The question of what Americans ate during our War for Independence depended on class, ethnicity, season and scarcity.
We know a great deal about what the upper, and to some extent the middle class ate, as early cooking manuals were written for cooks and their assistants who served in great houses. Mostly written and published in England and Europe, these books were also printed for sale in the Colonies.
In addition to these "professional" cooking manuals, it was common for literate women of the time to keep personal books of receipts (the 18th c. term for recipe) for food preparation and preserving as well as for medicines and household cleaning solutions.
Much of what we know about what the Revolutionary War soldiers ate comes from the diaries they wrote such as the diary written by Joseph Plumb Martin which was later published in 1830.
Narrative of some of the adventures, dangers and sufferings of a Revolutionary soldier; interspersed with anecdotes of incidents that occurred within his own observation. Written by himself; by Joseph Plumb Martin, published by Hallowell, Maine: Glazier, Masters & Co., 1830
Our colonial ancestors ate a much larger variety of some types of food than we do today like swans, quail, peacocks and passenger pigeons. Lobsters and oysters were abundant and cheap then but costly luxuries today. There are some combinations of food and spices that may seem strange to our modern palates but are surprisingly delicious.
An authentic 18th century meal would include only fruits and vegetables that were in season, locally obtained and would have existed in this part of the world at that time.
Out of season produce was only consumed if it was preserved. Fruits would be made into jams and jellies, or dried. Vegetables could be pickled and dried.
Meats and fish were smoked, salted, or dried to last from late fall until spring. Only "spring chickens", a special treat, were roasted. Old hens that stopped laying eggs were tough and stringy so they were stewed. Even eggs and milk could be preserved for winter use when hens laid fewer or no eggs, and cows offered less milk.
Ethnicity played a large role in what was being served on the tables in 18th century America. In Bucks County the population was largely divided into those of English, Scots-Irish, and German descent. The indigenous population had largely moved westward, though some remained in the area.
The War for American Independence
The Declaration of War in 1776, had a huge impact on the population food resources regardless of class and ethnicity. Boycotts of English goods and supply chain problems caused shortages of imported or transported goods. Shop keepers' hiked up prices even caused riots.
The local governing committees were forced to step in and set prices and enforce them.
The Continental Army needed vast supplies of food to support the soldiers. Foraging teams were constant interruptions to farm life, and when the army was encamped for long periods of time, the surrounding farms up to 70 miles away were expected to provide grain for the troops often exhausting their own supplies.
The County Committees issued orders to authorize representatives to break into the peoples stores and determine what they would give and what they could keep for themselves.
"It Shall and may be lawful to and for the said inhabitants so appointed,...to break open and enter the same by force if necessary; and the said inhabitants so appointed shall carefully examine what quantity of the said grain or flour such person or persons is , or are possessed of and how much therefore can be spared over and above what may be necessart for the support of the owner"
Milch cows were exempt by orders of General Washington.
Many merchants hoarded, overcharged or monopolized the supplies of tea, coffee, sugar and wheat flour. This caused as many as 30 female-led food riots in which storehouses were stormed and goods were taken by force and/or merchants were accosted and coerced to sell at fair prices.
When the British occupied Philadelphia, Local farmers were banned from selling their produce in the city and punished accordingly.
SOLDIERS FOOD
Soldiers who enlisted were promised extensive rations, but found that the promised supplies were not provided.
Joseph Plumb Martin was a soldier in the American War for Independence. He joined the army at the age of 15 in the summer of 1776 and kept a journal during his years of service. In his diary he mentions food, or the lack thereof, more than 30 times.
"When we were engaged in the service we were promised the following articles for a ration... but we never received what was allowed us. Oftentimes I have gone one, two, three and even four days without a morsel unless the fields and Forests might chance to afford enough to prevent absolute starvation." Joseph Plumb Martin
The American Troops at Valley Forge, Bobbett, Albert, 1824-1888 (Wood-engraver) Darley, Felix Octavius Carr, 1822-1888 (Artist), The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, NYPL
Martin's best opportunities for decent meals came when he was assigned foraging duties which included hunting, fishing, trapping, picking and gathering as well as purchasing foodstuffs and supplies from local merchants, millers and farmers - some willing to support the cause and others reluctant or vehemently opposed.
Drawn by Alonzo Chappel (1828-1887), George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette in 1777 during the winter at Valley Forge Digital Public Library of America
When in camp or on the march, provisions were generally less abundant, scarce or non-existent, sometimes for days at a time. Martin also complained of "bad bread and salt beef (I believe chiefly horse-beef)", bread made with Indian meal and dinners of salt shad and bread with no vegetables or sauce to alleviate the dry saltiness of the shad. On at least two occasions, Martin recalls being given rum or whiskey after not having any food for several days with near disastrous results.
Cooking on the March
Martin describes cooking on the march with a day's ration of beef and flour (1 lb. each but the beef only about 3/4 lb. or less and half of that bone). There were no cooking utensils. The flour was put on a flat rock and mixed with cold water, "then daubed upon a flat stone and scorched on one side, while the beef was broiling on a stick in the fire."
Roasted Squash or Pumpkin
Often, soldiers foraged along the way adding to their rations. At one time Martin "found a black walnut tree with plenty of nuts under it" and "somewhere procured half a dozen turnips." Also, "half a small pumpkin, which I cooked by placing it upon a rock, the skin uppermost, and making a fire upon it...as I should a pie made of it at some other time."
Sea Bread or Ships Biscuit
The most common meals from his accounts consisted of hard bread, also called sea bread or ship's biscuit. The sea bread was made from "peas-meal and canel" (possibly cinnamon?). Commercially baked sea biscuit was made with wheat flour and water and sometimes some salt. All the moisture was baked out so it could last for a year without spoiling.
Hasty Pudding
Hasty Pudding originated in England and was usually a porridge of wheat flour or oatmeal, but with the scarcity of wheat in the colonies and the availability of corn, the American recipe called for a porridge of cornmeal mixed with water and boiled as a pudding or made into cakes and fried or baked.
Meals from Sympathetic Farms
Foraging parties generally fared better. In Martin's diary, he describes visiting a local farm where the lady of the house boiled a pot of beef, pork and sauerkraut and their canteens were filled with whiskey or peach cider or brandy.
A typical farm breakfast was toasted soft bread washed down with cider and one memorable hearty breakfast in NJ had "buckwheat slapjacks, flowing with butter and honey, and a capital dish of chocolate." Some other foraged and requisitioned victuals included a goose, salt (a barrelful in a grist mill - he filled his pockets with it), Indian corn, "barn-door fowls", fruits of trees, pumpkins, cider, soft bread, cheese, apples, watermelons and from one friendly farmer, hominy and milk.
Christopher Ludwig
Christopher Ludwig was a German immigrant and very successful baker in Philadelphia who joined the Continental Army's "Flying Camp" in the spring of 1776 at the age of 56. He became a particular friend of General Washington and is said to have baked gingerbread for him on several occasions.
One of Luwig's gingerbread molds was given by his descendants to the Museum of the American Revolution, now in Philadelphia only a few blocks from his original bakery.
On May 3, 1777, Ludwig was commissioned as "Baker General" of the army. In March of 1778, he hired 70 bakers and built bake ovens in strategic locations across the colonies (one can still be seen at Valley Forge), thereby greatly decreasing the waste and spoilage of flour and increasing the production and distribution of bread for the soldiers.
MIDDLECLASS
The Middleclass or "Middling Sorts" in this time period included rural farmers (the majority) and urban merchants and trades people.
The variety of foods available to both groups would have been similar but the dishes prepared and consumed depended somewhat on ethnicity, primarily British, German, Dutch. New World ingredients were adapted to traditional recipes, through practices that were learned early on from the native Lenape.
The Lenape foodways included foraging for nuts, berries, greens, seeds, mushrooms and fruit, hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering shellfish as well as farming what they knew as the three sisters: squash, corn and beans.
During the war scarcity was an issue and households resorted to substitutions. When unattainable tea was replaced by coffee and chocolate or herbal teas. Wheat flour was replaced by cornmeal, acorn flour, hazelnut or chestnut flour. Sugar and molasses were replaced by maple or hickory syrup. When greens were scarce in winter and early spring, sauerkraut and vinegar were good sources of vitamin C.
Most people had easy access to farm crops (brought to towns for weekly markets) as well as produce and livestock from kitchen gardens and local butchers.
Some popular vegetables in the Philadelphia area, according to food historian, PHD., and cookbook author, William Woys Weaver, were cabbage, turnips, beets, tomatoes, peas, parsnips, lima beans, corn, squash, potatoes and onions.
Herbs and spices were also grown for both culinary and medicinal purposes. Vegetables were pickled and meats were smoked and salted for winter use.
English
The English food traditions favored roasted or boiled meat and fowl, as well as puddings, porridges and pies.
Roast Chicken
Young chickens were roasted on spits or hung from strings before the fire and basted with the drippings mixed with butter and herbs.
Squash Pudding
This was a fall or winter dish that used the fruits harvested in autumn including various varieties of squash and apples.
Apple Pie
Apples and other fruits were baked into pies, just as today and were a favorite dessert that graced many dinner tables. Though apples were not native to the Americas, they were brought over early and heirloom varieties were developed in Bucks County such as the Fallwater apple.
German
Germans carried their foodways traditions from home including resourceful preservation techniques like sausage-making or the implementation of fermented foods like Sauerkraut. Baking was often done in brick ovens and gingerbread was a specialty.
Pigshead
A familiar Pennsylvania German saying was that every part of the pig was used except the oink. This dish exemplifies that adage.
Cabbage and Pork
Martin mentions cabbage and pork several times in his diary. This was a very common and popular dish since the ingredients were likely obtainable on most farms and kept well, especially salted pork.
Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut was made in the fall, by slicing fresh cabbages into fine strips. Six to ten inches of prepared cabbage were placed in the barrel with a handful of salt sprinkled on top. The process was repeated and as the barrels were being filled, they were tamped down with a wooden stomper in order to compact the layers.
Gingerbread
These cookies were a special holiday treat that called for expensive imported spices and were meant to impress guests. Cookie dough was pressed into special hand carved wooden molds, removed, trimmed, baked and sometimes embellished with a sugar glaze.
Dutch
Waffles and Holiday Treats
Only well to do households could afford the purpose-made irons that were used to make waffles for special occasions. Other holiday treats included spiced speculaas cookies, marzipan and candied peels of oranges and lemons.
The Upper Class
The upper class, which would have included General Washington, his officers and aides as well as wealthy merchants and landowners, would have had access to and the means to purchase more unusual and expensive food items like spices, oranges, chocolate and even certain vegetables like red cabbage - green was more common.
In addition to beer, ale, cider and punch, they routinely imbibed alcoholic beverages like French wines, port, Madeira and a favorite cordial of Washington's, Cherry Bounce.
Mr. Peter Manigault and Friends. Folk art depicting Manigault and his friends drinking around his table, c. 1760.
Dishes tended to include multiple ingredients and were more time consuming and labor intensive to produce than those prepared by the lower classes - they had servants to do the work.
While on campaign during the war, Washington and his officers most often stayed in the homes of wealthy patriots and dined as well as their hosts could afford.
The kitchen of the Ford Mansion, which was the winter headquarters of General George Washington during the Revolutionary War.