The soldiers
gathered in small groups each evening to prepare their food. The food was low quality for both armies, but
the Confederate soldier suffered more from lack of food. For soldiers of the North, some food was obtained by plunder. When food deliveries were interrupted by weather delays or other challenges, soldiers were forced to forage the countryside to supplement their meager diets.
Yankee Soldier
Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1/2 to 3/4
cup water
6 pinches of salt
Optional: add 1 tbsp of vegetable fat
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix the ingredients together into a stiff
dough, knead several times, and spread the dough out flat to a thickness of 1/4
inch on a non-greased cookie sheet. Using a knife, cut dough into 3-inch cracker
squares. Punch four rows of holes, four
holes per row, into each cracker.
Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, turn
crackers over on the sheet and return to the oven and bake another 30 minutes.
Cool completely.
Many Southern soldiers simply cooked cornmeal mush around a rifle ramrod. They took the cornmeal and swirled it around in grease, making a dough. They then wrapped the dough around their rifle ramrod and cooked it over the campfire. That was called "sloosh".
Corn Pone
Corn pone was a staple of early settlers and Civil War soldiers.

Oatmeal pie recipe:
Idiot's Delight cake recipe:
An easy dessert to make, "Idiot's Delight" cake was quick and frugal. It was often served on Christmas and Holidays.
Confederate Soldier
SlooshMany Southern soldiers simply cooked cornmeal mush around a rifle ramrod. They took the cornmeal and swirled it around in grease, making a dough. They then wrapped the dough around their rifle ramrod and cooked it over the campfire. That was called "sloosh".
Corn Pone
Corn pone was a staple of early settlers and Civil War soldiers.
Recipe
4 cups ground white or yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon salt
2-3 cups of very hot (not boiling) water
1/4--1/2 cup bacon grease or other oil
Food on the Home front
1 tablespoon salt
2-3 cups of very hot (not boiling) water
1/4--1/2 cup bacon grease or other oil
In a large bowl,
add the hot water to the corn meal and mix into a thick batter. Cover with a
dishcloth and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes. The batter should still be soft
enough to mold into a small cake.
Take
your cast iron skillet and put it over a medium heat on the stove or
over your fire, add the bacon grease or oil. When the oil is hot lay the cakes
into the pan. Cook them until they are browned on one side, this should take
about 3 minutes. Turn each and brown on the other side. Drain the fat and
serve.
source: https://preparednessadvice.com
Lacking many ingredients, the southern
women learned to alter food recipes according to their scarce available
resources.

Oatmeal pie recipe:
The military needed a cheap way to feed a lot of people, and soldiers across the country were introduced to the idea they could eat their horses' oats. So oats become a popular food. During the Civil War pecans were in short supply in the South, so oatmeal pie was a good substitute for southern pecan pie.

Idiot's Delight cake recipe:
An easy dessert to make, "Idiot's Delight" cake was quick and frugal. It was often served on Christmas and Holidays.
Monday, November 14, 2016
Civil War: Black Confederate Soldiers, Real or Myth?
Nobody questions that the Confederate Army
utilized blacks as cooks, teamsters, and body servants. As for accepting slaves as soldiers, there
had been resistance among Confederates to placing arms in the hands of
slaves. Fears of slave uprisings were
factors.
Some assert the “black confederate” soldier is a myth.
An iconic photograph has often been used as evidence of black confederate soldiers. It is a 160-year-old tintype depicting Andrew Chandler and his slave Silas, both in Confederate uniform.
Today, the descendants of Silas Chandler state firmly that Silas was Andrew Chandler's servant and slave. Silas Chandler was there when his master, Confederate Sgt. Andrew Chandler, was wounded at the 1863 Battle of Chickamauga in Tennessee. Silas helped his injured master return home, saving Andrew’s leg from amputation. But a Confederate soldier? Perhaps not.
Yet
in diaries we find references to the black Confederate soldiers:
"As usual with the enemy, they posted their negro regiments on their left and in front, where they were slain by hundreds, and upon retiring left their dead and wounded negroes uncared for, carrying off only the whites, which accounts for the fact that upon the first part of the battlefield nearly all the dead found were negroes." - Federal Official Records, Vol. XXV, Chapter XLVII, pg. 341 Report of the Confederate Commander, Savannah, April 27, 1864
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Eyewitness to the Battle of Gettysburg - Tillie Pierce
Gettysburg, PA, 3-day battle, July 1 - July 3, 1863
Gettysburg was a small town in Pennsylvania, with rolling hills of corn and wheat fields and only 2,400 inhabitants. The residents seemed unaware that two huge armies, about 170,000 men, were converging on their sleepy little town. The fiercest battle of the war was about to ignite. The Battle caught the residents of Gettysburg completely by surprise.Tillie Pierce:

Soon Confederate soldiers were streaming through the area.
"Rushing to the door, and standing on the
front portico we beheld a dark, dense mass, moving toward town. Our teacher, Mrs. Eyster, at once said: 'Children, run home as quickly as you can.' It did not require
repeating. ... I had scarcely reached
the front door, when, on looking up the street, I saw some of the men on
horseback.
What a horrible sight! There they were, human beings! Clad almost in rags, covered with dust, riding wildly, pell-mell down the hill toward our home! Shouting, yelling most unearthly, cursing, brandishing their revolvers, and firing right and left.
Soon ...ransacking began in earnest. They wanted horses, clothing, anything and almost everything they could conveniently carry away. Nor were they particular about asking. Whatever suited them they took. They did, however, make a formal demand of the town authorities, for a large supply of flour, meat, groceries, shoes, hats, ... ten barrels of whisky; or, in lieu of this, five thousand dollars."
At the urging of her family, Tillie and some friends left the town
and went to what they thought would be a safe place, Jacob Weikert's
farmhouse.
"During our flight over to the farm-house, and when about half way, Mrs. Weikert happened to think of some highly prized article of dress, that in our sudden flight she had never thought of. Nothing would do but that her husband would have to go back to the house and get it. Thus in the midst of the confusion of battle, Mr. Weikert started back. Just as we were reaching our starting point, we met him coming out with the treasure; a brand-new quilted petticoat; and we all went panting into the house. During the whole of this wild goose chase, the cannonading had become terrible! Occasionally a shell would come flying over Round Top and explode high in the air over head."
Sometime between 4 and 5 p.m. that afternoon, Tillie Pierce and her friends were caught between the opposing forces.
Over
700 wounded and dying soldiers found shelter in the farmhouse and barn during the battle. Tillie
provided water and food to the soldiers and assisted the surgeons and nurses
caring for the wounded.
The battle raged for 3 days. "It seemed as though the heavens were sending forth peal upon peal of terrible thunder, directly over our heads; while at the same time, the very earth beneath our feet trembled. The cannonading at Gettysburg, has already gone down into history as terrible."
After the battle: "We were all glad that the storm had passed, and that victory was perched upon our banners. But oh! the horror and desolation that remained. The general destruction, the suffering, the dead, the homes that nevermore would be cheered, the heart-broken widows, the innocent and helpless orphans! Only those who have seen these things, can ever realize what they mean."
Friday, October 7, 2016
Civil War Sweetener - Sorghum

The first sorghum arrived in North America on slave ships. Sorghum is an ancient grain that was cultivated by the Egyptians. In America it was used as livestock fodder and by enslaved people for food with its juice used to make syrup as a sweetener, an alternative to expensive sugar.
Sorghum is a grain that grows tall like corn. From a distance it looks like corn.
However, you’ll find no ears and there is a reddish tinge to the leaves, stalk and ripe seed head. Stalks stand up to 10 feet tall.
The Camel of Crops
Civil War
During the Civil War, the northern blockade of southern ports begun in 1861, caused many food shortages. The Civil War scarcities led to replacement crops — chicory root for coffee, field pea mash for flour. Among the scarce items was sugar. Northerners wanted to avoid supporting the sugarcane industry in the South and chose sorghum. Southerners turned to sorghum in place of cane sugar, because it was cheap and plentiful in the south.

However, you’ll find no ears and there is a reddish tinge to the leaves, stalk and ripe seed head. Stalks stand up to 10 feet tall.
Sorghum holds a sweet juice extracted by crushing the cane. That sweet juice is then reduced until it runs slow as molasses, but boasts a deeper, more complex flavor.

The Camel of Crops
Sorghum is known as “the camel of crops” because it doesn’t need much water and grows in soils other grains won’t. It's a plant for tough times, and tough places.
Much of the world is turning hotter and dryer these days, and it's opening new doors for sorghum. Some farmers are looking for crops that aren't so "thirsty". Aquifers are getting lower in areas, and crops such as corn need much more water than sorghum. Compared with corn, for instance, sorghum needs one-third less water, and it doesn't give up and wilt when rains don't come on time. It waits for moisture to arrive.
It flourishes in dry areas. It’s an important crop in dry areas such as Ethiopia. It is used to make a popular Ethiopian flatbread, injera, beverages, and feed farm animals.
Sorghum is Trendy
Sorghum has become a "trendy" food. Sorghum is naturally gluten-free. Some sorghums are high in antioxidants, which are believed to help lower the risk of cancer, diabetes, heart disease. It is an ancient grain relatively untouched by modern agriculture.
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