CHAPTER VII.

ARMY RATIONS.

Were They Adequate?—Their Quality—A List of Them—What was Included in a Single Ration—What was a Marching Ration?—Officers’ Allowance—The “Company Fund”—“Hardtack” Described—Its Faults Three in Number—Served in Twenty Different Ways—Song of the Hardtack—“Soft Bread”—The Capitol as a Bake-house—The Ovens at Alexandria and Fort Monroe—Grant’s Immense Bake-house at City Point—Coffee and Sugar—How Dealt Out—How Stored—Condensed Milk—Company Cooks—The Coffee-Dipper—The Typical Coffee-Boiler—Bivouac and Coffee—How the Government Beat the Speculators—How a Contractor Underbid Himself—Fresh Meat—How Served—Army Frying-Pans—Steak from a Steer’s Jaw-Bone—“Salt Horse” Not a Favorite Dish—Salt Pork and its Uses—The Army Bean—How it was Baked—Song of the Army Bean—Desiccated Vegetables—The Whiskey Ration—A Suggestion as to the Inadequacy of the Marching Ration 108