"US Infantry between the civil war and 1870" Topic

What was the US using for an infantry rifle in that time frame? I am assuming that the rifle muskets were replaced with some sort of breachloader.

Also, was the general look of the infantry uniform roughly the same as in the civil war -- until 1870 made Prussian uniforms all the rage?

Thanks!

Uniform was fairly close from what I recall. I believe they were using the trap-door Springfield. A Springfield musket converted to breachloader.

The army came out of the Civil War with lots of Springfield muzzle loading rifles. Rather than chuck them in favor of a breech loader, they developed a conversion, the trap door Springfield. This was quite successful in action at the Wagon Box Fight in what is now northern Wyoming. It was still in use by National Guard units in 1898, and was badly outclassed by the Spanish Mausers.
The army also had lots of left over uniform bits left over from the Civil War, so the look would be much the same. Climate driven changes would include more hats than kepis in summer and various attempts over the next 30 years to provide appropriate cold weather gear.
Grelber

That's good to know, since it implies that the Perry ACW plastics may have some use for Old West gaming, with a little conversion, of course.

If you want a brilliant book on the subject: Army Blue, US regulars from 1850-1875, by Langellier, published by Schiffer.

Even the Prussian-style uniforms were dress unforms. The field dress still looked fairly 'Yankee' until khaki gaiters and such came in.

Actually, the Army converted a lot of the 1863 Springfield to breachloaders using the Allen conversion, which looks somewhat like a 1873 Springfield trapdoor. The Springfield trapdoor doesn't come along until 1873.

jdg

The 1873 Trapdoor Springfield was a remarkable rifle, I was a little dismissive of it until I researched it. Gained a lot of respect for it once I did. Hit like a ton of bricks at long range, once they figured out the cartridge issues it was a very good service rifle.

Nathan

Hi

Before I owned one, I bought into all the stories I had read about how awful it is, the trapdoor, that is. After getting an early model cavalry carbine, I had my mind changed in the field. Tough, accurate hard hitting and accurate at very long ranges (I have done 24" groups at 1300yds!). The intangible is how well it comes to sholder and delivers a good sight picture. I load my own rounds using period field tools as well!

Rocky