If War Is Hell, Then Coffee Has Offered U.S. Soldiers Some Salvation

[rug]

"Nobody can soldier without coffee," a Union soldier wrote in 1865. (Above) Union soldiers sit with their coffee in tin cups, their hard-tack, and a kettle at their feet. Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection/Flickr The Commons

July 25, 20165:02 AM ET
Heard on Morning Edition

In April 1865, at the bloody, bitter end of the Civil War, Ebenezer Nelson Gilpin, a Union cavalryman, wrote in his diary, "Everything is chaos here. The suspense is almost unbearable."

"We are reduced to quarter rations and no coffee," he continued. "And nobody can soldier without coffee."

If war is hell, then for many soldiers throughout American history, it is coffee that has offered some small salvation. Hidden Kitchens looks at three American wars through the lens of coffee: the Civil War, Vietnam and Afghanistan.

The Civil War

War, freedom, slavery, secession, union — these are some of the big themes you might expect to find in the diaries of Civil War soldiers. At least, that's what Jon Grinspan, a curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, assumed when he began digging through war journals in the nation's Civil War archives.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/07/25/485227943/if-war-is-hell-then-coffee-has-offered-u-s-soldiers-some-salvation

6:58 audio at link.