The Poor Lieutenant's Feast

The inventory mentioned in this video is from the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin www.townsends.us/products/autobiorgraphy-of-benjam…

This is the best series of videos that townsends has ever done. The life of the everyman is the most important topic of history in my opinion.

As a retired 18th Century Lieutenant, I can say this is very accurate for the fine meals I ate during the war.

there's something special about the concept of these "poorman feast" dishes, being myself a cook it never fails to amaze me the results you can obtain with limited ingredients (and water available). i praise not the recipes but all the knowledge behind them, thanks for sharing with the world the joy of simplicity

And here comes Jon Townsend, bringing peace and education to our troubled world again. Thank you, Jon.

I love the way these are filmed in natural daylight. Reminds me of times when I was a kid and we would spend summer vacations in an old Maine farmhouse without electricity - kerosene lamps at night, and cooking on a wood stove. It's hard to remember that this is how everybody saw and heard (and tasted and smelled) the world back then.

I love how the care package had to have nutmeg in it 😂

LOL OF COURSE YOU SNUCK NUTMEGS INTO THE CARE PACKAGE BRO love ya man

"You have to have certain kind of skills to move up in the military." I am so used to every other creator finding some way to shoehorn in that word, I was expecting Jon to say "which is why I am proud to be sponsored by SKILLShare!" :)

Honorable act of kindness from Benjamin Franklin

I strongly suspect that the greater amount of food given was also to support the officer's servant as, being a gentleman, he was expected to have one.

Simply one of the best channels on all of YouTube. Loved it as always, great work.

Been adding nutmeg to all my savory dishes, my beef cabbage 15 bean stew is now the best stew I've ever made! Next dish is roasted Cornish game hens😁

The world is pure chaos, then Townsends uploads a video and all is right for just a bit.

Our ancestors really did the most incredible things under the most incredible circumstances

Love your channel, been following for more than 7 years. Congrats on 2 million subscribers!

Gorgeously shot, wonderfully clear background info, Townsends did a great job again!

I love how you take the list of ingredients from the care package and use that to recreate the daily lives of these lieutenants

I wish the Townsend series were shown in our schools today! This wonderful history is being lost! Thanks for all the day to day details and a true understanding of the hardships our ancestors went through for all the comforts we take for granted today. People were so much tougher and resilient then. So much to learn from them and so humbled by their fortitude and spirit.

One of the great differences between officers and men in the military has always been that the men are 'equipped and victualed' by the government and officers must purchase their own. In modern times, this means simply that officers must buy their own uniforms and pay for their meals out of a rations allowance in their pay. What's more, they pay for *exactly* the same food and uniforms as enlisted men are getting. And speaking as a former enlisted man, it's very hard to feel sorry for the lieutenant when he gets *double* your rations in addition to all the luxuries. When all you get is a mug of somewhat brownish, slightly tea-flavored hot water, 6 pounds of tea AND coffee is quite the Christmas present. Don't mistake me, all this was just part of the system of the era. It was 'just how things are done, old boy', and it took World War One for the military systems around the world to even begin to be more egalitarian when it comes to the officer corps. I should also say that, as a Civil War reenactor, one of my recommendations to everyone starting in the hobby is to 'watch Townsends and memorize everything' 😉 Just as the Great Depression still influenced American society into the 70s, the Revolutionary period deeply influenced the America of the 1860s and so a good grounding in the basics of the Colonial period is pretty necessary to understand the Civil War era.