Madison & Adams Press presents the Civil War Memories Series. This meticulous selection of the firsthand accounts, memoirs and diaries is specially comprised for Civil War enthusiasts and all people curious about the personal accounts and true life stories of the unknown soldiers, the well known commanders, politicians, nurses and civilians amidst the war.
Hard Tack and Coffee: The Unwritten Story of Army Life is a memoir by John D. Billings. Billings was a veteran of the 10th Massachusetts Volunteer Light Artillery Battery in the American Civil War. Hard Tack and Coffee is now considered one of the most important books written by a Civil War veteran. The book is abundantly illustrated by the pen and ink drawings of Charles W. Reed, also a veteran, who served as bugler in the 9th Massachusetts Battery, later received the Medal of Honor for saving the life of his battery commander at Gettysburg. Hard Tack and Coffee is not about battles, but rather about how the common Union soldiers of the Civil War lived in camp and on the march.
About the author
John D. Billings (1842-1933) served in the Civil War in the Tenth Massachusetts Light Artillery Battery. He went on to compose two separate accounts of his time with the battery. One title, Hardtack and Coffee, focuses on the daily events of army life. In the preface he states that his purpose was to ‘record comprehensively army life in detail’. The second book Billings wrote was an official history of the Tenth Massachusetts Light Artillery Battery, also known as Sleeper’s Battery for its Captain, Jacob Henry Sleeper.
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