Reliving The Life Of A Civil Soldier | |
Learning The Names Of Equipment
3:45 PM, Apr. 1, 2009
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HatsYou have probably wondered what they call the different pieces of equipment that a typical soldier would have carried or worn. I will start with hats. Hats varied from soldier to soldier. The troops in the East would usually wear forage, kepi, or Hardee hats. Forage hats are awkward and they kind of look weird when you first buy them, but they wear in after some time. Many of the Eastern and some Western soldiers wore them during the war. Kepis originated from Europe and were issued to mostly officers, but a few regiments were also issued them. Hardee hats were named after General W. J. Hardee who published a infantry tactics manual. The Hardee hats were used mostly by state militia and the Iron Brigade which was commanded by General John F. Reynolds. Now the troops in the West who got to slack off a little and who didn't care about military spick and span, wore mostly different kinds of civilian hats to protect them from the hot sun in the Midwest. Cartridge Box The next piece of equipmnet is the cartridge box. A soldier's cartridge box held his cartridges for his rifle. A 1860's rifle cartridge was a bullet and gun powder wrapped in paper. Later a cartridge was much like today's with metal case instead of paper. A cartridge box usually held about 60 cartridges. The cartridge box was worn behind the soldier so that stray bullets couldn't hit the box and explode the powder inside. To further protect the soldier from explosions the containers inside the box were made of metal and the box had two outside flaps to prevent any sparks. Cap Box The third piece of equipment would be the cap box. If you have shot a cap gun you should know what caps are and what they do. If not then a cap is a cup-shaped piece of metal that is partially filled with black powder. When you pull the trigger of the gun that sets off the hammer which hits the cap and creates a spark which ignites the powder inside the barrel and shoots the bullet out of the gun. The cap box has two flaps like the cartridge box that deflect any stray sparks that could set off the caps. Inside the box there is lamb's wool to keep the caps from falling out of the box. Bayonet, scabbard, and frog Your next pieces of equipment are your bayonet, scabbard, and frog. You are probably wondering again what a frog is. It is definitely not a frog that ribbits! The frog is only for Enfield bayonets which go on Enfield rifles which I will talk about later, but the scabbard slides into the frog which hangs onto your belt. Most bayonets during the Civil War were triangularly shaped so that when you stabbed your victim it created a unfixable trianglular hole. So if you were stabbed with a bayonet you would eventually die from your wound. Haversack After the bayonet and its counterparts comes your haversack. A haversack (pronounced hav-er-sack) holds your personal items and daily rations. A Union soldier's canvas haversack would have tarred that is why they are black in color. Usually a Confederate's haversack was just a simple canvas haversack that was made at home most of the time. Soldiers didn't usually keep paper in their haversack because there was sometimes lots of oil and grease in their rations so they kept their paper items in their cartridge box. Canteen A canteen was a soldier's best friend. Taking a sip of water was very refreshing after a 30 or more mile march across rugged terrain. Canteens came in many different kinds. Union soldiers used what is called a bullseye canteen that had ridges in circular patterns. Confederates usually used wooden or just the regular metal canteens. Rifle The most important of a soldier's equipment is his rifle. There were many kinds of rifles that were used during the war, but I will talk about just a few. The most common among the infantry was the Springfield which was manufactured in Springfield, Massachusetts before and during the war. The second most common rifle was the Enfield that was made in England by various manufacturers and was used by both sides. Since England did not want to take part in the war Enfields were smuggled over to the United States. Now repeating rifles were being produced for the first time and were becoming very popular among the infantry. The Spencer and Henry rifles were the most common during the war. The Henry Repeating rifle later became the Winchester rifle a few years after the Civil War. Leave a Comment { Last Page } { Page 4 of 6 } { Next Page } |
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