Hardtack and coffee / John D. Billings.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Billings, John Davis, 1842-1933.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Army--Military life.

United States.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (420 p.)

Place of Publication:

Scituate, Mass. : Digital Scanning, 2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The writing of Hard Tack and Coffee was the result of a reunion of Civil War veterans at a White Mountain resort in 1881. There, the author entertained listeners with stories of his personal experiences of army life. Although far from complete, the topics of interest are more suggestive of reality. Unlike histories written of the Civil War whose subjects are battles or the campaigns of generals, this book is an attempt to record daily army life in detail. Hard Tack and Coffee relates stories about enlisting, life in tents, and offenses and punishments for soldiers in the Engineering and Signal Corps. Charles W. Reed illustrated this version with six color plates of Corp Badges and over two hundred original sketches. Reflecting many of the sights and scenes from the era.

Contents:

""DEDICATION.""; ""PREFACE.""; ""CONTENTS.""; ""CHAPTER I.""; ""THE TOCSIN OF WAR.""; ""The Four Parties""; ""Their Candidates""; ""Freedom of Speech Abridged""; ""Secession Decreed""; ""Lincoln Elected""; ""Oh, for Andrew Jackson! Exit Buchanan""; ""“Long-heeled Abolitionists� and “Black Republicans�""; ""“Wide-awakes� and ""Rail-splitters""""; ""Copperheads""; ""The Misunderstanding""; ""Northern Doughfaces""; ""Loyal Men of All Parties Unite""; ""The First Rally""; ""Preparation in the Bay State and in Other States""; ""Her War Governor""; ""Showing the White Feather""

""The Memorable Fifteenth of April""""""The Sweet Little Man�""; ""Parting Scenes""; ""The Three-Months� Men.""; ""CHAPTER II.""; ""ENLISTING.""; ""The President�s Error""; """"Three Years Unless Sooner Discharged""""; ""How Volunteer Companies were Raised""; ""Filling the Quotas""; ""What General Sherman Says""; ""Recruiting Offices""; ""Advertisements for Recruits""; ""A War Meeting in Roxbury""; ""A Typical War Meeting in the Country""; ""A Small-Sized Patriot""; ""Signing the Roll""; ""The Medical Examination""; ""Off for Camp""; ""The Red, White, and Blue""; ""CHAPTER III.""

""HOW THE SOLDIERS WERE SHELTERED.""""The Distinction Noted Between the Militia and the U. S. Volunteers""; ""The Oath of Muster""; ""Barracks Described""; ""Sibley or Bell Tents""; ""A or Wedge Tents""; ""Spooning""; ""Stockading""; ""Hospital or Wall Tents""; ""Dog or Shelter Tent Described""; ""Chumming""; ""Pitching Shelters""; ""Stockaded Shelters""; ""Fireplaces""; ""Chimneys""; ""Door Plates""; """"Willard�s Hotel�""; """"Hole in the Wall�""; ""Mortars and Mortar Shelling before Petersburg""; ""CHAPTER IV.""; ""LIFE IN TENTS.""; ""Life in a Sibley""; ""The Stove""

""""I. C.� Insect Life""""Pediculus Vestimenti, the Old-time Grayback""; ""Not a Respecter of Rank""; ""The First Grayback Found""; ""(K)nitting Work""; ""“Skirmishing�""; ""Boiling Water the Sovereign Balm""; ""Cleanliness""; ""The Versatile Mess-Kettles""; ""No Magee Ranges Supplied the Soldiers""; ""Washerwomen""; ""No “Boiled Shirts�""; ""Darning and Mending""; ""Government Socks""; ""Cooks""; ""Green Pine as Fuel""; ""Camp Barbers""; ""Future Tacticians""; ""CHAPTER VI.""; ""JONAHS AND BEATS.""; ""The Jonah as a Guardsman""; ""A Midnight Uproar""; ""Put him in the Guard-house""

""The Jonah Spills Pea-Soup, and Coffee, and Ink""

Notes:

Originally published: Hardtack and coffee: or, The unwritten story of Army life, including chapters on enlisting, life in tents and log huts. Boston: G.M.Smith, 1887.

ISBN:

1-58218-627-8

OCLC:

70768731