Soup for 50? Recipes courtesy of the Headquarters of the Army of the Cumberland

A study of the eating habits of the individual Civil War soldier can make an interesting diversion from contemplating the horrors and events of the battlefield. I came across an interesting nugget of Civil War history while recently perusing issues of the Sanitary Reporter (the official organ of the Western Department of the U.S. Sanitary Commission which was published in Louisville, Kentucky). The article, published in the June 15, 1863 issue, discussed General Order No. 76 which was issued under the auspices of Major General William S. Rosecrans by Major Calvin Goddard, Headquarters of the Department of the Cumberland on April 19, 1863. It is a directive devoted to the proper preparation of that staple of rations- the army bean. 

Major Calvin Goddard, formerly of the
12th O.V.I.

“A great military chieftain once said that beans had killed more men than bullets,” the Reporter commented. “If this be true, it is not because of any inherent unwholesomeness in the beans, but because of the imperfect manner in which they are usually prepared for use.”

General Rosecrans apparently agreed. “The importance of wholesome food cannot be overestimated,” his order read. “Improper and badly cooked food, eaten at unseasonable hours, is the cause of much of the sickness which thins our ranks and fills our hospitals.” So as a way of helping the army ward off scurvy (and cut down on the number of made sick by poor eating habits), this rather extraordinary general order was issued to instruct the officers and men how often they were to eat soup, and how they were to prepare it.

The general order also packed some teeth to compel compliance. “All commanding officers are charged to see that these orders are strictly enforced and that there may be no negligence on the part of company cooks, company officers will inspect the cooking every day and see that it is properly done.” Furthermore, Rosecrans

Si and Shorty's effort over the campfire was the exact
type of activity that General Order No. 76 aimed to
end, at least while the army was in camp.

charged his Inspector General Department with ensuring that the regiments followed his order, and that the senior medical officer on duty with each regiment would make a weekly written report to the department medical director stating how many times the men had been served soup and how well the soup had been prepared. The order stated that while the men were in camp, all cooking would be done by companies instead of by squads and that beef soup (when fresh beef was available) was to be served twice per week; likewise bean or pea soup was to be served twice per week “or oftener if desired by the men.”

The official recipe for the prescribed beef and vegetable soup to feed 50 men is as follows:

Beef 35 lbs (cut in pieces of 4 to 5 lbs each)

Desiccated Vegetables 3 lbs

Rice 4 lbs

Flour, sugar, and salt ¾ lb each

Pepper ½ oz

Water 8 gallons

“Soak the desiccated vegetables from reveille until after breakfast. Immediately after breakfast put all the ingredients into kettles at once, except the flour; set them over the fire and when beginning to boil diminish the head and simmer down until 11 o’clock, then add the flour to the soup which had been first mixed with enough water to form a thin batter, mix well together and boil until noon. Sufficient hot water may be added from time to time to replace that lost in boiling. The soup should be stirred occasionally to prevent burning or sticking to the sides of the kettle. To make good beef soup, it must be borne in mind that the ingredients are put into cold water and the heat gradually applied until near the boiling point, then simmer for several hours. By brisk boiling, the exterior of the meat is hardened and its juices will not be mixed with the water but retained. The meat will also be tough and unpalatable. The desiccated vegetables should be well separated when put in water to soak.”

General William S. Rosecrans took a great interest
in the daily doings of his enlisted men, and issued the
general order in part to prevent scurvy which would
serve to keep men fit for duty. The summer campaign
was no doubt on his mind.

The recipe for the bean soup was listed as follows:

Beans 4 quarts

Bacon or pork 15 lbs

Onions 3

Pepper ½ oz.

Water 8 gallons

“Soak the beans overnight; at reveille in the morning put them in vessels carefully cleaned and boil steady until done; then mash them with a spoon or masher made for the purpose and strain through a colander if practicable. Immediately after breakfast put the bacon or pork cut in pieces of from 3-5 lbs each into another kettle with water and boil for an hour. Pour off the water, add the bacon to the soup with finely chopped onions and pepper, and boil until noon. Remove the bacon and cut into smaller pieces, suitable for serving with the soup. In the preparation of this soup, soft or rain water should be used where practicable and if a less quantity than that directed by put into the vessel, or if it becomes necessary from long boiling to add more, it should be boiling and not cold water. The bacon after par boiling can be placed near the fire if the beans are not sufficiently soft to mash well. The reason for directing that the bacon be added after the beans are done is that grease of any kind hardens them. When peas are used in lieu of beans, they should be treated in the same manner.”

Cooking the soup, in accordance with orders. 

With the cool months of fall approaching, it might be a worthwhile experiment to try out one of these old recipes (on a much smaller scale) and see how it comes out. Anyone have a line on where I can acquire desiccated condensed vegetables?