16 Civil War Recipes Made for Soldiers (2024)

FAQs

What kind of food did the soldiers eat in the Civil War? ›

These rations allotted just over a pound of meat, likely beef or pork, just under a pound of "hard bread," and a small collection of dried vegetables.

The most common food given to soldiers was bread, coffee, and salt pork. The typical ration for every Union soldier was about a pound of meat and a pound of bread or flour. The Confederacy started out following the same rules. As the war went on, they weren't able to keep up.

According to army regulations for daily camp rations, a Union soldier was entitled to receive 12 oz of pork or bacon or 1 lb. 4 oz of salt or fresh beef; 1 lb. 6 oz of soft bread or flour or 1 lb. of hard bread (hardtack), or 4 oz of cornmeal.

In 1861 to June 1864, union army private's base was $13.00 per month. Confederate private remained at $11.00 per month until June 1864, when the rebel's pay was increased actually to a base slightly higher than union private—to $18.00 per month.

Among the dishes prepared were chicken fricassee, mushroom ketchup (a condiment made by boiling mushrooms), a beef-and-potato stew, cornish game hens and ham and beans -- foods that would have been made by Union soldiers.

Civil War: Canned foods were first used as rations. Canned condensed milk, pork and beans were sometimes fed to Union soldiers. For meat, cattle moved with the troops before being slaughtered.

And if in season, they might have fresh carrots, onions, turnips and potatoes. The Confederate soldier typically had bacon, cornmeal, tea, sugar, molasses and, infrequently, fresh vegetables.

During the Civil War, the Union Army had two types of rations: "marching rations" and "camp rations." Marching rations consisted of sixteen ounces of hard bread, also known as "hardtack"; twelve ounces of salt pork or twenty ounces of fresh meat; and sugar, coffee, and salt.

A ringing statement, for which unwitting support can be found from no less than the beau ideal of the Confederacy. Lee, who loved his black cook's fried chicken, once said that all he wanted was "a Virginia farm — no end of cream and fresh butter — and fried chicken.

Whiskey, gin, beer, and wine were the favored drinks. However, drunkeness was not tolerated in either Federal or Confederate camps.

What actually killed more men than fighting during the Civil War? ›

Most casualties and deaths in the Civil War were the result of non-combat-related disease. For every three soldiers killed in battle, five more died of disease.

The average Union soldier was 25.8 years old; there is no definite information on the average age of Confederate soldiers, but by the end of the war old men and young boys, who otherwise would have stayed home, were being pressed into service.

Although Confederate banknotes are not legal currency, they are now worth much more than they were during the Civil War as antique collector's items and a considerable number of these banknotes still exist among museums and collectors.

Breakfast typically consisted of cornmeal mush with cream and maple syrup, cornmeal griddle cakes, doughnuts and tea. Lunch, which was called dinner, was the largest meal of the day and often consisted of boiled potatoes, ham, fresh pork or corned beef served with apple, rhubarb or a berry pie, depending on the season.

The greater portion of cattle went out of Texas on the hoof, to be served as fresh meat after being slaughtered in the army camp. So much beef, pork, mutton, grain, sugar, salt, peas, beans, flour and corn meal was shipped away that Texas became known as the breadbasket of the Confederacy.

Soldiers were supposed to receive daily amounts of beef, pork or fish; flour or bread; cornmeal or rice; and rum or whiskey. However, with no organized distribution system combined with limited food resources near the encampment site, soldiers went several days with little to no food during the winter months.