Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1900-08-16
How an Army is Fed.

great aggregation of fighting men,
armed to the teeth with rifles, swords
and what not, while they never once
give a thought to the "men in the
rear" Yet these men in the rear are
an important part of the fighting ma
chinery.
When an army is encamped in
friendly country there is not so great
a difficulty in feeding it as when it is
penetrating hostile territory and has
separated itself from its own country.
And yet in either case it is no light
task to furnish and distribute the food
that is to keep, say, 10000 stomachs
satisfied and 10000 hearts in the right
place. This is the work of the COM
missary department.
When an army division or an army
corps is encamped at home the prob
lem Of getting supplies is comparative
ly simple. Sometimes they are fur
nished or contract, sometimes bought
in large quantities week or more in
advance Of the time at which they will
be needed. The commissary general
is responsible for the procuring Of
these supplies and having them depos-
tied at depot within easy reach of
the troops.
Each company Of regiment has its
cooks; each regiment has its commits
sary depot, where supplies are kept
sufficient for, say, week or ten days
for all the men. Men are detailed
from each company to assist in the
work of getting the supplies from the
regimental depot to the company
kitchens every day. Others are de-
tailed to help transport the supplies
to the regimental depots from the gen
eral headquarters whenever the stores
in the former are getting low.
AS all supplies are issued from head
quarters only on orders and receipts
are given for everything secured, it
can be seen that there is an immense
amount of clerical work necessary to
the smooth and uninterrupted work of
the department.
When the troops are in barracks the
work Of the kitchen can be better at
tended to than in the field. Ranges
and all necessary utensils are on hand
and hot meals are served to the diff
ferent mess tables with regularity.
When in the field, either field stoves
are used for cooking or partially cov-
cred trenches are constructed, with an
opening for the huge coffee kettle and
an oven for the baking of bread.
Suppose an army to have landed on
a foreign coast. The first move after
the landing of the men and arms Is to
secure a convenient spot for depot of
supplies. These are landed and piled
high on the shore until there seems to
be a mountain of boxes inextricably
mingled in the general mass. Grad
ually these are separated into differ
ent piles and order begins to make its
appearance out of chaos, until all the
supplies are properly housed.
For an army of 10000 men and
10000 horses for three months it is
estimated that there are necessary
II, 900 tons of food and forage. This
must be made up of palatable and
strengthening supplies, with a proper
proportion of meat, vegetables, coffee
and -four for bread or biscuits. The
meat is generally canned, although
sides of bacon are abundant, and even
herds of live cattle are taken along
for fresh meat.
Whenever any important move Is to
be made by the army each soldier is
usually supplied with rations for a
day, which he carries in his haversack.
These he is not to use unless ordered
to do so. There are, besides, two
days rations carried in transport for
each fraction of command to tide the
troops over the march. In the Eng
lish army there are even wagon ar
rangements for cooking meals on the
march, great quantities OF soup being
heated and meat and potatoes being
prepared while on the march. But
when the army moves away from its
base of supplies then it is that the
feeding problem becomes more com
plicated.
There are always a number Of mel
detailed from each regiment to assist
in the work of bringing up supplies
The keeping open of a line of commu
nication with the base of supplies il
the first thing that commander mus