In something like the Civil War, something so terrible, every little bit of morale boost counts! Do you guys think that the food which the soldiers were eating made a difference in the Civil War, and why or why not? Discuss here!
I think it helped make a difference. Food was scarce, and soldiers didn't get a whole lot. When you're on the losing side, food becomes more scarce. Then morale starts to weaken because soldiers haven't eaten in days.
How can you possibly fight a war on an empty stomach? It's hard to get through a day at the office without food-and all we do there is sit on our kiesters in front of a computer. But, back in Civil War days, they were probably used to having much less food....and maybe even going without, but still, the scarcity of food and its low quality must have made a difference.
Cate is on point. I start losing focus if I'm hungry. Sometimes it happens at school in college class and it gets me off track. I can only imagine how hungry the soldiers were in the civil war.
I'm sure starvation was always just around the corner, but then folks back then weren't as used to having so much food as we are today. Their mentality was one of deprivation instead of entitlement.....
That's true. We do eat higher portions than we did back then, often two to three times as much if not more. I think they could deal with it, but at some point you had to say "our guys need food or we'll lose this war."
Of course-I think that in those days, people knew how to find food all around them in the wilderness.....we could do that today, but why should we?
That is true. We didn't have technology back then like we do now. Many of the people were hunters and already lived off the land. I bet they had hunting parties to go and get food on a regular basis.
I don't think there was much time to grow a garden on the battlefield with the troop movements and what not. I think that they definitely had base camps where they grew fruits and vegetables and sent them via horse. It would be interesting to go back in time and see how they worked and how they lived.
yes- I wasn't meaning they grew stuff on the battlefield tho. I just meant that they lived a life of knowing how to live off the land, so food shortages wouldn't have panicked them like it would us today....
Oh, no doubt. I think that if we had a food shortage today, we would be in trouble. People depend so much on technology and farmers. Farmers are really under appreciated. They do most of the harvesting and that's how we get our fruits and veggies.
It wouldn't hurt to be prepared for a food shortage these days-lots of people are storing food, water, etc just in case....
Have you watched the show called Doomsday Preppers? It goes inside the lives of families who have real underground shelters with anything they could possibly need. I've seen rows and rows of canned food. They would definitely survive if something bad happened.
We have watched the show and think prepping is a good idea, but just how much prepping to do is the question.
I don't think everyone needs to go and dig out a underground shelter. That would cost thousands that a lot of people don't have. I think that if we started to learn of a catastrophic event, I would stock up on canned food and lots of water. I would go buy a few guns and some ammunition as well. What about you?
I would, but just when and how much to store is the question. You can't wait until you hear about an event to start all of this-that's why these folks are called preppers-they spend their lives prepping. Some even have secret languages they use to communicate in emergencies....how much is too much?
I just think were not anywhere near that point yet, that's all. There is no need to run to Lowes and buy enough supplies to build an underground shelter. I don't think the world is going to end tomorrow. That being said, the turmoil in the Middle East is quite frightening.
Food is of vital importance. One major problem the Indians had fighting first the Europeans then the Americans was food. If they had farms, the food was generally labour intensive, and their storage capacity low. So they could fight for a month or two maybe three, then had to return home to plant, or harvest the food. If they didn't or the crops were burned they would starve. In the Civil War food was a major factor for the CSA defeat. In the book Salt, the author explains that most salt in the South came from the North. Salt was needed to preserve meat, pickle and preserve vegetables for winter and for seasoning to keep people healthy. Going by memory here so if there are mistakes sorry. The Confederates had one major salt works in Luisiana, I believe, that supplied about 80 percent of their salt. WHen the Union captured it several leaders and people in the know said at the time it was worse than losing New Orleans.
I remember hearing about the salt issue. A lot of the cotton came from the south and was used quite often in the north. Both had items that each side wanted dearly.
