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Attached is my a picture of my GG Grandfather, James Sinclair. He was about 5'8" and thick around the mid section. Notice the pull of the coat. Legs are also thick. He was stationed in Charleston with the 7th Battalion. He was shot in the thigh and both hips and survived the war with a terrible limp. He was Paroled at Greensboro.
Claude Sinclair
Claude -
Please repost yours as well. Sorry about the hassle, guys.
You can do better than both of those images, if you try. The first fellow barely has a rain wave in the bill of his cap. A good baseball cap curve has a pronounced upside down "U" shape to it -- almost coming out to a point. Don't see many of those in period images, but....
Now, take a real good look at that strap on canteen boy. See two little...yeah, those things. Guess what they are! Of course they didn't do that back then. That's a keeper for the files, for sure.
Find a few images where the canteen is down about knee cap level and we'll talk. ;)
Speaking of images, does that cap in the first one happen to be a private purchase model with a painted pasteboard bound brim?
Charles,
You got me thinknig so I went on a search for the soldier with the canteen banging him in the knees. Well I didn't find it but I came pretty close. These are actually three soldiers who appear in the same image. They are all, how shall we say, challenged when it comes to the prescribed canteen position. The first and third soldiers come pretty darn close to meeting your challenge. That darn thing is almost at their knees! Oh, I threw in a great shot of a guys sharps rifle. Just thought it was pretty neat.
Would you think cartridge box on the belt in this photo?
It occurs to me that this thread could go by another name, reminiscent of a mainstream discussion going on somewhere else - "Another Canon Accident". Spelling correct.
Not even close. Drop those canteens about 14-18 inches, and get into that how low can you go reenactor realm. You can do it. Those pix are out there somewhere, along with a pretty good article on the subject. That article used to be linked to a forum somewhere....
First these soldiers are from an image at the LoC entitled Seven Pines, Va. Twin houses on battlefield, with 32-pdr. field howitzer in foreground, Call Number: LC-B811- 471.
These soldiers look to be members of an artillery unit that were issued "Short Roman swords". However what I find interesting in this image are the soldiers in the background.
Okay, I can't seem to get the close-ups that I have to upload here, but there are soldiers carrying "Short Roman swords" and a guy with a saber and crossed cannon on his cap in the foreground. In the background near the house, is a soldier with gaiters on and a large blanket roll, and on the right of the house, behind the head of some of the artillery guys, is a colunm of infantry marching away.
These men in the enlarged photos are not wearing artillery short swords as suggested in an earlier post, but rather sabre bayonets for the Sharp's Rifles. And yes, they do have artillery insignia on their caps. They are most likely men of the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery, the flank companies of which carried Sharps. They can be seen in several other photos taken on the Peninsula around Yorktown.
As [one of our cavalry] passed by, the general halted him and inquired "what part of the army he belonged to." "I don't belong to the army, I belong to the cavalry." "That's a fact," says [the general], "you can pass on." Silas Grisamore, 18th Louisiana
I looked closer and it does looks like they are wearing sword bayonets.
The cannon in the foreground looks to be a Model 1840, 8-inch siege howitzer (someone correct me if I'm wrong) and the on the LoC under Created/Published is 1862, June. If I'm right on both, then looks like these boys are from the 1st Regiment C.V. Heavy Artillery.
From "History of the First Regiment C.V. Heavy Artillery" written by Henry L. Abbot, found in Record of the Service of Connecticut Men in the Army and Navy of the United States during the War of the Rebellion. and published in 1889 by Press of the Case, Lockwood and Brainard Company in Hartford, Conn.
Page 117:
On June 20th Colonel Tyler was ordered to bring up five 4 ½ inch guns and five 30-pounder Parrotts. On June 24th they were in position near New Bridge, under Major Kellogg, served by Companies B, D, and F. On June 25th and 26th they fired effectively; and on the latter date were moved across the Chickahominy to Golding’s farm, where, reinforced by two 10-pounder Whitworths served by Company I, they were heavily engaged on June 27th. On that night they were withdrawn; and, across White Oak Swamp, joined the rest of the rest of the train under Major Hemingway, consisting of two 8-inch howitzers, two 10-pounder Whitworths, and nine other heavy guns, which had been in position near Seven Pines and in depot at Orchard Station. They united train was moved to Turkey Bend, and during the night of June 30th Companies B, D, F, I, and K placed with great difficulty five 4 ½ inch ordnance guns, five 30-pounder Parrotts, two 8-inch howitzers, and two 10-pounder Whitworths in position on Malvern Hill. These guns were gallantly and effectively served in the great battle of July 1st, although, in addition to the fire of the enemy, the men suffered from a rear fire from our gunboats, by which four men of Company F were wounded, three mortally. During the following night the train was retired to Westover Landing.
As [one of our cavalry] passed by, the general halted him and inquired "what part of the army he belonged to." "I don't belong to the army, I belong to the cavalry." "That's a fact," says [the general], "you can pass on." Silas Grisamore, 18th Louisiana
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