• • Either 3/4 lbs of pork or bacon; or 1 1/4 lbs of fresh or salt beef. This was latter modified to be 1/2 lbs pork/bacon or 1 lbs beef.
  • 18 oz of bread or flour; or 12 oz of hard bread [hardtack]; or 1 1/4 lbs of cornmeal. This was later modified so that the ration of flour or meal would not exceed 1 1/2 lbs or either. The regulations also call for this ration to be changed to 1 lbs of hard bread on campaign, marches, or on board transports.

Then, for every hundred men, rations included:

• • 8 quarts of peas or beans; or 10 pounds of rice
  • 6 lbs of coffee
  • 12 lbs of sugar
  • 4 quarts of vinegar
  • 1 1/2 lbs of tallow candles; or 1/4 lbs of adamantine candles; or 1 lbs sperm candles
  • 4 lbs of soap
  • 2 quarts salt

Union army rations were similar, but also included options for desiccated potatoes, desiccated mixed vegetables, and tea [2]. Of course, the actual amounts issued and the availability of these items fluctuated throughout the war. By 1864, rations in the Army of Northern Virginia rarely exceeded 1/4 lbs of beef or bacon and 1 lbs corn meal according to a variety of brigade and divisional inspection reports. By 1865, the Confederate Commissary Department wasn’t able to sustain even this amount, issuing either meat or bread each day, but not both. For reference, 1 lbs of bread or 3/4 lbs of meal a day provides only about 900-1200 calories, while the modern US Army considers 4,000 calories per day necessary to sustain an adult male in a combat environment [3]. Regardless of the amount, the regulations and actual Commissary Department practice suggest that the foundation of authentic rations should be a meat (bacon, fresh pork, fresh beef, or salted beef) and a starch (flour, cornmeal, hardtack, or bread). To this foundation can be added other issue items like rice, peas, beans, coffee, sugar, salt, vinegar, potatoes, or desiccated vegetables. You can then supplement these rations with small amounts of scenario-appropriate “foraged” items such fresh fruit/vegetable or items you might have plausibly purchased from a sutler or received from home, but avoid relying on these too much. Issued foods should form the core of your weekend rations.

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons salt
Water (less than 2 cups)

Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 375° F. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Add just enough water (less than two cups) so that the mixture will stick together, producing a dough that won’t stick to hands, rolling pin or pan. Mix the dough by hand. Roll the dough out, shaping it roughly into a rectangle. Cut into the dough into squares about 3 x 3 inches and ½ inch thick. After cutting the squares, press a pattern of four rows of four holes into each square, using a nail or other such object. Do not punch through the dough.  The appearance you want is similar to that of a modern saltine cracker.  Turn each square over and do the same thing to the other side. Place the squares on an ungreased cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Turn each piece over and bake for another 30 minutes. The crackers should be slightly brown on both sides.

However, period accounts suggest that the most common form of starch available to a Confederate soldier was cornbread. A Mississippi soldier grown tired of this recurring ration wrote to his sister in 1863 “I want Pa to be certain and buy wheat enough to do us plentifully, for if the war closes and I get to come home I never intend to chew any more cornbread.”[4] While experienced reenacting cooks can prepare corn dodgers over the fire, a good way to build your confidence with more authentic rations is to prepare cornbread before an event. Avoid the cornbread mixes in the grocery store, as they’re much lighter than what soldiers would have had and will crumble easily. The following cornbread recipe is delicious and survives transportation in a haversack mostly intact. Cook it in a cast iron skillet if possible and cut into four quarters prior to an event.

Ingredients
1⁄2 cup shortening
1 cup flour
1⁄4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
3⁄4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cornmeal
3 eggs
1 cup milk

Instructions
Preheat oven to 425. While oven is heating, melt the shortening in a cast iron skillet. Mix dry ingredients. Add eggs and milk and mix well with electric mixer. Pour melted shortening into batter and blend until smooth. Pour batter into hot iron skillet and bake 20 – 25 minutes until golden brown.

While preparing an authentic starch is relatively straightforward, many reenactors struggle with incorporating meat into their rations without resorting to a modern cooler. While beef jerky and various sausages were certainly available in the period, they would not have been available in significant quantities and shouldn’t form the foundation of your rations. Instead, focus on the staples outlined in the official rations – bacon, pork, and beef. Double smoked slab bacon, also sometimes called country bacon, is available from some butchers or for purchase online and shouldn’t need refrigeration, particularly for the relatively short period of an event. Unless you have a local butcher that carries it, your best option may be to purchase a large slab, cut it into circa 3/4-1/2 lbs chunks, and freeze them either vacuum sealed or in individual plastic bags. Then, when it’s time for an event, you can simply pull a chunk of bacon out to defrost a few days in advance. Online options include this bacon from Broadbent’s, this from New Baunfels Smokehouse, or this from Edwards Virginia Smokehouse. As soldiers often cooked all of their rations upon issue rather than at individual mealtimes, you can pre-cook a portion of your slab bacon before an event and eat it cold, particularly if your Saturday lunch is hurried or eaten on the move.

The skilled reenacting cook can combine the above ingredients into a dazzling array of dishes, but even novices can easily prepare simple meals using nothing more complicated than a mucket, canteen half, fork, knife, and spoon. Beef and bacon were commonly broiled, by simply skewering the meat with a stick or ramrod and roasting it over the fire (be aware that this technique could damage the weaker materials used in some reproduction ramrods). To avoid losing the valuable bacon grease from this method, try pan frying your bacon or beef in a small skillet or canteen half. The grease can be used to fry sliced potatoes or vegetables, but is also a fundamental ingredient of that uniquely Confederate dish, cush. A soldier in the Army of Tennessee provide the following recipe: “We take some bacon and fry the grease out, then we cut some cold beef in small pieces & put it in the grease, then pour in water and stew it like hash. Then we crumble corn bread or biscuit in it and stew it again till all the water is out then we have… real Confederate cush.”[9] Crumbled pieces of hardtack fried in bacon grease also tastes surprisingly good. You can mix together a variety of stews in a mucket or small pot. Just remember to add the ingredient which will take the longest to cook in first and progressively add the other ingredients as you get closer to completion.

Endnotes

1. Confederate War Department, Regulations for the Army of the Confederate States, 1863, J. W. Randolph, Richmond, 1863; Article XLII, para 1107-1109.
2. United States War Department, Revised Regulations for the Army of the United States, 1861, J. G. L. Brown, Philadelphia, 1861; Article XLIII, para 1191-1193.
3. Glatthaar, Joseph T., General Lee’s Army: From Victory to Collapse, Free Press, New York, 2008; p. 446.
4. Wiley, Bell Irvin, The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1943; p. 98.
5. General Lee’s Army, p. 212.
6. Life of Johnny Reb, p. 98.
7. Life of Johnny Reb, p. 99-100.
8. Augusta County: John P. Dull to Giney Dull, January 11, 1865, Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War, University of Virginia Library (https://valley.lib.virginia.edu/papers/A6131).
9. Life of Johnny Reb, p. 104-105.

All photos are public domain from the Library of Congress’s Civil War Glass Negatives and Related Prints Collection.

By Austin Williams, 5th VA Co. A

People come to Civil War reenacting in a myriad of ways. Perhaps you have a friend in the hobby who has encouraged you to give it a try. Perhaps you attended a reenactment as a spectator and found yourself wishing you were in the midst of the smoke and confusion rather than watching it from afar. Perhaps you have a deep interest in the Civil War and want to experience it and understand it in a way that books can never truly capture. But, for whatever reason, something about recreating the life of a Civil War soldier resonates with you and you’re interested in joining the hobby. Before you purchase a musket and show up to your first event, you may find the following tips useful. They are designed to save you money, help you avoid some of the most common mistakes first time reenactors make, and give you the best chance at enjoying the hobby over the long-term.

1) Put the Credit Card Away: The absolute best advice anyone can give you is to delay purchasing any gear. Almost every reenactor can tell you stories about uniforms or equipment they rushed to purchase when they first started out and later regretted after they learned it was of poor quality or didn’t fit the impression they ultimately pursued. Any unit you’re interested in joining should be eager to loan you a uniform and equipment for your first few events (if they are not or if you’re pressured to purchase equipment right away, you’re probably considering the wrong unit). Before you start investing cash in reenacting, attend enough events to ensure that it’s a hobby that you truly enjoy and want to purse. Do not make the mistake of spending a lot of money on gear that ends up gathering dust in your basement or up for sale on eBay.

2) Consider What You Want Out of Reenacting: Spend some time thinking about what aspects of reenacting interest you. Are you really excited about being a part of large battle reenactments? Are you looking for a highly immersive experience that puts you right in the shoes of a Civil War soldier? Are you looking for something you can do with your family? Are you interested in conducting research into tiny details of soldiers’ lives? Like any hobby, there is a broad spectrum within reenacting with different informal clusters of individuals and groups focusing more or less attention on authenticity. There is nothing inherently better or worse about any of these clusters – they are each different ways of experiencing the hobby and it is important that you pick the one that most closely matches what interests you. As you look at different reenacting units, you may see three terms in particular, which are commonly used to describe different segments of the reenacting spectrum. Many groups may bridge these labels and there is a great degree of variation within the clusters, but generally reenacting organizations fall into one of the following categories:

• • Mainstream: These units are the most relaxed about their impression and may enforce few, if any, authenticity guidelines. However, they are often larger in size and are more likely to prioritize attending large battle reenactments, referred to in the hobby as “powder burners” due to the amount of shooting you’ll likely do on the battlefield. The focus of many of these units is more on the social aspects of reenacting and the excitement of battle reenactments than in necessarily getting all the details of military drill, uniforms, and equipment exactly right. These groups often have little to no primary source research behind their impression, relying instead more on common reenactor practices than consulting period materials. You’ll usually be able to recognize the camp of a mainstream unit by an abundance of large tents, cast iron cookware, and wooden furniture. All this gear can get expensive, is time-consuming to set-up and take down, and requires space at home for storage. Many of these units are family-friendly and men might be accompanied by their wives and children. If you attend an average reenactment as a spectator, these are the units you are most likely to see, as they’re often camped in an open field close to the spectators.
  • Progressive: These units occupy the middle of the authenticity spectrum. They may attend a combination of mainstream events, as well as more authentic, immersive events. They will likely incorporate some smaller “living history” events in their calendar which do not include a battle reenactment, but instead focus on portraying Civil War camp life for the public. They will make a concerted effort to ensure the authenticity of their uniforms, equipment, and drill, but are willing to accept some compromises as needed. They will also usually adapt their impression in some way to fit the unit and time period being portrayed, which often means you will ultimately need to purchase a wider array of uniforms and equipment. While there may be a few members of the group who conduct research using period primary sources, most members will rely more on reading contemporary secondary sources and the knowledge of their fellow reenactors to improve their impression. Most progressive units are also campaigner units, meaning that their camps will have minimal canvas and men are more likely to be sharing small tents or tent flies without any of the heavy cookware or furniture found in a mainstream camp. A campaigner should be able to pack more or less all their equipment on their back, whether just to carry his gear from camp to his vehicle or even for an extended march as part of the event. If you attend a reenactment as a spectator, you may have to work harder to find these units, as their camps are often placed farther from the public in wooded areas to limit the number of modern intrusions. The Stonewall Brigade is a progressive campaigner unit – click here to to learn more about us.
  • Authentic/Hardcore: These units are the most dedicated to ensuring authenticity down to the smallest details. They are often smaller in size, but can offer a more fully immersive experience that will get you closer to the life of a Civil War soldier than any of the other groups discussed. Their impressions will always be adapted for the unit and period being portrayed, so you will need to acquire an array of different uniforms and equipment to meet their exacting authenticity guidelines. Authentic units are highly research driven and a significant number of unit members will regularly conduct primary source research into every possible aspect of soldier life. A single weekend event may be preceded by hours upon hours of extensive research and the purchase of particular uniform items, etc… unique to the event. These units may only rarely participate in battle reenactments and often instead focus on conducting smaller events where they can ensure high standards of authenticity for all participants. Some of these events will be conducted without spectators to remove all possible traces of the modern world, so you may not find them at all if you attend a reenactment.

  https://www.traditionrolex.com/12

3) Do Your Research on Units: The current reality of the reenacting hobby is that every unit is eager, if not borderline desperate, to add new recruits to their ranks. Any unit you contact should be extremely welcoming and do everything they can to have you join their ranks. However, it is important that you find a unit that is a good match for you if you want to continue to enjoy reenacting over the long-haul. The unit you ultimately join should be in a position to provide the elements that you want to get out of reenacting. If you’re interested in an immersive, authentic experience, joining a mainstream unit will be a poor fit. Each unit also has a slightly different personality and quirks – they might be laid back or intense, their members may all have similar backgrounds and have known each other all their lives or they may be more diverse, they may be highly social at events and the life of the party or they may be more reserved. These characteristics can be challenging to identify by examining a unit’s website or Facebook page or by chatting with the members at an event. You may need to attend a handful of events with them before you get a good feel for the unit’s personality and whether it is a good fit for you. If it’s not, consider trying another group. If there were other units at the events you attended who seemed like a better fit for what you’re looking for, consider contacting them about falling in at their next event. You may want to speak candidly with your current unit’s commander about what you’re looking for in another unit, as they may have contacts or suggestions for other units that you can consider (if a unit commander isn’t willing to do this, its probably a sign you should leave that unit anyways, as they’re not looking out for your best interests). It is ultimately more important that you be happy and fulfilled in reenacting to ensure the hobby remains vibrant than for any particular unit to add an additional musket to the ranks.

4) Read As Much As You Can: The best way to start your career in reenacting out right is to read extensively. You’re obviously interested in the Civil War, otherwise you won’t be considering reenacting. Odds are that you’ve already read a decent amount about the war, but most Civil War books focus on the movements of vast armies and the leaders who directed them. While this material is of interest to reenactors, our hobby requires a detailed knowledge of the daily experience of individual soldiers. While some of the research is now a bit dated, there is no better place to start than Bell Wiley’s classics The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy and The Life of Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union. They are great foundational introductions to the topic. As you build your knowledge, there is a wealth of information available in online archives and books drawn from soldiers’ letters, diaries, and post-war memoirs. If you can find material written by men from the unit you portray, even better. For further reading suggestions and links to many of these online resources, please see the Stonewall Brigade’s Recommended Reading list.

5) Purchase Slowly and Strategically: When you are ready to start purchasing gear, take your time and make your purchases strategic. Most units will be eager to help you select gear that fits with their authenticity standards and will offer up the unit commander, a non-commissioned officer, or another senior member to mentor you through your initial purchases. They should also have a list of recommended vendors that sell uniforms and equipment that meet their unit’s standards. For instance, the Stonewall Brigade’s list is located here. Work with your unit point of contact to ensure that the items you select even from these vendors are appropriate, since not every jacket a particular vendor offers will fit your unit’s desired impression. Your mentor can also assist you in finding used gear either from unit members or outside resources like eBay or Facebook. This can be a great way to save money, but make sure you run all major purchases by your mentor to ensure you’re buying quality gear and not getting swindled. The best first purchase you can make is a pair of well-built shoes, usually called brogans or bootees. Most units will have a decent collection of clothes, gear, and even muskets that you can borrow, but it is often difficult to find loaner shoes since many reenactors only own a single pair. They are also made from a relatively standardized style, so they can be used across a wide variety of impressions should you ultimately decide to join another unit or develop a different impression. If you wear eyeglasses, consider purchasing period frames high on your shopping list as well.

By Austin Williams, 5th VA Co A

Civil War reenacting is a broad hobby with a wide spectrum of participants who all want different things out of the hobby. Just because you joined a particular unit doesn’t mean that it is necessarily the best fit for you. Maybe you’ve started to notice that the other members of your unit aren’t as serious as you are about the authenticity of your impression. Maybe you’ve watched with envy other units conducting interesting first person scenarios and want to join the fun. Maybe you’ve started reading period letters and diaries and are noticing how far the experience is from what you’ve encountered at most reenactments. All of these are signs you may find reenacting with a progressive or authentic group more fulfilling and a better match for your interests than the mainstream units that represent a large percentage of the hobby. However, it can be intimidating to join a new unit, particularly given the reputation of progressive/authentic reenactors being “stitch-counters” who look down on all those who fail to meet their lofty standards. The reality is that many members of progressive or authentic units started their reenacting career in more mainstream units and made the transition when they realized they wanted something out of the hobby that they weren’t getting with their original organizations. Most progressive/authentic reenactors are eager to help you join their ranks if you’re willing to put the same care and attention into the authenticity of your impression as they have. No one expects you to have a perfect impression right away. The following tips, drawn from the author’s own experience joining the progressive campaigner Stonewall Brigade after years as a mainstream reenactor, can help you make that transition smoothly.

Research Over Reenactorisms

Common knowledge runs rampant in the reenactor community – things that your first sergeant confidently told you, that you heard from someone on sutler row, or that you can’t even remember where you heard it from. Unfortunately, the vast majority of this common knowledge is either flat out wrong or has no basis in historical documentation from the period we seek to portray. When you transition from a mainstream to a progressive/authentic unit, be prepared to question what you thought you knew about reenacting and the experience of Civil War soldiers. If you have picked a quality unit, your new comrades will be able to cite specific research using period primary sources to justify as many details of their impression as possible. If not, you probably should consider another unit, because research is the fundamental foundation of authentic reenacting. As you become more comfortable as a progressive/authentic reenactor, you will likely start conducting some research of your own, reading the letters and diaries of soldiers, examining period photographs, or delving into archival holdings. The same principle holds true regarding drill – many reenacting officers and NCOs unfortunately learned their drill from other reenactors or through modern drill digests/summaries rather than by cracking open the period drill manual. Your new progressive/authentic unit should be drilling straight out of original manuals and, when there are inevitably questions of interpretation or how vague written instructions should be put into practice, they will turn to other period sources to answer the debate. For instance, the Stonewall Brigade drills using Gilham’s Manual for Volunteers and Militia rather than the more common Hardee’s Light Infantry Tactics based on research in primary sources that the original Stonewall Brigade used this manual. All of the common period drill manuals are available online for you to study, along with a wealth of lesser-discussed manuals detailing every aspect of period military practice.

Assess Your Gear and Upgrade Slowly

Unfortunately, much of your mainstream gear will likely need to be replaced with new, campaigner quality gear. The good news, however, is that you should be able to do so slowly, as some of your gear might be “close enough” to get by for a limited time while you work to steadily upgrade. Other gear may just require modification to bring it closer to progressive/authentic standards. In particular, brogans and leather accouterments might be close enough to period patterns that only a truly educated eye will be able to spot that your cap pouch isn’t a standard model 1850 cap box or that your brogans aren’t exactly right. If they are black leather in a relatively generic pattern, you may be able to delay upgrading them until after you’ve addressed higher priority items. Your musket can continue to provide good service, but you will want to look into having it “defarbed” by having the modern markings removed and the stock refinished. Depending on your skill level, you might be able to do some of this work yourself with the help of online guides, such as striping off your stock’s factory polyurethane finish and replacing it with something more period appropriate. Your mainstream canteen may still be serviceable after removing the metal chain (other than the New York Depot, most Federal canteens and all Confederate canteens were issued with cord attaching the cork rather than chain) and replacing the wool cover with one of the jean wool canteen cover kits available from various quality sutlers. Your belt may still work, but you may need to purchase a new buckle (particularly if you fell prey to the common Confederate reenactorism of wearing an upside down US plate buckle…). Work with your new unit to examine your existing kit, see what needs to be replaced first, what can be altered, what you get by with for a time, and what you might be able to borrow from your new comrades.

Upgrade Your Jacket(s) and Headwear First

The two items that are least likely to be “close enough” for temporary service are your jacket(s) and headwear. These are the two most prominent parts of a Civil War uniform and thus mainstream vs. progressive/authentic quality can be apparent from a distance. Mainstream sutlers are rife with jackets bearing little resemblance to the cut, fabric, or color of period uniforms. Unless you were a particularly luckier or better informed purchaser than most, odds are high that the jacket you purchased isn’t close enough to your new unit’s authenticity guidelines to pass muster. If you are building a progessive/authentic Confederate impression, you will likely eventually need to purchase multiple jackets, as the uniforms worn by Confederate soldiers changed multiple times throughout the war. Lower quality headwear also stands out from a distance if it was made with an inauthentic profile/shape or from materials which don’t match period construction. Cheap wool felt hats that can’t hold their shape or kepis with plastic-like brims stand out like a sore thumb. Thankfully, quality headgear is a relatively inexpensive upgrade and is a good first step for improving your impression. Work with your new unit to identify the headwear and jacket(s) that will be most versatile for the impressions your unit regularly adopts.

Aim for Generic Nondescript

As you are working to assess your gear needs, aim to acquire versatile, foundational gear for a generic, nondescript impression. Many mainstream reenactors pursue various speciality impressions with distinctive, non-standard uniforms or incorporate flashy uniform items that, while they existed in the period, were not widely used. For instance, in most cases you will want to remove all brass insignia, feathers, or other decorative adornment from your hat (unless it is documented for a specific impression). Similarly, items such as gaiters or havelocks rarely appear in period documentation beyond the early months of the war. Yes, there are period photographs of some incredibly distinctive uniforms (Confederate cavalryman Captain Samuel Richardson’s leopard skin trousers being perhaps the most outlandish), but just because it existed, doesn’t mean it is appropriate for the impression you are portraying. As an overall rule, base your impression on specific research whenever possible and, if unit-specific research isn’t available, fall back on what would have been most common at that time and location.

Get Used to Carrying Your Gear

While progressive/authentic reenactors may pay more for individual pieces of gear, they generally own less equipment overall than their mainstream comrades and definitely bring less to an event. At most events, we are called upon to portray troops on campaign. While the large tents, wooden furniture, and heavy cast iron cookware that grace most mainstream camps certainly all existed in the period, as with uniforms you need to consider whether they are appropriate to the unit, time, and place being portrayed. Soldiers on campaign were almost exclusively reliant on their own backs to carry their gear and, thus, traveled light. As a general rule, if an event involves portraying troops on campaign, you shouldn’t be bringing more gear than you can carry, whether on the walk from the car to camp or on an extended march from campsite to campsite. Practice packing your knapsack or blanket roll, be ruthless about considering what you pack, and make sure you can move comfortably while wearing your equipment. Odds are good that you need to adjust the length of your canteen and haversack straps to keep them from hanging too low or riding too high – analysis of period images shows most soldiers wore them between the level of their beltline and their elbow. Accounts of soldiers dropping packs prior to going into battle become conspicuously less frequent as veteran troops learned the hard way that they risked never returning to their equipment. You should likewise become comfortable marching, drilling, and fighting with your gear, including your blanket roll or knapsack (again, unless there is period documentation indicating that the unit you are portraying discarded their packs).

It’s Not All About Gear

Progressive/authentic reenacting is about more than just purchasing the best uniform and equipment money can buy. How the authentic reenactor acts is just as important as what he wears and the best part is that this part of the transition is completely free. Study period rations and learn how to cook authentic food. If you smoke, forgo modern cigarettes for the weekend in favor of period tobacco. Learn how to conduct guard duty based on the period manuals.  Learn period slang and pepper a few choice phrases into your first person conversations. Learn to render a period salute and understand how to practice proper military etiquette. Above all, read and study constantly. Progressive/authentic reenacting isn’t about what clothes you wear, what drill manual you use, or what unit you are a member of. It is about consistent learning and study, always understanding that there is more you could be doing to improve, and striving constantly to be as close to the period as possible. We will never fully replicate the experience of the Civil War soldier, but by constantly trying and falling short, we ensure we are doing all we can to honor their memory by portraying their lives as accurately as possible.

By Brad Ireland, 4^th Virginia, Co.A

I have been to many living histories in my time as a re-enactor. Most of these living histories involve a manual of arms demonstration, firing demonstration, and a drill demonstration. After the Demo, the visitors are often invited back to see the camp and to ask questions. Quite often the camp scene is filled with disheveled blankets spread out around a camp fire or rows of dog tents. What of the personal items of the soldiers?

Blanket Displays can be a valuable tool at living histories and reenactments that can give the visitors a memorable hands-on experience. You can read about how the soldiers marched and camped day in and day out and yet never quite draw the picture in your minds eye of what little the soldiers actually had to work with and what they had to do without in their daily lives. Blanket displays are a window into the daily life of the Civil War soldier that no battle reenactment or drill demonstration can open.

Read the full article here.