What did union vs confederate soldiers eat?

Answer 1

The Union soldier received a variety of food. The food issue, or ration, was usually meant to last three days while an active campaign and was based on the general staples of meat and bread. Meat usually came in the form of salted pork or, on rare occasions, fresh beef. Rations of pork or beef were boiled, broiled or fried over open campfires. Army bread was a flour biscuit called hardtack, re-named "tooth-dullers", "worm castles", and "sheet iron crackers" by the soldiers who ate them. Other food items included rice, peas, beans, dried fruit, potatoes, and molasses, Coffee was a most desirable staple and some soldiers considered the issue of coffee and accompanying sugar more important than anything else.