Rations for the Army of Shenandoah on the way to Manassas

[hta1970]

In my never ending search for new information on the paperwork of the Confederate Army, I came across this document in the CMSR for Francis Bartow.

The provision return for 2nd Brigade, Army of the Shenandoah for July 18-21, 1861 signed by F.S. Bartow.

Number of men - 2881
Number of days - 3
Number of rations - 8643
Flour - 8643
Rice - 8643
Coffee - 8643
Sugar - 8643
Vinegar - 8643
Candles - 8643
Soap - 8643
Salt - 8643

This would imply that the brigade was getting full rations for 3 days for all of the items listed above, but no rations of fresh beef, pork or beans at all.

[bAcK88]

Re: Rations for the Army of Shenandoah on the way to Manassas

This is amazing, thanks for posting this! Hopefully more posts of this nature are in the future of the AC.

[Mississippian]

Re: Rations for the Army of Shenandoah on the way to Manassas

Harry,

Nice Info. Speaking of '61 ration issues, I found a some info about rations issues to the 12th Georgia from early July 1861. They were in Richmond and were getting all that plus beef and bacon, with bacon being issued to at a 3 to 2 ratio to the beef. Interesting stuff.

Will MacDonald

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Rations for the Army of Shenandoah on the way to Manassas

In my never ending search for new information on the paperwork of the Confederate Army, I came across this document in the CMSR for Francis Bartow.

The provision return for 2nd Brigade, Army of the Shenandoah for July 18-21, 1861 signed by F.S. Bartow.

Number of men - 2881
Number of days - 3
Number of rations - 8643
Flour - 8643
Rice - 8643
Coffee - 8643
Sugar - 8643
Vinegar - 8643
Candles - 8643
Soap - 8643
Salt - 8643

This would imply that the brigade was getting full rations for 3 days for all of the items listed above, but no rations of fresh beef, pork or beans at all.

Great work, Harry. But meat was such an important part of the ration, I wonder if they didn't have a supply. I wonder, for example, if they didn't have beef on the hoof, or if there'd been another issue of meat rations earlier, for a longer period. Just a thought.

[Matt Woodburn]

Re: Rations for the Army of Shenandoah on the way to Manassas

In my recent readings of letters and diaries of the 2nd Mississippi Infantry, while moving from Harpers Ferry through Winchester to Manassas during this same time frame, I encountered comments of "no meat" which supports this list of rations above.

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Rations for the Army of Shenandoah on the way to Manassas

The next question, then, would be whether they ever saw the money they were supposed to get from the ACS for the undrawn portion of their rations. This seemed to be the practice in the U. S. army, at least in the first half of the war, but it would be interesting to see if the Confederates ever bothered at all.