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THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
THE FIRST BATTLE OF MANASSAS, 1861.
1st SPECIAL BATTALION, LOUISIANA INFANTRY (WHEAT’S TIGERS)
The battalion called the Louisiana Tigers was the creation of Roberdeau Chatham Wheat, and was to become one of the most notorious military corps ever to be raised during this conflict.
In New Orleans Wheat looked for his recruits among the Irish roustabouts and riffraff of the city.
His company was soon joined by four others and on June 9th 1861, they were mustered into the Confederate service as the 1st Louisiana Special Battalion.
The battalion soon gained a fine reputation for brawling and theft!
In action finally at the First Manassas, the Tigers showed they could also fight in battle.
An English observer wrote, “Although few in number these heroic soldiers sustained every shock with unwavering courage, and on more than one occasion dropped their rifles and rushed among the enemy with long bowie knives.”
Wheat, brave to the point of recklessness was killed 27th June 1862 at Gaines’ Mill. For the first time the battalion broke and ran. With Wheat gone there was no one to keep the Tigers in hand and on 21st August the battalion was disbanded and its men transferred to other Louisiana regiments serving in Virginia.
The name “Louisiana Tigers” however lived on to describe the Louisiana Brigade as it fought through to Appomattox.
CSWT-01
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 1861 - 1865
THE FIRST BATTLE OF MANASSAS, 1861
1st SPECIAL BATTALION, LOUISIANA INFANTRY,
(WHEAT’S TIGERS).
MAJOR ROBERDEAU CHATHAM WHEAT
THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN 1861.
1st REGIMENT, RHODE ISLAND DETACHED MILITIA, 1861
In the days following the outbreak of war, Northern states scrambled to assemble small militia groups into regiment-size units, recruit additional volunteers and uniform them all in a cohesive manner. Rhode Island was no exception with the added problem of having no official state uniform for its troops. Ambrose Everett Burnside, former major general in the state’s militia, returned from his job as a N.Y. City banker and stepped up to the task of equipping and organizing the troops.
On April 20, just five days from Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops for three months service, the First Rhode Island Detached Militia departed for Washington D.C., led by Col. Burnside himself. On July 16 the unit left camp outside the capital with the bulk of the Union Army and five days later met the Confederate forces at Manassas, Va.
With summer approaching, and expectations that the war would be short, uniforms were lightweight, with little attention to durability. Designed by Col. Burnside and inspired by the “hunting shirts” worn by many Continentals during the American Revolution, the blue flannel pullover blouse was simple and easily made by the ladies in Providence. Single breasted for line officers and enlistees, double breasted for staff.
The most distinguishing item of gear was a bright red woolen blanket. Burnside personally superintended the manufacture of the uniform,
“He had the thick scarlet blanket of each man converted into a Mexican poncho, by cutting a slit in the centre through which the head could be put, leaving the blanket resting as a cloak on the shoulders”.
A waistbelt with cartridge box and cap box, a white canvas haversack for rations and a tin canteen completed the kit.
The Regiment served in Burnside’s Brigade at First Bull Run, taking an early part in the action. For a time it stood up well, but after two or three hours of heat and combat it fell to pieces and was of little value afterwards
1RH-09
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 1861 - 1865
THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN, 1861
1st REGIMENT, RHODE ISLAND DETACHED MILITIA, 1861
1RH-09N
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 1861 - 1865
THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN, 1861
1st REGIMENT, RHODE ISLAND DETACHED MILITIA, 1861
Please Contact your Dealer to pre-order!
THE FIRST BATTLE OF MANASSAS, 1861.
1st SPECIAL BATTALION, LOUISIANA INFANTRY (WHEAT’S TIGERS)
The battalion called the Louisiana Tigers was the creation of Roberdeau Chatham Wheat, and was to become one of the most notorious military corps ever to be raised during this conflict.
In New Orleans Wheat looked for his recruits among the Irish roustabouts and riffraff of the city.
His company was soon joined by four others and on June 9th 1861, they were mustered into the Confederate service as the 1st Louisiana Special Battalion.
The battalion soon gained a fine reputation for brawling and theft!
In action finally at the First Manassas, the Tigers showed they could also fight in battle.
An English observer wrote, “Although few in number these heroic soldiers sustained every shock with unwavering courage, and on more than one occasion dropped their rifles and rushed among the enemy with long bowie knives.”
Wheat, brave to the point of recklessness was killed 27th June 1862 at Gaines’ Mill. For the first time the battalion broke and ran. With Wheat gone there was no one to keep the Tigers in hand and on 21st August the battalion was disbanded and its men transferred to other Louisiana regiments serving in Virginia.
The name “Louisiana Tigers” however lived on to describe the Louisiana Brigade as it fought through to Appomattox.
CSWT-01
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 1861 - 1865
THE FIRST BATTLE OF MANASSAS, 1861
1st SPECIAL BATTALION, LOUISIANA INFANTRY,
(WHEAT’S TIGERS).
MAJOR ROBERDEAU CHATHAM WHEAT
THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN 1861.
1st REGIMENT, RHODE ISLAND DETACHED MILITIA, 1861
In the days following the outbreak of war, Northern states scrambled to assemble small militia groups into regiment-size units, recruit additional volunteers and uniform them all in a cohesive manner. Rhode Island was no exception with the added problem of having no official state uniform for its troops. Ambrose Everett Burnside, former major general in the state’s militia, returned from his job as a N.Y. City banker and stepped up to the task of equipping and organizing the troops.
On April 20, just five days from Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops for three months service, the First Rhode Island Detached Militia departed for Washington D.C., led by Col. Burnside himself. On July 16 the unit left camp outside the capital with the bulk of the Union Army and five days later met the Confederate forces at Manassas, Va.
With summer approaching, and expectations that the war would be short, uniforms were lightweight, with little attention to durability. Designed by Col. Burnside and inspired by the “hunting shirts” worn by many Continentals during the American Revolution, the blue flannel pullover blouse was simple and easily made by the ladies in Providence. Single breasted for line officers and enlistees, double breasted for staff.
The most distinguishing item of gear was a bright red woolen blanket. Burnside personally superintended the manufacture of the uniform,
“He had the thick scarlet blanket of each man converted into a Mexican poncho, by cutting a slit in the centre through which the head could be put, leaving the blanket resting as a cloak on the shoulders”.
A waistbelt with cartridge box and cap box, a white canvas haversack for rations and a tin canteen completed the kit.
The Regiment served in Burnside’s Brigade at First Bull Run, taking an early part in the action. For a time it stood up well, but after two or three hours of heat and combat it fell to pieces and was of little value afterwards
1RH-09
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 1861 - 1865
THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN, 1861
1st REGIMENT, RHODE ISLAND DETACHED MILITIA, 1861
1RH-09N
THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR 1861 - 1865
THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN, 1861
1st REGIMENT, RHODE ISLAND DETACHED MILITIA, 1861
Please Contact your Dealer to pre-order!
