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I prefer using original sources to repops because I know I am reading the true text. Modern reprints of manuals are great in the field, but they take up valuable shelf space at home. Most electronic text versions have flaws or have gone offline. Over the years, I have been gathering a slew of manuals for various CW purposes on my links page at http://www.zipcon.net/~silas/links.htm . Until last night, my links page had been missing a scanned copy of a Goetzel edition of Vol. I, Hardee's Revised Tactics, for quite some time.
This was a glaring hole in my links page. Hardee's 1855 manual doesn't cut the mustard for the bulk of Confederate impressions because it is based upon use of the "two band" rifle and the sabre bayonet. The 1861 U.S. Tactics, a hard copy of which can be purchased from many modern book sellers for not much money, contains the 1855 rifle drill and the smoothbore drill. It lacks the improvements made in the revised tactics.
Gilham's is without doubt the best single volume of CW era, military instruction available, but the manual of arms is not entirely the same as Revised Hardee's. Additionally, the musket stack in Gilham is Scott's method for stacking and is the same source that Casey used. Hardee updated the musket stack by using the "swing" method attributed to Ellsworth.
Last night, I found two copies of Vol. I of Revised Hardee and have posted them at http://www.zipcon.net/~silas/links.htm#N_5_I I found a copy of the North Carolina version and posted it, too. If you're a Confederate reenactor, you need to spend in Revised Hardee's. Otherwise, you many be borrowing ideas from this manual and that manual.
I found a few more Confederate texts and added them, too. These include : a Confederate copy of Vol. III, Evolutions of the Line ; a Confederate version of LeGal's School of the Guides which ought to be required reading for every nco and officer ; Joseph Wheeler's Revised System of Cavalry Tactics for the Use of the Cavalry and Mounted Infantry ; Dabney Maury's Skirmish Drill for Mounted Troops ; and Richard Snowden Andrews' Mounted Artillery Drill.
I've heard about a Texas version of Gilham's and finally saw it. I didn't link it as it is pretty much a cut down version of Gilham's schools of the soldier and company. The rest of the information from Gilham was removed. It was interesting enought to discover, but not interesting enought to link.
If you haven't been to my links page in a while or if your unit still has links to one of the html versions, you might consider stopping my online library and viewing a scanned copy of an original manual. If you're looking for something, I've probably got it linked.
This was a glaring hole in my links page. Hardee's 1855 manual doesn't cut the mustard for the bulk of Confederate impressions because it is based upon use of the "two band" rifle and the sabre bayonet. The 1861 U.S. Tactics, a hard copy of which can be purchased from many modern book sellers for not much money, contains the 1855 rifle drill and the smoothbore drill. It lacks the improvements made in the revised tactics.
Gilham's is without doubt the best single volume of CW era, military instruction available, but the manual of arms is not entirely the same as Revised Hardee's. Additionally, the musket stack in Gilham is Scott's method for stacking and is the same source that Casey used. Hardee updated the musket stack by using the "swing" method attributed to Ellsworth.
Last night, I found two copies of Vol. I of Revised Hardee and have posted them at http://www.zipcon.net/~silas/links.htm#N_5_I I found a copy of the North Carolina version and posted it, too. If you're a Confederate reenactor, you need to spend in Revised Hardee's. Otherwise, you many be borrowing ideas from this manual and that manual.
I found a few more Confederate texts and added them, too. These include : a Confederate copy of Vol. III, Evolutions of the Line ; a Confederate version of LeGal's School of the Guides which ought to be required reading for every nco and officer ; Joseph Wheeler's Revised System of Cavalry Tactics for the Use of the Cavalry and Mounted Infantry ; Dabney Maury's Skirmish Drill for Mounted Troops ; and Richard Snowden Andrews' Mounted Artillery Drill.
I've heard about a Texas version of Gilham's and finally saw it. I didn't link it as it is pretty much a cut down version of Gilham's schools of the soldier and company. The rest of the information from Gilham was removed. It was interesting enought to discover, but not interesting enought to link.
If you haven't been to my links page in a while or if your unit still has links to one of the html versions, you might consider stopping my online library and viewing a scanned copy of an original manual. If you're looking for something, I've probably got it linked.
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