Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-04-14
HOW AN ARMY is FED
FEW PERSONS REALIZE WHAT A
GREAT TASK 1T IS.
Enormous Quantities of Supplies
Called for and an Immense Amount
of Labor Necessary.


every 100 think of an army as a great ag-
gregation of fighting men, armed to the teeth
| with rifles. swords and what not, while
| they never once give thought to the men
in the rear Yet these men in the rear are
an important part of the fighting machin-
cry.
| When an army is encamped in a friendly
| country there is not great difficulty in
| feeding it as when it is penetrating hostile
| territory and mas 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 $4,000 hearts in the right place
| This is the work of the commissary depart
r1cnt-
! When an army division or an army corps
I ~ ehcamped at nome the problem of get
ing supplies is comparatively simple
| sometimes they furnished on contract
| sometimes bought in large quantities a
| week or. more in advance of the time at
! which they will be needed. The commits
| sarS general is responsible for the procur-
| ing of these supplies and having them de-
| posted at depot within easy reach of the
| troops.
Each company of a regiment has its
| COOKS; each regiment has its commissa1y
| depot, where supplies are kent sufficient
| ior' say week or ten days for ali the
| men. Men are detailed from each COM
pans 10 assist in the work of getting the
| supphes from the regimental depot to the
| company kitchens every day. Others are
oetalled to help transport the supplies to
| she reglmentai depots from the general
| headauarters whenever the stores in the
| former are getting low
| AS an supplies are issued from head
quarters only on orders and receipts are
saenh 40, ior everything secured. it can be
| seen tnat there is an immense amount of
| ciercai work necessary to the smooth and
uninterrupted work of the department.
wren the troops are in barracks the
! NJ r.
| TO than in the field. Ranges and all neces
sary utensils are on hand and hot meals
are served to the different mess tables with
t tsu,ailey. When in the field, either field
| stoNes are used for cooking or partially
covered trenches are constructed, with an
o opi, f LOT the huge coffee kettle and an
| oven for the baking of bread
| suppose an army to have landed n, , for
eigh coast. The first move after Tho 1and
| ing oI lhe men and arms is to secure
| convenient spot for a depot of sunnIies
| sbnra ar, are landed and piled high on the
ssnore until there seems to be a mountain of
| Jokes lneXtrfcably mingled in the penarsI
aies GRADUALLY these are separated int
a ai'e piles and order begins to make its
appearance out of chaos until All The nv
pres are properly housed sup
for an army of 30 nal r,ap on, ,o.ooo
norses Tor three months 1t is estimated tb9t
mere are necessary 1000 tons of food ara,i
forage. This must be made nm ~ 81 10 AZ; All;
a.iu siren sth.giving supplies, with a pr1ner
proportion of meat vegetables coffia an,
.ronp ,1r bread or biscuits. The meat is
generally canned, although sidas of h.,ctn
are abundant, and even herds of live cat+Ia
are taken along for fresh meat
whenever any important move is to ba
snaue py me army each soldier is usually
supplied with rations for a dav which he
carries in his haversack These he is nn+ ~
Use unless ordered to do So There are
besides two days rations carried in trans
.;da +h or eaeh traction of command to
t,de the troops over The march In the
fnsllsh army there are even wagon ar
r&ngements for cooking meals on the march
great quantities of soup being heated and
iHedt ana potatoes being prepared whiIa on
the march. But when the army moves away
from It's base of supplies then it is that tho
feeding problem becomes more comnlica+ed
There are always a number of men do
Jailed from each regiment to assist in the
work OF bringing up supplies. The keeping
open OF line of communication with the
base or supplies is the first thing that a
commander must see to, for it means the
safety of his army. If this line of corn,
nunication is but a days march. the work
is simple, and it does not take MANY men
aetaiied to wagon driving to replenish the
Impoverished stock of the regimental or
division farder. But when the distance is
increased to sixty or one hundred miles the
trick is one of great difficulty.
There are along this line of. commu,,ira-
ton two lines of transport wagons constant
~ on the move and in opposite directions
The one line is for wagons filled with stores
and supplies for the army The other is
the base for other loads. Easy stages are
made of the journey.
For instance, lot of loaded wagons
will start from the base and go an easy dis
lance, when another lot Of empty ones will
be coming in the opposite direction. The
drivers and horses will be exchanged those
on the loaded wagons returning with the
empty ones to the base of supplies and
those on the empty wagons taking the load
ed supplies one stage nearer the army, at
the end of which the same things is repeat
the end of which the same thing is repeat
which the transportation of supplies and
ammunition. too, is being constantly car
ried on.
Within easy reach of the army is estab-
ished a second base of supplies where
great amount of stores is accumulated in
order to enable the army to extend its oper-
atoms further from its principal base. OF
course, railroad makes the thing doubly
sure and quick. But there Is usually a good
deal of wagon hauling to be done even with
the railroads. because 1t is not often posi-
BILE for an army to confne its operations to
the line of rail communication. In any
case. from the nearest base of supplies are
brought to the division regimental wa
CONS. which are filled on requisition and re-
ceipts are given for the supplies received.
A weeks supply or even ten days food
should be at hand with the army. From
the regimental depotS the company gets its
food for each day, and it is transferred to
the company kitchen. Here are great ket-
ties of coffee steamtng over the fire. with
bacon or other meat cooking in the pans
mus the 1000 winch started as the contents
of one of the boxes in the mountain of sup
plies on the shore, finally comes to the
plate of the soldier to give him strength
Sometimes flying column takes no COM
missary train with it, cuts itself off from
its base of supplies and moves swiftly
through the country, taking a few days ra-
tions. This cannot be done unless the coun-
try is thoroughly known and can be de-
pended on for food.
Sir George Head, writing of his expert-
ence in charge of the commssary in the
penfnsular war, says that 8 o'clock every
morning found him in the presence of the
commanding general, where he was told of
the movement of the army for the dav. He
would then go to his own quarters, where
he found scores of representatives of the
different parts of the army waiting for in
formation. Sometimes, he says, he was
obliged to ride out in the rain and scour the
country for wheat to be made into flour for
that nights distribution.
The worry of such a position can scarcely
be imagined. for even after a supply of
wheat was found. it had to be Transported
to mill. ground and carried to a convenient
place for distribution among the parts of
the army. which operations required the
services of many men and teams
There is considerable red tape required
to get provisions, no less than seyenty-five