I have a passion for traditional food preparation, so I love to study Civil War recipes and ingredients.
I have learned a lot about traditional foods through The Weston A. Price Foundation®. I now make nearly all of my own food from scratch.
Food preparation is not as hard as it was for our ancestors now that we have indoor running water and electric ovens.
Slow cooking in a crockpot easily mimics the old woodstove cooking techniques.
Civil War Holiday Foods
In October 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving as a holiday that should be celebrated on the last Thursday in November.
By 1864, word about the holiday had spread, so people sent Union soldiers special Civil War food for Thanksgiving: turkey, ham, beef, oysters, gingerbread, cakes, pickles, apples, cheese, and mince pie.
The same was repeated at Christmas, as the families were able. It was much better than their usual diet! See Civil War hardtack recipes here.
Shortages of Civil War Foods
Food prices rose in the South starting in the summer of 1861, and there were food shortages from 1862 onward, especially in towns and near the front lines.
It became increasingly harder for farmers to find enough laborers to plant and harvest the crops, and harder to transport food in the Civil War to where it was needed.
In April 1863, an angry mob consisting mainly of women rioted in the Confederate capital at Richmond, VA and demanded that the government should distribute bread.
Shortages were so bad that people could not afford meat. Those meats common before the Civil War, such as chicken, turkey, ham, and mutton, became an unaffordable luxury.
Some finally ran out of fresh milk as the family cow aged and was irreplaceable. However, a diet of cornbread, sorghum, and field peas lead to deficiency related diseases such as pellagra and communicable disease epidemics due to weakened immune systems.
Modern Shortages
Deficient diets do not necessarily bring immediate death but gruesome slowly progressing illnesses that leave the body defenseless. Anyone can see that this is the state of modern mainstream America. Why? Because we have forgotten what real food is.
I recommend that everyone read The Untold Story of Milk
and visit the Real Milk website. President Abraham Lincoln drank real milk, so why shouldn’t we? We need to demand access to vital traditional foods.
If we could have asked those suffering at home during the Civil War, a family cow would have been their number one wish during the shortages. They knew that it meant the difference between health and illness.
Cookbooks for Civil War Recipes
In order to serve you best on this popular topic, I’ve written Gettysburg Area Recipes. This is a resource you can use for your family’s health and pleasure as well as historical reenactments.
Learn how you can access to these homemade recipes that will bring you closer to an authentic Gettysburg experience!
Other Useful Books
My absolute favorite cookbook that I use every day is Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. There’s a great cornbread recipe in there, a Southern favorite. This cookbook does not focus on Civil War recipes specifically, but it explains a lot of forgotten techniques about food preparation for maximum nutrition and old methods of food preservation such as lacto-fermentation.
The book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz is a great resource for how to use good bacteria and yeasts in the kitchen for Civil War food recipes like sauerkraut.
I have also discovered an old out of print book called Maryland’s Way put together by the historic Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis. It contains many old recipes. Unfortunately, some of the recipes have been updated to toxic modern ingredients, but there are still many originals, some from colonial times.
You can find Mrs. Beaton’s Book of Household Management first published in monthly parts from 1859 to 1861 available for free online as well as browse the historical American cookbooks in the online Feeding America project sponsored by Michigan State University (clicks will open in new windows). These will give you authentic Civil War recipes as people in the era read them.
If you make a book purchase through one of the above links, I recieve a few cents as an affiliate advertiser. These proceeds allow me to keep this website up and running, so I thank you for your support!
And I do personally use these books. They are high quality, just as I strive to keep this a high-quality website.
Food and Recipes Online
Here are some quick links to topics especially relvant for Civil War food recipes (links open in a new window):
You can also take a look at the Civil War recipes other visitors have shared here on the Visit Gettysburg website and rate them.
Return from Civil War Recipes to Civil War Food
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FAQs
- The main camp and battlefield food was hardtack.
- Hardtack is a cracker or biscuit made of flour, water, and sometimes salt. The cracker was baked to a hard consistency to allow for travel and longevity. ...
- The biscuit could be softened with water or coffee and made into mush or porridge.
One common dish prepared by Civil War soldiers was Skillygalee, hardtack soaked in water and fried in fat. The Confederate army would fry bacon and add in some water with cornmeal to make "coosh," often prepared when the army would have little time to make meals during marches.
What did the soldiers eat and drink during the Civil War? ›
During the Civil War, the Union Army had two types of rations: "marching rations" and "camp rations." Marching rations consisted of sixteen ounces of hard bread, also known as "hardtack"; twelve ounces of salt pork or twenty ounces of fresh meat; and sugar, coffee, and salt.
Did Civil War soldiers eat canned food? ›
There, food was more varied and plentiful and the soldiers might get three meals a day. “Families also sent food to their soldiers, things like canned lobster, pickles and fresh vegetables.
What food did they eat during the war? ›
It was composed of three standard light but varied meals, all of whose ingredients contained a minimum of water: biscuits, processed cheese, a bouillon cube, dried fruit, chocolate, tinned meat, coffee and sugar, etc.
What food did they eat in the war? ›
However, soldiers at the front still relied on preserved foods. These largely consisted of tinned items, but also dehydrated meats and oatmeal that were designed to be mixed with water. Morale-boosting items, such as chocolate and sweets, were also provided. And powdered milk was issued for use in tea.
What biscuit like food did soldiers eat in the Civil War? ›
During the Civil War one of the most common meals for soldiers was a cracker-like food called hardtack. Hardtack is made from flour, water, and salt.
What foods were from a Civil War campfire? ›
The two sides ate a different mix when rations were plentiful. A Union soldier's haversack would have contained salt pork, fresh or salted beef, coffee, sugar, salt, vinegar, dried fruit, and vegetables. And if in season, they might have fresh carrots, onions, turnips and potatoes.
What did Civil War soldiers eat for lunch? ›
Union soldiers were fed pork or beef, usually salted and boiled to extend the shelf life, coffee, sugar, salt, vinegar, and sometimes dried fruits and vegetables if they were in season. Hard tack, a type of biscuit made from unleavened flour and water, was commonly used to stave off hunger on both sides.
What alcohol did Civil War soldiers drink? ›
Whiskey, gin, beer, and wine were the favored drinks. However, drunkeness was not tolerated in either Federal or Confederate camps. Tobacco use was prevalent in both armies. It was not always available to the soldiers due to lack of money or a place to buy it.
Coffee was also an essential part of a Civil War soldier's routine. They drank their coffee whenever they could, refueling themselves for the long days and nights ahead.
What did civil war soldiers use for coffee? ›
In short, the soldiers were either issued roasted coffee beans, or green coffee beans which they would roast over a fire. They would grind them by hand, usually using a grinder not unlike a modern Turkish coffee grinder.
Did Civil War soldiers eat beef jerky? ›
Cowboys chawed on jerky in the movies, and also in real life in the 1820s. They'd slaughter bison, cattle, elk or deer, strip the meat and hang it out to dry. During the Civil War, an estimated 2 million Union Soldiers ate jerky with relish.
How did Confederate soldiers get fresh food? ›
How were Union and Confederate soldiers fed during the American Civil War? Troops in the field were issued raw salted meat, pickled/dried fruits vegetables, hardtack, coffee, rice, flour maybe, etc. (In the South Coffee substitute, and corn meal.) and whatever they could beg, borrow, or steal from the locals.
What food was canned during the Civil War? ›
Meat, biscuits, condensed coffee, fruit juices, and Borden's condensed milk were all being consumed. Gilbert Van Camp started, in 1862, canning 6 gallons of raspberries, blackberries, peaches, and tomatoes in his Indianapolis, Indiana plant. Gustavus Swift was sending from his Chicago plant canned beans and meats.
Can you eat at Gettysburg battlefield? ›
Modeled after actual refreshment saloons that existed during the American Civil War to offer weary soldiers a place to have a meal and a brief respite from the harsh realities of war, the Refreshment Saloon has been a staple for on-site dining since opening the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center.
What did people eat for dinner during the Civil War? ›
The dinner meal usually included meat, and often included potatoes. Supper usually was served between six and seven o'clock. If dinner had been heavy, supper was generally a light meal, with cold meats, cold cooked potatoes or some kind of potato salad, and fruit.
What did soldiers eat in 1776? ›
According to the book, Supplying Washington's Army (a study, in part, of the Continental Army's Commissariat which supplied food and equipment) every soldier was to be provided with the following daily ration: One pound of beef. Three-quarters of a pound of chicken or pork. One pound of bread or flour.
What are soldiers rations? ›
A typical field ration consists of: An entrée or main course, typically full meals consisting of preserved and nonperishable precooked meat, vegetables, legumes, grains, rice, or staple foods; dehydrated soup or broth may also be offered, often in the form of bouillon cubes.
and visit the Real Milk website. President Abraham Lincoln drank real milk, so why shouldn’t we? We need to demand access to vital traditional foods.
by Sally Fallon. There’s a great cornbread recipe in there, a Southern favorite. This cookbook does not focus on Civil War recipes specifically, but it explains a lot of forgotten techniques about food preparation for maximum nutrition and old methods of food preservation such as lacto-fermentation. 
by Sandor Katz is a great resource for how to use good bacteria and yeasts in the kitchen for Civil War food recipes like sauerkraut. 
put together by the historic Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis. It contains many old recipes. Unfortunately, some of the recipes have been updated to toxic modern ingredients, but there are still many originals, some from colonial times. 