The Navy and Drinking,Nation98 (9 April 1914): 385-86. Naval Institute Proceedings96 (July 1976): 86-88. Early in the 18th Century, an aristocrat obviously in his cups referred to a certain lady whose very countenance supposedly enhanced his being like spiced toast. The social custom took hold, and diners took pains to compose the wittiest and briefest toasts. One disappointed observer, the daughter of Major General Wendell C. Neville, noted tartly that: The Lejeunes, you know, they never entertained. By that era, Lejeune had become a teetotaler and his good friend, Smedley D. Butler, a military prohibitionist. 99 prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic beverages aboard the ships of the U.S. Navy came into being and remains in effect to this day. He recalled that while the other officers of the regiment and their guests drank a fine Port after dinner, the colonel and pipe major drank glasses of Scotch whiskywhich they downed with a gulp after exchanging a personal toast to the Argyl and Sutherland Highlanders. In more modern times, every young officer received instructions on how to tell meat. As orderly officer, suitably attired in patrol dress and wearing a sword, he inspected the cookhouse to ensure the meat served to enlisted messes was not spoiled. President of the Mess: Mister Vice, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II., Vice President of the Mess: Ladies and Gentlemen, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.. The dessert is accompanied by coffee; the place cards have been marked so those desiring caffeine-free coffee will be served accordingly. Naval Institute Proceedings84 (August 1958): 82-91. Place one piece of orange into a cup, fill with cider, and sprinkle with nutmeg. While commanding the 6th Marine Division in training for the invasion of Okinawa, General Shepherd held several mess nights. pour over cracked ice in a glass punch bowl. Once they had left the table, however, the group came completely apartrough games, furniture destruction, mayhem. Band: plays The Marine Corps Hymn; at the completion of the music, officers and guests respond with the Marines and drink the punch all at once. It was, in effect, a formation, and all bachelor officers were expected to attend. However, without a "grog bowl," some other means of punishment for infractions should be considered. Viet Cong infrastructure in the rural areas. Seagoing Customs,U.S. Each diner escorts the lady seated to the right into the dining room. After hearing both sides of the argument from the accused and accuser, the president of the mess imposes fines; in most cases one dollar or a drink from the grog, for any infractions deemed appropriate. A friend reported the officers of one battalion in our regiment conducted a mess night in the field during maneuvers. Some officers, if they could afford it, might have a glass of Port or a snifter of brandy; most could not, however. Combine sugar, ginger, cinnamon and star anise with 6 ounces water. Even the errors in grammar continued faithfully from pamphlet to pamphlet! Can whisper soft above his glass With widely different social perspectives, and the changes that accompanying them, Marine Corps mess nights have become increasingly dissimilar. In response to my essay on mess nights, appearing in the Marine Corps Gazette in 1979, General Shepherd commented: I trust your article will influence commanding officers to revive the Marine Corps mess night, so much enjoyed by their predecessors and of value in promoting comradeship among officers on a post or organization.. A toast is proposed in every case, followed by the response of the Vice President of the Mess. A vintage Port is held in wood for 22 to 30 months, then bottled. Melt the butter or margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. In the next year and a half, it participated in four campaigns: Chateau-Thierry, Soissons, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne. While his earlier treatment appeared in the pages of theMarine Corps Gazette, no one appeared willing to undertake such a project. A contemporary reported that, following a mess night held on Okinawa in the immediate post-Vietnam era, an outraged battalioncommander held a mess night every night for a week following the unprofessional and ungentlemanly conduct of his officers at the original gathering; apparently by evening number seven, they got it right.. Get a printable version by clicking here. with me shall be my brother. or repondez sil vous plait appears on the invitations at the lower left corner, along with a name and telephone number; at the lower right of the invitation, the uniform or civilian dress is specifiedit always indicates orders and decorations) to provide the committee with a final list of attendees. Naval Institute Proceedings63 (August 1937): 1169. Edwards, Thomas J. Wardrooms throughout the fleet in 1914 witnessed a variety of going dry commemorations, liberally punctuated with witty soliloquies that demeaned the character of the pompous Secretary of the Navy. The grog is a bowl filled with a concoction resembling punch. 1900: A bandsman rings six bells with a ships bell to indicate 7:00 P.M. or 1900. One time-honored tradition builds camaraderie and pays homage to the men who have made the Corps the great fighting force that it is that of telling sea-stories, sharing laughs, and toasting -- known to Marines as mess night. Stewards: remove the small plate and wine glass. Stewards: remove the soup bowl and spoon. Conscientious commanding officers scrutinized their officers monthly wine bills to curtail excessive drinking, and anyone imbibing to excess would find himself seeing Predictably, the young man became a drunkard, and Daniels vowed to end what a later generation would surely call substance abuse. Major General George Barnett recalled such an affair while serving in the San Francisco in 1897. Instructing his captive and bemused audience to take notes, the impeccable adjutant ate and drank his way through a token dinner. The mess committee elected to forego the ritual cigar because the facility is a no smoking building, as are most government buildings. A gentleman lived as comfortably as circumstances allowed, and the most comfortable way to live in the field was to establish an officers messa view that survived well into World War II. The leader of the band, the drummer, and the fifer appeared for a briefing of duties, and to rehearse. Company guidons line the wall of the dining hall, while the colors of the regiment and its three battalions are arranged behind the head table along with the flags of the United States and the United Kingdom (a Royal Marine officer, serving an exchange tour with the regiment, is present). Finally, Colonel Heinl recalled mention of affairs vaguely similar to a mess night at the turn of this century in the personal papers of senior officers, maintained at the Marine Corps Research Center. The grapes are shipped downriver to the seaport which gives its names to the libation, Oporto, where barefoot workers mash the grapes according to a 1,500- year-old custom. The latter officer once served on detached service with the City of Philadelphia as its Commissioner of Public Safety, and undertook a determined program to rid the municipality of vice and demon rum. In any event, a junior officer with little or no private means could hardly afford to spend his leisure time elsewhere. The procedure is the same as for the serving of the Port, described above. Soup consisted mostly of sherry, while the terrapin arrived floating in Madeira. "The recipe for true Fish House Punch was kept secret for almost 200 years," according to Gary and Mardee Regan's review on Fish House Punch, located on the Amazon.com website. Both Marines left visibly impressed. Nathan Hanks As Mrs. Barnett recalled the evening in her memoirs, the Senator on her left declined a second helping of dessert with a grave response: Madam, I just couldnt eat another drop!. In the 18th and19th Centuries, it was a common custom for the aristocracy to lay aside a mess. The End of the Wine Mess,U.S. The invitations used the phrase the honor of your presence.. Just as the company executive officer explained, we ate and drank our way through a multi-course dinner conforming strictly to custom and tradition. Unpublished memoirs General Shepherd remembered an impressive evening. 24-27. However, for some reason, this same logic doesn't rule . The Marines received the musical instruments to accompany a successful mess night, a gift from the American Troop and American Company of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps. In the battleship Washington, Captain Edward W. Eberle hosteda riotous dinner for his officers, each course of which came doused heavy with some form of an alcoholic beverage. We learned that the bugle call last call for the head just prior to marching into dinner was perhaps the most important musical accompaniment. President of the Mess: Mister Vice, the regiment., Vice President of the Mess: Ladies and Gentlemen, the 6th Marines., Band: plays six bars of Mademoiselle from Armentieres.. The term "grog" can describe many different kinds of alcoholic drinks. Instead of dinner jackets, officers wore mess kit, an outfit appearing first as a uniform with the gunners in the 19th century. cup honey Baldwin, Hanson. Early Marines received rations of rum, at sea or ashore, but often the amount doled out was diluted with water to avoid drunkenness. Glassware is arraigned beginning from the top of the setting to the right in a semicircle: water glass, port goblet, claret glass, white wine goblet, and sherry glass. Even the Nazi threat provided no excuse. (PDF), By Lieutenant Colonel Merrill L. Bartlett, USMC (Ret.) Stewards remove the previous course and wine glass, and serve a salad of mixed greens with a low-calorie, low-fat vinaigrette dressing. Roy, R. Frederick, Washington, D.C., 11 July 1979. John A. Lejeune refused to emulate the lavish social scene of his predecessor, and formal dinners at Eighth and Eye became somewhat infrequent and subdued affairs. And each one standing here Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery expressed disgust at the state of the headquarters mess when he assumed command of the troubled Eighth Army in North Africa in 1942. In later years, when guest nights occurred less frequently, such evenings became increasingly boisterous and drunken. It is served with a Cabernet Sauvignon (Shafer Hillside Select, Stags Leap District, California 1991) at room temperature (60 degrees). As the primary organizer of the mess night in Okinawa, previously mentioned, I received the advice and encouragement of any number of staff officers in our headquarters. Stewards serve a cold soup, gazpacho, with a glass of sherry. Doubtless the new martial music added an appropriate and enjoyable accompaniment to any mess night hosted by the Marines. The manual is based on several sources, all of which are listed in the bibliography, and summarizes the experience gained from Mess Nights presented by the Naval School, Civil Engineer Corps. The new commanding general, normally Spartan and disinclined to partake liberally of mess life, did not advocate conspicuous luxury; instead, he merely suggested no reason to undergo unnecessary privation: Let us all be as comfortable as possible, he advised his staff. Following that lead about the British mess nights in China, I corresponded with Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak and read Brigadier General Robert C. Williams charming memoir. College of Distance Education and Training (CDET), Active Duty Command Sponsored Corporals Course, Reserve Command Sponsored Corporals Course, Research and Sponsored Projects Policy and Procedure, Brute Krulak Center for Innovation & Future Warfare, How Do We Learn? Lovette, Leland P.Naval Customs, Traditions, & Usage, 4th ed. Gallantry and comradeship-in-arms have enabled our small Corps to build and maintain a name for itself as a force in readiness that is known throughout the world, feared by our enemies and respected by every military service in existence, he noted. He devoted several minutes to explain the requirement for bladder control and the planning that accompanied it. The Vice President of the Mess is seated at the extreme right and farthest from the head table. At the right of the plate are the dinner knife, teaspoon, and soup spoon arranged also from left to right. At this juncture, toasts must be rendered to each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, if a member of that branch is present; each toast is followed by the appropriate song of that branch. Officers: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Everyone takes a sip of Port. Drawn from the aristocracy or upper middle classes, the British officer of the 19th Century would find no achievement in living in squalor while in the field. Cigars appeared and the president of the mess lit the smoking lamp; however, ashtrays had not been provided. President of the Mess: Ladies and Gentlemen, the mess will adjourn for ten minutes.. The Vice President of the Mess sees to the liquid refreshments for both the guest of honor and the President of the Mess. During this time-honored tradition, officers and staff noncommissioned officers from various commands throughout the base, took part in a formal dinner held at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albanys Town and Country Grand Ballroom, recently. That if I could acapella sing the 2nd verse of the Marine Corps hymn, he would sing whatever. Swartz, Oretha D.Service Etiquette(Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1989). Marines of the era preferred instead to dilute the distilled spirit with sugar and fruit as a rum punch. Formal dinners, or anything resembling todays mess night might have disappeared altogether given the egalitarian moralizing of Secretary Daniels and the tide of temperance that followed in the 1920s. --the post-dinner refreshments must be all non-alcoholic or containing Forty-five days to the Dining In, written invitations (in a pleasing style of calligraphy) were sent to: guest of honor; Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command; and Commanding General, Marine Corps University. Perhaps the most strictly controlled of all wines, government officials mandate the location of the vines and its maturation. This Order has been revised to incorporate minor changes to existing procedures and rearrange . The choice of toasting with Port wine has its origins more in politics than in gastronomy. Lieutenant Col. Nathaniel K. Robinson, president of the mess, said the event was a time to reaffirm our common bond as Marines., Mess night, a tradition as old as the Corps itself, has historically been a time when those who execute policy have an opportunity to meet those who make it, Robinson said. Guest of honor, retired Marine Col. Dan Gillan, president and chief executive officer, Albany Area Young Mens Christian Association, spoke to the Marines about the importance of volunteerism. Bring to simmer at medium heat and stir until sugar fully dissolves. The mess committee elected to forego the ritual cigar because the facility is a no smoking building, and because of the presence of the ladies. The Old Corps: A Portrait of the U.S. Marine Corps Between the Wars(Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1982), pp. The commanding officer of the barracks, then-Colonel Williams, served as the president of the mess; General Shepherd was the guest ofhonor. You represent all that is good and great of this country.. The next senior officer sits to the left of the President of the Mess, and then by seniority the remaining officers alternate from the right of the guest of honor to the left of the President of the Mess. One young officer informed me that his platoon, through the gentle beguilement of the platoon commander, had vowed to rise at 4:00 A.M. the following morning for an extra running of the Physical Fitness Test (PFT). Throughout the fleet in 1914, however, officers expressed outrage.