This might interest a few browsers. The attached article has a couple of pages of recipes for hardtack that a) use the army's extremely simple ingredients list; b) attempt to simulate period production methods in the home kitchen; and c) can actually be masticated if your teeth are intact. These are preceded by some ten pages of how I got there (including summaries of primary source specifications and observations), and followed, perhaps most usefully, by a dozen pages of pertinent excerpts from period accounts. Plus a few pictures to liven up the dreary stretches of prose.
No aspersions intended regarding those who have previously embarked on a deceptively simple but perplexing endeavor, and no claims of perfection. But I do hope the attached allows the average reenactor to recreate a foundational item in the army ration without, as I previously have, opting for vaguely passable substitutes. Bon appetit!
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