Rations

[BigRonFH]

Re: Hardtack

Not sure about Erasmus, but I am related to both the Stephen Hopkins of the Mayflower and the Stephen Hopkins of the Declaration of Independence. Thanks for the information on the 'taters.

Ron Hopkins
Co. D, 13th US Infantry

[unclefrank]

Re: Hardtack

Well I'm inspired! I have a dozen spuds that have started to go a little soft, so they are now in the dehydrator! They will come in handy at Mill Springs.

[AZReenactor]

Dried Fruit

I recently came across the reference below to dried apples being sent to Fort Bowie. I know that dried apples were frequently issued as an anti-scorbutic during the war. (One Surgeons recommendation in the ORs suggests they be issued three times a week.) I have dried peeled and cored apple slices on a string before as well as made shrunken apple heads for Halloween. However I don't see these small scale efforts supplying the needs of an army.

I am looking for information on the period practices of making dried apples on a commercial scale during our time period so that we might produce apples for a ration issue at Fort Bowie. What varieties of apples are most correct? What methods can be used for drying them today? What size and type of barrel or other container would dried apples be shipped and stored in by the army? Any authenticity minded organizations prepared and issued dried apples back East in years past? Any information would be appreciated.

HEADQUARTERS COLUMN FROM CALIFORNIA,
Ojo de la Yaca, Ariz. Ter., August 3, 1862.

Maj. DAVID FERGUSSON,
First Cavalry California Vols., Comdg. at Tucson, Ariz. Ter.:
MAJOR:
I approve of the release of John Bart on his parole of honor, he having given bonds of $5,000, to be forthcoming when called for. Your circular in relation to reports of persons in charge of vedette stations is approved. The detachment from Captain McCleave's company sent to the San Pedro to re-enforce Lieutenant Guirado will be sent to join that company as soon as the cattle have been driven from that point by the contractor toward the Rio Grande. The contract between Capt. N. S. Davis, acting assistant quartermaster, and King S. Woolsey, for hay and mesquite beans, seems to be fair and just, and is approved. Your letter to Lieut. R. S. Barrett, of July 20, is received. The sentence, ''Salvation of the troops in this Territory," seems to be uncommonly forcible. Your Special Orders, No.2, July 26, are approved. Send by the first opportunity 1,500 pounds of pemmican, which Captain Willis left at the San Pedro on the 26th of July, to Fort Bowie, Apache Pass, Chiricahua Mountains. I inclose a copy of General Orders, No. 12, establishing that post.* Its garrison will not vary much from 120 aggregate. You will cause it to be supplied with subsistence stores and such other necessary articles as may be required by the commanding officer of that post which you can spare from the depot at Tucson, or procure from Fort Yuma or San Francisco. Fort Bowie is included within the District of Eastern Arizona, and will doubtless be occupied by troops for many years, as it is one of the most important points for a military post in this Territory. Of course, during the present troubles no expenses can be incurred in building this post, except in the payment of the few extra-duty men whom the commanding officer of Fort Bowie may be obliged to employ. Major Coult will for the present protect himself by a field-work, but the troops there will be obliged to live under canvas for some time to come. I inclose for your information a letter I from Lieutenant Barrett, dated July 21, 1862. Send a good share of the dried apples named therein to Fort Bowie; also 100 of the bedsacks. I have to-day written to Colonel Bowie and requested him to order Captain Thayer's company, of the Fifth Infantry California Volunteers, to report to you at Tucson. During the time which elapses until its arrival at your headquarters I desire that Captain Davis, acting assistant quartermaster, get ready as many of the unserviceable wagons as possible, after having sent Allen's supply train to Fort Yuma, and working in these wagons the 200 poor and weak mules which I spoke of sending to San Pedro, Cal. I wish the captain to come on with this train to Mesilla, bringing with him as much subsistence stores as the mules can well haul. You will order Greene's company to escort this train through. From what I learn of the means of transportation in New Mexico these mules and harness will be greatly needed there. Send to Lieutenant Hammond, regimental quartermaster First Infantry California Volunteers, the proportion of all clothing now at Tucson, or which may arrive there before Captain Davis leaves, with this train for Mesilla, which the troops in advance should have, when you consider their numbers with reference to the numbers of those who remain behind. It was supposed that to an experienced soldier like yourself paragraph 5 of General Orders, No. 10, was sufficiently clear; that you would send on such of the articles named as you might have on hand and such of the articles not named as are in customary use and which in your judgment would be necessary, provided you had them in store. I inclose herewith a tn-monthly statement of subsistence stores at Fort Yuma and at the mouth of the Colorado River and to arrive at the mouth of the river. It is dated July 20, 1862. Please send forward at the earliest practicable moment a good supply of bacon, hams, coffee, sugar (brown), sugar (crushed), lime juice, sperm candles, whisky, tea, molasses, dried apples, desiccated vegetables, compressed potatoes, and pickles, at least the proportion due the troops in advance, having reference to their strength. If, hereafter, Lieutenant Barrett should make these reports to you, send me authenticated copies of them. I regret that your duties are so onerous. I will relieve you from them as soon as possible.
I am, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JAMES II. CARLETON,
Brigadier- General, U. S. Army.

NOTE.—I herewith inclose, approved, your contract with Mr. Ammi M. White, dated July 24, 1862.

[AZReenactor]

Re: Dried Apples

I recieved this source that gives an indication of the quantity issued per 100 men.

Chambersburg, PA
Semi-Weekly Dispatch
May 28, 1861, p. 4, c. 1

Soldiers' Rations.

There has been much said about what constitutes the daily rations of the soldier and the cost of the same, and yet the mass of the people know very little on the subject. We therefore gather some interesting items in relation to army subsistence from the official Regulations of the Army of the United States, and publish them, that the men may know what they are entitled to, in case grasping contractors should attempt to practice impositions:

One hundred complete rations consist of--

32 rations fresh beef is 40 lbs, or 1 1/4 lbs per man.
68 " pork, is 51 lbs, " 3/4 lb "
100 " flour, is 11 lbs, " 18 oz. "
100 " beans, is 8 qts.
Or,
100 " rice, is 10 lbs.
100 " coffee, is 6 lbs.
100 " sugar, is 12 lbs.
100 " vinegar, is 4 qts.
100 " candles, is 1 1/2 lbs.
100 " soap, is 4 lbs.
100 " salt, is 2 qts.

When the officers of the Medical Department find anti-scorbutics necessary for the health of the troops, the commanding officer may order issues of fresh vegetables, pickled onions, sour krout, or molasses, with an extra quantity of rice and vinegar. (Potatoes are usually issued at the rate of one pound per ration, and onions at the rate of three bushels in lieu of one of beans.) Occasional issues (extra) of molasses are made--two quarts of one hundred rations--and of dried apples of from one to one and a half bushels to one hundred rations.

[Ridge Runner]

Re: Dried Apples

This article talks about an apple slicer being introduced in 1853. So I would put money on the government having some sort of mechanical process for processing apples.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...2/ai_n17196345

As for varities, I'm not sure what you have available. The government would have been getting many different varieties. Unlike today where and handful of varieties control the market, each farm would have been producing three or four different varieties a year. With heirloom fruits it's really hit or miss, unless you are going to produce them yourself. If all you are going to do is slice them and dry them, I don't know why a good Granny Smith won't do.

Roman Fox
I Love My Apples To The Core Mess

[ephraim_zook]

Re: Dried Apples

Hank Trent generally has a good handle on appropriate period varieties. I shouldn't think the government would be in the apple-drying business, though. That would have been (1) contracted out to the lowest bidder or (2) purchased off the local economy.

Ron Myzie

[Jim of The SRR]

Re: Dried Apples

The book "Life of Billy Yank" talks about dried apples. The writer mentions that it appeared they were just "dried cores and peels". Thus contracted quality probably varied.

Jim Butler

[Charles Heath]

Re: Dried Apples

I am looking for information on the period practices of making dried apples on a commercial scale during our time period so that we might produce apples for a ration issue at Fort Bowie.

Troy,

I'll toss in a couple of quotes from the Iron Brigade rations article buried somewhere in the articles section. The first one gives you an indication of quantity of apples by weight for a brigade in 1863:

11. Apples, Dried: The ration tables tell us, “dried apples, peaches, pickles, &c., when on hand may be issued in lieu of any component part of the ration, of equal money value.” Dried apples are estimated at 24 pounds per bushel. In the absence of any specific rate of issue, but borrowing from the allowance of 30 pounds per 100 rations for fresh vegetables, the rate of issue would be 3.84 ounces of dried apples, which seems reasonable. So, 16,420 pounds of dried apples converts to 68,416 rations, which translate into approximately 1 ration of dried apples every 10 days. While the estimation may not be precise, the quantity of dried apples certainly suggests the average fellow had fruit as a minimum at least a couple of times each month. The question remains as to how the apples were issued, since the availability of wheat flour and sugar lend themselves well to pies, cobblers, and even fried pies, in addition to simply handing the individual a few ounces of dried fruit. The dried apples may have been added to improve certain stews, especially those including cabbage. Of this, we can only speculate.

You didn't ask for peaches, but while I was there:

12. Peaches, Dried: As was the case with the dried apples in #11 above, the ration tables tell us, “dried apples, peaches, pickles, &c., when on hand may be issued in lieu of any component part of the ration, of equal money value.” Dried peaches are estimated at 32 pounds per bushel. In the absence of any specific rate of issue, but borrowing from the allowance of 30 pounds per 100 rations for fresh vegetables, and in keeping with the same way we estimated the dried apples above, the rate of issue would be 5.12 ounces of dried peaches. This is also a reasonable amount, especially considering peaches weigh slightly more per volume when dried than apples. The Iron Brigade only received 884 pounds of dried peaches in 1863, so this must have been a treat. This was sufficient for 2,763 rations, which means less than twice each year; however, like the apples in #11 above, we do not know exactly how the dried peaches were issued.

No real significance, other than that info was easiest to reach in and grab. Being in the Far West, take some time to take note of mentions of other fruit, especially those items not all that common 3,000 miles eastward.

What varieties of apples are most correct? What methods can be used for drying them today?

Older CES pamphlets tell us the following apples are good for drying, and you should be able to find the ones listed in boldface at least at produce speciality markets. The apples listed with an "X" are those I've fooled with over the years either in my own orchards or in orchard restorations:

X Grimes Golden
X Maiden's Blush
Red Horse
X Sheepnose
X Summer Rambo
X Winesap
X Wolf River

The listing for "Winesap" probably means what we call "Old Virginia Winesap" today, and not the more common "Stayman Winesap." In a fit of laziness, I'm not going to look up the 19th century acceptability dates for the above, but will let you do that. Of the ones listed above, I still have Summer Rambo and Winesap in production. As a modern rule of thumb, apples that are good canners are also good dryers. I'd recommend an interlibrary loan of a couple of good 19th century fruit production books, and at least one early 20th century version of the same. Typically the later books either confirm/deny what was proposed 50 to 75 years earlier. This next big thing was not always the next big thing when a few decades of hindsight is applied.

In this region, we have extant 19th century fruit drying houses. Generally, these are 12' x 12' or 12' x 24' sheds that have trays like print drawers, except with slats (think latttice) for airflow. As you can imagine, humidity played a big role in how well fruit dried, and while I've never seen a local dryer with provisions for fire (think flue cured tobacco), I have read accounts about using heat to speed the process. My guess is you won't be rushing into your backyard to build one of these anytime soon, even if your climate is ideal. On a small scale, a commercial food dehydrator will work up a tasty and satisfying issue for a mess, and lacking that a good knife and a string is just fine, as the directions for drying a handful of apples are easy enough to find.

Your homemade dried apples may look a bit dark compared to commercially available dried apples. That reason is you didn't spray them with sulfites, which is the norm in the industry. If you shop at Trader Joe's or some other organic food store, you'll notice their dried apples are also tend to be dark for the same reason.

What size and type of barrel or other container would dried apples be shipped and stored in by the army?

See if Jeff Henion covers this in his article about period containers in the CRRC2. When in doubt, use a barrel, for even hardcrackers came in barrels from time to time; however, if you are only issuing dried fruit to a dozen or so men (approximately 4 ounces per man), finding something small enough to hold 48 ounces of dried fruit isn't too difficult. What did they use? Wood boxes of all shapes and sizes at the ration break down points were the corrugated "banana boxes" of today. I'm not so sure the cute little pre-stenciled ration bags aren't overdone, but that's just speculation.

Any authenticity minded organizations prepared and issued dried apples back East in years past?

Yes, and yes. If you want to issue small quantities, then making the apple rings, seeds, core, and all works well. If you are going to issue to a large number of troops, you may wish to go to a commercial source. Like making chicory coffee substitute from scratch, it's good to go through the process one time just to realize what a huge savings it is to buy it off the shelf. You have options.

Child Labor/Family Activity Note: While only you can determine whether the wee bitty labor force 'round the table is ready for sharp instruments, consider stringing apple slices on a string as full employment for the crumb crunchers. You can find a lot of good foodways information aimed at living history sites, and this is just one of the many food related activities that crop up on their schedules.

Keep this up, and you'll encourage me to write another how-to article. Bad, Troy, bad. :p

[AZReenactor]

Re: Dried Apples

Thank you for the responses. They gave me some good leads and sugestions of directions for further research.

I'm looking at making them up for a couple dozen fellows at a regarisoning living history at Fort Bowie and will probably make them ourselves just for the experience this time.

Charles, if you'd already written that article I would have probably found it using the search engine and wouldn't have had to post my query in the first place. ;-)

[Fatback and Beans]

Re: Dried Apples

Troy,

There's a bit on this page about the origins of some varieties of apples. There are a number that have fairly old origins.

http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods...s/applevar.htm

I would like to specifically draw your attention to the Gravenstein:

Gravenstein< originated in northern Germany or Denmark before 1800 and taken to California around 1820 where it soon became a popular variety for cooking. It is also popular with those who like to eat tart apples raw. It is a large, yellow apple with bright red and orange strips. It is roundish but slightly lopsided.

I have also heard that the Arkansas Black was a popular variety for those in wagon trains because of their long storage life due to them being a very hard apple. I understand it dates to about 5 years post war though.

Good luck to you, and I look forward to hearing how your project turns out.

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Dried Apples

I have a book in my collection titled _Fruit and Fruit Trees of America_ by A. J. Dowing (1860). It was originally published in 1857. The chapter on apples was almost 200 pages and included the available culture, propogation, insects, varieties and their appropriate regions for growth.

The author stated that there were over 900 varieties of apples worldwide. Rather than describe each one covered in the book, I'll list the ones for listed for middle and southern states.


"Select List of Apples, ripening in succession, to suit the Middle and Southern portions of the Eastern States.

Early Harvest
Red Ashtrachan
Early Strawberry
Summer Rose
William's Favorite
Primate
American Summer Permain
Garden Royal
Jefferis
Porter
Jersey Sweet
Large Yellow Bough
Gravenstein
Maiden's Blush
Autumn Sweet Bough
Fall Pippin
Mother
Smokehouse
Rambo
Esopus Spitzenburgh
Vandevere of NY
Jonathan
Melon
Yellow Bellflower
Domine
American Golden Russet
Cogswell
Peck's Pleasant
Wagener
Rhode Island Greening
King of Tompkins Co.
Swaar
Baldwin
Lady Apple
Ladies' Sweet
Red Canada
Newtown Pippin
Boston Russet
Northern Spy
Wine Sap."

[AZReenactor]

Re: Dried Apples

Thank you so much for the suggestion Ms. Mescher. I was able to find the 1900 edition of the book in Google books and it had a note on the Fruits of California as well.

Most profitable in the far west seems to have been:
Williams' Favorite
Early Strawberry
Red Astrachan
Early Harvest
Winesap
Rawles' Janet
Newtown Pippin (regarded as best and most profitable in CA)
White Winter Pearmain
Smith's Cider
Yellow Belflower

I have a book in my collection titled _Fruit and Fruit Trees of America_ by A. J. Dowing (1860). It was originally published in 1857. The chapter on apples was almost 200 pages and included the available culture, propogation, insects, varieties and their appropriate regions for growth...

[JustinPrince]

Dried Fruit

Hi all,

I'm going to my first event next friday, and I'm trying to figure out what all I need to bring. The stuff beyond the uniform/equipment/musket, etc. I'm opting in to the company mess, but I was wondering what some relatively inexpensive authentic food ideas would be to have in my haversack, just so I could have a little snack here and there.

So far all my thinking has netted me (beyond the hardtack I'm being issued) is cheese in wax butcher paper. Maybe some fresh fruit or something, but I'm not sure how common something like that would be in Indian Territory (my first event will be the Battle of Cabin Creek with the 2nd Colorado Volunteer Inf.). I'm still new at all the researching and such, and hope to learn a lot at this first event so I'll have some semblance of what I'm doing (beyond the manual of arms) at the next one.

Thanks!

Justin Prince

[WestTN_reb]

Re: Authentic Foodstuffs?

I'm usually the last one to fuss at somebody for asking a question, but I may as well be the first to tell you, "use the search function." By typing "food" and "rations", I pulled up several pages of stuff.

Now that that is out of the way, check the Research Articles. Scroll down to Articles on Cooking and Rations. There is a treasure trove of good stuff waiting to be discovered.

[Pvt Schnapps]

Re: Authentic Foodstuffs?

I can't vouch for what would be authentic for the time, place, and unit you will represent, but I have some ideas I think you could work with.

Dried apple slices, prunes, or apricots. I just read an account the other day of an ascent of Mt. Blanc during the '50s in which the author praised dried prunes as an antidote to thirst (something like a pebble in the mouth, I guess). Apricots are a decent source of potassium.

While you were at the sutler paying an exhorbitant amount for your cheese, you might also have picked up some crackers, ginger snaps, or sugar candy.

Here are a few passages from G. A. Sala's diary relating to a visit to the Army of the Potomac at Brandy Station in the winter of 1864 (I'll let you decide whether any of this is relevant to your impression for next weekend):

"The soldiers are also to be found in throngs round the sutlers’ stores, spending their abundant greenbacks – for each private musketeer seems to have a hundredweight of greenbacks at the very least – in candy, in hardbake, in toffee, in barley-sugar, in cocoa-nut, in fig and gum drops, in cranberry pies, in dough nuts, in jam-puffs – huge triangular cocked hats of pastry, such as you might think were worn by the courtiers of the King of Alicampane... gingerbread nuts, treacle-puffs, apple-pasties, hundreds of huge trays of which delicacies are made fresh every day... cheese, crackers, sardines, potted meats, tooth-powder, pomatum, antibilious pills, and indiarubber goloshes. Let bitters also not be forgotten."

If you avoid dining on the pomatum and "goloshes", you can probably dispense with the bitters. :)