Sutlers & Craftsmen

   Soldiers of the Civil War were expected to personally supply and maintain much of their clothing and equipment.  To help meet their needs, craftsmen and tent merchants, known as sutlers, set up shop near encampments and followed the armies as they moved.  The Boscobel event hosts a full complement of top quality sutlery, offering clothing, food and beverage, military equipment, and all manner of goods and services of the 1860's. Craftsmen demonstrate the nearly lost arts of the cobbler, weaver, blacksmith and even the cooper, who constructs wooden barrels and kegs by hand.  There are very few authentic coopers in the nation at this time and this is a rare opportunity to see one at work.  His products are museum pieces, worthy of collecting. 

(To view larger photos, click on images below)

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