellow enthusiast of all things sequential art and gaming who can probably explain why Naruto’s popularity transcended manga, anime, AND video games with the kind of clarity that makes marketing departments weep with envy. Together, we’ll investigate whether these games managed to capture the heart, humor, and hyperkinetic energy of Kishimoto’s creation, or if they just left us face-first in the dirt like Naruto at the beginning of the series.
So synchronize your chakra, practice your most devastating combo, and prepare for an episode that’s guaranteed to be more chaotic than a Sand Village invasion and infinitely more entertaining than watching filler arcs about onigiri eating contests.
Learn such things as:
- Can a game truly capture the experience of having ninjas solve political problems through friendship when there’s no friendship stat on the screen?
- How many ninja village headbands would it take to actually run an economy, or is that question unanswerable because the series never bothered explaining it?
- Is it more important for characters in a fighter to be balanced or accurate?
- And so much more!
You can find Cory on Instagram @ByrdsEyeOfficial, the Byrds Eye View Comics Facebook page, and of course his website Byrds Eyes View Comics.
If you want to be a guest on the show please check out the Be a A Guest on the Show page and let me know what you’re interested in.
If you want to help support the show check out the Play Comics Patreon page or head over to the Support page if you want to go another route. You can also check out the Play Comics Merch Store.
Play Comics is part of the Gonna Geek Network, which is a wonderful collection of geeky podcasts. Be sure to check out the other shows on Gonna Geek if you need more of a nerd fix.
You can find Play Comics @playcomics.bsky.social on Bluesky, @playcomicspodcast on Threads, @playcomics on YouTube or the Play Comics website.
A big thanks to Gender Pop and the Glitterjaw Queer Podcast Collective for the promos today.
Intro/Outro Music by Backing Track, who did something really cool but nobody saw it. You know, because of the whole being a ninja thing.
#CoryByrd #CyberConnect2 #Gaara #Haku #HinataHyūga #KakashiHatake #NamcoBanddaiGames #NarutoUzumaki #NejiHyūga #Orochimaru #PS2 #RockLee #SakuraHaruno #SasukeUchiha #ShikamaruNara #Shueisha #VizMedia #ZabuzaMomochi