The soldiers were short on rations[49] and out of bread, but it was not felt so keenly because of the substitutes they could get.[50] The main object of the expedition was to devastate the Indian's land and one duty was to destroy or take all the food which came in their way. When the soldiers came to a field of corn, their first duty was to feast on it and then destroy all they could not use or carry away with them.[51] If the corn was in a condition for roasting, they did that or made succatash; if it was too hard for roasting they converted some old tin kettles found in the Indian villages into large graters by punching holes in the bottom. Then one of the military duties of the soldiers was to grate the corn into a coarse meal which was mixed with boiled pumpkins or squash and kneaded into cakes and baked on the coals[52] and even that coarse food was relished by the men when fatigued after a long march. This rather amusing entry, yet terrible if true, is found in one diary of the expedition "July 7—I eat part of a fryed Rattle Snake to day which would have tasted very well had it not been snake".[53] The conditions in the camp were somewhat different than those on the march for in camp what the rations were depended on the amount of supplies. If they were plentiful, full rations could be drawn by each soldier, but when they were scarce each soldier had to take less. The time and place of drawing supplies seemed to vary with circumstances, and no definite plan was followed. It is a mistake to think that the soldier of the American Revolution was always suffering for the want of food. The picture drawn for us most often is that of the distressing conditions. There was a brighter side, although it is true that the soldier suffered many times. When the camps were situated in or near an agricultural community the farmers swarmed to camp with their produce charging exorbitant prices, but if the soldier had any money he was usually willing to buy. In the course of eight days the caterer of a single mess purchased three barrels of cider, seven bushels of chestnuts, four of apples, at twelve shillings a bushel, and a wild turkey[54] which weighed over seventeen pounds. In winter when there was no produce to be brought in and no way of securing provisions the story was not so bright. The conditions at Valley Forge are quite well known. How the rations were cut down until it was "Fire cakes and Water" for breakfast, and water and fire cakes for dinner[55] or how the soldiers ate every kind of horse feed but hay[56], and often they were without meat for eight or ten days[57] and longer without vegetables. Supplies were gathered from every conceivable source, sometimes cows were part of the supply company, taken along for the purpose of supplying milk. One man writes in his diary his appreciation of a cow which supplied them milk on the march with Sullivan's expedition.[58]