Treasure Hunting in: California
Golden State GOLD Gold was first discovered by the Spaniards as early as the 1500s, but mining operations did not begin until the 1780s along the Colorado River. Gold was next discovered in the San Gabriel River (near Los Angeles), San Francisco, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, San Jose, and Santa Cruz by Mexican prospectors who kept these finds secret. Of course, gold was then found at the infamous Sutter's Mill near Sacramento in 1848 and made headlines worldwide.
Fugitive Slave Act 1850 Lincoln
As it turned out, one piece of the Compromise of 1850 the Fugitive Slave Act proved to be a disaster for the badly splintered country. At first, slaveholders in the South were quite satisfied with the law. It made the task of retrieving runaway slaves living in the North easier, and it called for severe penalties, including large fines and prison terms, for anyone who provided escaped slaves with food, shelter, or any other kind of assistance. Furthermore, it commanded all U.S. citizens to aid...
Eli Whitney 17651825 American inventor whose inventions included the cotton gin
Selves from English control through the War for Independence, or Revolutionary War 1775-83 . With the war behind them, the leaders of these colonies turned to the monumental task of deciding exactly what sort of nation the United States was going to be. As they discussed the framework for their new country, they quickly realized that it was going to be difficult to address the issue of slavery in a way that would be acceptable to everyone. In 1787, leaders from the original colonies met in...
Hated in the South
Certain that Southern politicians would soon try to spread slavery into the West, Sumner joined with Ohio senator Salmon P. Chase (1808-1873) and several other antislav-ery congressmen to issue a document called The Appeal of the Independent Democrats. This document criticized the KansasNebraska Act as part . . . of an atrocious terrible plot to convert the West into a dreary region of despotism tyranny , inhabited by masters and slaves. . . . Whatever apologies may be offered for the...
The Lincoln Douglas debates
As the 1858 Senate contest between Douglas and Lincoln progressed, it quickly drew the attention of people all around Illinois and the nation. This spotlight fell on the two men for several reasons. Both men were energetic campaigners who roamed all across the state to win people to their side. Moreover, most observers agreed that the race was a close one, and that either man might win. But the Douglas-Lincoln contest became most famous because it included a series of heated public debates that...
Strengths and weaknesses of the Union and the Confederacy
The North entered the war with seemingly-decisive advantages in almost every measurable category. This has led to a common perception, often rooted in analysis that begins with the Confederate surrender at Appomattox and works backwards, that the South faced such overwhelming odds as to make victory impossible. A corollary to this idea suggests that the Confederacy managed to fight as long as it did only because of superior generalship and a gallant effort on the part of its common folk inside...
The siege of Vicksburg
While Johnston was being reinforced by troops from Tennessee and South Carolina, Grant collected his troops and, thanks to Halleck in Washington, also received reinforcements. Pemberton, meanwhile, was contemplating a way out of Vicksburg. Realizing that attempting to evacuate the city would not only be futile, but also give the Federals complete control of the Mississippi, Pemberton chose to stay and try to outlast the siege. Anxious to capitalize on his string of successful operations and...
Ironclads in the Confederate States Navy
In contrast to the initial hesitation in the North regarding the construction of ironclads, the Confederates, beginning with the very newly appointed Secretary of Navy, Stephen R. Mallory, were quick to see the possibilities of the new weapon. In a letter to the Chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee of the Confederate Congress, Mallory enthusiastically expounded his views I regard the possession of an iron armored ship as a matter of the first necessity. Such a vessel at this time could...
Native American Clothing
Bind old pieces of cloths and rags about my legs in imitation of the dressed and smoked buckskin leggings so universally worn by the full blood Creeks of that day Headgear In 1859, Grayson, who made a point of having his clothing cut and sewed by the tailor and in the prevailing style, was embarrassed to be seen with his father, who habitually wore a turban fashioned out of a shawl. Such turbans, brightly colored and fringed and often imported from Russia, were still worn and decorated with...
Treasure Hunting North Carolina
Tarheel State GOLD Gold was first discovered in Cabarrus County around 1800. This discovery of a 17 pound gold nugget by a twelve year old in Little Meadow Creek prompted the country's first gold rush. Most of North Carolina's gold deposits were subsequently discovered in Stanley, Mecklenburg, Union, Gaston, Rowan, Davidson, and Randolph counties.
COfficer nth Indiana Volunteers
The 4th Michigan Volunteers were organised at Adrian on 16 May 1861, and served throughout the war with a distinguished record, winning particular distinction in the five days of action at Gaines' Mill and Malvern Hill where the regiment sustained 252 casualties , and at a desperate hand-to-hand fight in 'The Wheat Field' at Gettysburg, where the 4th lost 165 men and Colonel Harrison Jeffords, killed defending the regimental colours. The 4th Michigan were distinguished by the Zouave-style...
American Civil War Timeline
1775 Philadelphia Quakers organize America's first antislav-ery society. 1776-83 English colonies' War for Independence against Great Britain ends with the formation of the United States. 1788 The U.S. Constitution is ratified, providing legal protection to slaveowners. 1793 Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin, which will dramatically increase Southern cotton production. 1803 President Thomas Jefferson purchases the Louisiana Territory from France. Yankee Doodle is written. George Washington...
Chinese Civil War Weapons
Chiang Kai-shek was not blind to the weaknesses of his army. His frank analysis of his officers recognized their lack of professional skills, their neglect or ill-treatment of their men. and their endemic personal corruption. His intentions were frustrated by senior commanders failing to co-operate with one another, each protecting his own army's assets like some jealous warlord, unwilling to risk his own men or more importantly, his equipment to help a neighbouring commander who was under...
Treasure Hunting New Mexico
Land of Enchantment GOLD Gold was first discovered in 1828 in the Ortiz Mountains, south of Santa Fe. Even today, it is still actively mined throughout the state. This state offers lots of opportunities for panning and nugget shooting. Placer Deposits A placer deposit is a concentration of a natural material that has accumulated in unconsolidated sediments of a stream bed, beach, or residual deposit.
Union Cavalry Carbines
Arrtacts counesv o' The Cnnl IV,j- itti'aiy ,ml Museum Philadelphia. Pa Almost all Union carbines were breech-loading and fired special ammunition peculiar to each weapon, with calibers varying from .36 to .69. While great advances in small arms were made during the war, the lack of standardization created major problems. Most companies manufacturing these arms ceased to exist after hostilities came to an end. The Sharps carbine 1 was one of a relatively small number of capping breech loaders,...
Pivotmounted 11inch 280mm Dahlgren Smoothbore
To befall a naval officer was the oversight of a gun and its crew. Many different types of gun entered service with the U.S. Navy, but the larger rifles and smoothbores such as this Dahlgren 11-inch were the most likely to be found aboard sea-going sloops and cruisers. This gun weighed some 16,0001b 8 US tons 7,258kg and could hurl a 1301b 59kg shell nearly a mile. The rate of fire varied from rapid two minutes per shot to sustained three minutes per shot , the gun being aimed by means of a...
Th Georgia Infantry Clinch Rifles CSA
Company A of the 5th Georgia Infantry called itself the Clinch Rifles from the start of the war, and never yielded to official efforts to take the title away, nor did it relinquish its distinctive uniform. Indeed, most companies of this regiment wore differing outfits, causing General Braxton Bragg to call them the Pound Cake Regiment. Some wore green, but most opted for the light blue trousers and dark blue frock coat shown on the corporal at right. Two major distinctions were the dark blue...
The Passaic Class Passaic Montauk Catskill Patapsco Lehigh Sangamon Weehawken Comanche Nantucket Nahant
The Passaic class was, chronologically, the first class built after the original Monitor. The first of the class, the Passaic, was commissioned on November 25, 1862, and by spring of 1863 most of her sisters had been launched, commissioned and dispatched to the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. With one exception the Comanche all the Passaic class saw action in the blockade and siege of Charleston. Though other, more powerful Monitors eventually joined them, these ships were the real work...
30th Virginia Battalion Sharpshooters
24th Tennessee Sharpshooter Battalion was formed in May 1863 and served with the Army of Tennessee until it surrendered in 1865. After Murfreesboro, in early 1862, an Army of Tennessee divisional commander, Major General Patrick Cleburne, ordered a sharpshooter company to be formed in his brigade. Stall officer Irving Buck recalled, he first directed that each commander should send him names of a certain number of the best marksmen in their regiments. From out of these, making the highest...
Personal Possessions of General Robert t Lee
At first appointed brigadier-general of Virginia's forces, Lee later received a regular Confederate commission. By 1862 he was military advisor to President Davis and, after the wounding of General Joseph E. Johnston in May 1862, Lee took command of the Army of Northern Virginia. Lee fought aggressively and was immensely successful at Second Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. Then, after the repulse at Gettysburg, he was forced to turn to the defensive and he did well through 1864...
Union Sabers
Federal weapons, with few exceptions, exhibited advanced manufacturing techniques and excellent quality, as shown by these curved-blade, cavalry sabers. The weapons are shown in close-up 1 to 3 , while the photograph shows a group of Ohio cavalrymen, rugged western Yankees, typical of many in the ranks of Union cavalry regiments, with their sabers very much in evidence. They were young, lean, and hardy young men, well-used to the outdoor life, and meant business. The great cavalry tradition was...
Union Officers Headgear and Insignia
This assemblage shows three different patterns of Union officers' headgear - kepi known as a forage cap , slouch and havelock - as well as numerous variations in the style of kepi. The infantry of the line is represented by the caps of Maj. Samuel S. Linton, 38th Illinois Infantry 4 First Lt. Peter Palen, 143rd New York Infantry 5 Capt. Selleck L. White, 10th Connecticut Infantry 7 and Capt. Lindley M. Coleman, 19th Maine Infantry 8 . Staff officers, however, wore a different badge, as shown by...
Private Guthrie Grays USA
It was commonplace among pre-Civil War local militia units to adopt cadet gray as the color for their uniforms, which led to some confusion when they first faced Confederate forces. Formed in 1854, the 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry was also known as Guthrie's Grays from its uniforms. Raised in Cincinnati, the outfit looked magnificent on parade. The gray uniform was trimmed with black on the collar, and frogging all across the breast, as well as on the sleeves. The short shako was particularly...
The wigwag code
Each letter of the wig-wag alphabet was represented by a certain position or movement of the flag. In wig-wag code, messages were spelled out according to a letter-number code. Each letter of the alphabet was represented by a combination of numbers, and the numbers corresponded to flag movement. A movement to the left of the center meant a 1, and a movement to the right of center meant a 2. The letter A, for example, was 11, which is two movements from the left to the center in a row. Dipping...
Union Army finally accepts black soldiers
In 1862, the Union Army suffered a series of defeats at the hands of the Confederates. This led to low morale among the troops and difficulty attracting white volunteers. As a result, public opinion about allowing blacks to fight gradually began to change. By this time, several Union generals had tried to set up black regiments despite the lack of government approval, including General James Lane 1814-1866 in Kansas, General David Hunter 1802-1886 in South Carolina's Sea Islands, and General...
Lincoln attempts to send supplies
Almost as soon as he took office, Lincoln found out that the situation in Fort Sumter was even more serious than he had previously believed. A day after delivering his inaugural address, he was informed that Major Anderson and his men had only enough food and supplies to remain at the fort until about April 15. If the Union proved unable to resupply Anderson before then, he and his men would have to surrender the fort or face starvation. Moreover, Lincoln was told that on March 3, South...
The End in Spain 167
IJiFT One side of the spinner of Hptm. Gouluird Ilandrieks Bf 109 I gt 1 was marked with the five Olympic rings to commemorate his winning a Gold Medal in the 1936 Berlin Games together with the legend 1936 and a laurel wreath.This photo was taken after the aircraft had been decorated by his ground crew to commemorate his return to Germany In September 1938.The inscription'Scheiden tut web means Parting Is painful. ABOVE The other side of the spinner of Handrick's Bf 1091 gt 1 with the five...
Regulation Infantry
The blue clad infantryman was the mainstay of Union Forces from 1861-1865.1 lis natural successors were the Doughboys of World War I, the GIs of World War 2 and the Grunts who fought in Vietnam. Orders issued on March 13, 1861, prescribed that the Rill dress coat for infantrymen should be a dark blue single breasted frock coat made without pleats with a skirt extending one half the distance from the top of the hip to the bend of the knee. The coats were to have nine buttons placed at equal...
Union Infantry Officers Dress
Officially all infantry officers in regulation dress were to wear frock coats of dark blue cloth. These coats had a standing collar usually about 1 ' , inches in height and reached down two thirds to three fourths of the distance from the top of the hip to continued on p. 56 This comfortably dressed officer wears a sack coat with a narrow cut. This sack coat does not appear to have any shoulder straps, but he wears an officer's sash underneath his waistbelt. David Scheinmann. This comfortably...
Custer S Uniforms
The US Marine Corps in the American Civil War didn't have the same prominence in the Army that the Marines occupy today. The corps numbered under 5,000 men and despite the bad performance of a detachment of Marines at First Bull Run, who Brigadier General Israel B. Richardson was killed at the battle of Antietam in 1862, one of the 47 generals on both sides who died in the war. David Scheinmann. This first sergeant of Light Artillery is pictured wearing a regulation shell jacket and the red...
Union State Uniforms
Although the Union Army had developed a regulation uniform, many States jealously guarded the right to equip their own volunteers. Most States had drawn up their own uniform regulations and many men joining units in these States started the war in uniforms that not only were locally prescribed, but in many cases were manufactured in the State concerned. Some of these States followed the U.S. Army regulations almost exactly, but before 1861 States didn't draw uniforms from army stocks....
Union Troops
These cavalrymen were the backbone of Stoneman's cavalry corps, yet their leader wasted them. However, fighting men like Lieutenant Colonel Duncan McVicar led them bravely against superior odds, showing Stuart that he was no longer the uncontested cavalry expert. The 90-Day War was in its second year. The Union Army of the Potomac was on its fourth commander, Maj.Gen. Joseph Hooker. Although better equipped and superior in number to the Confederates, prior to Hooker's arrival the army suffered...
USA a 1st Lieutenant
3 a 1 st Lieutenant, Cavalry, Service Dress. b Private, Cavalry, Service Dress. c Corporal, 2nd Cavalry, Full Dress, 1860-61. n.b. Figures should be identified from left to right throughout this section. b Private, Cavalry, Service Dress. c Corporal, 2nd Cavalry, Full Dress, 1860-61. When the U.S. Cavalry was reorganised in 1861, the two dragoon regiments became the 1st and 2nd Cavalry. Prior to this reorganisation, they had been distinguished by orange braid and trimming, which was changed to...
Insignia and Medals
The regulation embroidered bugle horn insignia is shown in this photograph of an officer holding his Hardee hat. David Scheinmarin. Ten years befqre the outbreak of the American Civil War, several changes were made to United States military insignia. Metal insignia for all branches of the service was cast in brass. Distinctive colours were also adopted for branches of service blue for infantry, red for artillery and yellow or orange for the cavalry. The yellow cavalry trim dated back to the...
CPrivate US Coloured Infantry
Beginning with the Corps d'Afrique Louisiana Native Guards and the ist Louisiana National Guard, the first 'black' regiment in U.S. service mustered 27 September 1862 , about 300,000 coloured troops were enrolled in Federal service following the Emancipation Proclamation I January 1863 in 166 regiments 145 infantry, seven cavalry, twelve heavy artillery, one field artillery, one engineer , of which about sixty were employed in the field. Officers were white negro regiments, though they behaved...
Captain 1st Dragoons 1858
The pre-war Old Army was always a pitifully small organization and with a strength of about 16,000 men in 1860, it was hardly larger than it had been thirty years before. Only a handful of infantry, cavalry, and artillery units made up its ranks, but one of the newer regiments was the 1st Dragoons, created in 1834 as the Regiment of Mounted Dragoons -one of its officers was the young Jefferson Davis, later President of the Confederated States. The dragoons had been popular in European armies in...
Union Zouave and Rifle Officers Uniforms and Equipment
Nowhere was the approach to infantry uniforms more starkly demonstrated than in the uniforms of the rifle regiments also known as sharpshooters and the zouaves. Rifle uniforms were designed to be as inconspicuous as possible, the color of the uniforms being usually a dark green or a dark blue. The branch insignia had a green background, and the piping was also green. These elite units were few in number and surviving equipment is correspondingly very rare The known individual owners of the...
Union Infantry Equipment
Since the days of the American Revolution, American Standing like the Emperor Napoleon, with hand in coat, was a popular pose for many Civil War soldiers having their photographs taken. This soldier stands almost completely accoutred and the top of his bayonet in its scabbard can just be seen, but he appears to lack a cartridge box. David Scheinmann. Oil cloths were practical forage cap accessories in bad weather. This private has slipped an oil cloth over his forage cap and poses for this...
Enlisted Men 4th Texas Volunteer Infantry CSA
Few Rebel units achieved the reputation of the gallant Texans of Hood's Brigade, among them the 4th Texas Volunteer Infantry, Tough and rugged fighters, they became the shock troops of the Army of Northern Virginia when they came North to fight the Union's Army of the Potomac. The basic uniform shown here has some variations from the regulation Confederate pattern, the most noticeable being the black insignia of rank and the black piping, rather than the more customary blue although this is the...
Infantry Uniforms and Equipment
The Federal forces started with the advantage of having the old Union Army as the basis for their traditions, and for the design of their uniforms and personal equipment. They also had the Union's industrial resources to call upon for their supply. As a result the dress and equipment of the Federal soldier tended to be more standardized than that of his counterpart in the Confederate Army, while the basic materials were of a higher and more standardized quality compare, for example, the cloth...
Confederate Headgear and Epaulettes
While regulations were quite specific, the Confederate officer wore whatever hat was available at the time. Replacements were difficult to obtain, so many pieces of equipment or clothing were used until they were little more than rags. Surviving material was used up after the war due to the desperate economic situation in the South during Reconstruction. As a result, specimens of Confederate hats are very scarce. 1858 Hardee hat of Colonel Francis S. Bartow, of the 7th and 8th Georgia Regiments...
Union Hardee Hat and Branch Indicative Insignia
Gen. William J. Hardee, who was respected throughout both Union and Confederate armies as the author of a widely used drill manual, which was known simply as Hardees Tactics. Shown here are a number of badges suitable for such a hat for the major arms-of-service mounted infantry 2, 3 foot infantry 4, 5 ordnance 6 engineers 8 artillery 9, 10 , and cavalry 12, 13, 14 . Alternative patters of officers cap badges, in black velvet with silver wire embroidered...
Gunner 1st US Artillery
Dress for the heavy artillerymen, as with the 1st US Artillery, remained what it had been before the war, with the same dark blue frock coat and light blue trousers as the infantry, a black felt Hardee hat, and black leather waist and cross belts. The piping on the collar and cuffs was in artillery red, as was the cord and knot on the hat. Since heavies also acted as infantry when not working their guns, they could also carry bayonets and cap boxes. Union...
Cavalry Dress
Officially, cavalrymen were to wear a short jacket A cavalryman stands beside his horse, wearing a pair of gauntlets which surprisingly were not standard issue for mounted troops and had to be privately purchased. David Scheinmann. usually called a shell jacket made out of of dark blue cloth, with one row of 12 small eagle buttons on the the chest placed at equal distances. The stand up collar was cut away at an angle of 30 degrees and had two blind buttonholes on each side in yellow worsted...
The Saddle of Major General John F Reynolds
This is the saddle in which Major General John F. Reynolds was sitting when he was killed in or near woods close to McPherson's Ridge during the Battle of Gettysburg. The general was hit in the head by a chance Rebel bullet on the first day of the battle. July 1, 1863, while trying to mount a holding action against the advancing Confederate forces. He was certainly wearing the sword-belt at the time of his death and may also have been wearing the sash, as well. He had been offered the command...
Federal Uniforms and Headgear
Uniforms of both combatants were anything but uniform during the early stages of the war, especially as the state militia system practically encouraged individuality of uniforms and equipment. Uniform regulations allowed the greatest latitude and, in many cases, only the financial resources of the individual militia unit restricted the elaborate nature of their clothing The results were multicolored, brocaded, plume-bedecked costumes, which were taken extremely seriously by the wearer, but may...
Hospital Steward Chevron
Box 22520 - Little Rock, AR 72221 Email g.hendershott comcast.net Life Member Manuscript Society, APS and CSA View complete historical collections online at www.GaryHendershott. VET J.E.B. Stuart wore an identical Hardee hat made by the very same French maker, Latour and Prince - Paris however this General Officer's Hat was worn by Union General Thomas Welsh of the 9th Corps While J.E.B. Stuart's Hardee hat is on permanent display at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, this is the...
New Yorks Finest
Dunce's Zouaves A few weeks before the demise of the Fire Zouaves the 5th New York Volunteer Infantry, Dunce's Zouaves, had proved their mettle with a charge at Big Bethel, the first land action of the American Civil War, and throughout its two-year service the 5th would live up to all its ideals. The unit would also hold the grim record that in the entire war no other Union infantry regiment suffered so great a number of casualties in so short a space of rime, during a single day's battle....
Cavalry and Artillery
On the eve of the Civil War, the cavalry arm of the Union forces, like the infantry, was woefully understrength. T here were only five regiments of regular cavalry and they were out protecting settlers on the plains. The 1st Regiment of dragoons had been recruited in 1836 while the 2nd regiment had originally been raised as a mounted rifle regiment in 1844. The 1st and 2nd Cavalry, the newest of these regiments, had been raised in 1855. A third cavalry regiment was raised in June 1861 and later...
Massachusetts
Boston Light Artillery The battery volunteered immediately liir federal service on the outbreak ol the war in tfiGi, serving as Capt. Asa Cook's Independent Battery for three months. After being mustered out, most battery members volunteered for three years service, serving as the 2nd Massachusetts Light Artillery Battery. The uniform included dark blue shakos with red pompons and a brass rap badge with the letter A on a red background. The double-breasted grey frock coat-had red standing...
Zouaves and Militia Units
By the mid 19th Century, the French Army had a tremendous influence on military dress worldwide, especially in America. The traditional bond with the United States forged during the American Revolution, when France supported the fledging country in its This distinctive looking officer circa 1855, wears epaulettes and what appears to be a non-regulation large bow tie. His trousers seem to follow the rather straight cut of the 1850s and his shako on the table beside him has a feather plume and...
Connecticut
First Company, Governor's Horse Guards Formed iu the i8lh century and not part ol the regular state militia system, this unit was based in Hartford. Members joined a number of active Union army units. Its uniforms included black liearskin busbies dark blue coaices trimmed with Pulaski Artillery I mined in Little Rock and also This mrmbfr of hi Mobile gt Alabama Cadr wan Ihnr irty and black dress coal , with while numnipr trousers, and hold a rry and black copy of the Mi 851 US Amy shako. For...
James Henry Gooding
A Black Soldier's Letter to President Abraham Lincoln An appeal for equal pay for black soldiers From the earliest days of the Civil War, free black men from the North tried to join the Union Army as soldiers. They cited two main reasons for wanting to fight. First, they wanted to help put an end to slavery. Second, they believed that proving their patriotism and courage on the field of battle would help improve their position in American society. But Federal law prohibited black men from...
Williams Machinegun 1pounder 1 barrel 125 to 1 57 calibre
This Confederate 'secret weapon' was invented by Captain Williams of Covington, Kentucky. The single barrel was 4 feet long, made of iron, and mounted on a light one-horse double-shafted mountain howitzer-type carriage. Rate of fire was 60-65 rounds per minute, with a range of up to 2,000 yards. The piece was manned by a crew of three. One fed self-consuming paper cartridges into the breech from above by hand. The second placed percussion caps on to a nipple on the left-hand side of the...
The Armed Forces of South Russia
The Volunteers opened a new offensive, the 'North Caucasian Operation', on 3 January 1919. The Reds had reformed a front with the 11th and newly-raised 12th Armies. These consisted of 150,000 men, of which perhaps only half were combat-ready. Against these, Denikin pitted 25,000, including the cavalry of Wrangel, Prokovsky and Shkuro. At the end of six weeks, in which neither side gave quarter, the Reds broke, yielding 50,000 prisoners and 150 pieces of artillery. This liberated the Terek...
The Moscow Directive
Denikin arrived in Tsaritsyn on 2 July. The next day he unfolded his 'Moscow Directive' Mai-Maevsky would advance to Kursk-Orel-Tula-Moscow, the Don Cossacks to Voronezh-Ryazan-Moscow, Wrangcl to Saratov-Nizhny Novgorod-Vladimir-Moscow. Later in the campaign the western advance would he amended to include Kiev and Chernigov in the north as well as the capture of Kherson, Nlkolaev and Odessa in the south. In the heady atmosphere of those days the Whites accepted the news with enthusiasm....
Specifications
Crew Eight commander, driver, six gunners Power-to-weight ratio 5.2 horsepower per ton Width for conveyance by rail approximately 8ft 9in. Engine Ricardo. six-cylinder inline. 150hp at 1,200rpm Transmission four forward gears, one reverse Petrol capacity 93 Imperial gallons Petrol consumption 2 Imperial gallons per mile Gun 6-pdr 23-cal. Q.F. quick firing Hotchkiss gun 183-shell and 24-case shot in storage Gun traverse 100 degrees Gun depression elevation -15 to 25 degrees Machine guns Five 8mm...
Century Redrawn
No one has been able to calculate accurately the cost in human life attributable to the civil war. Reasoned estimates have placed the number of dead from battle and disease in the Red Army as low as 425,000 and as high as 1,213,000. Numbers for their opponents range from 325,000 to 1,287,000. Another 200,000-400,000 died in prison or were executed as a result of the 'Red Terror' against 'enemies of the people', A further 50,000 may have been victims of the corresponding 'White Terror'. Another...
The First National Flag
When Jefferson Davis was sworn into office as the President of the provisional government of the new Confederate States of America on tfi February 1861 in Montgomery, Alabama, the flag that floated over the scene was that of the state of Alabama. The states w hich had so recently left the almost hundred-year-old United States to form their own government had no flag to represent their new nation. The first flag used to represent the seceding southern states as a whole had a blue field with a...
North Carolina
In 1861 there was the usual collection of volunteer companies in various uniforms in North Carolina. There were eight companies of 'Blues' and 23 of 'Grays', indicating a clear preference for grey uniforms. These uniforms quickly wore out, however, and the men needed new ones. North Carolina was unique among Southern states in that from 20 September 1861 it took over the responsibility for clothing its own troops. The state set up a clothing factory in Raleigh which made, during its one year of...
Things to remember while reading the excerpt from Journal of Edmund DeWitt Patterson
Patterson describes the war between the American North and South as a struggle . . . between justice and injustice, right and wrong, freedom and oppression. These words reflected the widespread Confederate belief that the Civil War had erupted because of Northern arrogance and bullying toward the South. Patterson's journal entries reflect the Confederate view of the South as a region full of men and women of great courage and character. Many of its inhabitants also harbored a great love for...
Man Carrying Woman In Arms
Figures m bold refer to illustrations armoured crews 3S. 38 Auchinleck, Gen Sir Claude 34 Chang Tso-lin, Marshal 5 Chen YL Gen 12 Cheng Tung-kao. Gen 11 Chennault. Gen Claire 7, 8. 9 Chiang Kai-Shek 14 and civil wars 4, 7. 10, 18. 19 and KMT forces 13. 15. IS and World WarH 7, S. 9. 12 China civil wars 3. 4-5, 10-12 map of eastern and central provinces S Chindits 8-9 Chinese Communist Amiy CCP 3, 4-5, 7. 10 Chinese Nationalist Part ' see Kuomintang commandos 38 engineers 46-7, G3 equipment 16....
The Nationalist Army 193745
Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his deputy chief-of-staff General Pei Hsung-hsi left , reviewing high-ranking Nationalist officers in Chungking, 1944. All wear standard Chinese Army officers' uniform with Sam Browne belts and, in most cases, breeches with high leather boots. Chiang is wearing his version of the service dress with the addition of an officer's mantle or cloak. disciplined while the 250,000 soldiers of Szechuan in the south-west were described as the worst-trained and equipped,...
The M1857 Napoleon
The first Napoleon was cast in December, 1856, by the Ames Manufacturing Co., Chicopee, Massachusetts. It was the only exact copy of the French Army's field piece, complete with handles on the top above the trunnions, and a full 61-in. long tube. There was some dissatisfaction with the results obtained with this length barrel, and future tubes were made some three inches longer. The original tube is presently located at the Petersburg Virginia National Military Park. Ames cast four more lubes...
Wiard Field Artillery
During the war, Norman Wiard, a Canadian by birth, held the job of Superintendent of Ordnance Stores for the U.S. Army. A talented inventor he also designed and produced special river landing boats for the U.S. government , by 1863 he had developed an entirely new system of field artillery. Wiard's guns used semi-steel, a low carbon cast iron in which some scrap steel was mixed with the pig iron of the charge. The result was a tensile strength of 110,000 lb, per square inch, allowing for...
THE Ml 841 12Pdr Howitzer
Muzzle of the first 3-inoh Ordnance Rifle over produced. This particular weapon was captured at Gettysburg. George Lomas Collection Muzzle of the first 3-inoh Ordnance Rifle over produced. This particular weapon was captured at Gettysburg. George Lomas Collection I he smoothbore howitzer was designed as a lightweight gun suitable for use with canister or shell at short ranges, or at a higher trajectory than regular guns ii was therefore able to hit targets in greater defilade than regular guns....
Horses Saddlery
Few Indians or Texans would volunteer as infantrymen, but would dismount and fight on foot when necessary. Irregular units such as Quantrill's and the Jayhawkers relied on the horse, and the Federal authorities also raised cavalry regiments. Mules and oxen were also needed to operate supply trains. Horses from Texas and the Territory were generally mustang or Spanish breeds those from Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas were American saddle horses, gaited saddlers or hunters, though work horses and...
Select Bibliography
Alexander, Edward Porter, Fighting for the Confederacy Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1989 Andrews, R. Snowden, Andrews' Mounted Artillery Drill Charleston, South Carolina, 1863 Daniel, Larry ., Cannoneers in Gray University, Alabama, 1984 Daniel, I .arryj., and Rilev W. Ounter, Confederate Canon Foundries Union City, Tennessee, 1977 French, William Barry, William 11 tint, Henry, Instruction for Field Artillery New York, 1864 GorgasJ., The Ordnance Manual Richmond, Virginia, 1862 Osborn, Thomas,...
Gunboats in Action
When the war began, nobody who was given command of a wooden gunboat on the Mississippi River knew what to expect when his vessel went into action. Although experienced naval officers had read the latest theoretical treatises and kept abreast of the latest developments in naval and ordnance technology, the effect of shell guns, steam engines and even armor cladding were largely untested when the war began. Similarly, the introduction of the ram was an unknown quantity. The gunboat captains 011...
Union Weapons
Volunteers did bring their own firearms with them when they enlisted, but the government accepted responsibility for arming State volunteers from the outset of the war. Rifles and muskets The Springfield ,58in rifle-musket Ml855 and the .58in rifle Ml855 were the regulation firearms, but wartime production was concentrated on the rifle-musket. The M1861 omitted the Maynard tape primer and patch box. Further modifications were made to the Models 1863 and 1864. Rated as a first-class arm...
Confederate Uniforms Equipment
Early uniforms were improvised, and one of the most popular garments was the battle shirt. Derived from the common pullover work shirt, these generously cut smocks or overshirts could be of homespun, cotton or wool, brightly colored or drab they were frequently trimmed or braided with contrasting colors and materials, and fitted with breast pockets. Many were worn open at the neck, revealing a civilian shirt and sometimes a necktie beneath others - such as the pattern worn by Gen Maxey's 9th...
Confederate Weapons
Arkansas seized 10,000 arms, all but 400 of them flindocks, from the State Armory at Little Rock, and supplied 200 rifles of unknown pattern to the Cherokee in 1861. Few more were forthcoming, and Gen Pike was frustrated by the diversion of firearms and ammunition to other Texas commands. General Steele accepted that his request was unlikely to be fulfilled, as Arkansas struggled to supply its own units. Another difficulty was the often poor quality of black powder imported from Mexico. In...
Union Uniforms Equipment
1 For the purposes of his tide, obviously only a brief general summary can be given. For more detailed information see Men-al-Arms 177 Amrhron Civil IVnr Armirs 2 Union Troops, MAA 179 3j Sprrialnl Troops, MAA 190,., 4 Stair 14 Troops. MAA 207 Yolunt rr Alili in After shortages in 1861, State regiments were equipped with regulation pattern clothing by the Federal government.1 Some variations were as follows Headgear The M1858 dress hat Hardee hat was adopted for all troops. It was trimmed with...
Mississippi
There were Irish immigrant communities in river towns such as Natchez, Vicksburg and Port Gibson, and in railroad centers like Holly Springs in the northern part of the state. In the 9th Mississippi Infantry Regiment enlisted March 1861, reorganized March 1862 , some 60 or so Irish names - probably workers on the Mississippi Central Railroad - could be found on the rolls of CaptJohn P. Holalian's Co B tile Home Gtiards from Holly Springs , with smaller numbers in x gt s D and E. The 9th...
Quantrill Raiders
Tragedy of the Civil War in the Territory began. Opothleyohola, a full-blood Creek chief loyal to the Union, gathered 5,000 followers, including some Semin les and fugitive slaves, and moved towards the Kansas border hoping for military support. Douglas Cooper, now colonel of the Choctaw amp Chickasaw Mounted Rifles, led an expedition to force him into allegiance to the Confederacy or drive him from the Territory. Map of the Indian Territory and neighboring states, 1861-65, with locations...
Union Ammunition and Accessories
Federal ordnance facilities had the capability to produce metallic cartridges, a tremendous advantage when coupled with breech-loading rifles and carbines. Yet even the Federal forces had such a wide variety of calibers of small arms ammunition ranging from .31 to .72, all of which were considered standard, that they created producing a logistician's nightmare. Shown here are just a few of the wide range of proprietary brands used for carbines and revolvers. 2 and 3 Percussion caps as issued 4...
Locally Made and Imported Weapons continued
In an effort to furnish arms to troops made in limited quantities and no in the field, the Confederates effort seems to have been made to utilized many obsolete arms of earlier achieve any form of standardization manufacture. Most flintlocks were which could have seen greater altered to the percussion system 1 , numbers available at lower cost, and though in haste, some were not 2 , also eased the logistical burden, which meant that soldiers in the second half of the 19th century were 1...
Confederate Cavalry Carbines and Artillery
The government-owned Richmond 1 Arsenal produced the largest 2 number of carbines 13 , while Cook and Brother was the most prolific 3 private contractor, manufacturing substantial numbers of carbines and 4 musketoons 8 and 12 , whose design was based closely on that of the English Pattern 1853 Enfield. All 5 Confederate firearms show evidence of superior finish and hand fitting. 6 S. C Robinson Sharps carbine Morse carbine with breech exposed for reloading C. Chapman musketoon, complete with...
Civil War Weapons
I The Kmfl .Stable T The Lord. .Viable. A. The Kintf Tent B The Lords Tent. C The OarcL P The Gene rail Tent E The Lev lt ten' Oeneralhr' r TheOrnerall. G Thelevetrti H La rte Newport.' I .Serjeant Maior K S Henrv U .S'' lohn Hi N i.'.yUion O Culton ll 3 Thum a. Morton. B .9 Thorn4 MetUnw . I The Kmfl .Stable T The Lord. .Viable. King Charles's camp near Berwick during the First Scots War, 1639. The Glorious Standard is no doubt the same one raised at Nottingham when, in...
Jfic CJUghting
How did they fight in those days What was a battle like As always, tactics were governed by weapons and ground. The English countryside in the mid-seventeenth century rather favoured the action of cavalry. Not only, of course, was there no barbed wire, but there were comparatively few enclosures of any description, and since the forests which clothed the country in the Dark and Middle Ages were already beginning to disappear, the country was, broadly speaking, suitable for movement and...
Drummer Boy Costume
SK blue ensign of a regiment using a motif from its commander's heraldic arms instead of simple geometric shapes. I.eft Weston Super Mare, SK white ensign with pile identifying the sergeant-major's company. Right Pendennis Castle, SK a white-on-black colonel's company colour, carried by the recreated Sir Nicholas Slanning's Regiment. Left Sccond Battle of Newbury, SK ensigns of Prince Rupert's Regiment of Foot had a black and white quartered design with companies...
The Confederate Navy
A navy to defend the South's waters and to prey on Northern shipping was authorised on 16 March 1861. In late 1864 it numbered 700 commissioned and warrant officers and 3,674 enlisted men, probably its peak strength. Despite a lack of shipbuilding facilities, the Navy launched 37 ironclads, the most famous of which was the CSS Virginia, better known as the Merrimac. This was the first ironclad naval ship in American waters, and its battle with the Northern Monitor changed naval history. The...
Partisan Rangers And Cavalry Raiders
A combination of mobility, disinformation campaigns, knowledge of terrain, and aggressiveness were the keys to success for partisan rangers and cavalry raiders alike. Partisan rangers used many of the same tactics as guerrillas, but since they generally constituted larger forces they also employed small-scale battle tactics. Their adversaries tended to outnumber them, so partisans only gave battle at a time and place of their own choosing. Most bands avoided direct fights with equal or greater...
Lancers and Hussars
Lancers and Hussars had been a military tradition in Europe for many years and their influence eventually filtered through to America. The Union army never fielded large numbers of lancers or hussars, but a number of specialist units were recruited and saw good service. It is a little surprising that in the romantic notions of soldiering that persisted throughout the Civil War more of these type of units were not raised. Two troops of regular cavalry were armed with lances as an experiment in...
The Battle Of Marston Moor
2 July 1644, viewed from the south-west. Late evening. Goring's victorious Royalist Horse returns to the battlefield to find Cromwell's Horse ready to charge. Cromwell sweeps all before him and turns to attack the unsupported Royalist Foot. The battle ends with the Allied forces disorganised and exhausted, but the Royalist Army has been driven from the field and destroyed as an effective fighting force. A Regimental colour, typical of those carried by the Scots Army, in this case a blue field...
Trooper 1 st Virginia Cavalry Regiment CSA 18612
The 1st Virginia Cavalry began the war as a group of independent companies of horse from the Shenandoah Valley, organized into a regiment by J. E. B. Stuart, later of course to become a major general. At the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861, they achieved renown as the dreaded Black Horse Cavalry, though the origin of the sobriquet is obscure. For the remainder of the war they performed outstanding service with the Cavalry Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia. Stuart's horsemen wore...
The horsemen
The american civil war was the last large conflict in world history in which soldiers on horseback played an important part. Cavalrymen scouted out the positions and movements of enemy armies. They made shock attacks the famous cavalry charges that could break up infantry formations. If an enemy army retreated, cavalry troops were it. Additionally, horse soldiers were used as The .44 caliber Colt revolver was one of the most common Civil War cavalry weapons. It was meant to be carried in a...
Bayard Wilkeson
Ollowing the general standoff between Lee and McClellan at Antietam in September 1862, McClellan was replaced by General Ambrose Burnside. The new commander of the Army of the Potomac returned to the old strategy of invading Virginia, which brought the opposing forces together at the Rappahannock crossings, near Fredericksburg. Lee's army fought a purely defensive battle there from protected positions that allowed the Confederates to receive Union assaults and decimate them. Lee won a lopsided...
First Sergeant 3rd New Jersey Cavalry the Butterflies USA
The 3rd New Jersey Cavalry, the Butterflies, has already been mentioned on pages 64-65. Their armament alone made them formidable, with the repeating Spencer carbines and the Remington 44 revolvers, but then there was their uniform, with its frogged jacket and the splendid, red-lined, flowing talma cape , which gave more of an impression of Napoleonic-era hussars, rather than American horsemen fighting in the 1860s. Despite this somewhat archaic appearance, however, this first sergeant, is...
Spencer Repeating Cartridge Carbine
Although it was not introduced until 1862 and was used in limited numbers until 1863, it was so popular that 94,196 were eventually provided. The -52 calibre cartridge was rim-fire copper case, seven rounds being held in a tubular magazine held in the butt-stock, one in the chamber. The magazine was loaded into the butt through the butt-plate, the cartridges being fed into the breech by a coiled spring. The Spencer could also be fired as a single-shot carbine. Depressing and raising the trigger...
Powered By Article Dashboard Confederate Military Ranks
Bn I Jtthill, 1641 Kind . 1967 p 18 1 Sir John CiwiSTrt to Cjpl John Mrnnt aTWibrot's Hone. Auguii tS i, CaUnJar 0 Suit pjptn 1641-4 , P 71. and x Young, H4t hUI, p. 1 to pound tight-fitting or 12 to the pound 'rowling'l could inflict the most terrible injuries. Increasingly in use were firearms with more modem methods of ignition. Some wheel lock muskeis even rifled ones may have been used by officers, but were expensive and difficult to maintain, having a complex mechanism in...