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Friday, March 29, 2013

Civil War Photo Friday: Hanging out at the cooks galley

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.

3 comments:

  1. You either liked salt pork and dried vegetables or you starved!

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  2. I'd heard the line about an army traveling on its stomach but never knew it was Napoleon who said it.

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  3. Salt 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!
    Great photo from the past, Sean.

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