The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-05-12
improvement Of Army Ratlons.


improvement OF Army RatiOns.
Two subjects should engage the at
tention of a people engaged in a war
the invention of means for the des
truction of the enemy, and of other
means for the protection of the health
Of their own troops, and the saving Of
their own armies. We do not mean
saving them by refusing battle, when
that would be advantageous, and de-
cisive; we do not mean to say saving
them as Mcclellan did his men, that is,
by letting them die Of fatigue and dis
ease, digging trenches when a battle
would not have lost him half so many,
and would have gained him more; but
we mean the saving them, as far as pos
sible, from the ravages of fevers, and
contagion, by providing a healthy diet,
comfortable clothing, &c.
We regret to say that to one of these
the invention of destructive ordnance
American genius has been too ex-
clusively directed Not that too much
has been done in that direction; but
too little has been accomplished in
providing for the comfort, and health
of the men. The sanitary, and other
commissions have done a noble work
but their attentions have been chiefly
directed to those in hospitals; those
who have been struck down by bullets,
or by disease.
Something more should have been
accomplished, to preserve the health of
the soldier on duty; to prevent him
from going to the hospital Prevention
would have frequently avoided the ne
cessity of cure; and wherever it could,
should have been applied. We have
just read, in the New York Evening
Post, an article on thesubjsct of army
rations, which so exactly comedies with
our views, that we transfer it to our
columns entire, in lieu of what we
might say on the subject
The Post says:
The present ration consists of bread
pork or beef, coffee and sugar; weighs
thirty-two or forty ounces, and occupies
one hundred cubic inches in the pack
For this Professor HorsfOrd proposes to
substitute ration consisting of fresh
beef prepared in the form of sausage,
properly seasoned, compressed so as to
expel nearly all the moisture, and of
course, without bone or other UNBEATABLE
parts. Three ounces of beef prepared
in the way he describes would be full
meat ration Instead Of hard bread be
proposes eight ounces of roasted ground
wheat, or eleven ounces Of self-raising
-four, which he shows will be an ade-
quate substitute for the present bread
ration
Eight days rations at present weigh
from sixteen to twenty pounds, and oc-
cupy bulk of over eight hundred GU
bic inches; the substitute of Professor
Horsford would occupy but two hun
dred and fifty cubic inches; and he as
serts that, with the help of mules so car
ry additional supplies of sausaged beef
and roasted wheat, an army ofone hun
bred thousand men might safely cut
adrift from its base for an operation re-
quiring thirty or forty days. He would
use a concentrated preparation of cof-
fee, properly swsetened, which could be
mixed as easily with cold as with warm
water and he urges that the Govern
ment should furnish tobacco as part of
the ration.
In this, every person who has served |
in the war, or who has ever undergone
hardship or exposure of any kind, will I!
agree with him. On the march or in |
the bivouac, pipe is the promoter of
cheerfulness; it adds to the endurance |
of the soldier, and fortifes his body |
against malaria and disease. TO make |
the improvement complete, Professor
Horsford proposes that each soldier
shall be enabled to cook his own ra-
tons, something which Napoleon de-
clared to be necessary to efficiency. He /
does this by enclosing the regulation
canteen in two clOsely-fitting concave
sheet-iron pans, held in place by fork
and spoon locked together, and which
may be detached at pleasure.
The soldier is provided with plate,
frying-pan, bake-pan, fork, and spoon
these take the place Of similar articles
now carried in a less convenient way
with which the soldier can prepare his
ration or cook any thing he may get on
the march.
What an immense difference would
be made in the transportation of the
army bysuch a change in the army "a
ton as IS above suggested, may be seen
from few facts scattered through Pro
lessor Horsford's pamphlet A barrel
that viii contain one hundred and
ninety-six pounds of -four win hold but
twenty-five pounds Of hard bread. An
army wagon which will carry fifteen
barrels of -four will carry but one-sev-
snth of this flour liz the form of fresh
y baked bread
An OK weighing fifteen hundred
pounds, furnishes to the Government
which buys him and slaughters him in
he field, but about six and half per
,ent OF has weight IN eatable meat Ac-
,ording to Col Eaton, commjssary at
his port, the army ration of fresh beef
4 Hilton Head cost the Government 80
,ents, at time when excellent canned
meats cost but l6 cents delivered.
Prof HOrsford suggests that instead
# supplying salt beef and pork in their
PRESENT shape, at least three quarters
f the bulk being water-or fresh beef
n the hoof, transported by rail from
he western prairies at a great loss
government should kill the cattle in
illinois, in their best condition, and
hen, in proper factories, prepare, sea
on and condense the meat in the most
erfect manner possible.
A correspondent Of the Montgomery
lail, writing from Bristol, Tennessee,
avs that Laws brfgaIa - f,asfff,vaisr