Soldiers were regularly left without promised meat despite official requisition orders

Evidence

Meat was another item that the authorities were desperate to make sure that the soldiers receive in good condition. In principle, besides properly baked bread, rice, lentils and beans, soldiers were supposed to be given meat once every five days. The scribes accompanying the army in Syria repeatedly wrote in their journals how every effort was taken to ensure that meat was supplied to the army. Usually this was done by ordering local governors to buy animals from the farmers at “just prices.” However, and in spite of these measures, there were repeated complaints that meat was not delivered to the soldiers on time. An investigation into the condition of the troops in Tripoli conducted by Colonel Yusuf Bey revealed that the soldiers there were left with no food for three days. The Infantry School in Hankah, near Cairo, received no rice or meat for such a long time that the director had to go to the market and buy food with his own money. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 938