Page 18 - Civil War Curriculum Book

CIVIL WAR FOOD

Feeding the troops was the responsibility of the

Commissary Department, and both the Union and

Confederacy had one. The job of this organization was

to purchase food for the armies, store it until it could be

used, and then supply the soldiers. It was difficult to

supply so many men in so many places and the North

had a greater advantage in their commissary system

was already established at the outbreak of the war, while

the Confederacy struggled for many years to obtain food

(Hardtack & Coffee) and then get it to their armies. A choice of what to give
the troops was

limited as they did not have the conveniences to preserve food like we have today. Meats

were salted or smoked while other items such as fruits and vegetables were dried or

canned. They did not understand proper nutrition so often there was a lack of certain foods

necessary for good health. Each side did what they could to provide the basics for the

soldiers to survive. Because it was so difficult to store for any length of time, the food

soldiers received during the Civil War was not very fancy and they did not get a great variety

of items.

This photograph shows what a temporary
Union commissary depot looked like
during the war. Large wooden barrels
containing salted meat, coffee beans, and
sugar are stacked next to crates of
hardtack. It took a lot of food to feed the
army even for one day!

(photo courtesy of the Library of Congress)

When food was issued to soldiers it was called their rations. Everything was given out
uncooked so the soldiers were left up to their own ingenuity to prepare their meals. Small
groups would often gather together to cook and share their rations and they called the group
a "mess", referring to each other as "messmates". Others prided themselves in their
individual taste and prepared their meals alone. If a march was imminent, the men would
cook everything at once and store it in their haversack, a canvas bag made with a sling to
hang over the shoulder. Haversacks had a inner cloth bag that could be removed and
washed, though it did not prevent the bag from becoming a greasy, foul-smelling container
after several weeks of use. The soldier's diet was very simple- meat, coffee, sugar, and a
dried biscuit called hardtack. Of all the