Daily life for Union soldiers stationed at West Point was a harsh mix of poor rations, cold weather, disease,
exhausting labor, and constant uncertainty. Their letters and diaries paint a vivid picture of what they ate,
how they lived, and how they suffered while building Fort Duffield.

Standard Army Rations

• Hardtack — so tough soldiers joked it could “stop a bullet.”
• Salt pork or bacon — heavily salted, often rancid.
• Coffee — the most prized ration, boiled in tin cups.
• Sugar — small amounts, often traded or hoarded.
• Beans or peas — issued when available.
• Molasses — occasional treat.
• Desiccated vegetables — dried cabbage, carrots, and turnips.

What They Actually Ate at West Point

• Fresh bread from local bakers
• Fresh beef when herds passed through
• Apples and potatoes from Hardin County farms
• River fish from the Salt and Ohio Rivers

How They Cooked

• Each company had a cook tent.
• Food was boiled in kettles or fried over open fires.
• Soldiers often cooked for themselves when cooks were overwhelmed.
• Coffee was brewed constantly — sometimes three or four times a day.

Tents

• Sibley tents (cone-shaped, held 12 men)
• A-frame “dog tents” (two-man shelters)
• Hospital tents for the sick

The camps were crowded, with tents often only 3–4 feet apart.

Bedding

• Straw when available
• Quartermaster-issued blankets
• Many slept directly on the ground
• No mattresses, cots, or insulation

Clothing

• Wool uniforms that stayed wet for days
• Worn-out shoes from marching
• Thin socks offering little warmth
• No waterproof gear except gum blankets

Weather Conditions

• Cold
• Wet
• Windy
• Muddy

Pearman Hill was especially brutal — wind swept across the ridge, and the climb was steep and exhausting.

Disease

Illness was the biggest killer in the West Point camps.

• Measles
• Pneumonia
• Typhoid fever
• Dysentery
• Chronic diarrhea
• “Camp fever” (mixed infections)

The 9th Michigan lost dozens of men during the construction of Fort Duffield — many buried in the cemetery near the fort.

Sanitation Problems

• Latrines dug too close to tents
• Rain washing waste into camp areas
• Contaminated Salt River water
• Garbage attracting rats and insects

Exhaustion

• Cutting hundreds of trees
• Digging trenches
• Moving tons of earth
• Carrying logs up steep slopes
• Working from dawn to dusk

Soldiers wrote that the climb up Pearman Hill “took the breath from a strong man.”

Exposure

• Wet wool uniforms causing chills and pneumonia
• Lack of proper winter coats
• Fires hard to maintain in rain and wind
• Leaking tents

Homesickness & Morale

• Missing family
• Fear of disease
• Boredom between work shifts
• Anxiety about Confederate movements
• Frustration with officers
• Pride in building the fort

• 5:00 AM — Reveille
• 5:30 AM — Roll call
• 6:00 AM — Breakfast (hardtack, pork, coffee)
• 7:00 AM–12:00 PM — Work on fort / drill / guard duty
• 12:00 PM — Dinner (beans, pork, coffee)
• 1:00 PM–5:00 PM — More work or drill
• 5:30 PM — Supper
• 8:00 PM — Tattoo
• 9:00 PM — Lights out

For the 9th Michigan, fort construction replaced most drill time.

• More soldiers died from disease than from all Confederate action in the area.
• Sick men often collapsed on the steep climb to Fort Duffield.
• Hardtack was sometimes so infested with weevils it “walked off the plate.”
• Many soldiers had never been away from home before.
• The fort was completed in less than two months — a remarkable feat.