1 lb. of beef, or ¾ lb. pork or 1 lb. salt fish, per day.
1 lb. bread or flour per day.
3 pints of pease or beans per week, or vegetables equivalent, at one dollar per bushel for pease or beans.
1 pint of milk per man per day or at the rate of 1/72 of a dollar.
1 half pint of rice, or 1 pint of indian meal per man per week.
1 quart of spruce beer or cider per man per day, or nine gallons of molasses per company of 100 men per week.
3 lb. candles to 100 men per week for guards.
24 lb. of soft or 8 lb. of hard soap for 100 men per week."[39]
The rations mentioned in orderly books or journals were the same as the above except that butter was added in some cases and a pint of rum was allowed on the day a man was on fatigue duty or on special occasions,[40] but in the large the rations given at the beginning of the war by congress were followed whenever there were supplies enough to admit of any definite plan being followed. The officers received rations according to their rank.[41]
Thus would have ended the story of the revolutionary soldiers food if the theory had been practicable, but as it was not, there is a different story to tell. The conditions on the march to Quebec with Arnold were almost unendurable. The march was only started when the soldiers were put on short rations receiving three-fourths of a pound of meat and bread instead of a whole pound,[42] and as they proceeded the conditions only grew worse until when they were not yet nearing their destination the last of the flour was divided. There were just seven pints for each man. That amount was to last seven days, thus each man had a pint a day to live on and that had to be divided into a gill for breakfast, half a pint for dinner and the remaining gill for supper. It was mixed with clear water with no salt and laid on the coals to heat a little and then was nibbled as the soldiers marched on or else it was boiled like starch and eaten in that fashion.[43] It happened sometimes that some soldier had the good fortune to kill a partridge, much to his joy, for that meant soup could be made.[44] The condition only grew worse instead of better and all the food was gone, the next move was to kill the dogs which were in camp[45] even the legs and claws were boiled for soup. When the situation had become so acute that the soldiers had given up their moose skin moccasins to boil in an attempt to get a little nourishment,[46] a moose was killed, a halt was called and soup was made for the hungry soldiers of the entire animal, hoofs, horns and all.[47]
If we follow the division of the army which was sent against the Indians in Sullivan's expedition in 1779, the conditions will be found to be somewhat different for that march was made during the summer and fall rather than fall and winter as the march to Quebec had been, and besides the western campaign was into a country which abounded in beans, peas, corn, cucumbers, pumpkins, squashes, and watermelons.[48]
The soldiers were short on rations[49] and out of bread, but it was not felt so keenly because of the substitutes they could get.[50] The main object of the expedition was to devastate the Indian's land and one duty was to destroy or take all the food which came in their way. When the soldiers came to a field of corn, their first duty was to feast on it and then destroy all they could not use or carry away with them.[51] If the corn was in a condition for roasting, they did that or made succatash; if it was too hard for roasting they converted some old tin kettles found in the Indian villages into large graters by punching holes in the bottom. Then one of the military duties of the soldiers was to grate the corn into a coarse meal which was mixed with boiled pumpkins or squash and kneaded into cakes and baked on the coals[52] and even that coarse food was relished by the men when fatigued after a long march.
This rather amusing entry, yet terrible if true, is found in one diary of the expedition "July 7—I eat part of a fryed Rattle Snake to day which would have tasted very well had it not been snake".[53]
The conditions in the camp were somewhat different than those on the march for in camp what the rations were depended on the amount of supplies. If they were plentiful, full rations could be drawn by each soldier, but when they were scarce each soldier had to take less. The time and place of drawing supplies seemed to vary with circumstances, and no definite plan was followed.
It is a mistake to think that the soldier of the American Revolution was always suffering for the want of food. The picture drawn for us most often is that of the distressing conditions. There was a brighter side, although it is true that the soldier suffered many times. When the camps were situated in or near an agricultural community the farmers swarmed to camp with their produce charging exorbitant prices, but if the soldier had any money he was usually willing to buy. In the course of eight days the caterer of a single mess purchased three barrels of cider, seven bushels of chestnuts, four of apples, at twelve shillings a bushel, and a wild turkey[54] which weighed over seventeen pounds.