Category Archives: Civil War accoutrements

Colors of the 79th New York

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Dick Stanley

Battle banner of the 79th New York Cameron Highlanders, principal defenders of the Northwest Bastion of Fort Sanders.

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Reprise: Signal flags at Knoxville

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Dick Stanley

There’s no direct evidence that I know of that Longstreet’s artillery chief, Colonel Edward Porter Alexander, used signal flags at Knoxville to, for instance, alert the Boy Battery on Cherokee Heights when to cease fire. And also the other batteries … Continue reading →

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Chicken guts

Posted on October 20, 2011 by Dick Stanley

“The men call them ‘chicken guts,’” Confederate Major Clayton Ellis tells his wife, Parthenia Leila Ellis, in the novel. He was sheepishly referring to the fancy gold braid on the sleeves of his new uniform coat tailored in Nashville. The … Continue reading →

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Reprise: Confederate shell jackets

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Dick Stanley

Some of Longstreet’s First Corps received new shell jackets from the state of North Carolina when their train stopped en route from Petersburg, VA, to Ringgold, GA, in the late summer of ’63. “Wasn’t made well, I came to find … Continue reading →

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Correspondence

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Dick Stanley

Via Lint In My Pocket—Artillery On The Ridge.

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Reprise: Embalming

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Dick Stanley

As my fictional Sergeant Timothy Chase of the 29th Massachusetts discovers, embalming of the dead was a gruesome business. Yet it was essential if a soldier’s loved ones were to be able to identify a son, brother or father a … Continue reading →

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More buttons

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Dick Stanley

Not all Civil War buttons were created equal. Consider the Rebel version: “There were a wide variety of locally made Confederate buttons. There were differences in face dies, material of construction, size, finish, shank type, and back dies. The block … Continue reading →

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Much in need of clothing and shoes

Posted on April 10, 2011 by Dick Stanley

The Rebels at Knoxville? Absolutely, but not in this case. More from Hundredth Pennsylvania Private Henderson George’s good diary: “Thirteenth day of the siege. Weather clear and cold. Troops in good heart since the fight yesterday, although subsisting on chopped … Continue reading →

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