author

James M. (James Monroe) Sanderson

1817–1871

Best known for a practical Civil War-era cooking guide, this 19th-century hotel keeper and Union officer wrote with the clear, hands-on confidence of someone used to feeding people under pressure.

1 Audiobook

Camp fires and camp cooking : or, Culinary hints for the soldier: including receipt for making bread in the "portable field oven" furnished by the Subsistence Department

Camp fires and camp cooking : or, Culinary hints for the soldier: including receipt for making bread in the "portable field oven" furnished by the Subsistence Department

by James M. (James Monroe) Sanderson

About the author

James M. Sanderson, or James Monroe Sanderson, was an American author born in 1817 and died in 1871. He is chiefly remembered for Camp Fires and Camp Cooking (1862), a compact manual written during the Civil War to help soldiers prepare food in camp.

Sources available here describe him not just as a writer but as a hotel operator and a figure connected with wartime food service and sanitary practices. That background helps explain the tone of his work: practical, direct, and focused on everyday problems like cooking safely, making bread, and managing meals in rough conditions.

His writing now stands out as a small but vivid piece of Civil War social history. Rather than telling battlefield stories, Sanderson captured the ordinary work of keeping people fed, making his book useful both as a historical document and as a glimpse into 19th-century camp life.