United States Army beef scandal
The United States Army beef scandal was an American
Background to the scandal
The
The scandal
As a result, most of the meat arriving in Cuba was found to be so poorly preserved, chemically adulterated, or spoiled that it was toxic and dangerous to consume.
The court of inquiry
In the months following the 1898
for the Army's use, rather than using preserved or refrigerated meat that had been transported from the United States. This would have followed the Army's traditional practice of procuring fresh beef from local sources.Despite his requests, the Army was dedicated to supporting the Chicago meatpacking industry, which eventually shipped hundreds of tons of refrigerated and canned beef to the Army from the mainland. In his testimony before the court of inquiry, General Miles referred to the refrigerated product as "
As for the canned product, Miles reported, during the war he had received many complaints about its poor quality. His officers provided many striking descriptions of it. "The meat ... soon became putrid," wrote one colonel, "and in many of the cans was found in course of putrefaction when opened." An infantry major declared that "'Nasty' is the only term that will fitly describe its appearance. Its use produced diarrhea and dysentery." Still another officer noted that "It was often nauseating and unfit for use. It should no longer be issued."[4]
Miles also made public statements, reported in the newspapers, claiming that the canned meat was the after-product of the process for making beef extract. "There was no life or nourishment in the meat," charged Miles. "It had been used to make beef extract, and after the juice was squeezed out of it the pulp was put back in the cans and labeled 'roast beef.'" As for the embalmed beef, Miles stated "I have the affidavits of men who have seen the process of embalming beef ... treating it chemically for the purpose of preserving it."[5]
While other officers, notably General Wesley Merritt, who had commanded an Army corps in the Philippines during the war, denied having heard of any trouble with the meat supplies,[6] Miles refused to be silenced.
When the Commissary General, Brigadier General Charles P. Eagan, was called to testify, he strongly denounced Miles as a liar. This resulted in a court-martial and Eagan's suspension from duty until mandatory retirement age.
Results of the scandal
Although there were no official findings of large-scale trouble with meat supplies, the newspapers stirred up public opinion on the subject. This contributed to the growing criticism of Secretary of War Alger's handling of the Army during the war (a phenomenon that became known as "Algerism") and by the summer of 1899, President William McKinley decided that Alger had to go. On August 1, Alger resigned at McKinley's request.
The Veterinary Corps' founding on June 3, 1916 was partially sparked due to the medical incompetence displayed in the beef scandal.[2]
See also
- Meatpacking
- Foodborne illness
- Russell A. Alger
Further reading
- "The Army Meat Scandal," New York Times, Feb. 21, 1899.
- Laurie Winn Carlson, Cattle: An Informal Social History, Ivan R. Dee, 2002, pp. 131–33.
- Edward F. Keuchel, "Chemicals and Meat: The Embalmed Beef Scandal of the Spanish–American War." Bull. Hist. Med. 1974 Summer;48(2):249–64.
- "Merritt's 'Embalmed' Beef," New York Times, Dec. 28, 1898.
- United States Senate, Food Furnished to Troops in Cuba and Porto Rico, Pt. 3 Serial # 3872 (GPO 1900) pp. 1913-ff.
References
- ^ a b c "Old Time Farm Crime: The Embalmed Beef Scandal of 1898". Modern Farmer. 2013-11-08. Retrieved 2020-10-14.
- ^ a b c d "U.S. Army Veterinary Corps History". Veterinary Corp of the U.S Army. Archived from the original on April 25, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ "Unable to Sleep". Boston Globe. June 10, 1901. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b United States Senate, Food Furnished to Troops in Cuba and Porto Rico, Pt. 3 Serial # 3872 (GPO 1900) pp. 1913-ff.
- ^ "The Army Meat Scandal," New York Times, Feb. 21, 1899.
- ^ "Merritt's 'Embalmed' Beef," New York Times, Dec. 28, 1898.