Combat Food

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, individual colonies fed their own militias. As the army increased in size, it soon became apparent that it would have to develop a system to feed itself. The first legislation fixing the components of the military ration came with the passage of a resolution by the Continental Congress on 4 November 1775, calling for such things as one pound of beef, three pounds of pork, or one pound of salt fish per day, along with three pints of peas or three pints of beans per week or the equivalent portion of vegetables, figured at one dollar per bushel for beans or peas. The ration also called for milk, rice or Indian meal, and spruce beer or cider.