General Casey Ration Circular

[Jeremy Bevard]

I have found mention of a circular published by General Silas Casey to his troops on November 19, 1862 about preparing rations. I have not been able to locate the circular in any form out in internet land. Does anyone have a transcription of the document or a link to such? I found it is part of record group 393 at the National Archives however that group is not available online.

[Palmyra Possum]

Re: General Casey Ration Circular

In "Taste for War," by William Davis, the author refers to this November circular. While the book does not contain the complete text, it does discuss it at length. An excerpt from the book can be found here:

https://books.google.com/books?id=WlzrG8aZyT4C&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=%22The+attention+of+those+having+charge+of+new+troops+cannot+be+too%22&source=bl&ots=qamV5Ugzk1&sig=X5pPwaQVtsSAY5Jc2GnoaMuMaEs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi828i72ZbLAhVP5mMKHRqEAB4Q6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=%22The%20attention%20of%20those%20having%20charge%20of%20new%20troops%20cannot%20be%20too%22&f=false

There is something that makes me question this section, though. On the following page, he attributes the quote, "The cooking is everything," to as part of this circular. Although I don't have the book in front of me, I believe in another of Davis' books, "Civil War Recipes (aka Civil War Cookbook)," he attributes a fuller version of this quote to Casey:

The cooking is everything; if not well done, it is positively injurious; if well done, it is wholesome.

However, this appears to either be a faulty attribution or Casey was quoting a previous order. The quote actually appears in a directive written by Jonathan Letterman, the Surgeon and Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac, regarding the making of soup. This was just one of a few directives compiled in a general order dated August 2, 1862, issued by McClellan. The complete general order can be found in the Official Records here:

http://ehistory.osu.edu/books/official-records/014/0349

The quote in question can be found on the second page of this order towards the bottom of the page. Other quotes in this book attributed to Casey seem to paraphrase, if not outright quote, Letterman's directives.

[Jeremy Bevard]

Re: General Casey Ration Circular

I do have both those books and thank you for sharing. In researching rations and cooking directions for soldiers I have found many repeats. Sometimes word for word or parapharsed. Much comes from Soyers book he wrote in regards to the Crimean War. His work is recycled many times over in the ACW. Seeing what happened with manuals no surprise it would take place in other texts.