Private Sutherland gains 95 pounds in 30 years

Mike Serpa

Major
Joined
Jan 24, 2013
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Military history and reminiscences of the Thirteenth regiment of Illinois volunteer infantry in the civil war in the United States, 1861-1865
https://archive.org/stream/illinoisvolinf00milirich#page/n653/mode/2up

I though this somewhat impertinent but posted it anyway.
 
Wonder why they made a point of that? I mean, it was an awfully scrawny war across the board and no wonder. No one seems to have done anything except march and have dreadful food. ( Someone could make a fortune. Instead of all the fad diets- invent The Civil War Diet, itchy clothing, lice, 20 miles a day with a pack and hardtack. That'll peel it off. ) You see post war photos of Grant and Hancock, they look a little stuffed like this man, too. Sickles looked a lot stuffed. Maybe he was.

On the other hand, look at some reunion photos- seems an awful lot of vets remained in amazing shape.
 
The post-war period was an era of great prosperity for many, and that often is manifested in portly appearances, especially if your genetic makeup points you in that direction. If you look at menus from the so called Gilded Age, and think that more and more men were sitting at desks, rather than working in fields, it is not hard to understand.
 
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