Object Details
- Description
- Physical Description
- Small metal box to protect matches, two-piece lantern, metal frying pan, and cup. Hardtack.
- General History
- A match safe, lantern, frying pan, and cup would have been part of a soldier’s equipment. Hardtack is the name given to a thick cracker made of flour, water, and sometimes salt. While it has been called by several nicknames, the Union Army of the Potomac referred to the ration as hardtack, and the name stuck. When stored properly, hardtack would last for years. Because it could be prepared cheaply and would last so long, hardtack was the most convenient food for soldiers. The army furnished hardtack by weight, but in most units the biscuits were doled out by number, with a ration generally being nine or ten.
- Credit Line
- Virginia Dell Sours Atkinson, C. F. Ray Sours, and John A. Sours
- associated date
- 1861 - 1865
- ID Number
- AF.55596
- catalog number
- 55596
- accession number
- 195333
- Object Name
- hardtack
- Object Type
- hardtack
- Other Terms
- hardtack; Army
- Physical Description
- flour (overall material)
- water (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 4 in x 4 in x 3/16 in; 10.16 cm x 10.16 cm x .4318 cm
- See more items in
- Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
- Food
- Military
- ThinkFinity
- Exhibition
- Price of Freedom
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- National Museum of American History
- related event
- Civil War
- Civil War and Reconstruction
- Record ID
- nmah_439686
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a2-6bfa-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
