Posted on 08/28/2026 7:11:04 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
War is never a picnic, and the American Civil War became the deadliest war in US history. What everyone thought would end in a matter of weeks became a four-year battle between the Union and the Confederacy. The amount of supplies and rations needed was sometimes underestimated because the war dragged on, and soldiers on both sides had to get creative with their meals.
Soldiers during the Civil War were used to having their meals cooked for them, so it was a steep learning curve out on the battlefield and with sparse ingredients. The rations were technically edible but not always the tastiest, and while there were sometimes treats to boost morale, they were rare. These seven foods were real things that Civil War soldiers ate, making the best of what they were given.
Hardtack
A staple for Union soldiers during the Civil War was hardtack. Aptly named, hardtack was a rock-hard cracker made with flour, water, and salt. As long as it stayed dry, hardtack could last a long time, though the crates carrying hardtack would often get wet and mold or worms would begin to infest it. Soldiers soaked their hardtack in coffee, cooked it in lard, or broke it apart with the butts of their rifles to make it a bit more palatable.
Johnny Cakes
The Union army might have had hardtack, but the Confederate states didn't grow much wheat. The food Confederate soldiers more often had was Johnny cakes. These cakes were just as hard and dry as hardtack, but were made with cornmeal instead of flour. Without milk, sugar, or eggs to make cornbread, the Johnny cakes were hardly enjoyable, and Confederate soldiers would cook them with lard or even just steal food from their Union prisoners.
Salt Pork
When it was available, meat was given as part of the soldiers' rations. Usually pork, but sometimes beef, was overly salted and then stored in barrels of salt to preserve it as long as possible. Soldiers had to scrape off as much of the salt as they could before cooking the meat, but it still tasted incredibly salty. The salt pork was often the fattier portions of the animal, so the fat and grease could be used to cook other foods or as lamp oil.
Chicory Root Coffee
Coffee was another staple in the Union soldiers' rations, but the Confederate soldiers often had to struggle without it. They took to making their own substitutions, grinding up plants and vegetables to brew in the hopes it would taste similar. They used dandelions, rye, and sweet potatoes, but the most common substitute was chicory root, or the whole chicory plant. Some said it gave off a slightly similar taste to coffee, which was the best the Confederates could do until they could take rations from the Union soldiers or trade with them in temporary truces.
Desiccated Vegetables
Knowing that soldiers needed more than salt pork and hardtack to keep them healthy and strong, the Union and Confederacy began dehydrating vegetables to send to their troops. These weren't like the kale chips at Whole Foods, though. Several different vegetables, including carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes, were dried and then compressed into tight, hard pucks. They tasted so awful that soldiers started referring to them as "desecrated vegetables."
Condensed Milk
After seeing children sick from drinking spoiled milk, Gail Borden worked to make a shelf-stable milk. Using a vacuum evaporator, Borden invented condensed milk, which was popular with young children and Civil War soldiers alike. The Union army loved having a calorie-dense food that wouldn't spoil, and the Northern soldiers loved that it was sweet. Compared to their other rations, it was heavenly! Condensed milk played such a big role that some historians have said it helped the Union win the war.
Molasses
When sugar was hard to come by, molasses stepped up as the Civil War sweetener. This thick syrup was sent to the troops with their rations to aid in the eating of the less tasty offerings. Soldiers on both sides used molasses to sweeten their hardtack or Johnny cakes, as well as their coffee. Some men even made candy out of molasses since it was similar to taffy after boiling and drying it. This sweet treat helped keep morale from plummeting during an already depressing and bloody war.
Tragic and absolutely unnecessary war.
When we were given that individual box of French rations we were impressed with the brandy and full 20 pack of cigarettes and the pate and cheeses, but after eating it we learned that the box is for the whole day.
The first Battle of Bull Run was one of them.
Perhaps a war was inevitable when all those raw infant states of diverse regions, and and raw, diverse peoples were united, maybe a shakeout at some point was bound to happen.
There was the story of the confederate soldier who shot a farmers pig while foraging. His company was on Northern soil and “living off the land”. The farmer went to the commanding officer to register a complaint. The officer asked him to repeat what exactly had happened. The farmer said, “welp, I heard the gunshot and then a squeal and then my hog was gone!” The officer questioned him more pointedly, asking, “are you sure you heard it squeal?” The farmer insisted he had. Then the officer insisted that the farmers pig was most likely shot by a Yankee, “because when one of my men shoot a pig, it don’t squeal!”
Most of the guys here have eaten a raw potato as an apple like snack I imagine, when there was nothing else, but seeing John Wayne in one of his very early films eating one as a snack while driving a wagon made me realize how common it must have been.
Not Civil War, but revolutionary war food story. The men were sent a good supply of butter. Not knowing what it was they used it to polish their boots! My father told me that (or something similar,) 65yrs ago.
Sir John Franklin's Expedition of 1845 aboard the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror to look for a Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic, ended up with the loss of over 100 men. Both shipwrecks were discovered in 2014 and 2016. It is believed that many of them died from lead poisoning and botulism. The cans of meat were soldered with tin and a large content of lead. High levels of lead were found in the bones and hair of the crew. Tuberculosis was another killer among the crew.
It’s been said that Stonewall Jackson was fond of sucking on lemons.
Yes, the First Bull Run. As if it were a spectator sport.
I absolutely hate the word “meemaw”. Why? Because every time I see it, it makes me think of a certain 1/1024 Oklahoma Injun Squaw.
So far I’ve made it 25 years or so.
“Gen. Grant served crow at Appomattox.”
Har har. But seriously, he was courteous and generous to the defated Confederates. (Custer though, was a dick.)
It was a contemplative moment when we realized that the meat in our C-Rations was dead before we were born. These were WWII rations fed to ROTC Cadets in 1968. Not that bad, considering everything. And look! Lucky Strikes!
Left put parched corn which is sold today as corn nuts. I like them.
Lincoln’s war was unnecessary.
Both sides would rustle each other’s cattle herd.
Chicken was a big part of the diet early on.
Foraging parties from the North and South raided many a coop.
That ran out or was hidden better as the war wore on.
“I seem to recall reading that civilians would sometimes have ‘picnics’ while watching the battles...”
You reminded me of a really good Civil War-era novel I read years ago. The theme is slavery, but the opening scene is of people having a picnic...at a public hanging!
On the Occasion of My Last Afternoon
By Kaye Gibbons
Crow! LOL!
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