Life in the Union Navy During the Civil War

From the Civil War Navy and Marine Re-enactor's Yahoo e-mail group website.

Last year, sigsaye2000 had quite a few postings that I found of interest. This person knows a lot about life in the navy during the war.

These are some of the things he had to say.


MEALS-- rations were seasonal and most ships had little stowage. Ships on blockade station received fresh provisions such as seasonal vegetables, meat and ice, every three days. Some ships even had primitive refrigeration stowage in the form of ice boxes insulated with straw and copper lines.

Ships operating on the rivers normally had army marching rations of salt pork and hard tack because they were not designed for sustained operations.

Sigsaye2000 wrote in much more detailed fashion, but I have shortened it considerably. I will returning to his postings in the future.

Eatin' High Off the Hog Out on the Blockade. --Old B-Runner