"Answering the Call: The Personal Equipment of a" Topic

…Civil War Soldier.

"The Union Army in the Civil War had a distinct advantage over the Confederacy when it came to equipment. The North had more factories to produce supplies, more people to work in the factories, and more railroads to deliver the supplies to the Soldiers. In the end, the North's industrial might played an important factor in the Confederate defeat.

For a Soldier, equipment is a matter of survival. Even something as simple as a button can make the difference between victory and defeat if it fails to function properly at the wrong time. For this reason Soldiers have a strong tendency to become attached to equipment they like, and to modify or discard equipment they find unreliable or useless. Among the Infantry, who have to carry their equipment wherever they go, this tendency is even stronger.

Soldiers must carry everything they need for combat operations with them at all times. Individual load carrying equipment is designed to allow the Soldier to carry a basic load of ammunition, food, water, and first-aid gear. The exact make-up of this load varies from conflict to conflict. In more modern times the load has grown to include additional equipment such as gas masks, maps, compasses, and radios. Civil War Soldiers carried enough ammunition to fire about 60 shots into battle. Today Soldiers carry hundreds of rounds of ammunition…"
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Amicalement
Armand

A pretty good summation of CW field gear. The article seems to imply that the Confederates didn't have all the good stuff the Union soldiers did, but doesn't explain in any detail. From what I've read, the Confederates would have all the absolutely necessary gear: cartridge box, cap pouch bayonet and scabbard, canteen, haversack. The differences would be the Confederates often did not have a knapsack and used a blanket roll instead (a lot of Union troops did this, too). Greatcoats were often in short supply for Confederates, too. And a lot of the Confederate equipment didn't get replace nearly as often and Union gear did, so it would be worn and mended in many cases. There's no doubt the Union armies were better supplied, but I can't recall that the South lost any battles for lack of supplies (campaigns, yes, but actual battles, no).

Glad you like it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand