Civil War Hardtack

Soldiers During the American Civil War: Rations and Hardtack

We grab our plates and cups, and wait for no second invitation. We each get a piece of meat and a potato, a chunk of bread and a cup of coffee with a spoonful of brown sugar in it. Milk and butter we buy, or go without. We settle down, generally in groups, and the meal is soon over… We save a piece of bread for the last, with which we wipe up everything, and then eat the dish rag. Dinner and breakfast are alike, only sometimes the meat and potatoes are cut up and cooked together, which makes a really delicious stew. Supper is the same, minus the meat and potatoes.

– Lawrence VanAlstyne, Union Soldier, 128th New York Volunteer Infantry

Food is one of the most important things for any successful army: soldiers need plenty of nutritious food to keep them healthy and ready for the hard physical work of marching, training, and fighting. However, during the American Civil War, armies on both sides discovered that it was hard to find enough food to keep everyone fed on a regular basis - there were almost two million soldiers in the Union army alone to feed! Food was especially a problem when soldiers were on the move with limited ways of keeping food fresh. Union soldiers were fed simple foods: pork or beef, usually salted and boiled to extend the shelf life, coffee, sugar, salt, vinegar, and sometimes dried fruits and vegetables if they were in season. When food deliveries were interrupted by weather delays or other challenges, soldiers were forced to forage, or search for food in the wild, to supplement their meager diets.

One of the most common rations for soldiers on both sides was hardtack, a type of cracker that was specially designed to last a long time without going bad or getting moldy. It was made from just flour and water, and as the name suggests, hardtack was very tough and dry - men often dunked it in their coffee to help soften it up. Amazingly, hardtack was so durable that examples baked during the Civil War still exist today in museums!

Want to try for yourself? Get an adult to help you try this recipe for hardtack in your own kitchen!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 tablespoon salt (optional)

1/2 to 3/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Combine flour with salt in a mixing bowl. Add water and mix with hands until the dough comes together. Roll out on a table to about 1/3 inch thickness. Use a knife to cut 3×3 squares from the dough. Place on baking sheet, and use a dowel (see note above) to make 16 evenly-spaced holes in each square. Bake for at least four hours, turning over once half-way through baking. Cool on a rack in a dry room.

After it’s finished baking, try a piece - what do you think? Would you want to eat this every day for a week? For a month?