Page 20 - Civil War Curriculum Book

the oven and bake another one-half hour. Turn oven off and leave the door closed.
Leave the hardtack in the oven until cool. Remove and enjoy! (And make sure your
parents try some!)

Does your taste lean more to the southern side? Then try a "johnnie cake" that the
Confederate soldiers enjoyed with their meals. The recipe is also very simple:

two cups of cornmeal 2/3
cup of milk 2 tablespoons
vegetable oil 2 teaspoon
baking soda 1/2 teaspoon of
salt
Mix ingredients into a stiff batter and form eight biscuit-sized "dodgers". Bake on a lightly
greased sheet at 350 degrees for twenty to twenty five minutes or until brown. Or spoon the
batter into hot cooking oil in a frying pan over a low flame. Remove the corn dodgers and let
cool on a paper towel, spread with a little butter or molasses, and you have a real southern
treat!

Some of the other items that soldiers received were salt pork, fresh or salted beef, coffee,
sugar, salt, vinegar, dried fruit and dried vegetables. If the meat was poorly preserved, the
soldiers would refer to it as "salt horse". Sometimes they would receive fresh vegetables
such as carrots, onions, turnips and potatoes. Confederate soldiers did not have as much
variety in their rations as Union soldiers did. They usually received bacon and corn meal,
tea, sugar or molasses, and fresh vegetables when they were available. While Union
soldiers had their "skillygallee", Confederates had their own version of a quick dish on the
march. Bacon was cooked in a frying pan with some water and corn meal added to make a
thick, brown gravy similar in consistency to oatmeal. The soldiers called it "coosh" and
though it does not sound too appetizing, it was a filling meal and easy to fix.