Station eight

8. Keeping Warm

It was said that the Soldiers found a unique way of keeping warm. Col George Washington Hazard, Commander of the 37th IN, ordered that his men were not permitted to buy straw for their beds from the civilians. He ordered that only Government rations would be consumed. The weather in November thru December was very cold and wet and many died. He was the first to arrive to build the fort.

Here is an example of what the Soldiers may have used here at Fort Duffield. Also known as a Crimean oven. A fire was built out in front of the structure and the heat would flow through a tunnel inside the tent warming the floor, creating radiant heat, and the smoke would come out the back. The purpose of the water barrel on the chimney was to put out any fire caused by negligence or accident.