1800s Gingerbread Cake Recipe from “An Army Wife’s Cookbook”

I’m happy to introduce the 50th Anniversary Edition of “An Army Wife’s Cookbook: With Household Hints and Home Remedies“ by Alice Kirk Grierson, Wife of Col. Benjamin H. Grierson, Tenth Cavalry, and its Civil War era recipes. This cookbook contains the recipes of Alice Kirk Grierson, an army wife who lived from 1828 to 1888. I was provided a complimentary 2024 cookbook.

Alice and her husband, Benjamin, are both interesting people for entirely different reasons, so I’m thrilled by this addition to my cookbook collection. Although this cookbook compilation of recipes is all Alice, we’ll take a little detour to check out Benjamin Grierson’s life, too. Plus, I’m sharing a recipe for an 1800s Gingerbread Cake from “An Army Wife’s Cookbook,” that I’ve trimmed down to make a single-layer 8″ cake, rather than two 8″ cakes.

Use the Table of Contents below to get to where you want to go. The recipe for gingerbread cake is located at the top of this article. Or read about this 1800s couple who spent the bulk of their marriage stationed in the rough and wild western frontier.

Table of Contents

• Recipe for Homemade Gingerbread Cake from “An Army Wife’s Cookbook”
• A Look Inside “An Army Wife’s Cookbook”
• “An Army Wife’s Cookbook” Highlights
• Who Was Alice Grierson? Her Life in Brief
• Why You Should Get “An Army Wife’s Cookbook”

Recipe for Homemade Gingerbread Cake from “An Army Wife’s Cookbook”

I scaled down the homemade cake recipe from a two-layer ginger cake to a single-layer cake. My gingerbread cake slightly scorched on the top. It serves as a good reminder to read the recipe twice and aim for a lower total baking time. Not only did I think the bake time was longer, but when the timer went off, I was otherwise involved, and it took me a second to get back to it. At least it wasn’t noticeable in terms of flavor or texture.

This is a nice, not dry gingerbread cake recipe with molasses that rose really high (even with my slight overbaking). I served it plain since this gingerbread cake was part of breakfast one morning. I could see offering a little sweetened whipped cream if it’s used as a dessert. If you are new to baking or could use a refresher, view how to make cake tips and tricks here before you begin. This is a super simple recipe.

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A Look Inside “An Army Wife’s Cookbook”

Interestingly, Grierson’s original bound collection contained roughly 600 recipes in addition to household hints and tips and various newspaper and magazine recipe clippings. Even back in the 1800s, people cut out recipes and helpful advice that they wanted to save. I guess the tricky part has always been figuring out how to organize recipe clippings.

Fast Facts about “An Army Wife’s Cookbook” by Alice Kirk Grierson:

• Publishing Format: Plastic comb (Spiral-bound)
• Size: 6″ x 9″
• Total Pages: 80 pages with the index
• Interior Decoration: No images, but contains various illustrations throughout
• Recipe Format: Original recipe accompanied by a modern version
• Cookbook Style: Nice mix of commentary on period cooking and recipes
• Best for: History Buffs and Reenactors, Historic Cooking Enthusiasts, People Who Appreciate Simple Recipes, Lovers of Traditional Recipes, National Park Fans

If you’ve ever visited Fort Davis National Historic Site in Texas, it’s possible that you’ve already sampled some of these very same recipes. Grierson’s recipes frequently make the rotation when park staff and volunteers teach visitors about history and 1800s cooking. You also walked the area the Griersons once called “home.”

Each recipe includes Alice Kirk Grierson’s original version in italics, typically with nothing more than the list of ingredients, followed by a version for today’s cooks written in regular font with the full set of instructions for the modern oven. More than a few of Grierson’s recipes lack direction.

Funny how something that I find irritating, the lack of detailed directions, is also the very same thing I do over 100 years later. I have roughly 47 copies of my mother’s banana bread recipe in various places throughout my home. Each time I misplaced the recipe, I’d have to call her and ask for it again. Eventually, I stopped adding the instructions. Each recipe is now as bare bones as Grierson’s originals.

No images of the finished recipes, but nice illustrations by Etta M. Koch add a little something-something here or there. The black-and-white illustrations enliven a section of a page on occasion. It’s a nice touch. The beginning of the book contains the only images, such as photos of Alice and Benjamin and snapshots of a small selection of her handwritten recipes.

Chapters Inside “An Army Wife’s Cookbook” by Alice Kirk Grierson (2024 50th Anniversary Edition) include:

• Foreword
• Introduction
• A Note from Alice’s Grandchildren
• The Cookbook
  • Soups
  • Breads
  • Vegetables
  • Meats & Main Dishes
  • Cookies
  • Cakes
  • Pies
  • Puddings & Other Desserts
  • Household Hints & Home Remedies
• Bibliography
• Index

Colored tabbed sections on the edge of the interior pages make it easy to flip to the section you desire. I’d still suggest sticky notes and writing in your cookbook to keep better track of what you’ve made and when (in addition to any changes you made or suggestions to note, such as the exact bake time for your oven).

“An Army Wife’s Cookbook” Highlights

Alice Kirk, the oldest of 13 children (or 12, depending on the source), was born on May 3, 1828, in Youngstown, Ohio. After graduating from school, she taught in her hometown as well as Lafayette, Indiana, and Springfield, Illinois.

She met her future husband while in her early teens — he was part of a local minstrel troupe. With a shared love of music, they eventually fell in love and married against her wealthy parents’ wishes (he was not religious, unlike them) on September 24, 1854. Their first son, Charles, was born the next August.

Music was their common bond. So imagine, then, when Jenny Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale,” made her one U.S. tour — and both Griersons had the opportunity to see her.

“Oh! I must not forget the joy of my life. I have heard — I have seen — Jenny — living — breathing — singing, Jenny Lind. I must say only what all say that she is above all description. She must be heard. Could I have known what I would have lost by not hearing her, it would have been a life-long sorrow, but I have heard her. I could talk of her for hours, but I cannot write. When she came to St. Louis, Ben went down to hear her. I thought it right.

But the high price of tickets compelled me to decide that I ought not to think of such an indulgence for myself. John was there on business — went to the first concert — came home with such descriptions of her music and such an urgent request for me to come that Elizabeth, Mr. Howard, and I set off.

I shall always be glad that I have heard her.

Indeed I would have considered myself paid — for expense and trouble — in listening to one solo on the violoncello played by a young man — one of the orchestra. Oh! I wish you could have heard it. Our seats cost us $6.50 each — besides the expense of going and coming and our expenses there.

The poor I know ought not to expect to indulge themselves as the rich can, but we cannot estimate Jenny Lind’s singing in dollars and cents. They are nothing. She gave five concerts in St. Louis. Ben heard them all.
Alice Kirk Grierson, “An Army Wife’s Cookbook,” Page 50.

Fittingly, Grierson includes a recipe for “The Jenny Lind Cake.” You’ll be able to read her version, which doesn’t include much in the way of directions. But why would it? She knew what she was doing. As you learned above, I have copied down my mother’s banana bread recipe with nothing more than the ingredients and the measurements.

I love how Grierson used em dashes (—), since so many people erringly associate the em dash with AI. I have long used em dashes in my writing — well before the introduction of AI. A coworker of mine likened the em dash to the way his ADHD brain functions, with a rapid change of topic.

In my case, and also in Grierson’s, it’s a way to add emphasis or call attention to important information. This 1800s woman wrote in a style similar to my own. How fun is that?

Who Was Alice Grierson? Her Life in Brief

Well, the Griersons’ frontier life was a little less rough and wild than you’d think. While there were hardships (Grierson was no stranger to loss, including the death of two children and the mental illness of two others), it is worth noting that she came from a wealthy family and thus did not have to rely solely on her husband’s military pay. Yes, there are recipes for a cake without eggs and doughnuts without eggs, so it doesn’t mean Grierson didn’t sometimes have to be economical or go without.

Still, Grierson enjoyed the little luxuries in life. For example, whenever her family experienced a military relocation, she headed back East to visit her family until her new home had been completely unpacked by others. She also had help beyond the packing, unpacking, and putting everything in the right place after a military move.

She had two full-time helpers — one of whom served as cook. Grierson likely handed the cook her own recipes or showed her how to make them. Either way, however it happened, Fort Davis National Historic Site Park Historian Mary L. Williams noted that Grierson’s mostly handwritten book with lined blue pages must have been used, rarely, in the kitchen. It was too clean.

You already know how I write in cookbooks from my collection. Cooking from them results in more than a few splatters and spots, I tell you what. So I think it makes a lot of sense that the family cook would have had a copy of her own.

By 1867, Grierson had given birth to her fifth baby at Fort Riley, Kansas. At one point, they lived in a tent at Fort Sill, Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma, before moving into newly built quarters for commanding officers. I cannot even imagine how much of a relief that must have been. Yet not even two weeks after giving birth to her sixth child, she hosted the Board of Indian Commissioners and his wife.

In 1871, her seventh child, a girl, died at three months, according to Find a Grave. Meanwhile, her oldest son had joined her Chicago relatives to complete his schooling. Between the death of her daughter, her depression of too many pregnancies (she had eight children), and the separation of her son, Grierson struggled, and soon joined her son in Chicago to get relief from the pressure of family and military spouse entertaining obligations.

Unfortunately, her husband’s support of Grant’s policy on peace was at odds with the commander of the Department of the Missouri, Philip H. Sheridan. In 1875, Sheridan ordered Grierson to move to the shabby and remote Fort Concho, West Texas. Benjamin almost resigned.

They spent the next seven years at the remote fort, losing their remaining daughter to typhoid fever at age 13.

Relocation to Fort Davis, Texas, in 1882, was a welcome move and, happily, fit the Griersons so much so that they purchased ranches for their younger sons. They had decided to live out their days in the area. The army had other plans, however, and because of the Geronimo campaign, the army moved the family to the Arizona Territory.

In 1886, Grierson joined her husband in Santa Fe, where he became the commander of the District of New Mexico. He was known for being a sympathetic problem-solver for those on the Jicarilla and Navajo reservations.

Grierson experienced an ongoing issue with her leg and returned to Jacksonville, Illinois, for treatment. It was bone cancer. Alice Kirk Grierson died on August 16, 1888. Benjamin Grierson received a promotion to brigadier general on April 5, 1890, and retired on July 8 of the same year, according to a 1952 article.

He remarried in 1897, tying the knot with Lillian Atwood King, a widow. He divided his time for years between his ranch and his Jacksonville home before ending his visits to the ranch entirely. After a stroke in 1907, Benjamin was never quite himself again. He died at the age of 85 on August 31, 1911.

Why You Should Get “An Army Wife’s Cookbook”

“An Army Wife’s Cookbook” was taken from her extensive and intimate correspondence and turned into a slim volume of its own, “The Colonel’s Lady on the Western Frontier: The Correspondence of Alice Kirk Grierson (1989).

This cookbook is a wonderful blend of Grierson’s commentary on the way particular things worked at the time (such as the directions for baking a cake and determining oven temperature), and the original recipe (in italics), accompanied by an easy-to-follow version for today’s cooks.

In the 80-page book, including the index, you’ll find recipes for items including

• Mrs. Catting’s Sponge Cake
• The Dolly Varden Cake (named after a woman in Charles Dickens’s “Barnaby Rudge”
• Fried Tomatoes and Rice
• Grandmother Tilsby’s Cracker Pudding
• Miss Carson’s Method of Clarifying Soup Grierson saved from “The Western Rural,” October 13, 1883

Where did the handwritten recipes of Alice Kirk Grierson come from? How was this large, bound volume found, and how did it end up in the hands of the National Park Service?

George Grierson, the youngest of Benjamin and Alice, had to deal with the family properties back at Fort Davis. In 1935, the owner of a secondhand store in Marfa, Texas, acquired the book. His niece, Edith Flynt Phillips of Dallas, Texas, donated the book to the National Park Service at Fort Davis National Historic Site in 1968. The original version was published in 1972. The Western National Parks Association did a fabulous job.

About Benjamin Grierson (in Brief)

When the Civil War began, Benjamin Grierson answered the call in 1861, joining the 10th Illinois Infantry and rising to the rank of Major General of Volunteers.

Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson is a native of Pennsylvania, having been born in Pittsburgh in the month of July 1827. Consequently, he is nearly thirty-six years of age. At a very early age, he removed to Trumbull County, Ohio, in which State he resided for nearly fifteen years, and then moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he resided when the present war broke out.

He was in the produce business, and, to use his own words, “was also a musician,” being able to play on any instrument from a jews-harp to a hand organ.

Shortly after hostilities commenced, he left for Cairo to join a company that had been raised in his town, but on arrival there, he went on duty as aid to General Prentiss. When the Sixth Illinois cavalry was organized, he was elected Major of that regiment, but remained on detached service as aid to General Prentiss, with whom he served with distinction.

On the 28th of March, 1862, when Colonel Cavanaugh resigned, Major Grierson was unanimously elected by the officers to fill his place, and in December, 1862, he was ordered to command the first brigade of cavalry, consisting of the Sixth and Seventh Illinois and Second Iowa regiments.

Colonel Grierson, with his command, has been engaged in all the cavalry skirmishes and raids of West Tennessee and Northern Mississippi, and in every affair has been successful. His officers and men worship him almost and are ready to follow wherever he will lead.
Harper’s Weekly, June 6, 1863 Vol. VIL – 336, Page 354.

Benjamin Grierson excelled, pulling off a comprehensive campaign that General William Tecumseh Sherman deemed “the most brilliant expedition of the war.” It’s especially interesting given that Benjamin Grierson didn’t care for horses.

When Benjamin was eight years old, a horse had kicked and almost killed him. It was no wonder he was less than enthused about horse riding.

As detailed in Grierson’s Raid by celebrated nonfiction author Dee Brown, April 17th, 1863, was the first day of what would become a two-week raid from Tennessee to Louisiana. Led by Colonel Benjamin Grierson, 1,700 Union cavalry troopers advanced on the southern territory to draw the attention of Confederate forces away from General Grant’s impending approach across the Mississippi River.

But Grierson had been a music teacher before the war — this, paired with his deep distaste for horses, left him an unlikely hero.

However, Grierson’s Raid was the site of a sly and brilliant tactic which found success as shocking as it was hard-fought. As the cavalrymen disrupted railway tracks, decimated storehouses, took prisoners, and liberated slaves, Grierson only lost three men to this expedition.

Of course, Grierson only made the maneuver look easy in hindsight. . . . 
Kelsey Christine McConnell, Grierson’s Raid Was the Most Improbable Success of the Civil War, The Archive, Apr 9, 2021, Accessed December 11, 2025.

Interestingly, Grierson carried four things with him that day, which you would expect to be not only vital for the mission, but perhaps a treasured item in there, too. He had a Colton pocket-sized map of Mississippi, a compass, an intelligence report full of information vital for the massive undertaking (such as locations for food), and a Jew’s harp.

You can take the man out of the music (at least for now), but you can’t take the music out of the man.

A Jew’s harp is an instrument made “of a thin wood or metal tongue fixed at one end to the base of a two-pronged frame,” Encyclopedia Britannica shared. “The player holds the frame to his mouth, which forms a resonance cavity, and activates the instrument’s tongue by either plucking it with the fingers or jerking a string attached to the end of the instrument.”

We have not space for a lengthy account of the affair, and it must suffice to say that the brigade commanded by Colonel Grierson started from La Grange, Tennessee, and rode to Baton Rouge, a distance of 800 miles, through the heart of the rebel country. They were seventeen days on the march.

They captured over 1000 prisoners and 1200 horses; destroyed for many miles two important railroads, and stores and other property valued at over four millions of dollars; and finally, on May 1, were received at Baton Rouge with great enthusiasm.
Harper’s Weekly, June 6, 1863 Vol. VIL – 336, Page 358.

“After the war, he commanded the U.S. 10th Cavalry (a unit composed of white officers and Black enlisted men). Alice Grierson sometimes had to intervene when she heard of a soldier’s wife or a soldier experiencing mistreatment from other soldiers.

For the remainder of his career, he served on the western frontier. Benjamin Grierson rose through the ranks to Brigadier General and became a Brevet Major General in 1865,” according to Find a Grave.

Alice Kirk Grierson Books

Alice K. Grierson didn’t sit down and decide to write a cookbook. These are her collected and curated recipes she had saved for use with her family. The book has different publishing dates. There is also a book featuring selected correspondence from Grierson. Many of Grierson’s problems are similar to the issues facing today’s women.

Bibliography: Cookbooks Used in “An Army Wife’s Cookbook”

The following books appear in the bibliography because they assisted the editor in sharing additional information about Grierson’s time and how people cooked and ate. I find these cookbooks interesting and thought you would, too.

Benjamin Grierson Books or Books About Grierson

There are far more books about Grierson’s Raid than I listed below. Since I used a quote from the Dee Brown book below, I thought you may be interested in reading it, too.

Related Resources