The Hardtack Life….

See that piece of hardtack in that frame there? I bet you could still eat it today. Which is one of the reasons that hardtack and its variations have been since ancient Egypt. A little water, a little flour, some salt if you were lucky and bam! Hardtack.

For this discussion we will talk about its widespread popularity(?) during the Civil War. Both sides produced it as it was quick and easy and the three by three square that came in was packed full of stomach filler. Heck, mix in a little bacon grease and you really had something.

Two things really stand out about the hardtack that you see above.

At the beginning of the war, when people thought it would only last a few weeks, there was not a massive amount of ready to eat provisions ready for either army. So they looked in the military warehouses and found plenty of hardtack from the previous war, ready made provisions on the go. Just one little problem. The previous conflict was the Mexican-American War which ended in 1848, the Civil War started in 1861, so these biscuits were over thirteen years old. Think about that when you see milk a day past the sell by.

The other thing is that bugs really liked it So much so they would live in it. In the card that goes with the picture you can see that it was not unusual for the men to dunk the hardtack in their morning coffee to soften it. Then scoop the bugs out of their coffee. Sometimes though they would just eat the infected squares that were writhing with worms and larvae. Protein wasn’t cheap!

Want to give it a try? The recipe is really easy and can be found here.

Of course they leave the bugs out, but you can add them to your hearts content.