Military Rations -(ATTN: Ken & Soren)
Hubbard C. Goodrich
military from the late Mediaeval times to ca. 1800. The official list
of rations was rarely fulfilled. Ships often left port poorly
provisioned, food spoiled, and men put on half or no rations. Various
food items were picked up along the way from ports and are unlisted.
As the size of the military increased, food supplied became
increasingly difficult to satisfy. Prices would inflate for victuals,
wood for barrels, salt for preservation, storage &c. Most food items
were harvested or butchered in the fall or early winter so spring or
early summer campaigns found it especially difficult to provision the
military. Studying the shortcomings of the British victualing
practices, it is surprising that their armed forces ever accomplished
anything. One can only assume that the military of other 'nations'
had problems of supply even more severe.
The rations listed here are for the 'lower' ranks. Officers often
had fresh food and private stores. This is submitted for your
information. Any additions, especially for other militaries, might be
of interest. I would especially value records of the merchant marine.
I doubt they would vary much but I'm sure they would pick up stores at
each port along the way that might differ from these records.
Those references lacking citation are due to poor note taking but are
from historical works.
Hubbard C. Goodrich
PS. Ken: I would be interested in the title of the Featherstone book
you referred and where he got his information.
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Records of Military (Western) Rations - Early Modern
Navy (& Merchant Marine):
1290 - A ship assigned to bring to England a Norwegian princess
listed: leaks & onions, dried fruit, ginger bread.
1390 Ship's biscuit described (biskett, biscuyt) as twice baked.
1459 - Merchant ship 'Anthony' in voyage from Hull to Bordeaux
included 6 months stores: 10 tuns of salt meat, 13 tuns salt fish, 5
tuns flour/biscuit, 30 tuns drink (wine? Beer?), 20 tuns water.
1498 - Staples on merchant ship: Salt meat, salt or smoked fish, bread
and beer. (Preserved fish: white herring was salted, red herring
smoked. [Burwash, ibid.] In port, once a week "egys and botter"
occasionally mussels, figs, raisins and leeks.
1509-47 Time of Henry VIII - Four days a week 'flesh' days: 1 lb
biscuit, 1 gal beer, 2 lb flesh (salt beef, red or white herring) It
was estimated that 2 months provisions for 200 soldiers and sailors
required 83 tons. [Oppenheim, M (1961) A History of the
Administration of the Royal Navy and Merchant Shipping, 1509-1660]
1545 Ship "James of Dunwich" ration: salt meat/fish, biscuit and beer.
Also bacon, cheese, oatmeal, pease, honey, salt butter and pepper
listed occasionally by purser. (The taste of salted butter apparently
comes from the time when salt was used to preserve butter against
spoilage on any distant transportation.) [Burwash, op cit]
1565 - Edward Baeshe appointed 1550 as General Surveyor of the
Victuals for the Seas contracted for a daily ration to include the
already traditional meat and fish days.
Sun 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb salt beef, & 1 gal beer.
Mon 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb salt beef, & 1 gal beer.
Tue 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb salt beef, & 1 gal beer.
Wed 1 lb bread/biscuit, either .25 lb stockfish (cod), 4 oz butter and
.25 oz cheese.
Thu 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb salt beef, & 1 gal beer.
Fri 1 lb bread/biscuit, either .25 lb stockfish (cod), 4 oz butter and
.25 oz cheese.
Sat 1 lb bread/biscuit, either a quarter of a stockfish (cod) or 4
herring, 4 oz butter and .5 oz
1585 - Food listed for Drake and Hawkins: beef, pork, bacon, cod,
pilchards, wine, beer, pease, butter, cheese, oil, vinegar. [Burwash,
Dorothy (1947) English Merchant Shipping 1460-1540.]
Drake's ships' provisions included: beef, pork, bacon, fish,
biscuit, meal, peas, butter, cheese, honey, oil, vinegar, rye, wine,
beer. Hawkins recommended 10s a month vs the existing 6s.8d.
[Williamson, James (1949) Hawking of Plymouth].
1586 - Salt pork was also included on flesh days. It was expected
that the diet would be supplemented with vegetables and fruit "as
available". Pease added to the basic diet in the 1580s. (Pay was
4.5d per day in harbor and 6.5d at sea; raised 1d in 1573 and another
1d in 1587.) [Rodger, N.A.M., The Safeguard of the Sea: Naval History
of Britain 660-1649]
Sun 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb fresh beef or .5 lb salt beef or .5 lb
bacon., & 1 gal beer.
Mon 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb fresh beef or .5 lb salt beef or .5 lb
bacon., & 1 gal beer.
Tue 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb fresh beef or .5 lb salt beef or .5 lb
bacon., & 1 gal beer.
Wed 1 lb bread/biscuit, either a quarter of a stockfish (cod) or 4
herring, 4 oz butter and .5 oz cheese.
Thu 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb fresh beef or .5 lb salt beef or .5 lb
bacon., & 1 gal beer.
Fri 1 lb bread/biscuit, either a quarter of a stockfish (cod) or 4
herring, 4 oz butter and .5 oz cheese.
Sat 1 lb bread/biscuit, either a quarter of a stockfish (cod) or 4
herring, 4 oz butter and .5 oz cheese.
1553-1603 - Elizabeth's time: 1 lb bread/biscuit, 3 oz butter, 6 oz
cheese, .75 pt oatmeal plus various times peas, beans, rice, pork,
bacon, Dutch ling, fresh & salt beef, dried cod and herring, 1-2 qt
beer.[ Scouller (1966) The Armies of Queen Anne]
1587 - "In port men supplement diet with fresh bread, vegetables,
fruit, meat &c". Cavendish reported obtaining in the Azores: "Corn as
much as we would have ... a number of bags of potato roots ... and
Guinea Wheat which is called Maize."
1588 - King Philip's daily ration directions to the Duke of Parma:
1.5 lb biscuit or 2 lbs fresh bread and 1 bottle of wine daily;
Sun & Tue: 6 oz salt pork and 2 oz rice.
Mon & Thu: 6 oz cheese & 3 oz beans or chick pease.
Wed, Fri & Sat: 6 oz dried tunny, cod or squid, or 5 sardines with 3
oz beans of chick pease, 1.5 oz oil, and .25 pt of vinegar. [Howarth,
David (1981) The Voyage of the Armada]
The Duke of Medina Sidona provided the following list of food for the
Armada: 110,000 quintals of biscuit, 11,117 q of bacon, 6,000 q of
salt fish, 3,000 q of cheese, 4,000 q of rice, 6,000 q of beans,
11,117 pipes of wine, and 11,000 pipes of water. Much of the food
spoiled before leaving port and were "of very little use." according
to Don Pedro de Valdes. [Fernandez-Armesto, Filipe (1985) The Spanish
Armada]
1600 ca. - After Baeshe's death in 1587, the victualing duties were
taken over by James Quartes and Marmaduke Darrel. They were joined
in 1603 by Sir Thomas Bladder. Rations were at the mercy of private
suppliers. After the third Dutch war, rations were standardized at
500 g biscuit/bread, 100 g salt beef/fish plus butter and cheese.
(Stuart's Navy)
1617 - John Goodall, Surgeon-General of the East India Company in "The
Surgion's Mate" described the curative properties of lemon juice.
1625-30 - The standard daily ration for Spanish soldiers and sailors:
On meat days (8 days of the month) 1.5 lb biscuit, 6 oz salt
pork/beef, 1 oz rice, 1 oz chickpeas, 2 pts of wine or 4 pts of cider.
On fish days the biscuit, wine, and rice would be included with salt
cod, rice, legumes. Olive oil, vinegar, garlic, onions and peppers
were commonly added. (3 days would be non-meat) These were referred to
as rationed items. Un-rationed items would refer to anything fresh
picked up in port. For sick/wounded: eggs, raisins almonds, sugar,
white biscuit added. [Phillips, Carla R. (1986) Six Galleons for the
King of Spain]
1630 - Winthrop's 350 ton 'Arbella' planned daily rations to America
of .5 lb salt meat, .5 lb biscuit, .5 gal beer, 1 pt water, and some
dried peas, oatmeal, and butter. (Andrews, Conny & Hair, eds. The
Westward Enterprise)
1631 - Sir Henry Colt on the 'Alexander' Capt Burch commanding listed:
broth, pudding, boiled biscuit with pepper, raisins, cheese and little
meat.
1635-42 - Under John Crane the RN diet remained essentially the same:
On flesh days "one pound of biscuit, one gallon of beer, two pounds
of beef with salt or, instead of beef for two of those days, one pound
of bacon or slated pork and a pint of peas."
On the fish days "each man to have the biscuit and beer, one quarter
of a stockfish, half-a-quarter of a pound of butter and a quarter of a
pound of cheese, save for Fridays to have the quantity of fish, butter
and cheese for one meal only or, instead of stock-fish, an equivalent
of other fish, or herring as the time of year shall suffice."
1677 - for seamen:
Four days a week: 1 lb biscuit, 2 lb salt beef/bacon, 1 gal beer.
Three days a week: 2 lb biscuit, cod, haberdine or Poor John, 2 oz
butter and Suffolk Cheese.
1680 ca - Sir George Downing (1623-84) recalled "the betterness of the
English Seaman's Dyett beyond the Dutchmans'" The Ditch fisherman's
ration was only bread, fish and 'grutt' ("a meal of broken Corne").
1692 - Danish Navy (from Soren Larsen) rations for a week: 3 kg bread,
531 g Pork, 1 kg meat, 1 kg dried fish or cheese, 500 g butter or
cheese, 20 liter beer, 20 liter meal/grit or peas.
1706 - Danish Hospital meals: [from Soren Larsen - Niels Juels Navy]
Lunch: Fresh beef (lamb or veal) with soup and vegetables: celery,
leek, rosemary, carrots, parsnip, cabbage, rye bread with soup.
Dinner -
Sun: barleymeal porridge with beer, buttered bread.
Mon: Hot beer with rye bread, buttered bread..
Tue: barleymeal porridge with beer, buttered bread..
Wed: Oatsmeal soup cooked with parsley or sweet cicely, buttered
bread..
Thu: barleymeal porridge with beer, buttered bread..
Fri: barleymeal porridge with beer, buttered bread..
Sat: Hot beer with grated rye bread spiced with cumin or anis,
buttered bread..
1712 - Official British ration scale for French captives:
Sun Bread, meat, vegetables, beer.
Mon Bread, beer, pease, butter, cheese, vegetables (cabbage, black
pease).
Tue Bread, meat, vegetables, beer.
Wed Bread, beer, cheese, butter, vegetables.
Thu Bread, meat, vegetables, beer.
Fri Bread, beer, pease, butter, cheese, vegetables.
Sat Bread, beer, cheese, butter, vegetables.
1721-42 - The Age of Walpole [Rodger, N.A.M. (1986) The Wooden World]
Sun 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1 lb pork, .5 pt pease, 1 gal beer.
Mon 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1 pt oatmeal, 2 oz butter, 4 oz cheese, 1 gal
beer.
Tue 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb beef, 1 gal beer.
Wed 1 lb bread/biscuit, .5 pt pease, 1 pt oatmeal, 2 oz butter, 4 oz
cheese, 1gal beer.
Thu 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1 lb pork, .5 pt pease, 1 gal beer.
Fri 1 lb bread/biscuit, .5 pt pease, 1 pt oatmeal, 2 oz butter, 4 oz
cheeze, 1 gal beer.
Sat 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb beef, 1 gal beer.
(Sauerkraut issued but not popular. Substitutes: 1 gal beer = 1 pt
wine or .5 pt rum/brandy; 1 lb bread = 2 lb potatoes or yams; 1 gal
oatmeal = 4 lbs rice or stockfish; 1 lb butter = 1 pt oil.)
1750 - Royal Navy Rations (from and Featherstone, modified to be
consistent. Where is the fish?)
Sun 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1 lb pork, .5 pt pease, 1 gal beer.
Mon 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1 pt oatmeal, 2 oz butter, 4 oz cheese, 1 gal
beer.
Tue 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb beef, 1 gal beer.
Wed 1 lb bread/biscuit, .5 pt pease, 1 pt oatmeal, 2 oz butter, 4 oz
cheese, 1gal beer.
Thu 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1 lb pork, .5 pt pease, 1 gal beer.
Fri 1 lb bread/biscuit, .5 pt pease, 1 pt oatmeal, 2 oz butter, 4 oz
cheeze, 1 gal beer.
Sat 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 lb beef, 1 gal beer.
(Beer could be substituted by wine (4 pts a day) or spirits (1 pt a
day).
Fresh vegetables and meat were introduced at a captain's request in
the beginning of the 18th c. In 1747 the pursers were urged to add
fresh vegetables and fruit when available; the Navy urged the next
year to add "Greens and Roots" to the diet. The ships blockading
Brest in 1759 under Admiral Hawke were supplied with cabbages,
turnips, carrots, potatoes and onions at the Admiral's request.
[Baugh, D. A. (1965) British Naval Administration in the Age of
Walpole]
1758 - Potatoes were novelties yet the seamen took to them with
enthusiasm and complained when they did not get them. [Court Martial
of H. Nelson 27 June 1758]
1769 -New England ports shipped 13,118 bushels of potatoes to Southern
colonies and West Indies and 1800 bushels were imported from Great
Britain and Ireland. (Wilson; Public Records, Ledgers of Imports and
Exports 1768-73.)
1775 - Continental Congress Journals list "potatoes or turnips" as
ration for the colonial navy. (Wilson; Library of Congress 1904-27,
III,383)
1775 - Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies
(Journals of the Continental Congress 1774-1789).
Sun 1 lb bread, 1 lb beef, 1 lb potatoes or turnips.
Mon 1 lb bread, 1 lb pork, ½ pint peas, and four oz cheese.
Tue 1 lb bread, 1 lb beef, 1 lb potatoes or turnips, and pudding.
Wed 1 lb bread, two oz butter, four oz cheese, and ½ pint of rice.
Thu 1 lb bread, 1 lb pork, and ½ pint of peas.
Fri 1 lb bread, 1 lb beef, 1 lb potatoes or turnips, and pudding.
Sat 1 lb bread, 1 lb pork, ½ pint pease, and four oz cheese."
1781 - On the British prison Hulk "Jersey" of Long Island, Ebenezer
Fox described his ration as 2/3 of the normal ration for a British
sailor. [Fox (1847) The Adventures of ...]
Sun 1 lb biscuit, 1 lb pork, 2 oz butter.
Mon 1 lb biscuit, 1 pt oatmeal, 2 oz butter.
Tue 1 lb biscuit, 2 lb salt beef.
Wed 1.5 lb flour and 2 oz suet.
Thu 1 lb biscuit, 1 lb pork, 2 oz butter.
Fri 1 lb biscuit, 1 pt oatmeal, 2 oz butter.
Sat 1 lb biscuit, 2 lb salt beef.
1788 - American Merchantman from England by a passenger: "Their salt
beef is almost as good as the kind the Irish make. We had potatoes
right up to the moment we landed in Boston. This feet will surprise
you, no doubt, for it is generally believed in France that as soon as
spring comes, potatoes sprout and turn bad. These potatoes had been
dug in Holland.
"Our Sailors were equally well fed. For dinner they had salt beef or
pork or stock fish and potatoes; for breakfast and supper, tea,
coffee, hardtack, butter and cheese." [De Warville (1788) New Travels
in the USA, Echeverra, ed. 1964]
1793 - Moreau de St Merry's American Journey 1793-8 Roberts & Roberts
ed. (1947). Less sanguine and more believable diet than De Warville's
above: "The ordinary food of the American Sailor is salt beef and
biscuit, butter, onions, cheese and potato and tea."
1794 - US Navy
Sun 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1.5 lb beef, .5 pt rice
Mon 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1 lb pork, .5 pt peas, 4 oz cheese.
Tue 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1.5 lb beef, 1 lb potatoes/turnips & pudding.
Wed 1 lb bread/biscuit, 2 oz butter or, 6 oz molasses, 4 oz cheese &
.5 pt rice.
Thu 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1 lb pork, .5 pt peas or beans.
Fri 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1 lb salt fish, 2 oz butter or 1 gill oil & 1
lb potatoes.
Sat 1 lb bread/biscuit, 1 lb pork, .5 pt peas or beans, 4 oz cheese.
"There shall also be allowed one-half pint of distilled spirits per
day or, in lieu thereof, one quart of beer per day."
ARMY
1570 ca - Francis Markham describing the rations of the Dutch army: .5
lb biscuit and .5 lb butter; or 1 lb bread and .5 lb beef or bacon; or
.5 lb biscuit and 1 lb cheese. Also a qt of peas boild or a pint of
rice and biscuit.
1580 ca - provisions allocated for the Spanish soldiers in Chile: 2 lb
meat or 1 lb fish vs 1 lb meat and 1/3 fish in Spain. [Super, John C.
(1988), Food, Conquest and Colonization in 16th c Spanish America.]
1585 - food shipped to the Netherlands for the Army: beef, butter,
cheese and beer. Permanent food stores established for wheat, cheese,
butter and bear in an effort to control price distortions.
1588 - because of the increase in prices, the Crown attempted to
control prices in "grain, victuals, horsemeat and lodgings" within a
radius of 20 miles of the army at Tilbury." [Cruickshank, (1966) C.G.
Elizabeth's Army.]
1598 - daily ration allowance in Ireland: 1 lb bread/biscuit, .75 pt
oatmeal, 2 oz butter, 6 oz cheese. (4.5d plus whatever he drank was
deducted from privates wage of 8d.) Other foods mentioned were
oatmeal, peas, beans, pork, bacon, beef (salt and fresh), stockfish
(dried cod), ling, and herring.
Another version listed: 1 lb biscuit or 1.5 lb bread, .5 lb butter or
cheese on alternate 3 days, on the 7th day the bread ration + 2 lbs
salt beef or 2.5 fresh beef.
A third version listed: 1 lb pork and 1 pt peas or 1 lb bacon and 1 pt
oatmeal called 'clees'.
These included .5 gal beer in the Netherlands, and in Ireland .5 pt
sack and 1 qt beer and 1 pt aquavitae every 2nd day. [Cruickshank,
ibid]
A Fourth version listed: 1 lob bread/biscuit, 3 oz butter, 6 oz
cheese, & .75 pt oatmeal; also various times: peas, beans, rice, pork
and bacon.
1600 - The Dutch ration list included: ling, fresh and salt beef,
dried cod and herring, 1-2 qt beer.
1606 - Diet Allowances for 14 persons per week: 14 stone beef/mutton,
butter, eggs, ling, greene fish and other fish, bread.
1645-60 The Commissariat under Sir James Turner provided "such meats
and drinks as are fit to preserve; "these are, corn, grain and meal of
several kinds, stockfish, herrings, and all other salted fishes;
salted and hung fleshes, especially beef and bacon, cheese, butter,
almonds, chestnuts and hazelnuts, wine, beer, malt, honey, wheat,
vinegar, oil, tobacco ... as many living oxen, cows, sheep and swine,
hens and turkeys, as can be conveniently fed ... for horses hay and
oats."
An ordinary ration for a private: 1 lb bread, 1 lb flesh (or 1 lb
cheese), 1 pottle wine (or 2 pottles of beer).
Cromwell's Army fed almost exclusively on bread/biscuit and cheese in
the field. Cromwell paid privates 8p 1645-48, 9p in 1649, 10p in 1651,
and 8-9p in 1655 in garrison or field respectively. [Firth, C.H.
(1912) Cromwell's Army]
1650 - Minimum menu for supper at a lodging (for officers?):
Flesh days: "good wheaten bread, and drink, boiled beef, mutton, veal,
or lamb, roast pork, beef, mutton, veal or lamb, On Fish days: "Salt
fish or ling, eggs, butter, peas or beans."
1660s - Army at Tangier
Private's rations included: Bread/biscuit, salt beef/pork, dried peas,
butter, cheese, oatmeal, dried fish sent from England. The soldiers
were required to plant and tend gardens for fresh vegetables. They
were paid 9d a day, only 3d in cash. 6d was deducted for food,
clothing, weapons, medical service &c.
1676 - 200 men were sent to Virginia to help subdue Bacon's Rebellion
(which ended before they arrived). They were sent with 3 month supply
of bread, cheese and brandy. Half died on the voyage. 300 hoes were
included in the equipment with the expectation that they would plant
gardens to supplement their diet.
1678 - in Flanders, solders were issued bread. They were expected to
purchase on the local market: beef, pork, biscuit, butter, and cheese.
[Childs, John (1976), The Army of Charles II]
1689-1763 French and Indian Wars & American Revolution (1775-83)
British Army scheduled to receive a daily ration of 1.5 lb
bread/biscuit, 1 lb beef or .5 lb pork, .25 pt pease, 1 oz butter, and
1 oz rice. Rations also included cheese, fish, raisins and molasses.
Vegetables shipped from England (or from Canada/West Indies)
occasionally included potatoes, parsnips, carrots, turnips, cabbages
and onions. Sauerkraut, spruce beer and vinegar were deemed
anti-scorbutic for scurvy. [from Curtis, E.E. (1925) The Organization
of the British Army in the American Revolution.]
1690-1702 - King Williams time rations of 2 lb bread/biscuit, 1 lb
meat or cheese, 2 bottle beer or 1 of wine. Later, armies were
ordered to provide "corn, grain, lea of several kinds, stock-fish,
herrings, and all other salted fish, almonds, chestnuts, ...."
[Scouller, op cit]
1702 - British soldiers in Newfoundland issued: biscuit, beef, pork,
cheese, malt, suet, pease, oatmeal, flour, hops, butter.
1702-14 - (Queen Ann) the ration list for the army included flesh meat
twice weekly, fish, bread, butter, cheese and beer/liquor. For
vegetables "the men were sent to gather roots for themselves." [
Scouller, op cit]
1750 ca. - British soldiers got .75 lbs of meat a day with 1 lb of
bread and an unspecified amount of potatoes (all for a shilling a day.
Featherstone, p 114).
1760 - British soldiers got for 1 week: 7 lbs biscuit bread or flour,
7 lbs beef or 4 lbs pork, 6 oz butter, 3 pts pease, .5 lb rice.
1760 - Commissary of Stores at Corke would be paid 6p per day per man
a ration which included "One-seventh of the weekly allowance of 7 lb
beef, or in lieu thereof, 4 lbs of pork, which is thought to be
equivalent; 7 lbs of biscuit bread or the same weight of flour, 6 oz
of butter, 3 pts of pease, [and] a lb of rice."
1770s - British soldiers: most important foods listed were: beef,
pork, bread, flour, oatmeal, rice, pease, butter and salt. Less
important were cheese, bacon, suet, fish, raisins and molasses.
Vegetables shipped to North America included potatoes, parsnips,
carrots, turnips, cabbages, and onions. Vegetable seeds were also
sent for the soldiers to plant in static garrisons. [Curtis, E.E.
(1925) The Organization of the British Army in the American
Revolution.]
1775 - Nov 4 - American army rations per day: 1 lb bread or 18 oz
flour, 1 lb beef or .75 lb pork or 1 lb salt fish, 3 pt peas, beans or
other vegetables, 1 qt spruce beer, 16 oz milk. This was modified in
December to: corned beef and pork 4 days, salt fish for one, and fresh
beef for two days. When fresh milk was not available change the
ration to 1.5 lb beef or 18 oz pork, (6 oz butter or 9 oz lard onions,
potatoes and turnips per week also added). Some lists also included
rice.
1778 - January - A Commissary Return for Valley Forge provisions:
bread, pork, ham and bacon, salt and fresh beef, veal and mutton,
fish, butter, peas, turnips, potatoes, cabbages, lard, molasses, rice,
salt, vinegar, cider and various spirits. (Many of the items were
often unavailable.) After 1783 perishable fish, butter, milk and
vegetables were subtracted from the official menu. The Secretary of
War in 1818 recommended fresh vegetables but little was done until the
Civil War.
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