Vol. VI, Episode 21

Flapjacks or Slapjacks

Want a veteran's way to use the flour ration?
Watch Will and Chad below as they demonstrate both the US and CS way of cooking the flour ration
in the field by making soldier pancakes.

Ingredients

  • Water
  • Flour
  • Salt (for Federal rations)
  • Bacon grease

Tools

  • Frying Pan
  • Fork
  • Knife
  • Cup to mix in

Mix the water and flour together to your own desired consistency.

Resources

Hilary Herbert, 8th Alabama Infantry- Alabama Historical Quarterly

Osborne Oldroyd, 20th Ohio Infantry- A Soldier's Story of the Siege of Vicksburg. From the Diary of Osborn H. Oldroyd

Another Primary Source

"Our rations got cut short - our supply was cut off and we had to get our supply mostly from the surrounding country...we got flour and bacon and had to march all day and bake slapjacks as we called them at night.
We made them in this way: we made a dough and then fried out a lot of bacon and then dropped a chunk - yes, two or three - in the hot lard till they were brown, then took them out and put in fresh dough. This often took until 2 at night, and the next day early in the morning at daybreak we had to be ready to march again. We would march all day till dark - and sometimes two or three hours after dark - and then we had to go through the same process making slapjacks as I described above."
- Edited from Pvt. Frederick Finnup, 5th Company, 9th Ohio Infantry, "The Story of My Life", describing his time just before the Battle of Perryville.

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