The most fascinating piece about both articles is that the drive to fight in the war was due to the coffee. Most of the rations that were given to the soldiers were sugar, coffee beans and hardtack, since these products were cheaply made and fast to produce.For this reason, they had enough energy to fulfill any task without being tired, which provided them with motivation,alertness and endurance. Caffeine played such a major part in war that they would often make substitutes once they had low supply of coffee beans. These substitutes (rye and etc.) tasted the same compared to coffee, which fueled the soldiers until they had to fight in battle. Another interesting fact about the soldiers diet is that they thought coffee was the unity to the union and confederate since they seized war just to take a sip of coffee. when the union fell short of coffee supplies, confederates would give union troops supplies in exchange for stamp and newspaper. When the confederates lost the civil war, they speculated that the lack of caffeine caused them to lose. In summary, both confederates and unions rationed coffee to help motivate them in the war, its the main reason most of the soldiers had the drive to fight. An important food that allows me to get up everyday is cereal in the morning since it gives me the stamina to go to school each day.
