"4th Georgia at Oak Grove 1862" Topic

Hiya. Plea for information. I've read in Sears about 4th Georgia (and possibly 3rd Georgia?) at Oak Grove in '62 containing a Coy (or more?) of men dressed in red breeches as Zouaves/Chasseurs but found scant details. Anyone help? Thanks in anticipation.

I found one reference illustration showing Confederate
soldiers from Georgia with one of them wearing red
trousers

This illo is of a militia company from Baldwin County
(the 'Baldwin Blues'). It was incorporated into the
4th Georgia Volunteer Infantry as 'Company H' on April
26 1861 (muster-in date).

The 4th Georgia is listed in the 3rd Brigade of Huger's
Division at Oak Grove. Since Oak Grove was fought in
June, 1862, it is possible that some of the militia
companies from Southern States had not been issued
uniforms other than their militia uniforms hence
Company H may have had part of their number present
in red trousers.

The mounted figure may be meant to depict George P.
Doles, elected captain of the company and later
appointed Colonel in command of the 4th. He rose to
Brigadier General and fought in many engagements
until he was killed at Cold Harbor.

Further to the above – there was in the early 1990's
a re-enactment group out of Milledgeville, Ga, called
the 'Baldwin Blues.' Their uniforms were the standard
for CSA infantry, various shades of gray with a few
oddments of white, etc.

There's a Youtube video clip from 1993 showing them at a
re-enactment. There's no red to be seen except among
artillerymen (caps and a red shirt here and there.)

I don't know if the group still exists or not.

The only reference by Sears that I have does not mention either the 3rd or 4th Georgia. On page 186 of his To the Gates of Richmond is found the following description of a charge by Wright's Brigade of Huger's Division:

"One of these charges, by a Georgia regiment, momentarily confused the Yankees into thinking they were being attacked by their own men. The Georgians were wearing gaudy red Zouave uniforms, in imitation of the famous French colonial troops, and it was thought only the Army of the Potomac had any Zouaves in its ranks. Then someone pointed out that only the enemy would be coming at them from the direction of Richmond, and the Federals quickly opened fire on the Zouaves"

It would indeed seem some type of Zouaves were present. However, Sears' endnotes for this section only reference Union sources so the identification of these troops as being Georgians is questionable. At the time Wright's Brigade consisted of the 44th Alabama, 3rd Georgia, 4th Georgia, 22nd Georgia and 1st Louisiana. According to Todd, American Military Equipage, 1851-1872, pp. 851, 855, the 1st Louisiana Infantry included 3 or 4 companies drawn from the Orleans Light Guards Battalion. This militia unit in turn is described as wearing Zouave clothing.

It is therefore possible that at least part of the 1st Louisiana wore some type of Zouave uniform as late as the start of the Seven Days battles in 1862.

1st La. Regiment? or Battalion? IIRC, the latter wore zouave uniforms at first.

I should have been more specific. I was referring to the 1st Louisiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment under Colonel Albert Blanchard. When it was formed it included 3 or 4 companies merged in from the militia Orleans Light Guards Battalion. The Orleans Light Guards Battalion wore a Zouave uniform.

The 1st Louisiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment also included some elements from the militia Louisiana Guard Battalion, which provided troops to both the 1st Louisiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment and the 1st Louisiana Infantry Battalion. The latter Battalion was commanded by Lt. Col. Charles Dreux and was disbanded in June of 1862. The 1st Louisiana Infantry Battalion, while its companies wore distinctive clothing when it was first formed, did not have any companies wearing a Zouave uniform.

Just to confuse things there also was the 1st Louisiana Regular Infantry Regiment, the 1st Louisiana Zouave Battalion (aka Coppen's Zouaves), and the 1st Louisiana Special Battalion (aka 2nd Louisiana Battalion, aka Wheat's Tigers).

Don, it had to be the 1st Louisiana Regiment. Looking
at the regimental history, the commander wounded at
Oak Grove (Shivers) was promoted to command just before
the Oak Grove action.

The 1st Louisiana included 6 militia companies as
originally established. The original company B
(Girardey's) was detached to form an artillery battery
5 July 1861.

The original company C was transferred to Rightor's
Battalion 18 July 1861.

The remaining 4 were all Orleans Light Guards militia
companies and were redesignated as follows:

Company A Orleans Lt Gds became Company I 1st Louisiana
Company B Orleans Lt Gds became Company G ditto
Company C Orleans Lt Gds became Company K ditto
Company D Orleans Lt Gds became Company F ditto

One illo of Louisiana troops in Zouave type uniforms:

link

One is fairly obviously Wheat's, as to the others I
don't know.

BTW, the previous illo I posted of the 4th Georgia
Infantry (the Baldwin Blues) I speculated that the mounted
figure was the Colonel commanding. It is NOT. That is an
image of a Georgia militia cavalryman, his unit designated
'hussars'.

Another correction: the infantryman in the Zouave uniform
in that illo was a member of the Thomasville Zouaves,
which became Company B, 29th Georgia Infantry.

So it seems that the 4th Georgia perhaps did not have a
company attired in Zouave uniforms at Oak Grove, although
Baldwin's Blues seem to have worn such a uniform at
one time.

I do not see any discussion regarding support as to the continuation of the company's uniform.
By 1862, uniforms were worn out, and there was a push for units ( a regiment) to have uniformity and this being supported also by the fact of the uniform supply constraints ( what was available) as well.

Following uno online, during the American Civil War, there were regiments that adopted the Zouave or Chasseur-style uniforms, which included distinctive red breeches. The Zouave-style uniforms were inspired by the French Zouaves, who were light infantry units known for their distinctive North African-inspired attire.