Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821; ref 1823) or Frederick the Great (1712-1786; ref appear in 1816) said something akin to "An army marches on its stomach." [Famous Lines: A Columbia Dictionary of Familiar Quotations] Armies throughout history had a basic biscuit: the Roman's "buccellum", Richard the Lionheart's "biskit of muslin", the British Navy's "Ships Biscuits" or "Pilot Crackers", the Civil War "Hardtack" and during WWI, "ANZAC biscuits" were made. Depleted food stores also affected those at the Homefront, leading to rationing of limited commodities and food. The governments often put recipe suggestions in the newspapers [as seen in the scan above] -a Civil War example is in one link, and there are numerous ones under WWI and WWII. Citizens were further encouraged to grow their own food, sharing their surplus with neighbors or for the soldiers, by turning their flower gardens or backyards into War Gardens [WWI] and Victory Gardens [WWII].
Colonial wars - Civil War
World War I - World War II
War Gardens and Victory Gardens
Lord Nelson, Trafalgar200, and Lemons & Limes
Soldiers' Rations, Food Preparation and Cooking Utensils. John U. Rees
