An edition of Hardtack and Coffee (1887)

Hard tack and coffee

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Last edited by Tom Morris
July 20, 2024 | History
An edition of Hardtack and Coffee (1887)

Hard tack and coffee

  • 5.00 ·
  • 1 Rating
  • 1 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 2 Have read

John Billings' military memoir of the everyday life of a U.S. Army soldier in the 19th century is not about battles, but rather about how the common Union soldiers of the Civil War lived in camp and on the march. The volume is divided into twenty-one chapters which treat the origins of the Civil War, enlisting, how soldiers were sheltered, life in tents, life in log huts, unlucky soldiers and shirkers ("Jonahs and Beats"), Army rations, offenses and punishments, a day in camp, raw recruits, special rations and boxes from home, foraging, corps and corps badges, some inventions and devices of the war, the army mule, hospitals and ambulances, clothing, breaking camp and marching, army wagon trains, road and bridge builders, and signal flags and torches

Publish Date
Publisher
Endeavor Press
Language
English
Pages
352

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Previews available in: English

Book Details


Table of Contents

Preface
The tocsin of war
Enlisting
How the soldiers were sheltered
Life in tents
Life in log huts
Jonahs and beats
Army rations : what they were, how they were distributed, how they were cooked
Offences and punishments
A day in camp
Raw recruits
Special rations, boxes from home, sutlers
Foraging
Corps and Corps badges
Some inventions and devices of the war
The army mill
Hospitals and ambulances
Scattering shots
Breaking camp, on the march
Army wagon-trains
Army road and bridge builders
Talking flags and torches.

Edition Notes

Cover subtitle: A classic Civil War memoir.

Originally published in 1887.

Copyright 1887 by John D. Billings.

Originally published with title: Hardtack and coffee, or, The unwritten story of army life.

This reprint edition does not include the over two-hundred illustrations included in the first edition.

Published in
London]

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
973.7/4
Library of Congress
E607 .B592 2016

The Physical Object

Pagination
352 pages
Number of pages
352

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL38226814M
Internet Archive
hardtackcoffee0000bill
ISBN 10
1911445138
ISBN 13
9781911445135
OCLC/WorldCat
1001295146

Work Description

One of the most important memoirs of the American Civil War, this is also one of the few to describe what life was really like for the common soldier. The author, a Union veteran of the Army of the Potomac, tells of how the men enlisted or were conscripted; how they lived in camp and on the march; what they ate and foraged; how they were equipped and provided for; how they lived, amused themselves, were disciplined and punished, cared for and healed, and ultimately how they died. Written with a wry and gentle sense of humor, and profusely illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings, this book is full of the anecdotes and trivia that made it a best-seller in its day, and a primary source for life in the Civil War ever since.

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History

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July 20, 2024 Edited by Tom Morris Merge works
December 13, 2019 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
November 18, 2018 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
December 10, 2009 Created by WorkBot add works page