Mess Hall-Kitchen

Cooking Over A Fire

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

OPEN TO PUBLIC:

No

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

There is an old axiom that an army travels on its stomach. The activity that went on in the kitchen and mess hall was critical to the soldier's health and survival. Lack of food would obviously lead to starvation, but also important was the quality of the cooking and the variety of the food. The cast iron kettles and skillets used in open hearth and Dutch oven cooking helped assure that the food was evenly heated and cooked. In theory, the rations of salt beef, salt pork, beans, rice, and vegetables from the garden should have made a palatable soup or stew. However, the quality of the food also depended on the soldier doing the cooking. As this was a rotated duty, the quality varied with the cooking skills of the private on duty that day.