Rations

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: The Weekly Bacon Question

Both Denhay Farm's organic bacon (from Highgrove) and its free-range line (from farms in Norfolk)

Free-range hogs? I love it. They are fondly referred to as ''Piney Wood Rooters".
Cook this bacon well; it is susceptible to Trichinosis because the animals have access to bare soil and their own waste.

This type of information is valuable to a nineteenth century mind-set. The raising of hogs and the products they provide are very important things to know. The amount of pork bones in and around the camps and house sites in NC is remarkable. It is a dietetic artifact common in every 18/19 cent area.

[Rear Guard]

Effects of diet on soldiers?

Has anyone ever read of soldiers dying from heart attacks? Given the often poor diet (ie: salted meats too much coffee and little or no fruits and vegetables) and rigorous marching in hot weather, it seems likely that this would have occurred, yet I've never seen any mention of it in the books I've read.

Jeff Lawson
Rear Guard

[markj]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

Hi,

This is hard to say since, of course, the level of medical knowledge left much to be desired, autopsies were rarely performed in the field, and there were so many other afflictions that could either exacerbate heart trouble or otherwise kill you. Medical evidence indicates Robert E. Lee suffered from heart trouble (angina pectoris, as I recall) and it was a contributing factor to his death albeit this happened, of course, in 1870.

The causes for many men's deaths were vaguely recorded as, for example, "congestion of the brain" or even "nostalgia." Many ostensibly healthy men, just as they do today, simply keeled over and no one ever figured out the cause. Even today we see healthy and well-toned athletes drop dead from unknown causes. I remember one doctor talking about an autopsy he did in which he said, "If it weren't for the fact that guy was dead, there was no reason why he shouldn't have just gotten off the slab and walked away."

Poor diet, rough living conditions, and bouts with such charming diseases as typhoid and chronic diarrhea undoubtedly did not help anyone with heart trouble. However, rotten meat and wormy hardbread aside, one can argue that 19th Century folks were in some respects "healthier" since they ate food containing less saturated fats and refined sugar. Their food was often fresher since, of course, cold-storage was relatively rare (ice-boxes did, however, exist). They also, as a rule, got more exercise (no couch potatoes!). Although many men smoked, cigarettes were almost unknown--pipes, cigars, and "chaw" were the order of the day. Since "nicotine delivery systems" like cigarettes basically didn't exist, in my view, heart disease and emphysema rates were likely lower. This fact, however, was undoubtedly balanced by fairly high incidences of lip, mouth, and throat cancer. Ulysses S. Grant, a heavy cigar smoker himself, died from throat cancer in 1885.

I guess, in a sense, everyone who died had a "heart attack" (or cardiac arrest) since, of course, their hearts stopped beating no matter the actual cause!

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Rear Guard]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

Good point, they likely had different names for it. Has anyone ever seen a listing of 19th Century medical terms and what we would call them today?

Jeff Lawson

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

I imagine heart attacks did happen, but keep in mind for the most part these "men" were in there late teens and early twenties. Besides, there was no such thing as a 500lbs reb, most of those guys were 150lbs soakling wet. Heartattacks are probably more common in our ranks than theirs. I have known of 5 fatal heartattacks at events that I have been at.

[BHoover]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

one can argue that 19th Century folks were in some respects "healthier" since they ate food containing less saturated fats and refined sugar. Their food was often fresher since, of course, cold-storage was relatively rare (ice-boxes did, however, exist).

I'm not so sure about that. Their fats would have been almost exclusively animal fats: lard, tallow, suet, etc. so the sat-fats and cholesterol would have been higher than today. Also, lack of refrigeration doesn't imply fresh foods. Quite the contrary in fact as much of the food had to be preserved. This could lead to moulds and rots, and some of the preservation methods were not very healthful either (e.g. massive amounts of salt, or lead-based paints on the inside of canned food tins).

I read a study a few years back which showed a marked decrease in stomach cancer in the US during the mid-20th century, which coincided with a decrease in preserved meats due to the increase in home refrigerators. I'm sure there are other studies of this as well but the bottom line is that our modern food supply is much cleaner, much fresher, much better preserved, and in general much safer than was the norm at any time in our past.

[bAcK88]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

Heres a quote from the Regimental History of the 63rd Virginia Infantry by Jeffrey Weaver.
This regiment was made up of older men from south-west Virginia and was made up of mostly Unionist men.

pg.49 "December 1863-September 1864- The Atlanta Campaign"

Disease was the worst enemy of the 63rd this winter. Several men died of illness over the course of the winter. Disease had not been a major factor in the regiment's readiness before this time, and the outbreak had some effects on morale. One man died of an apparent heart attack, then called "dropsy," in December. Some of the men were older than the victim and must have feared a similar fate. Age would play an improtant factor in the battles to come in the hot Southern summer. These were mountain men, used to a colder climate than the Georgia boys who were about them.

Hope this helps,

[markj]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

I'm not so sure about that. Their fats would have been almost exclusively animal fats: lard, tallow, suet, etc. so the sat-fats and cholesterol would have been higher than today. Also, lack of refrigeration doesn't imply fresh foods. Quite the contrary in fact as much of the food had to be preserved. This could lead to moulds and rots, and some of the preservation methods were not very healthful either (e.g. massive amounts of salt, or lead-based paints on the inside of canned food tins).

I read a study a few years back which showed a marked decrease in stomach cancer in the US during the mid-20th century, which coincided with a decrease in preserved meats due to the increase in home refrigerators. I'm sure there are other studies of this as well but the bottom line is that our modern food supply is much cleaner, much fresher, much better preserved, and in general much safer than was the norm at any time in our past.

Hard to say but, then again, people as a rule were far more active than we are today and I would suggest this canceled out the negative effects of animal fats to a great extent (sidenote: Neanderthals apparently had an almost exclusively meat diet). If you didn't have access to a horse, you walked. However, that doesn't mean you didn't have time for leisure. I've heard of Amish farmers taking two naps in a single day.

I based my comments on "fresh foods" on the fact that, at least as stated in Indiana newspaper ads, these were available even in the winter (although undoubtedly for higher prices). In September 1860, a man wrote a letter to a Lafayette IN paper commenting on how fast he was able to travel down to Nashville TN--less than twenty-four hours by train. Therefore, depending on the circumstances, it stands to reason that produce could be often delivered by rail while it was still (relatively) fresh.

Lafayette IN (where I live), incidentally, was located on the Wabash River and was thus easily accessible by boat. It was a major commercial hub in this part of Indiana: goods and produce could be easily shipped in except if or when the river was frozen. The transportation infrastructure was sufficiently advanced in this region by the 1860s (not to mention Indianapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville) that you could usually get what you wanted assuming you could pay the price.

Indeed, improvements in sanitation and food preparation have made a world of difference. As late as 1906, the City of Philadelphia reported no less than 1,063 deaths from typhoid alone. Somewhat tying in with the topic at hand, check out the following interesting title about city life in the 19th Century: Warner, Sam Bass Jr. The Private City: Philadelphia in Three Periods of Its Growth. Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 1968.

I'll see if I can dig up some advertisements from the papers that further discuss what was available here in Lafayette. The city itself was one of the larger population centers in the state of Indiana, with about about 14,000 in 1863, and it also reported having at least 80 saloons!

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[James Brenner]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

While I can't say much about the immediate effects of diet on active duty soldiers, a quick look at pension records will reveal the long term effects on the veterans. Those who did not seek a pension for wounds or injuries often times sought compensation for health and diet related disabilities. For example, Stacy Pettit, of Company K, 104th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, petitioned for a pension in 1889 citing "disease of the stomach and resulting disease of the heart". In his affidavit, Pettit wrote that his troubles became serious at Knoxville, TN. "We were reduced almost to famine during the time we were besieged by Gen'l Longstreet, having to subsist for some weeks upon bread made from chopped oats and mill sweepings. I applied during our stay there to Dr. Sheldon our regimental surgeon for remedies, but he said my stomach revolted at the food we had and he could do me no good until we had a change in commissary". Pettit died four years later.

The other thing to consider is the proliferation of salves, ointments, remedies, tonics, and powders that catered to the veterans market in the years after the war. There were cures for everything from arthritis and rhuematism (sp?) to heart disease and liver ailments. The combination of poor diet and active campaigning took its toll on the soldiers, but it took awhile.

[KarinTimour]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

I'd have to weigh in with Bruce on the issue of saturated fats -- I doubt very many of the soldiers were using sweet oil (olive oil) rather than lard, butter, etc. in their frying.

In terms of the activity, perhaps farmers or rural people were getting enough exercise to challenge the amount of plaque in their arteries -- but with the rise of cities, there were also clerks, mechanics, factory and retail workers among the soldiers. Many of these folks stood all day in one place or with relatively little movement.

Mark's points are well taken that the transportation system had improved. At the same time, wasn't it the Civil War and the rail transport of hogs and cattle to Hormel's and Swift's meat packing plants coupled with army contracts that made them huge firms? Stockyards were hard up against the butchering floors, with no screens and oceans of flies. Preservation of Army beef was uneven at best -- how many accounts have we read of "green hunks of meat" or "mystery meat" in diaries and memoirs? Have you seen those pictures from the seige of Petersburg where the same tent is sheltering hay on one side and blocks of soft bread stacked like cordwood right on the ground on the other side?

Personally, heart disease takes longer to kill you -- perhaps the stats from 1890 or 1900 could answer the proportion of soldiers with impaired circulation. But the more likely death was diarrhea, dysentery or typhoid from filthy food handling practices, sinks located too close to water sources (or using water sources AS sinks). Intestinal parasites are probably present as well -- how many times do you hear of them eating beef or pork raw because the rations go out and the long roll sounds? Or they are so excited to get some fresh meat they can't wait to cook it. Add a little cholera here and there and that's how your food and water is going to kill you quick.

Remember if you've got diarrhea, you're losing electrolytes and need to replace your fluids as quickly as possible and stay hydrated. But what if you're on a 20 mile forced march and there are guards posted on all the wells you pass, or the guys (and horses, cattle, etc.) ahead of you on the march have drunk the local wells dry? There are lots of mentions in civilan memoirs of "the water was three parts mud for weeks after the armies went through."

And then there's scurvy, which the Union army, at least, fought on and off for the first few years. Anybody recall "and then we took the dessicated vegetables and threw them in the ditch....?" In late 1861 and early 1862 the U.S. Sanitary Commission fought scurvy by staging socials and theatericals in communities across the North, charging admission of a potato or an onion, and then shipped the veggies to the men in the field. Problem is you can lead a guy to an onion but you can't necessarily make him eat it. Pickles, on the other hand were consumed straight out of the crock as soon as it got to camp. So the San Comm switched gears and women pickled anything that would sprout, and jars, crocks and containers of all sorts were shipped south, to be consumed with great relish (pun intended), heading off scurvy deaths.

All of this, by the way, is assuming you're ablebodied and have the teeth to chew your rations. If you got wounded, or too sick to eat, and ended up on in the hospital in the early years, they would issue you the same food and just bring it to you and lay it on your cot. If you'd been shot in the face, or were too ill to digest hardtack, well, it just sort of mounded up on your blanket and in more than a few cases, men starved to death surrounded by rations they couldn't eat.

And then there is food adulteration -- there is a famous story of Mother Bickerdyck when she was the matron of a hospital in Tennessee. She was always trying to buy milk and eggs off the locals, but got fed up with the rotting eggs and watered down milk she was being offered. So she got permission to go north to Wisconsin, did a speaking tour asking for donations of dairy cattle and hens. Herds and flocks were gathered and shipped to Tennessee, where they served the wounded fresh eggs and milk for the duration of the occupation -- some of the cattle even were part of Sherman's march (or so legend has it). Mother's famous quote when she got the first pails of milk and fresh eggs was "This is milk and eggs from LOYAL cows and hens."

Karin Timour
Period Knitting -- Socks, Camp Hats, Balaclavas
Atlantic Guard Soldiers' Aid Society
Email: Ktimour@aol.com

[Rear Guard]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

Pension records would no doubt tell a story as they did reveal chronic back troubles were suffered by my Missouri (Yankee) Cavalry ancestor. Apparently, it was common for the horsemen to suffer from compressed vertebrae and ruptured discs from the constant pounding. In his case, he also claimed a chronically swollen testicle (a Doctor reported an incredible 12" in diameter) was due to his service in the rebellion and he claimed it prevented him from working his farm for extended periods of time after the war. He did spend some time in the Little Rock hospital during his service and I've always wondered about his malady being venereal disease related since I've read that Little Rock was a place where they treated a great number of such cases. Maybe it was from "ridin' a dutch gal" and not a horse. I'll never know for certain.

Jeff Lawson

[ferraius]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

I like the term "dropsy." Many men did "dropsy" off by the side of the road from overexhaustion, dehydration and poor diet. Who's to say whether they were heart attacks or not? And the average man in those days was a hell of a lot tougher than what is called a man today.

I've got three blankets!

Jon O'Harra

[Hank Trent]

Re: Effects of diet on soldiers?

he also claimed a chronically swollen testicle (a Doctor reported an incredible 12" in diameter) was due to his service in the rebellion and he claimed it prevented him from working his farm for extended periods of time after the war.

For what it's worth, that sounds like it might be hydrocele, which is not a symptom of venereal disease, but is more apt to be caused by an injury, if a definite cause can be pinpointed.

"The ordinary hydrocele occurs as a chronic disease... It is most frequently met with in individuals about the middle period of life... Most commonly the size varies from that of a hen's egg to a small cocoa-nut, but sometimes it may attain a considerably greater magnitude than this..." (Erichsen, The Science and Art of Surgery, 1860)

Treatment consisted of draining the fluid or performing surgery or injecting an irritating substance.

On the general topic of 19th century medical terms and what they'd correspond with today... I've seen some lists on the internet, but it's unfortunately not so easy, if you want to gain a real understanding of what health problems were being suffered in the period and how they'd be diagnosed today. To oversimplify greatly, 19th century diseases were often categorized by symptoms, while modern diseases are usually categorized by cause. So there's not always a one-to-one correspondence.

An excellent example is the quote cited above, "One man died of an apparent heart attack, then called 'dropsy,'..."

Well, yes and no. "Dropsy" was "A preternatural collection of a serous fluid in any cavity of the body." (Dunglison 1854) In other words, dropsy described a symptom--collection of fluid--but not any underlying cause. "Heart attack," as vague as it still is, is more of an attempt to describe the cause of a variety of symptoms such as chest pain, unconsciousness, etc.

There could be many causes of dropsy.

[Dropsy] is generally the result of disease in some of the important organs of the body, and is occasioned by defective absorption, excessive effusion, or both combined... It may also be idiopathic, due to some morbid condition of the blood, suppression or cessation of inordinate discharges; or symptomatic, resulting from disease of internal organs, as, of the heart, liver, kidneys, spleen, peritoneum, etc. (King, The Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Pathology and Treatment of Chronic Diseases, 1867)

Because swelling of the lower legs is a common sign of heart disease, there's a big overlap between dropsy and heart disease, but the words and the meaning behind them are not synonymous.

Medical writers have not positively determined the particular cardiac affections which occasion dropsy... The first observable symptom of [dropsy] due to a cardiac lesion is a swelling of the feet and ankles, pitting upon pressure; the swelling increases, and gradually ascends upward. Indeed, a dropsical swelling beginning in the ankles is considered a very important indication of heart disease. (King, The Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Pathology and Treatment of Chronic Diseases, 1867)

Hank Trent
(Don't get me started on 19th century medicine)
hanktrent@voyager.net

[marcstephen]

Vegetables

Can anyone tell me where I can find "dessicated vegetables" (spelling??)
Thank you in advance. :wink_smil

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Vegetables

Can anyone tell me where I can find "dessicated vegetables" (spelling??)
Thank you in advance. :wink_smil

The information below was posted on another forum but it was not signed so I don't know who the original poster was. I have not tried it so I don't know if the recipe works or how it tastes.

Dessicated Vegetables

You will need a food dehydrator for this to work well.
It can be substituded by doing this stuff in the oven, but it is
a great deal harder to work with in the end.

INGREADIENTS:

Cabbage, 2 medium to large heads
Carrots, 1/2 bag of sliced, frozen kind will do.
Turnips, about 4 medium sized with the tops on them.
Parsnips, about half the volume amount of turnips
Onions, maybe 3-4 of the smaller yellow onions.

VEGETABLE PREPARATION:

Slice the cabbage into quarters, then remove the stem, and seperate them so
that the leaves are not connected to each other. Cut the turnips into small
slices with the turnip tops diced into smaller
portions and set away from the meatier turnip bodies. Slice the onions up.

VEGETABLE COOKING:

In a large pot, boil the turnip tops and cabbage together until tender. In a
seperate pot, cook the boil the rest of the ingredeints together until they
are cooked completely. DO NOT OVER COOK the veggies. They must be done
almost completely but still retain the ruffage texture. Drain everything
well, pressing as much water out as you can. The best way to do this is take
a smaller bowl and push it on the veggies in the strainer to get out as much
water as possible. The more water you remove now, the less the dehydration
process will be.


DEHYDRATING THE VEGETABLES:

If using the deydrator, use the 4" x 4" x 3" freezer containers for moding
the veggies into shape. It will help if you poke a lot of small holes into
the containers (about the size of the tip of a ball point pen) to aid in the
dehydration process.

If using the oven method, put the veggies into a 9"x13" pan and preset the
oven to 200-250`F.

Layer the veggies into the containers in the following manner:
Cabbage mix (1/2 inch), carrot mix (one even layer)

Always start and end with the cabbage mix. The layering should end up with a
3 inch thick lazzania type dish.

If using the deydrator, dehydrate the containers until the veggies in them
become a hard brick of uneditable food. There can not be any moisture in the
mix when done with it. This can take a few days to do. When done, take out
and it should be ready to go.

If using the oven method, put the pan in the oven, then put a wooden spoon or
something in the door of the oven so that the moisture will escape. This may
also take hours to work. When they are all done, take a saw (yes I said a
saw, like a butcher's bone saw or a clean carpenter's miter box saw) and cut
the big block into smaller blocks of about 2-4 inch squares. You may need to
first trim off the edges if they have turned dark brown before trimming the
bricks into the appropriate sizes.

AN EXTRA TOUCH:

You may also want to wrap the bricks into brown butcher paper (the older dark
brown type and not the newer shinny light brown stuff). This will hide the
plastic bag and give it an authentic packaged look. I am not sure if it was
issued in the brown wrapper, but it will still look good while you are
holding on to it until you are ready to use it. It will also keep the black
powder out of the veggies if you spill or split a cartridge in your haversake
before you are ready for dinner.

DISTIBITION:

To distrubute a small quantity of these, please find the following:
1 Qtrmstr Sgt for the distributing of these items.
1 Armed guard to keep the enlisted from trying to kill the Qtrmstr Sgt.
and an optional horse to aid in the Qtrmstr's escape.

The ingreadients came from Billing's Hardtack and coffee. The preparation
comes from trial and error. The total cost of the items, when in season,
should only run about $10 total for about 4-8 bricks worth.

ADDITIONAL METHOD

You could possibly make these by using 2 dutch ovens, however, it will
require one oven inside the other and the lid of the inner oven would not be
put on and the lid of the outer one would need to be proped open to allow for
dehydration. Again, this will take hours, if not days, to make. I have not
tried this method, but I have thought it out and would need to experient
repetidly to get it right before perfecting the veggies.