Common Rations of the Army of Tennessee (late
1863-early 1865)
Compiled by:
Ian McMullen
2002
To start off, one myth needs to be
quelled. In this time period, the
majority of soldiers in the Army of Tennessee fared fairly well as far as
sustenance are concerned. Although
there were some time periods, such as Bragg’s retreat from Kentucky and Hood’s
disastrous Tennessee Campaign, where good rations were harder to come by, for
the most part the “starving rebel” was simply non-existent.
I have complied my research on the
sustenance of this period of the war from several printed sources, first-hand
sources, and my own personal experiences with cooking in camp. This is intended to help bring about the
consumption of authentic foods for the period we are trying to portray. Too many times, I have seen things being
issued and/or eaten for this period that was virtually non-existent. This document will be broken down into two parts: My research on what was actually issued
and/or eaten, and my suggestions for how to prepare these foods yourself at
events.
Meat was generally issued fairly regularly
in the Army of Tennessee. Being that
most of their fighting was in or around the areas where most of the South’s
meat production was, meat generally only became a problem during heave
campaigning when wagon trains couldn’t keep up with the troops. In March of 1863, the commissary warehouses
in Atlanta boasted 8 million pounds of salted meat and 4,000 head of cattle
ready to be slaughtered. This shows just
how much meat existed in the region at the time, although most of this meat was
going to Lee in Virginia. There was
still a good portion of this meat being issued to the Army of Tennessee.
The most common and under-represented meat
of the Army of Tennessee is beef. From
my research on the Atlanta Campaign, beef was issued much more than
salt-pork. In general I’ve found that
an authentic amount of beef to issue at an event would be one issue of ¼ to ½ a
pound of beef. Beef was very commonly
issued fresh, but was also issued salted and pickled. It was also the target of MUCH criticism by the troops because it
was commonly hard, spoiled, or too salty to eat.
Salt pork/bacon was the second most common
meat issued to the Army of Tennessee.
Pork was the preferred meat of the Army because it didn’t ruin as
easily. Pork was issued less frequently
to the army than beef for the most part.
For the most part, pork that was issued to the army was very low grade,
belly meat (I.E. about 80% fat). During
the Atlanta Campaign troops were, on paper, allotted 1/3rd pound of
salt pork a day, but generally were not issued pork but once or twice a
week.
In general I would say that meat should
only be issued once per event and only between ½ and ¼ a pound. Beef and Pork can both be issued, but
instead I would only issue one of the two and then supplement them with more
vegetables.
The most common type of bread issued to the
Army of Tennessee was cornbread. Much
of the cornbread during the Atlanta Campaign was precooked in bakeries and then
sent to the troops, although many disliked this method, as it was always cold
when it got to them. At other times the
troops were just issued cornmeal to do with as they pleased. Cornmeal was basically the only item of food
that Confederate troops KNEW they could count on to be there. There were many ways of preparing cornmeal,
from frying it, to making a doe out of it and roasting it over the fire, to
just making a hot mush out of it. A
good ration of cornmeal for an event would be 1 and ½ pounds per man.
Flour was also not unheard of in the Army of
Tennessee, although it was not nearly as prevalent as cornmeal. Flour or bread can be used to supplement
cornmeal and cornbread at events. Two
loafs of bread per 10 men will be more than sufficient.
Another Confederate staple is parched
corn. Even when cornmeal was sparse,
parched corn could be depended on to sustain the troops. This is one of the rations that can be issued
in as big or small of portions as you desire.
I’d carry about ½ pound per man.
Rice was also a fairly common issue item though it wasn’t issued in
great quantities. I would suggest only
a few ounces per man for the weekend.
Many other vegetables were issued sporadically to the AOT, but in very
limited quantities (I.E.-just enough for each man in the company to get a
mouthful, not for each man to have a meal of his own.) I’ve read of things such as potatoes,
cabbage heads, squash, beets, dried peas, grits, onions, and turnips being
issued to the troops in the Atlanta Campaign.
Many other items were issued to the AOT;
one of the most popular is the famed “Goober Pea” or peanut. Coffee was nearly non-existent in the
Confederacy at this period so many substitutes were used. Two of the most common were sweet potato
coffee and sassafras tea. Only a
handful of each should be issued to each man for a weekend. Sugar was also scarce as hens teeth at the
time, so I would suggest issuing a small amount of sorghum or honey to be used
as a sweetener. I have read of both
being used by troops in the Atlanta Campaign.
This is an overview
of the rations commonly issued to Confederate troops in the AOT. I hope this could be of help to you in your
pursuit to authentically portray a Western Confederate soldier.
I’ve found that the best way to prepare
salt beef is to boil it. Many
reenactors dislike this method of preparing it because of how tough and hard to
eat it is. However, if cooked properly,
it can be very good. You want to get
your water to a rolling boil, and THEN put your beef in it. Let the beef boil hard until it turn white,
then take it off and put it on coals and let it cook slowly. This fast boil method locks the juices into
the meat, preventing it from becoming too tough to eat. I like to boil my beef with most any
vegetable…that gives the vegetables a lot of flavor and also allows the beef to
loose some of it’s salt so that it’s edible.
The beef shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes or so to be ready, but I’d
check it first.
I
like to mix vegetables up a lot. Just
take things that you like to eat and mix them.
To add a lot of substance to your meal instead of just water, I like to
add a handful of rice or split peas.
But make sure you don’t add more than your boiler can hold…in general, a
handful is usually plenty. Coming from
Central Georgia, we’ve always used a big hunk of strickaline (salt pork that’s
almost 90% fat) to flavor our vegetables.
It’s a very good method of adding salt to them though. I also like to add some cayenne pepper and
maybe some garlic if I have any. I’ve
created a concoction that is just as good as Rice-Aroni like that before.
Cush
There
are several ways to prepare cornmeal to eat.
A very common one is to take cornmeal and mix it with boiling water to
make what is called Cush. Now, this by
itself isn’t the best tasting thing in the world, so adding some beef or pork,
onions, garlic, pepper, etc. to suit your taste is a great idea.
Lacey
Cornbread (fried cornbread)
This is a dish that I’ve honestly NEVER
read about soldiers making, but every woman in my family makes it, and it’s
very good. I imagine that it was made
quite a lot during the war, but it was so common and something that they even
made at home, so it was never written about (I.E.-tying their shoes…they never
wrote about it, but you know they did it).
You mix cornmeal with water and a little salt, so as to make it a very
runny batter. Then heat some bacon
grease in your frying pan. Pour the
batter into the frying pan so that you form a very thin circle, and let it
fry…then turn it over and let it fry on the other side. Very quick and very tasty!
Mix water, salt, pepper, cornmeal, and
maybe even some flour if you have it, into a fairly thick batter. Heat some bacon grease in the bottom of a
cup and then pour your batter into the cup.
Place the cup on top of some hot coals.
Then put something (I use my canteen half) on top of your cup, get some
hot coals, and put them on the canteen half…this helps the bread to bake
evenly. Just check from time to time to
see if it’s baked…stick your fork into it and if it comes out without crumbs
all over it…it’s probably done.
This is the easy one. Just toss a handful of FIELD CORN (sweet
corn isn’t the same). This is the same
stuff that comes in 50 lbs bags to put in deer feeders…but I wouldn’t use that
because I’m not sure it’s safe for human consumption. I know a farmer who grows field corn, but if you’re not that
lucky, I’m really not sure where you can get field corn. Basically to prepare it, you just heat a
pan, and chunk a handful in till it cracks.
If you want to make something similar to popcorn you can add some grease
to the pan…but be warned…you’re GOING TO be picking the stuff up off the ground
because when it pops…IT POPS!
These are some
suggestions that I’ve found to work well at events. Experimentation is the key though. Find what you like and what’s easy for you and go with it. That’s what they did! I hope this article will be of service to
you in your attempt to recreate the culinary experience of a Western
Confederate.
Sources used:
The Life of Johnny
Reb Bell Irvin Wiley
Soldiering in the
Army of Tennessee Larry J. Daniel