Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1861-06-04
For the Enquirer.
SUGGESTIONS TO those in Authority.

q
reasoning mechanical uniformity and conser
ratism OF the British Government. For in
stance, because soldiers oace wore helmets o.
metal, after the idea Of effective protection o.
the head from weapons by the head.pieces was
forever rclinGuished, soldiers hats must need:
be still shaped like helmets, and made
to have as much as possible of their rightly
without their protective strength,) by buck
ram and pastcboard. And it required genera
tons to correct tho stupid folly Of furnishing
the soldiers brows with these pasteboard sham
helmets, and to leave them, like other sensible
men, to wear the hat of felt or cloth cap.
Such senseless red-tapeism is fast wearing
out in our times. But another instance Of il
was perscycringly practised upon the Virgins
troops, in our war of 1912, against the repeti
ton OF which we would protest in this war
1t was this: Because our military leaders reai
in the books of the British and French, that the
soldiers rations should be Of wheat -four, beef
&c, &C., they must needs serve out to oul
Virginia farmers nothing but wheat -four for
bread. Now those old countries of Europe
not being SO fortunate as to possess Indian
corn, it might be all very we'll for them to con
fine their soldiers to wheat hour-it was thu
best they could give them. But why follow
the precedent here, where all the rea
sons which dictated it are absent? 1t is
well known that corn bread is in part the pre-
ferred bread Of all classes in Eastern Virginia
whether they be rich or poor, white or black
The rich planter, whose breakfast and dinner
table are loaded with all imaginable ~luxuries
in the shape of hot mullins, French rolls, anG
the whitest possible loaf bread, yet prefers tc
make his meals, in large part, Of the simple,
but sweet and nutritious hoe cake. Our mid
die classes regard it as their staff of life
There would be great advantages TO the army,
to the finances of the State and to the country
in Joining corn meal with flour in our army
stores, so az te give the men their option
The conmissaries would find that a multitude
of the men, especially from Eastern Virginia,
Cardiff as and the South, would joyfully and
gratefully accept the corn meal ration in place
Of the Gour. l well remember the bitter com
plants of my father, in the war Of 1872, and
his narratives how sick he became OF the ever
lasting wheaton bread, how he longed for O
sweet hoe. cake, and how a%nXiouSly he used to
look for an opportunity to exchange his douI
rations with some plantation negro near the
camp, for his poke OF corn meal. The great ad'
vantages OF the corn bread for the soldier are
the following:
First. 1t IS a cheaper ration, as is well pro-
we'd by the experience Of the Virginia planters.
The substitution of it for -four, to all those
men in our camps who would gladly get it in
stead, would save the Government thousands
in one campaign. Besides, it is the staple grain
Of Virginia md the South, and our detach'
meuts can hardly be marched to any neighbor'
hood in the State, where a halEdozen country
mills would not be found, which would be glad
to deliver fresh corn meal ut the camps, thus
saving the State the article of transportation,
which, in war time, is likely to become SO
enormously expensive.
Second. Corn bread possesses immense ad'
vantages over wheaton, under the hasty prepa'
ration Of food to which the soldier is usually
driven. Let the sklll(ul baker, or Virginia
housewife, have yeast, time, and al the appll'
anccs, and they produce q wheaton bread
which is hard to beat" But, without the time
and appliances, wheaton bread is usually, t.
Eastern Tirginians, eaccrabiy distastcful and
unhealthy. What is the poor fellow 10 do with
it, though it be Gallego's family brand, when
yeast, ~leavcn, kneading or kneading tray, with
nothing but his camp kettle or skillet to bake
it in The best result he can produce is a
"leathsr-caks," or q "6lack hearted biscuit"
or a greasy flour dodger' boiled in the soup
kettle; ia either case, about as palataole and
digestiblc as a mass Of putty. Or even if ba'
ker's bread be carried from the towne after OUT
armies, on their marches, they receive il
stale, and long for hot bread.
But give the Eastern Virginian q handful Of
fresh corn meal, q tin cup Of spring water, and
n grain Of salt, and he is comfortable, SO far
as bread is concerned. He needs nothing more
to make a nice, sweet, nourishing, digestible
hoe-cake :; or else m ash-cake wrapped in oak
leaves, or else n Johnny-cake nicely baked on
n piece Of shingle or a fiat stone. And the
more hurried the preparation, the sweeter the
cake, for corn bread, in all its forms, is best
wten most speedily prepared. 1t is fresh
meal, rapid kneading, and immediate baking,
that make the best hUe-cake. The consequences
would be, that the soldier would have better
health, would be more nourished by his food and
would be more contented. Corn bread is the
almost universal bread Of the Virginia field
hand. Let his physical vigor, endurance and
gai;y, be the proofs Of the adoption of this food
to our climate.
This is a matter By nc means unimportant to
the success Of our cause. The French have
an adage, which says "The soup makes the
soldier" The military prowess and success o!
the French soldier arises very greatly from his
skill in making himself comfortable in camp.
Now Eastern Virginians cannot make them
selves comfort able, with eXtempore cookery
without corr bread. Many a battle has been
lost because the stonachs Of the men were I'M
comfortable.
May we not beg you, Messrs. Editors, to
give your influential comrnendation to these
hints9 The meal for troops should bc ground
at country mills, if possible, in .neighborhoods
near the camps. 1t should be delivered from
the mills 70 the commissaries, freshly ground,
as often rs once a fortnight at least. For, un-
like -four, corn meal is sweetest the day it IS
ground, and u few weeks keeping renders it
unfit for q Virginia farmer to eat. The grain
for grinding should be white, and
cured by the old process, on the stalk. Coro
harvested, MS nearly all farmers west of the
Blue Ridge now 10, By cutting up and shock
ing, is not fit for bread it undergoes a sweat
in the shock, which does not diminish its
weight or nutritive properties for cattle, but
which ruins its sweetness and friabllity. The
Western Virginia corn then, should be fed to
the horses and mules and the corn that II
pened till November on the stalk should be
nicely ground for the men.
IF you can get our commisSarlcS 10 adopt
these practical hints, | assure you, Messrs.
Editors, thousands Of your fcllow.citizcns in
camp evil arise up and call you blessed"
TnE Son OF AN OLD SOLDIER.
yI,e Latest from tile Federal Army In
tirginln.
WAsHlSoToE, May 3l.-A gentleman who
here tonight from The camp Of the
Federal troops in Virginia, reports that four
companies Of the U. S. I'd dragons, a battery
of artillery, and the New York Sth, 18th and
regiments, were occupying the heights
miles beyond Arlington House, and their
pickcts extend beyond Halls Cross Roads, 81
miles from Washington.
A portion Of this force was intending to al.
vance on Fairfax COURTHOUSE tonight, and, if
occupy it before day.break. They
to have an engagement, as inlorma.
ton, deemed reliable, had reached them that
Confederate troops to the number Of 1000 arc
in position at that point 1t was currently ex-