Foods of the American Civil War

Foods of the American Civil War were the provisions during the American Civil War with which both the Union and Confederate armies struggled to keep their soldiers provisioned adequately.

According to Hardee's Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics, written by a U.S. Army officer from the South before the war, the rations for a soldier during this time usually included:

This would be supplemented by (per 100 rations):

The most common field rations issued to individual soldiers were salt pork and hardtack, both of which were designed to withstand field conditions without deteriorating. Excess salt could be scraped off the meat to supplement the salt ration. However, these rations required cooking to make them palatable. Less experienced soldiers were unlikely to have their own cooking equipment, and the large company-level kettles were sometimes left behind during rapid advances.

Food often became infested with insects, especially rice or grain weevils. This, along with scarcity and inedible rations, made it necessary for soldiers to supplement their diets on their own. Soldiers could obtain a greater variety of foods by foraging and/or raiding; receiving food boxes from their families; or purchasing/trading items with other soldiers. Soldiers could not count on obtaining food from the inhabitants of areas where they encamped since most citizens were also affected by the war and had little to give. If inhabitants supported the soldiers' side in the war, sometimes they might manage to provide food, but it was usually acquired by theft.

Gail Borden's invention of condensed milk was very helpful in supplementing the rations for the Union army.

The rations for soldiers in the Confederate States of America army were supposed to follow the guidelines in Hardee's book. Hardee himself would serve in the Confederate Army as a corps commander in the western theater. Although Northern quartermasters took the ration guidelines as their standard, the South's army found itself lacking most of the items listed. The Confederate government attempted to provide adequate rations for their troops but were hampered by blockades, mono-cultural farming, and lack of transportation. They were served corn bread.

...
Wikipedia