Vicksburg Victuals

[Spinster]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

Bless you Charles, you've worried about that cold grey dishwater in multiple places. :D

Just as you often doctor up drinking water with various concoctions designed to give a man extra staying capacity, I tend to doctor up washing water in ways to kill what ails it, and anything washed in it.

Clorox is my friend.:p

Just in case you wondered why your hands began to peel in a day or so......

[Gary of CA]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

Wasn't a camel eaten at Vicksburg?

[Charles Heath]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

Wasn't a camel eaten at Vicksburg?

"Douglas the Camel" aka "Old Douglas the Camel" as with the 43rd Mississippi Infantry at Iuka, Corinth, and Vicksburg. He was killed in the line of duty, and a couple of years ago there was considerable speculation as to setting a stone in the Vicksburg City Cemetery where some of his human comrades are buried. Allegedly, Doulgas provided meat for rations after he was killed. The John C Pemberton Camp # 1354, SCV, had a few contemporary references to this beast of burden prior to their October 2005 memorial service.

I'm not certain if camels go to Fiddler's Green or not, but if they do Old Douglas is spitting in a corner somewhere.

[coastaltrash]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

Gary,
I'm starting to think anything that could be eaten in Vicksburg WAS eaten there. Dogs, cats, kittens, mule, camel etc show up in some CS references a lot.

[Coatsy]

Some food for thought

Here is a little tidbit of what the Johnnies were eating during the Siege of Vicksburg. Mmmm Mmmm, Pea Bread!

“There was a good supply of this pea in the commissariat at Vicksburg, and the idea grew out of the fertile brain of some official, that, if reduced to the form of meal, it would make an admirable substitute for bread. Sagacious and prolific genius! Whether general or commissary-orginator of this glorious conception! This altogether novel species of the hardest of “hard tack!” perhaps he never swallowed a particle of it. If he did the truth and force of these comments will be appreciated.

The process of getting the pea into the form of bread was the same as that to which corn is subjected: the meal was ground at a large mill in the city, and sent to the cooks in camp to be prepared. It was accordingly mixed with cold water and put through the form of baking; but the nature of it was such, that it never got done, and the longer it was cooked, the harder it became on the outside, which was natural, but, at the same time, it grew relatively softer on the inside, and, upon breaking it, you were sure to find raw pea-meal in the centre. The cooks protested that it had been on the fire two good hours, but it was all to no purpose; yet, on the outside it was hard, that one might have knocked down a full-grown steer with a chunk of it. The experiment soon satisfied all parties, and after giving us this bread for three days, it was abandoned. But it had already made a number of us sick. Peas were afterwards issued, boiled in camp, and still constituted about half of our subsistence.” ~from Ephraim Anderson of the 2nd Missouri (CS)

I hope Charles won’t read this. But there is hope my fine fellows here is an account of trading between the picket lines.

“One night…I went to the front and entered our works, which consisted of a trench four or five feet deep, and wide enough for four or five men to walk abreast in it. This trench ran in a zig-zag way, like an old fashioned rail fence. I followed till I reached the front, where our pickets were stationed, about twenty yards from the Confederate lines. Here I had the pleasure of hearing the following conversation:

Reb.- “Hello Yank!”
Yank.- “What do you want?”
Reb.- “Have you plenty of bread on your side?”
Yank.- “Yes; have you plenty of tobacco?”
Reb.- “Will you give me some bread for tobacco?”
Yank.- “Yes, I will-will meet you half way if you are willing.”
Reb.- “Yes I will.”

They met midway between the lines like brothers, made the exchange, and returned to their respective stations. But on the ensuing day, it would have been dangerous for either of them to show his head above the ramparts, and if he did, he would be the target of half a score rifles.” ~ Thomes Barton 4th West Virgina

So it looks like not all will be lost if rat steaks and pea bread be the order of the day. Just make sure the Ossifers aren’t looking. I got both of these exerts from the Time Life "Voices of the Civil War: Vicksburg" edition.

[Dale Beasley]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

I do know what the skerters and the nats will be eating.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Some food for thought

Herb, I didn't read a thing. Not a single thing.

Keeping pea bread is a challenge.

[Steamboat Willie]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

The New York Herald (New York, NY ) Sunday August 09, 1863 col A

The Last Days of Vicksburg -- Starvation Rations
[From the Columbus (Ga.) Enquirer]

" The following is the bill of fare for three days for a brigade of 2, 914 men, viz; --4,371 lbs mule meat, 820 lbs of rice, 2,732 lbs peas, 12 lbs candles, 49 lbs soap, 393 lbs salt, 269 lbs tobacco. This is an allowance of only half a pound of mule meat , one and half ounces of rice, and less than a pound of peas for each man per day. Heroic and devoted indeed were the men who, on such fare, were willing to continue the contest as long as they had the strength to lift their firearms. "

[Shotgun Messiah]

Re: Some food for thought

Herb, I didn't read a thing. Not a single thing.

Keeping pea bread is a challenge.

Since when were you worrying about " Me ole Pea bread wont keep"
if'n it aint tainted it shall not be presented... its the gamey Mule I have my heart set upon

[Charles Heath]

Re: Some food for thought

A little mold is one thing, but after three days that pea bread grows fur like a Chia pet grows greenery. So if the Landrumatic Mechanical Pea Bread Baking Company & Corn Research Institute, LLC, bakes it on Wednesday, it will have Thursday, and Friday to cure, with a heck of a presentation on Saturday. I guess if we lived through the 1970s with green shag carpet on a Chevy van dashboard, anything is possible.

[coastaltrash]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

From what I gather the Pea bread idea was pretty quickly abandoned. Much like the rat, it's been blown into an exaggerated story. A lot of odd things do appear in the ORs and several really well known HISTORY BOOKS. I say that because one of the most "beloved" authors about Vicksburg doesn't document his sources...anyway.

Kittens, dogs, crawfish and mutton all show up, but frankly mule meat was brought into common practice fairly early on. When Vicksburg surrendered they had around 38,000 lbs of salt pork on hand, which was roughly one pound per man woman and child in the town (remember Grant would not allow citizens out of town, in hopes of running the food supply out faster)

[Alamo Guard]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

Patrick,
Alot of that food was saved for the expected breakout. Hmmmmm, sounds like Stalingrad in a sense?

[Charles Heath]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

Dusty, it may be even more simple than that. With the 20/20 hindsight of history, we know when the siege ended, and can point and mock at how much food they had on hand on that date; however, the participants in the real events didn't have a precise date as to when they'd breakout or give up the cause. In any case, Pat Price is going to have his work cut out for him over on the CS side of the works.

Meanwhile, I'm looking through the 1863 Vicksburg City Directory and can't seem to find the Dzerhezinsky Carriage Works.

[coastaltrash]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

Dusty,
Other than Johnston's constant BS, I honestly don't see any reference to a breakout, however there was about 32,000 men assembled to attempt a relief of the garrison that never happened. Grant did not approach Vicksburg wanting to lay Siege and while Pemberton may have had supplies for a shirt campaign, he certainly did not have enough food supply on hand to last more than a month locked up.

[Coatsy]

Re: Vicksburg Victuals

Thanks for stealing my thunder Landrum......And if you notice sir in the same passage I posted the author noted that the pea bread idea was quickly discarded for an issue of the peas in pea form.

Man oh man......No pie for you Patty Landrum!