Coffee And The Civil War...!

Seems as though coffee played a much larger part in the Civil War that we might have thought.

This story from Listverse shows exactly what I'm talking about. Not a pretty story, if you ask me.

The Union Was Obsessed With Coffee

Photo credit: NPR

For the Union, coffee was a big deal. In fact, the word “coffee” shows up in Union letters and diaries more often than any other word—including words like “war,” “bullet,” “Lincoln,” and “mother.”

Coffee was a more regular part of soldier life than fighting. Every soldier was given a ration of 16 kilograms (36 lb) of coffee per year, and they drank it every morning. One rifle company even made a rifle that had a coffee grinder in the stock. Since most troops only fought two weeks per year, the coffee grinder ended up being used more than the bullets.

The Confederates, on the other hand, hardly had any coffee. Union blockades kept the Confederates from getting their daily caffeine fix. Some Confederate soldiers were so desperate for a java fix that they would brew potatoes and rye until they turned black, just to have a caffeine-free, bitter drink that the soldiers could pretend was coffee.

Caffeine actually made a strategic difference in the war. One Union general would time his attacks based on when his men were most buzzed on caffeine, convinced that the extra rush from coffee gave his men a fighting advantage.

On top of everything else, not having some coffee for comfort food must have made things even seem worse for the troops of the South. By itself it's not a big thing, but must have been really bad for troop moral.

Coffee in the kitchen this morning, but that's due to the fact that the rain has finally decided to pay us a visit!