"Lee's Tigers Revisited: The Louisiana Infantry ..." Topic

…in the Army of Northern Virginia.

"In Lee's Tigers Revisited, noted Civil War scholar Terry L. Jones dramatically expands and revises his acclaimed history of the approximately twelve thousand Louisiana infantrymen who fought in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Sometimes derided as the "wharf rats from New Orleans" and the "lowest scrappings of the Mississippi," the Louisiana Tigers earned a reputation for being drunken and riotous in camp, but courageous and dependable on the battlefield.

Louisiana's soldiers, some of whom wore colorful uniforms in the style of French Zouaves, reflected the state's multicultural society, with regiments consisting of French-speaking Creoles and European immigrants. Units made pivotal contributions to many crucial battles¯resisting the initial Union onslaught at First Manassas, facilitating Stonewall Jackson's famous Valley Campaign, holding the line at Second Manassas by throwing rocks when they ran out of ammunition, breaking the Union line temporarily at Gettysburg's Cemetery Hill, containing the Union breakthrough at Spotsylvania's Bloody Angle, and leading Lee's attempted breakout of Petersburg at Fort Stedman. The Tigers achieved equal notoriety for their outrageous behavior off the battlefield, so much so that sources suggest no general wanted them in his command. By the time of Lee's surrender at Appomattox, there were fewer than four hundred Louisiana Tigers still among his troops.

Lee's Tigers Revisited uses letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper articles, and muster rolls to provide a detailed account of the origins, enrollments, casualties, and desertion rates of these soldiers. Illustrations¯including several maps newly commissioned for this edition¯chart the Tigers' positions on key battlefields in the tumultuous campaigns throughout Virginia. By utilizing first-person accounts and official records, Jones provides the definitive study of the Louisiana Tigers and their harrowing experiences in the Civil War"

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Amicalement
Armand

How can you believe what's inside the book when the picture on the front has so many flaws in the uniform.

For example…?

Amicalement
Armand

It isn't clear whether the author is talking about all Louisiana infantry in Lee's army, or just the Tiger Zouaves. There were other Zouave units among the LA infantry, but they weren't all called 'tigers' as far as I know.

So, which is it?

If I am not mistaken the brigades or Brigade, which once had the original Tigers zouave were later nickname/referred to as the "La tiger brigade", much like the reference of "Hood's Texas brigade" (which was not all Texans) even though Hood was no longer commanding.
There were Coppens Zouaves present in one the two Brigades, which wore dress much like as the the 5th NY dress but with a lighter blue/gray jacket that replaced an earlier darker/more blue one and some other small nuance differences.
The book will possibly clarify that question with much more detail one would hope!

MG

Someone have to buy the book!… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

The 'Tigers' were originally that company organized
and commanded by Captain Alexander White in New Orleans
(the 'Tiger Rifles').

When Major Chatham Roberdeau Wheat organized the
1st Special Battalion, Louisiana Volunteer Infantry
(formally, 2nd Louisiana Battalion), he had originally
organized a single company ('The Old Dominion Guards,'
so called because most of the men of the company were
from Virginia).

Wheat gathered another 4 companies to form the battalion,
Alexander White's among them. Supposedly White's men were
the only company uniformed as Zouaves when the battalion
set off for training, but I have never found documentation
to that effect.

The 'Tiger' nickname apparently came largely from the
men themselves, many references to 'Tigers' on their
equipment, etc.

I researched Wheat's Tigers extensively for a family
member since one of our ancestors (GGG Grandmother
Mary McGrory) immigrated from Ireland in 1848 as an
indentured servant and, after working out her period
of servitude, married an Irishman who took service
with another of Wheat's companies (the Walker Guards)
becoming a widow when her husband was killed at Gaine's
Mill.

There were fascinating characters in Wheat's battalion,
especially Alexander White.

Thanks!…

Amicalement
Armand

Never judge a book by it's cover!

Words to live by!