"What did ACW soldiers carry into battle?" Topic

So …

A lot of figures are cast with the soldiers in full kit, backpacks etc., but did soldiers actually drop all that gear at their supply wagons before combat? I can imagine that in many circumstances they wouldn't have a change to do that so it probably doesn't matter either way.

The real crux of the question is I have some 15mm Confederates that don't have their iconic blanket roll and it looks kind of odd to me but maybe it's normal?

I know there are a lot of experts out there; would you care to share any thoughts?

Re Ssendam.

In my opinion Rebs in light kit look just fine.
Quite normal to leave kit in a central place under supervision.
Many battles were fought in jolly hot weather. The clothing the rebs had, although of natural fibres, was not that comfortable in hot weather.
Having looked at many ACW uniforms in museums it is surprising how much thinner and less built up by great diet they are.
I am far too fat to get into any of those old uniforms.

For the "battle look" I can recommend the Troiani books. Those same pictures are online too.

martin

The famous photo of the captured Confederates taken at Gettysburg shows them with their blanket rolls. So it appears they were captured with their kit.

BB

Depends a bit on the battle and how far troops had marched; Union troops were supposed to drop off their knapsacks to be guarded by a few troops who stayed behind, but the troops were often skeptical that their possessions wouldn't be there when they got back – almost certainly Confederate troops would be even more skeptical!

Most of my ACW troops are with minimal equipment. Some have rolls and most do not. 😀. Think it's all preference really.

I would like to be able to think as those soldier did many years ago. Christopher Duffy made a great point in his "…Age of Reason" book about how much different conditions where then and how we would be alien to each other.

However, if French cavalry (dragoons in Spain in particular) wore their cloaks rolled in a horseshoe across their chests as added protection against bullets and saber slashes, might it be possible that the Confederate (and western Union army) blanket or overcoat roll would have had similar influence on officers for their men?

If I had been a Union soldier, I think (now) I would have appreciated the extra mass of backpacks in the men ahead of me in column, possibly stopping a cannister slug or rifle bullet that got through the man ahead, but lodged inside his pack. The "fight one battle, be home in no time" attitude ended with Shiloh.

GdeP

There are several accounts of soldiers being ordered to drop their packs and refusing. If they dropped them they would never see them again. A thing to remember about painting Federal figures with packs. The roll on top of the pack is the over coat and not the blanket. The blanket is carried inside the pack. As to the overcoat itself, these were generally put into storage between May and November.