Napoleon said an army travels on its stomach, and the Union army was no exception. Here we see Company F, Third Division of the New Hampshire Volunteers at their galley at Hilton Head, South Carolina.
The cooks are on the sides of the photograph, and in the center we can see a black teenager who was probably a runaway slave who joined up. Many runaways attached themselves to Union regiments as laborers and officers' servants. If he wanted to fight, he would have to join one of the segregated black regiments.
So what's for lunch? Probably salt pork and dried vegetables. That was what was for lunch pretty much every day!
Photo courtesy Library of Congress.
Home to author Sean McLachlan and the House Divided series of Civil War horror novels. A Fine Likeness, the first in the series, is available now. This blog is dedicated to the Trans-Mississippi Civil War and historical fiction, and occasionally veers off into adventure travel when I go somewhere interesting.
Looking for more from Sean McLachlan? He also hangs out on the Midlist Writer blog, where he talks about writing, adventure travel, caving, and everything else he gets up to. He also reproduces all the posts from Civil War Horror, so drop on by!
Friday, March 29, 2013
Civil War Photo Friday: Hanging out at the cooks galley
Labels:
black soldiers,
Civil War,
Civil War Photo Friday,
military history,
Sean McLachlan,
Union soldiers,
war
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You either liked salt pork and dried vegetables or you starved!
ReplyDeleteI'd heard the line about an army traveling on its stomach but never knew it was Napoleon who said it.
ReplyDeleteSalt pork has a lot of uses, and flavors many a dish in the southern US. The fresh air usually makes things taste better, especially if one is hungry!
ReplyDeleteGreat photo from the past, Sean.