History Mule Jerky a la Vicksburg

Allie

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Dec 17, 2014
From "Reminiscences of a Confederate Soldier of Lauderdale County of the Stirring Time," by CSO (Charles Stephen Olin) Rice, first published in The Lauderdale County Enterprise, 1903, Ripley, Tennessee.

"Meat was a thing almost of the past, but great are the resources of a soldier... in a few days, we had better meat. A piece of a shell killed one of our mules, and our energetic H.W. Keller and James Mann, (both men of standard appetite, and knew well how to appreciate the good things of this life) cut a bucket full of steak from said mule and we all soon joined in with them in a nice repast. What was left over, we made into jerked meat. We did this by taking a cane platform and building a fire beneath and with the aid of the sun above we soon had dry, well-preserved meat. But some fastidious youth of today will say: 'I could not do that.' Neither would I; but then I was hungry, yes, hollow as a gourd, and I stood it as long as I could, but when my back caved in, I thought it was time to eat. Why, I was just like a pie you get at a boarding house - the top crust falls on the bottom one because there is no filling inside."

CSO Rice was serving as 2nd Lieutenant of Co. M of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry (CSA), ordered into Vicksburg May 17, 1863, detached to act as couriers for General Pemberton and patrol the besieged city. In between digging holes in the hillside and watching the unexpected beauty of exploding shells, he and his fellow cavalrymen found time to experiment with food - bread made from meal mixed with peas (came out badly, as the meal cooked faster than the peas), jerked mule, even rat roasted inside a hollow log (apparently not bad, but CSO wasn't willing to try it.) He and his company would surrender July 4, 1863, when the city fell and be paroled the next day. After several months in parole camp he would be exchanged, return to the service, and fight with his regiment until their final surrender at Citronelle, Alabama.

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In later years he would write several articles intended for local newspapers about his wartime experiences, which would be collected first by his granddaughter and then by his great-granddaughter, my cousin.
 
In between digging holes in the hillside and watching the unexpected beauty of exploding shells, he and his fellow cavalrymen found time to experiment with food - bread made from meal mixed with peas (came out badly, as the meal cooked faster than the peas), jerked mule, even rat roasted inside a hollow log (apparently not bad, but CSO wasn't willing to try it.)
My g-g-grandfather, William Colder Denman (1838-1906), was at Vicksburg with the 30th Alabama Infantry. In 1900 he applied for a Confederate pension in Florida, claiming he was “incapacitated for manual labor” as a result of eating pea bread, an ersatz bread made of ground stock peas and cornmeal, during the siege of Vicksburg. It resulted, Denman claimed, in chronic gastritis and bilious dyspepsia.
 
My g-g-grandfather, William Colder Denman (1838-1906), was at Vicksburg with the 30th Alabama Infantry. In 1900 he applied for a Confederate pension in Florida, claiming he was “incapacitated for manual labor” as a result of eating pea bread, an ersatz bread made of ground stock peas and cornmeal, during the siege of Vicksburg. It resulted, Denman claimed, in chronic gastritis and bilious dyspepsia.
Most of my ancestors just claimed to have rheumatism from exposure! I sort of get the feeling many of them were suffering the effects of aging and felt that having been through all that, they deserved a comfortable old age. Seems unlikely for gastritis to last forty years! Still that bread sounds just terrible.
 
I sort of get the feeling many of them were suffering the effects of aging and felt that having been through all that, they deserved a comfortable old age.
Confederate pensions were a part of a rudimentary "safety net," to use a modern term. Important to remember that they were based not only on military service, but were also means-tested. In most states one had to be close to indigent to qualify.
 
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Confederate pensions were a part of a rudimentary "safety net," to use a modern term. Important to remember that they were based not only on military service, but were also means-tested. In most states one had to be close to indigent to qualify.
I keep meaning to do a post on two men who served with CSO Rice and their pension applications. Both had about the same amount of income, property, and family support - far from indigent - and one was turned down for having too much money while the other was approved. It turns out humble flattery of the pension board is a better tactic than demanding your due.
 
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