At this point the rations became the responsibility of the Quartermaster's Department, which was in charge of transportation and storage for the Army. In sailing vessels, steamships. Here, Quartermasters stored it temporarily in warehouses, sheds, or out in the open until it was shipped, usually by rail, to the army's advance depots. From there, army supply wagons carried the rations through temporary depots and finally to the corps, division, and brigade levels. At the brigade, a regimental officer heading a special detail received the food and delivered it to the regimental commissary, who in turn distributed it to the separate companies for issue to each soldier.
Rations are the issue of a fixed amount of foodstuffs for a given period of time.
Billy Yank drew two types of rations. There, by luck and a Union command error, the Confederates routed the Federals from the field and chased the Northerners into Chattanooga, where a siege followed. For about a month, Union soldiers in Chattanooga went on half rations and even ate feed grain meant for the Army's starving animals. Still, the Federal ration was more than ample in terms of quantity and calories. It was larger than that of the British, French, Prussian, Austrian, and Russian armies of the same period.