"Indian troops" Topic

Suitable figures for use as Confederate and Union Indian troops? I know there are some in the Wargames Foundry 'old west' range …just wondering if there are others out there?

Here's a pic of a couple Maine Penobscot indians in uniform with the 7th Maine infantry.

Note the M1841 Windsor rifles and M1855 waistbelt & cap pouch worn with a M1855 cartridge box and sling.

cant view the picture for some reason?

I have them on my 'to do' list at Companyd.co.uk for the Missouri /Kansas conflict.

thanks for the heads up ….i'd be looking to order 2-3 regiments worth, say 60-72 figures, including command?

GoodoldRebel – what sort of poses/requirements etc ideally would you be looking for.

Ideally, for me at least, a good mixture of poses …from what I've read of the Indian Regiments on both sides, they fought in open order, skirmishing or 'bushwhacking' as opposed to standing in formed ranks trading volleys? As mounted infantry, some mounted models would be nice …but they seemed to fight dismounted so foot figures primarily?

I must confess my uniform information is patchy at best, the only reference to a uniform issue for the union home guard regiments has them in hardee hats and sackcoats …so i'm guessing pre-war regular kit pressed into service?

Interestingly the union Indians were issued clothing captured from the confederates, though this seems largely to have been civilian clothes collected for issue to the rebel forces as opposed to regulation shell jackets, etc?

Accounts give some men decorating their hats with feathers, and wearing war paint …so definitely in touch with their heritage!

I fully believe that all that stuff is a bunch of hooey. Fanciful thinking, like that whole "The rebs were all barefoot, starving, and casting their own shot to use in Grandpas' squirrel rifle" crappola that the Southern Apologists wave around.

Any unit that tried to fight as has been put out would have been useless on the battlefield. Any unit that resorted to "bushwhacking" would have been treated as criminals and not as POW's when captured.

I put that whole "Stand Waite" stuff in the column with other ACW myths that need to be compacted into the dustbin of history.

That's how I see it. YMMV.

Of course, we're also a bunch of guys playing with toy soldiers, and in the end, how you paint and use your toy soldiers is certainly up to you and I certainly won't criticize that.

Photos of Oneida Indians in the IX Corps show them looking like any other Union Soldier. No war paint, no feathers, no ex-Confederate uniforms.

Maybe put them in ordinary Union or Confederate uniforms with hardee or slouch hats and long hair?

I don't think they dressed like zouaves!

I fully believe that all that stuff is a bunch of hooey. Fanciful thinking, like that whole "The rebs were all barefoot, starving, and casting their own shot to use in Grandpas' squirrel rifle" crappola that the Southern Apologists wave around.

Any unit that tried to fight as has been put out would have been useless on the battlefield. Any unit that resorted to "bushwhacking" would have been treated as criminals and not as POW's when captured.

I put that whole "Stand Waite" stuff in the column with other ACW myths that need to be compacted into the dustbin of history.

That's how I see it. YMMV.

Of course, we're also a bunch of guys playing with toy soldiers, and in the end, how you paint and use your toy soldiers is certainly up to you and I certainly won't criticize that. grin

…grin aside, that was bordering on the offensive there I felt?

# I also do not subscribe to the "ragged rebel" myth …sounds too much like an excuse for losing the war, which they did?

# By bushwhacking I meant fighting in loose or open order, which I think is what I wrote?

# Which 'Stand Watie' stuff are you referring to exactly?

Photos of Oneida Indians in the IX Corps show them looking like any other Union Soldier. No war paint, no feathers, no ex-Confederate uniforms.

# I was referring to the indian homeguard regiments serving in the indian territory and Arkansas in 1862, not regiments serving in the main theatres …sorry