Improvements in the War of 1812
By the time the Americans and the British had a second go at each other in 1812, the manner in which the troops were fed had changed somewhat. The United States had established a military commissary to purchase food for the troops and distribute it to where it was needed. Beef and pork, preserved in salt, were available from American meatpackers. The basic diet was roughly the same as that of the Continental soldier, but by 1812 it was actually available, supplemented with coffee and tea. The basic bread issue remained hardtack, as it would for another century.
Two innovations in military nutrition were widely exhibited during the war of 1812. Portable soup first appeared in the mid-1700s, and during the war of 1812 it was widely used by the armies and navies of the contending nations. Portable soup was made by reducing broth after degreasing it, since otherwise the fat would become rancid. Once all the liquid was gone the residue was shaped into cakes, cut into cubes, and stored in glass jars or crocks. When reconstituted with water, vegetables and meat were added to produce a soup or stew. Portable soup was easily transportable, lasted a long time, and offered a variation to the diet.
In the late 1790s a Frenchman name Nicolas Appert had developed the technique of canning meats and other foods in glass jars. The British adapted the technique using tin containers which were sealed with lead. Beef, pork, and poultry, as well as many vegetables, were capable of being preserved in tins by 1810. By 1813 Wellington’s army in Spain and the British troops in the United States and Canada were being supplied tinned foods, chiefly beef, for consumption of the troops in the field. The substitution of tinned beef for salt meat provided a far more healthful diet. Unfortunately it was also expensive.
The cost of tinned foods meant that its distribution was limited to officer’s messes for the most part, both aboard British ships and among the troops. Portable soup was available to all of the troops and became a mainstay for the American as well as the British Army and Navy. Despite the improvements in terms of variety offered, the mainstay diets of the troops remained salt beef, salt pork, and hardtack. Camps of both armies were plagued by the diseases associated with malnutrition and lack of proper sanitation. Neither army was sustained on what today would be known as a balanced diet.
In addition to the heavy salt intake from the preserved meat that was consumed daily, both the Americans and the British believed that pickled cabbage – sauerkraut – was effective in the prevention of scurvy. It also had the advantage of lasting a long time, transportable in barrels, and could be used in conjunction with portable soup or issued separately. It became a major part of the daily diet of the Army and Navy of both nations during the War of 1812.