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Union Greatcoat

As I have been writing and thinking about the blog,  people have asked a few particular questions of me. If you have a question or two that you need answering just let me know. I’d love to help. It might be simple or complex but I’m always will to try and find an answer. It’s FUN!

Next up: on the Painting front will be artillerymen of both sides and their equipment.

Rebel Tait shell jacket

Painting Civil War miniatures part 3

Lt. Gen. James Longstreet at Gettysburg

 



The average Confederate soldier during the war had at times the best stuff and at other times was short of everything. As the War progressed the Confederacy just flat out ran out of money. They also had a problem getting goods from where it was made to where it was needed. Sadly some states would not share their abundance of clothing with soldiers from other states. An example is in the winter of 64-65, the Army of Northern Virginia was short of Greatcoats to keep the soldiers warm. North Carolina actually had more than they need for their soldiers and the Governor refused to send the extras he had on hand. His claim was that the Confederate Government could not force them to ship any because of their state’s rights to use as they pleased what they owned. So while North Carolina soldiers kept warm that winter soldiers from other states did not.

The average Reb was not destitute the whole time which seems to be a popular idea. The myth of the “Ragged Reb” has been debunked although some are oblivious to the facts. What is good news for painters is the fact that Rebs did use captured goods for their use. The problem is painters use this in the wrong places.

Certain items were used all the time when they could get a hold of captured goods. The most popular item was actually the common gum rubber blanket/poncho. It was a prized item for the Rebs to acquire because there was no substitute in the Confederate inventory that was so versatile and lasted. The other items were black leather goods such as; waist belt, cartridge box and sling, cap pouch, and bayonet scabbards. They would just remove the box plates, Eagle sling plate and if they could not acquire a new belt buckles they would turn the US belt plate upside down. They also used Federal knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, shoes and blankets. Using Federal clothing (coats and trousers) was a particular no-no. The Confederate armies issued orders from time to time specially stating that no soldiers should be wearing Union uniforms. Did they do it? Yes, it was done. Was it done to any real extent that you would see it in many miniatures you paint? The answer should be no unless you have a specific scenario/period in which you know. The take home message is: don’t have more than one in a hundred models.

Forage Caps and Kepis. The Forage caps and Kepis were worn but not anywhere near the frequency in which Union soldiers did. The colors for Forage caps would be just about any color within the shades of grays and browns. The bill of the cap/false shin strap was black. The strap was attached to the side of the cap with small brass buttons. The Kepi was worn but it was probably the most expensive to produce so as the war progressed fell out of use. Many gamers like to paint the Forage caps and Kepis either all blue or parts blue but this, if and when it did appear was an early war variation. Certainly blue on the Kepi was a fancier cap but… it is WAAAAY too overdone with gamers to a startling degree. I sometimes see colored bands around the bottom of the cap or on the top round piece, the crown. Don’t do this!


Slouch hats. The Slouch hat is a civilian styled hat worn by the men before they became soldiers. It is also the most common for the Rebs. The colors could be black, grays, and browns. Rarely would they be white, mostly shades of the other colors. Instead of white use a very light colored gray as the Rebs wore this more than their Yankee counterpart. Both Eastern and the Western armies predominately wore the Slouch hats. Most of your models should be wearing this and the least should be a Forage cap.

Hats usually had hat bands around the base of the hat. These were generally black or some similarly dark color. Most good sculpts already show this. Some hats have hat cords added by the soldiers themselves. These can be the color of the branch of service so for infantry it would be blue. The entire cord would be the same color.

Caps and Hats had cloth linings on the inside. If you have an officer or soldier waving his cap or hat paint some kind of subdued color for the inside lining.

Shell jacket. This isn’t the place to write a dissertation on the Confederate Shell jackets. There were many and different varieties during the course of the war but unless you are sculpting it really doesn’t matter too much. Basically, on anything between 8mm to 25mm a Shell jacket is a Shell jacket. Early war jackets might have blue or black colored cuffs and collars. Some might have piping as well. The mid-war and late war Shells would have very little other colors than the main colored cloth. Paint the Shells grays and browns (mostly grays). Many gamers seem to have the false impression that the Rebs were always in ripped and ragged clothing. Yes, at times they did suffer this fate but mostly this is not true. They were issued new clothing and when issued it would all be the same color so an entire regiment would look identical. You’d see more similarities than a wide range of colors.

Sack coat (or Fatigue Blouse). This was not a common issue coat with 4 brass buttons for the Rebs. This style should be seldom seen in your armies. It had no piping or other colors, even on the color and cuffs. It was somewhat baggy and roomy. Paint the Sack grays and browns.

Frock coat. This was worn more than the Sack coat but by the war’s end it might not be seen at all. It required so much more material to produce and more time consuming to sew than the Shell jacket so contractors stop making them for soldiers. They were tighter fitting so in the summer heat you sweated a LOT more wearing this coat. Paint the Frock coats grays and browns.

Shirts and Underwear. The Confederate Government had a hard time producing shirts and underwear so most Rebs got them from home. I’m not going into the fabric or styles here. The colors for non-issue shirts is almost limitless but would not be overly too bright and crazy.

During this period every man in America wore long-john type underwear from head to toe all year-round. Yes… even during the summer with long sleeves. It was the custom and actually it went right into the early 1900’s as well. If you read personal accounts from the soldiers you read that some soldiers wore only their undershirts and did not wear shirts over this.

Trousers. These were wool pants in grays and browns. Gamers seem to think it was common to strip the dead of their Union sky-blue trousers. This wasn’t really the case (unless perhaps in winter if your trousers were blown out) and the Confederate Government was adamant about NOT doing this. It was supposed to be the standard color (sky-blue) but that idea went out the window when they could never produce enough even in the VERY early days of the war. The trousers were held up by canvass or leather Braces or suspenders as we call them now.

Socks. They were made of wool and there were a whole slew of colors but mostly in the earth-tone family of colors. See Union section.

Shoes/Brogans/Jefferson Bootee. See Union section.

Leather goods. This category applies to cartridge boxes, cartridge box slings, waist belts, bayonet scabbards and cap pouches. All of these are black leather for the most part. There was supposed to be brass plates on the cartridge boxes and the sling that are made of brass. The plates were generally eliminated because of the brass needed for the rest of the war effort so generally you didn’t see them on Confederate produced goods. A popular style for the belt buckle was two pronged style similar as seen even today. It was made of iron/steel. The bayonet scabbard had a brass tip (or ferrule) on the bottom and some had a brass throat at the top as well but... less likely for Confederate styles. Towards the second half of the war you started seeing russet colored leather goods produced in the Confederate states so if you feel the urge you should mix in both black and russet brown colors into your regiments.

Note: as a general rule Union soldiers wore a cartridge box sling for their cartridge boxes and the Rebs did not. All cartridge boxes can be worn without a sling, attached through their waist belt. Usually Union soldiers wore the sling and usually the Rebs did not. I have read a regimental surgeon’s report to his regimental commander stating that the soldiers had not been wearing the slings. He had speculated that the soldiers should be made to put the slings back on their boxes because it would cause the soldiers to get hernias without the slings.

Mississippi Monument

Canteen. The canteens produced in the South ran the gamut of different styles: smooth side tin, a tin drum-like style (not covered with cloth), canteens made entirely of wood and a bunch of other strange looking types. You probably should have all your models reflect the different styles even within a company. All canteens over time leaked so they didn’t last that long in hard service. The tin canteens were issued with wool or wool/cotton mix material covers and the colors varied. There was no standard color for this item but generally they would be; gray, brown, sky blue or dark blue. Safest colors to go with might be grays and browns. Some times the cover ripped off or just fell apart so you can also paint the canteens in their ‘naked’ tin color. The canteens were issued with slings made of canvass in an off-white color. Some soldiers bought or made their own with a brown or black leather with a roller buckle. There was a cork stopper which either tied to the canteen with string, leather or a chain.

Haversack. This was a bag which held all their food, coffee, plate and utensils. It was made of either plain white canvass or painted black. Confederate soldiers probably had a majority of white haversacks. The Union section covers much of the same material since they were very similar.

Tin Cup. This was a tin cup that was used to boil coffee and it was usually attached to the Haversack not the canteen. It started out a bright tin color but after a few times in the campfire would turn the outside very black.

Knapsacks/blanket rolls/hobo rolls. In the beginning of the war soldier usually were issued a knapsack but this ran out or fell out of favor. They would use captured knapsacks if they liked that particular way of lugging their stuff around. See the Union section for this.

Blanet rolls were popular and could be worn on either shoulder. There was no set rule or rule against using either shoulder. If you weren’t carrying too many extras items it was a little more comfortable to wear as opposed to a knapsack. They would roll all their earthly possessions into it, twist it and tie the ends to hold them together. The twisting avoided stuff slipping out during a long march.

Hobo rolls were similar in concept to a blanket roll but the blanket is not rolled into a long ‘log’ but it is more like a Union blanket, rolled and stored on TOP of the knapsack. With the blanket rolled up you could take a knapsack straps or rope and tie it tight. Next they would use a rifle sling and slip it through the roll and sling it over a shoulder as you would the haversack. You don’t often see this configuration too often on miniatures but it was a popular style (even for Yanks). There is a famous photo of a Union soldier with a hobo roll standing near burned out rail way cars near Manassas.

Blanket. There aren’t too many standard or common types of colors. Soldiers were issued blankets from time to time but their usual source would either be captured ones, ones sent from home and other oddities. In a pinch soldiers used what ever they could get their hands on like parts of rugs. The blanket colors were mostly grays/browns and not so many reds or weird and colorful kinds seen on miniatures painted. Bold colors and styles didn’t exist in anywhere near what painters churn out today for their armies. Homemade blankets had more muted colors and anything with real color would be too expensive so not common at all. Besides, even IF they could acquire them some how they would be so dirty that the color would not be seen bright any more. Sleeping on the ground, outside all the time in the rain and mud had a tendency to do that.

Gun Rubber ground cloth/poncho/blanket. See the Union section for details as they used the Federal issued ones if they could get them.

Rifle. See the Union section for details as they used the same types as them.

Bayonet. See the Union section for details as they used the same types as them.

Painting Civil War miniatures part 2

Old Glory 2nd Generation Union infantry marching at Shoulder Arms

Okay so you want to know what an average Union infantry soldier wore and what color was it? Remember, this is geared towards the MOST Union soldiers by mid-1862 until the end of the War. This probably makes up 99% of ALL Union soldiers. Again let me remind you that the US Government issued clothing and equipment to all troops unless they provided their own equipment. Those early benefactors ran out of money or patriotism very fast so they stopped shelling out the big bucks to re-issue fancy uniforms. Zouave and Chasseur regiments were the exception but even many of these early regiments went to the Government issue when the private funds dried up.

One last cautionary tale… farby reenactors (these are guys that will wear whatever they like because it might suit their fancy regardless of facts) will explain to you why they wear such and such a piece of equipment or clothing. They will get very defensive and explain… and here’s their reasoning… ‘well they COULD have worn it or MIGHT have worn it.’ Well okay… instead of driving my car to work I COULD fly a helicopter or MIGHT fly a helicopter to avoid heavy traffic. Sure! It makes sense to avoid traffic so… I think I will. It’s just plain bullshit. It will never happen. Okay so if you want to paint your toy soldiers in non-historic ways/colors then go ahead but don’t defend your actions. Just tell everyone, ‘I like colorful looking models regardless of history so I don’t care what you say.’ I’m actually fine with that! Really!


Forage Caps and Slouch hats. Pick one based upon your best guess but not Kepis… not Kepis. The Forage caps is the same color as the Sack coat (dark blue) and the bill of the cap/false shin strap was black. The strap was attached to the side of the cap with small brass buttons. The Slouch hat is a civilian styled hat worn by the men before they became soldiers. The colors could be black, grays and browns. Rarely would they be white, mostly black or darker colors. The Forage caps was Government issue and the Slouch hat was not. Eastern armies mostly wore the Forage cap and the Western armies mostly the Slouch hats.

Don’t paint all sorts of colors on the Forage caps, don’t. I sometimes see gamers with colored bands around the bottom of the cap or on the top round piece, the crown. Don’t do this! If there were men wearing something like this it would be rare. It is and was not U.S. Government issue. By mid-1862 you would probably not see any of these for re-issue by even privately funded regiments.

Caps and Hats had cloth linings on the inside. If you have an officer or soldier waving his cap or hat paint some kind of subdued color for the inside lining.

Sack coat (or Fatigue Blouse). This was a standard issue coat with 4 brass buttons made of dark blue wool. It had no piping or other colors, even on the color and cuffs. This coat was very popular with the men. It was somewhat baggy and roomy.

Frock coat. Even though you don’t see the Frock coat portrayed very often with CW sculptors it was actually a Government issue item. Most regiments were issued them but many chose not to wear them in the field. They were tighter fitting so in the summer heat you sweated a LOT more wearing this coat. The coat had 9 brass buttons down the front and was made of dark blue wool just like the Sack coat. There was sky blue piping around the collar and the sleeve cuffs. There were also 2 or 3 brass buttons on the sleeves.

If you search the pictures taken during the War long enough you see the frock coat worn. One thing I found intriguing were several photos of NCO’s wearing their Frock coats and all the privates dressed in all Sack coats! I have 3 pics of different regiments dressed this same way. You might want to do this if you feel so inclined but don’t over do it.

Shell jacket. I hate to even mention them for Union soldiers. These would have been worn by States purchasing them from contractors. These were NOT U.S. Government issue so the percentage here was very low. Some States supplied them early on but over time the States usually discontinued this issue. Bottom line; skip this unless you are painting a particular regiment in a particular time frame. Do some research for find out more about them for Union infantry.

Shirts and Underwear. The Government issued a shirt that was an off-white color item. I’m not going into the fabric or styles here. Since it was given to the soldiers they wore that most of the time. Since it was not always the most comfortable or the best fitting some soldiers wore shirts made and sent from home or purchased from Sutlers in the field. The colors for non-issue shirts is almost limitless but would not be overly too bright and crazy.

During this period every man in America wore long-john type underwear from head to toe all year-round. Yes… even during the summer with long sleeves. It was the custom and actually it went right into the early 1900’s as well. If you read personal accounts from the soldiers you read that some soldiers wore only their undershirts and did not wear shirts over this. Of course it really does not change how you paint the colors too much because for the most part this would be another off-white item. I’m just adding this for your enjoyment and/or reference.

Trousers. These were wool pants in a sky blue color. Government contractors felt the established color was very hard to match and complained often. They claimed that there would be a color shift even within the same dye lots. The trousers were held up by canvass or leather Braces or suspenders as we call them now.

Socks. They were made of wool and there were a whole slew of colors but mostly in the earth-tone family of colors. Soldiers liked to get ones made at home since they lasted longer, were better made and fit better. The soldiers liked to tuck their trouser legs into the top of these socks and this was called “Blousing your trousers.” It was not the sort of thing to be done during dress parades or even photographs but in the field it was popular. It kept bugs from crawling up your legs and also helped during the colder temperatures to keep your legs warmer. Try it next time you go hiking to help prevent tick bites. It works!

Shoes/Brogans/Jefferson Bootee. They all were the same black shoe but were called different names. These shoes were actually made with the rough side of the leather on the OUTSIDE. Consequently these shoes are nearly impossible to polish to a shine. In this case shouldn’t use a shinny black color, a dull black is perfect. The laces should be mostly black or brown leather. Note that because of they rough side-out they get very dirty and dusty easily… like in minutes after walking with cleaned up Brogans.

Leather goods. This category applies to cartridge boxes, cartridge box slings, waist belts, bayonet scabbards and cap pouches. All of these are black leather. There are brass plates on the cartridge boxes and the sling that are made of brass. The waist belt also has a brass oval belt buckle. The black leather should be somewhat shinny but over time it does get duller. The bayonet scabbard had a brass tip (or ferrule) on the bottom and some had a brass throat at the top as well.

Canteen. No, they are not called water bottles but they do hold water. The U.S. Government issued canteens with smooth or ridged (called Bulls-eye) sided canteens made of tin. They were issued with wool or wool/cotton mix material covers and the colors varied. There was no standard color for this item but generally they would be; gray, brown, sky blue or dark blue. Safest colors to go with might be grays and browns. Some times the cover ripped off or just fell apart over time so you can also paint the canteens in their ‘naked’ tin color. The canteens were issued with slings made of canvass in an off-white color. Some soldiers bought or made their own with a brown or black leather with a roller buckle. There was a cork stopper which either tied to the canteen with string, leather or a chain.

Haversack. This was a bag which held all their food, coffee, plate and utensils. It was made of either plain white canvass or painted black. The soldiers joked that after a few months in the field they ALL turned black, dirty and greasy from the salt pork stuff inside. They had either a black leather roller buckle or a button to close the flap.

Tin Cup. This was a tin cup that was used to boil coffee and it was usually attached to the Haversack not the canteen. It started out a bright tin color but after a few times in the campfire would turn the outside very black.


Knapsack. For the most part Union soldiers were issued a double bag knapsack. It was made of canvass painted black. It had black leather shoulder straps and black leather chest straps to hold it snuggly to your body. On top of the pack are black leather straps that could hold a rolled up Greatcoat, blanket, rolled up Dog tent (shelter half), blanket/Great coat with a Gum Rubber blanket rolled around it or nothing at all. Sometimes you would see camp hatchets, shovels, frying pans or tin pots attached to the back of the pack.

Blanket. The most common type would be the medium gray rectangular woolen blanket with black stripes across the short ends and sometimes “US” stitched into it. There were also brown blankets but these were less common.

Sometimes the blanket was strapped to the top of the Knapsack and sometimes it had personal items rolled inside it, twisted, folded in the middle and tied at the ends with leather string or rope. This was worn over either shoulder instead of a Knapsack. It was often seen this way with Confederate soldiers but Union soldiers did wear it this way as well. It was also worn tied like this OVER the Knapsack, so you wore both at the same time. This was useful in case you were ordered to quickly drop your Knapsack and move on. If you dropped your pack there was a good chance you’d never see it again so having the blanket separate insured you at least retained something for the cooler evenings when sleeping.

Gum Rubber ground cloth/poncho/blanket. This item was a piece of canvass that had vulcanized rubber fixed to the front or top side. It was ‘mostly’ waterproof but after time the gum rubber would crack and peel off. It was developed by the fledgling Goodyear Rubber Company. It had grommet holes around the outer edges as well. It had many uses, everything from ground cloth to sleep on, poncho to keep you dry, a blanket and also a substitute tent half of sorts. It had a useful life to the soldier. It was one of the most valuable items for the soldier.

Rifle. Regardless of which kind of smoothbore or rifled musket they essentially had the same look for our miniatures. They had brown fine grain wood (usually oak) which was stained medium to dark brown. Even on 40mm scaled miniatures there would be no way to see any grain. Even standing a few feet away from a real rifle it would be pretty damn hard to see. They were not lacquered as modern reproduction muskets are today. The finish would appear like a satin finish. Over the early months of use sweat and dirt would also darken the finish.

Springfield on top and 69 cal. "Pumpkin slinger" below

The barrels were mostly bright steel but some were blued. The most common rifle was the American made Springfield and this had all steel fittings. The imported Enfield had some brass fittings such as the butt plate and trigger guard.

All rifles were issued with slings made of brown or russet colored leather. After time these became darker from the sweat from dirty hands. Some soldiers removed the slings and used them for other purposes.

Bayonet. They were made of steel not always very clean since the soldiers used they for other purposes besides stabbing.

 

 

I painted these Iron Brigade Sash and Saber miniatures a year ago. you'll notice piping on the Frock coats.

Refer to my earlier post about the colors for the Sack and Frock coats.



Next up: the Confederate soldier

Painting Civil War miniatures part 1



Reb Officer's uniform

I paint just 25/28mm miniatures but what I do for my miniatures can apply for smaller and larger scales as well. What many gamers do is paint their stuff on what makes them feel is correct or just whatever they want to be correct. I strive for 90% correct and the remaining 10% is wiggle room for what we don’t know. Personally it would thrill me to no end if I can have definitive proof about what each soldier wore on every day of the war but sadly… no spirits have contacted me to let me know. In light of this I aim to paint most of my models what the average soldier would look like. If there is good information I try to change with what we know for specific units and at a certain time. I’m using the miniatures for every battle I play so I want to be mostly 90% correct for all these actions. To give the units a specific time frame from game to game you can adjust with the Color Guards and Officers to switch things up. This requires less effort to fit in. Painting hundreds of miniatures is time consuming and expensive so I never like doing this over again once they are already done! Painting just 4 models for a Color Guard is easier than painting or repainting 28 models or more!

40th New York Volunteers

Alright so let’s start with the easiest to paint but most likely for you is also the most boring to paint, the Union infantryman. He is easier because the average (remember, we’re dealing with only average here) soldier makes up 95% or all Union infantrymen. That makes it so simple to be correct and you can just paint away but boy… can that make it boring as hell. Of course you can easily switch things up a bit to somewhat do some times different for giggles and STILL be correct. That’s the good news, right?

Maj. Gen John F. Reynolds

Before we jump right in and start painting just let me stop you here for a minute and explain a thing or two. There were fashions and cultural issues to deal with and your miniatures should reflect this in the same way as you paint them. The period was a long time ago and there was no air-conditioning and fans to keep them cool. They were used to the heat and cold. This means you really shouldn’t have a lot of models without jackets on and some would say none at all. Besides, if it was too hot to wear a Sack coat, Frock coat or Shell jacket as you would assume then what would they do their costs? There were no wagons to carry these. The take home message is do not buy a bag of miniatures of soldiers without coats. To go along with this is the fact that every male of this period would not venture out of the house without a coat on. It was just they way it was culturally in this period. If manual labor was the order of the day it was okay to remove your coat but if visitors dropped by you would put the coat back on. Soldiering in battle wasn’t manual labor so coupled with being acclimatized to the elements adds up do not have a plethora of models without coats, pure and simple. It’s NOT an average soldier by any means. We’re not painting hot and sweaty reenactors of 2011 but men in the 1860’s.

20 lbs. Parrott

The other thing to note is that like the coat issue is a similar situation with head gear. All men and boys would wear something on their heads while out of doors, all men all the time. This includes doing manual labor. This also serves to protect them from the elements to a certain extent so if the model does not have a hat or cap on, what are you painting it for? Perhaps the soldier had it shot off his head? Maybe, but… not a whole regiment of these unfortunate souls.

McPherson's barn and ridge facing Northwest in the swale in front of Seminary Ridge



"The father of waters again goes unvexed to the sea"

It is the 148th anniversary of the surrender of the city of Vicksburg and the Confederate forces defending it. The title above is the famous quote by President Lincoln referring to the Mississippi River.

The river passed beneath the bluffs of Vicksburg and the protection of the Confederate guns. It was the final objective to cutting the Confederacy in two. With the news of the Army of the Potomac's victory over Lee's Army of Northern Virginia on July 3rd at Gettysburg it turned the normal Independence Day celebrations even more joyous and sad at the same time for the people of the North.

Sullivan Ballou letter

I don't know if you have ever seen the 10 hour documentary of the Civil War by Ken Burns or not but if you have not here's a very moving piece from it. This was posted on YouTube with the same narration (from the documentary) but new images by someone else. It's a letter written by a Union solider before the battle of 1st Bull Run to his wife. It is some damn good writing by this soldier, Maj. Sullivan Ballou, Second Rhode Island Infantry. If you can, check out the whole documentary or buy it. It is well worth the money.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa2hv8U8cWU&feature=related

Edwin Forbes sketch book

While searching Amazon for interesting Civil War things, I came across the book by Civil War illustrator Edwin Forbes. Alfred Waud, Winslow Homer and Forbes are considered the premier illustrators of the Civil War. What is so valuable about their work is the fact that they sketched what they saw while standing near the fighting. Whether it was on the battlefield, on the march or in camps they drew what they saw and unlike the photographs we see they can sketch action. Their relationships with the men made gave them access to every day activities. They drew what was there and not posed studio sessions with regular soldiers. We get a better picture now of what they wore and how they wore it. For historical purposes it is invaluable. The other great thing they did is capture the funny and the sad part of the war which is sometimes hard to do with the photographic equipment back then.


Most Civil War buffs have seen all three of artists’ works used over and over again in hundreds of books. It is rare to see something new even though you would assume there is much more of their work some place. This book re-published by Forbes is chock full of many I had never seen before. I was blown away how many different kinds of sketches he did in addition to the amount. I had never seen the original book from 1890 so it was a revelation to me. In the book he has sketches of even major Generals from the Union army and some of the not the best known. Have you ever seen a sketch of Gilmore at the siege of Charleston, Reynolds at Gettysburg (alive) or Halleck at the battle of Corinth? Not me. This book should be more popular with buffs, reenactors and historians.

A few things that surprised me the most in his illustrations is the common practice of blousing of the trousers, the Union soldiers depicted (by at least75%), using blanket rolls instead of knapsacks and the stranger variety of hats/caps then I imagined. He even illustrates some soldiers wearing Forage caps backwards and side wards. What the hell…?!

If you are familiar with Hard Tack and Coffee by John Billings you will get a good idea of how this book is layed-out. It is 319 pages filled with Forbes experiences and sketches in this reprinted soft cover book. The style is just like Billings’ book so if you liked Hard Tack and Coffee you will enjoy this as well. There are several books published with his work in them but I think this one by far is the best because it has more sketches and his own personal experiences written first hand. Buy it. An Artist's Story of the Great War should be on your shelf.

Snake rail fences (or Worm fences)



Proper snake rail fence (or Worm fences... same thing) common in the U.S. These are NOT from the website. Note old and gray weathered fences?

 Okay today is the day to check out the Gettysburg Daily website. The Friends of the Park are erecting new fences from scratch. Click on the link at the side to go there. If you are reading this after today make sure you go to the archive section for June 5th. Each day they change the posts. If you intend to make some of these fences for your Civil War game or any American period from F&I until now you will see exactly how it is done.



Another shot of older fences.

 I see many gamers make these fences and they are wrong wrong wrong! There was even an article in Wargames Illustrated a few years back that was totally wrong. What?! Yup. The beauty of these fences was the method of construction. It was easy! Farmers had tons of trees that they needed to clear for planting. This method involved _NO_ post hole digging. All you would do it lay the rails (split rails into quarters) one on top of the other, done! It separates the fields and keeps grazing animals out of the planted fields.



stonewall topped with rails

Above is another example of easily made fences. North America has a lot of rocks beneath the soil. Farmers could break the blades of their plows on these rocks. It is back-breaking work but they needed to be cleared from plowed fields. You can easily stack the rocks to separate the field but getting them high enough to keep out farm animals is a problem. The photo above shows how to raise the height with little effort for the over-worked farmers. On a typical battlefield you would see these two types of fencing in abundance. The post and rail style is good but requires lots and lots of hole digging and holes cut for the cross rails. That is not fun and very labor intensive.


Go to the Gettysburg Daily website to see the progress of the fence building and check back often for updates.

Yes, it has nothing to do with fences. This monument depicts Color Sgt. Ben Crippen, a Pennsylvania soldier, that shook his fist defiantly at the Confederates as his regiment fell back to Seminary Ridge on July 1st, at Gettysburg.