Hardtack and coffee : $b or, the unwritten story of Army life, including chapters on enlisting, life in tents and log huts, jonahs and beats, offences and punishments, raw recruits, foraging, corps and corps badges, the wagon trains, the Army mule, the Engineer Corps, the Signal Corps, etc.

"Hardtack and Coffee: or, the Unwritten Story of Army Life" by John D. Billings is a late 19th-century historical view into the lives of soldiers during the American Civil War, focusing on their everyday struggles and bonds. It sheds light on the food they ate, their makeshift shelters, and the close relationships they formed while living through war, with the goal of enhancing our understanding of the average soldier during that time. The book opens with the author reflecting on how his personal stories motivated him to write this history. The initial chapter vividly describes the rising political tensions before the secession, and how the initial troop requests, with the intention to show the shift from regular life to military service, and the strong feelings that patriotism can evoke. This establishes the book's goal of portraying both the hardships of the common soldier and the everyday realities of war.