I have a question about "foraging".

[bdtex]

In all of the books I've read about the Civil War,nothing I've read about foraging mentions fish,turtles,bullfrogs,crawfish or any type of aquatic food. With all the creeks,streams,rivers and lakes there are in the Southern states and those bodies of water figuring so prominently in troop movements,defensive positioning,encampments etc.,it just strikes me as odd that there is little mention of them as food sources. I'm guessing that generally,units and foragers just weren't in any one place long enough to get enough aquatic food to feed a company,regiment,division etc. But I've read enlisted man memoirs where the authors talked about foraging for themselves or small groups of 3-4 men foraging and seen no mention of aquatic foods. They didn't have seine nets back then or fish hooks? They couldn't use drop lines or trot lines? Is it because they were too exposed on the banks of bodies of water trying to get food there?

 

[ivanj05]

As a completely uneducated guess, I'd say you probably hit it when you mentioned them not being in one place long enough. Fishing is something that takes time, and foragers needed to feed a lot of people in fairly short order.

 

[rhettbutler1865]

I never thought about this. A good question! Reminds me of Inman ("Cold Mountain") almost catching a lunker with his bare hands; but then trying to eat little sand crabs on his journey.

 

[bdtex]

As a completely uneducated guess, I'd say you probably hit it when you mentioned them not being in one place long enough. Fishing is something that takes time, and foragers needed to feed a lot of people in fairly short order.

But some soldiers went looking for food just for themselves and maybe their buddies. If it was such a problem for Confederate soldiers as is so often stated,I cannot imagine them not coming up with some way to get some fish or turtles or something.

 

[bdtex]

I never thought about this. A good question! Reminds me of Inman ("Cold Mountain") almost catching a lunker with his bare hands; but then trying to eat little sand crabs on his journey.

I'm a Southern boy. I've fished and hunted my entire life. I remember tying buckets to a string when I was a kid and sinking them into the bottom of ditches/creeks,then pulling 'em up when crawfish or fish got in them. It wouldn't feed a family,but a hungry man could get a meal doing something like that. A coupla Rebs could pull a small seine net in a creek and get them a meal pretty easily.

 

[rhettbutler1865]

Here in "the land of 10,000 lakes" (Minnesota), unless you have a dock on a nice clear lake, you need a boat. How interesting about the South. If you were able to get what you did, then I'd bet 150 years ago they could have gotten quite a meal.

 

[Republican Blues]

As a general rule.. foraging was often than not procuring food stuffs (for man and beast) from the local supply. To add some confusion to the mix, the mounted services often refer to horse and mule feed as forage. Watkins, in Co. Aytch makes mention of gathering and eating fresh water mussels... and having terrible stomach pains because of it. Pickett and Fitzhugh Lee had a bad day at Five Forks partially because of a shad bake lunch they were enjoying.. There are accounts of Confederates at Point Lookout crabbing.

 

[ole]

I suspect there was a lot of that going on, but the big story is feeding horses and thousands of men. A small mess might pass up the pork or chickens for a bite of fresh fish.

 

[Republican Blues]

Expired Image Removed

 

[bdtex]

As a general rule.. foraging was often than not procuring food stuffs (for man and beast) from the local supply. To add some confusion to the mix, the mounted services often refer to horse and mule feed as forage. Watkins, in Co. Aytch makes mention of gathering and eating fresh water mussels... and having terrible stomach pains because of it. Pickett and Fitzhugh Lee had a bad day at Five Forks partially because of a shad bake lunch they were enjoying.. There are accounts of Confederates at Point Lookout crabbing.

I know that foraging quite often meant stealing too.

 

[ole]

I know that foraging quite often meant stealing too.

Stealing is one thing; foraging is another. When in enemy territory, stealing is called foraging.

You got it, I'm hungry, so I'll just take it.

 

[Republican Blues]

I know that foraging quite often meant stealing too.

It could.. But in general when official, foragers were often under the control of an officer, usually empowered to provide receipts for the items foraged and the approximate value..or at least receipts showing what had been taken. Keep in mind that the Confederate authorities had a version of official governmental foraging called Tax In Kind.. where taxes were paid in foodstuffs. it was NOT popular among the Citizens of the Confederacy

 

[bdtex]

Watkins, in Co. Aytch makes mention of gathering and eating fresh water mussels... and having terrible stomach pains because of it.

Fresh water shellfish is something else entirely. Even I wouldn't eat that.

 

[MajGenl.Meade]

fish,turtles,bullfrogs,crawfish or any type of aquatic food

Good deity! You must confuse decent Anglos for Frenchies!

 

[Blessmag]

I have read an account of a quartermaster negotiating a purchase of oysters and he was quite pleased with himself for doing so. I believe it is in the book:

 

[Republican Blues]

Oysters, both fresh and tinned were very very popular.. the most common item found in camp site garbage pits are sardine tins and oyster tins. Oysters were popular for quite a few things, from fresh to tinned to Turkey stuffing, to... bleck Ice Cream

 

[Tom Elmore]

In April 1863, the CSA Surgeon General of Army ordered commissaries to procure a wide variety of food to stave off scurvy and other vitamin deficient conditions, including the use of nets to catch fish. I have seen some references to shad fishing, including the infamous incident that took Pickett away from the front in April 1865. It seems Spring was the ideal time for it, however, commissaries only had a short time before commencement of the active campaigning season put an end to this organized activity.

 

[bdtex]

When I say "foraging",I'm also referring to scouring,in all it's forms,the countryside for food. In the memoirs and other books I've read,the term "foraging" has been used in a generic sense.

 

[bdtex]

I'm appreciating all the replies about this topic. Maybe I just haven't read enough books but it just seems like I would've seen more about it. If you live in or are familiar with VA,SC,NC,GA,TN,KY,FLA,AL,MS,LA,TX,AR or MO then you know about all the creeks,bayous,rivers,lakes and coastal waters and edible wildlife. My people are all mostly from East Texas,the Florida Panhandle and Alabama. Fish,shrimp,crabs,crawfish and oysters will be served. Frog legs,gator and soft shell turtle too in earlier years.

 

[DR_Hanna]

You'd think that an army moving through the country would scare up scads of deer along the way, too, but I never heard of it mentioned as a food source, either.
Is it also possible that the streams were not exactly overflowing with scaley edibles? The folks of the time were not known as conservationists and were destroying natural habitats as fast as they could find them - gold mining in particular in N GA likely destroyed the natural ecosystems in that area. The method used at the time was to wash the dirt from the hills and sluice it over mercury into the existing streams - There wouldn't be any fish in those streams today if the Government didn't stock them yearly.