WI NO Cans- American Civil War

What if canned foods had not been developed until the late 1890's? How would the ACW be impacted?

If you ask me, this was the most efficient way to send meat and spoiling supplies to both sides. Needless to say, the USA and CSA would have been greatly effected. Considering the Army of Northern Virginia was always very close to its major food source (Shenandoah Valley), I think that the Union would have had worse side effects. What do you think?
 
Interesting POD.

The problem is coming up with a plausiable explanation as to why the development of canned food was delayed for 90 years. Both the French and the British were pretty gung-ho on this idea for their respective empires so it really was only a matter of time before somebody stumbled onto the idea.

If it was delayed somehow though -- longer wars because of the fact that you had less troops to work with, would be one factor I'll imagine.
 
What if canned foods had not been developed until the late 1890's? How would the ACW be impacted?

If you ask me, this was the most efficient way to send meat and spoiling supplies to both sides. Needless to say, the USA and CSA would have been greatly effected. Considering the Army of Northern Virginia was always very close to its major food source (Shenandoah Valley), I think that the Union would have had worse side effects. What do you think?

they bottle it up instead, as was done at first
 
they bottle it up instead, as was done at first

If you preserve food by sealing it in a glass Mason jar, it is called "canning" too. Canning does not mean preserving in a tin can only. So the POD, I am quite sure, is speaking about both forms.

As to the actual impact a lack of food-canning would have made on the conduct of the American Civil War, not as much as you might think. Canned food contributed only a very small portion of the rations issued to the armies during the Civil War. Meat was generally either moved "on the hoof", preserved in barrels with brine, or dried (jerky). Vegetables, when obtainable, were normally issued fresh, or in the Union armies, in the form of "dessicated vegetables" which were dried and had to be reconstituted with water (they were so bad they were commonly referred to as "desecrated vegetables). Bread rations were in the form of hardtack (a heavy, extremely hard biscuit stored in barrels or crates, often for years) or issued in the form of flour (or in the Confederate army, cornmeal). Canned goods played little role in this system of rations.

Indeed, in the most famous incident where canned food is mentioned during the war...the sack of the Union supply depot at Manassas Junction by Jackson's Corps just prior to the Second Battle of Bull Run...the canned food items the troops found at the depot consisted of things like canned chickens, canned lobster, and other luxury food items. So this indicates that canned food was a luxury item at the time and not really something which played a significant role in feeding the armies. High ranking officers may have had canned delicacies to nibble on while in camp, but the average soldier probably rarely saw them.
 
Since Robertp addressed the 'what effect would it have?', I'll do the 'can it be postponed'

from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canning said:
Based on Appert's methods of food preservation, Peter Durand patented a process in the United Kingdom in 1810, developing a process of packaging food in sealed airtight wrought-iron cans. Initially, the canning process was slow and labour-intensive, as each can had to be hand-made and took up to six hours to cook properly, making tinned food too expensive for ordinary people to buy. In 1824 meats and stews produced by the Appert method were carried by Sir William Edward Parry in his voyage to find a northwestern passage to India. Throughout the mid-nineteenth century, tinned food became a status symbol amongst middle-class households in Europe, becoming something of a frivolous novelty. Early methods of manufacture employed poisonous lead solder for sealing the tins, which had disastrous consequences for the 1845 Franklin expedition to the Arctic Ocean.

The lead poisoning of the Franklin expedition wasn't discovered until modern times. so we need to come up with some other disaster. Let's say that some significant, high profile military expedition is sent somewhere with all provisions being supplied in cans. Disaster happens, autopsies point to lead poisoning, maybe even botulism from improperly sterilized cans. Canning gets a bad reputation (sort of like modern nuclear power), mass production of the process never really happens.

Plausible?

I'm assuming tin cans here, as I doubt highly that glass mason jars would survive marches/primitive roads/ freezing winters/ etc., etc.
 
The lead poisoning of the Franklin expedition wasn't discovered until modern times. so we need to come up with some other disaster. Let's say that some significant, high profile military expedition is sent somewhere with all provisions being supplied in cans. Disaster happens, autopsies point to lead poisoning, maybe even botulism from improperly sterilized cans. Canning gets a bad reputation (sort of like modern nuclear power), mass production of the process never really happens.

I was going on something on that.

And yes, I did mean the entire concept of preserving food either via cans or bottles, etc.
 
Disaster happens, autopsies point to lead poisoning, maybe even botulism from improperly sterilized cans. Canning gets a bad reputation (sort of like modern nuclear power), mass production of the process never really happens.

Plausible?

I'm assuming tin cans here, as I doubt highly that glass mason jars would survive marches/primitive roads/ freezing winters/ etc., etc.

I don't think its plausible since the reasons are identified and preventable. The first individual killed in a crash involving a Wright Flyer didn't scupper heavier than air flight. The benefits of canned food are too great.
 
If you preserve food by sealing it in a glass Mason jar, it is called "canning" too. Canning does not mean preserving in a tin can only. So the POD, I am quite sure, is speaking about both forms.

The French were preserving food in wine bottles during the Napoleonic Wars, then the Brits got the idea to but them in less breakable metal containers
 
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