On April 9, 1865, the Civil War officially came to an end in Appomattox, Va., when Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War – a wrenching, bloody, costly conflict that took almost as many American lives as the total of all other US wars combined. The effects of this war still lurk in America’s psyche and social fabric.
But whether one wore a Blue or Gray uniform in the 1860s, there was a commonality that emphasized the humanity on either side of the line: Soldiers had to eat. I know this because I once lived through a battle. I still remember the chicken stew I ate that day in 1977 from a wooden salad bowl, with a wooden spoon, wearing a calico dress.
Kitchen Report 