Officer's Accouterments

[48Sarge]

Maybe it was discussed begfore, but a search turned up no information, besides the sword belt and sword, what would be appropriate as far as haversacks canteens, etc, for an officer. Also, did an officer generally carry the same things in his haversack as the enlisted men or was there variation?

Any help you can give me would be appreciated. I've recently been promoted and I want to do this right!

[markj]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

Try this thread for a start:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1481&highlight=officer+haversack

Also check standard reference works like "Echoes of Glory," "Todd's Military Equipage," &c. Both should be available at well-stocked libraries or through interlibrary loan.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[48Sarge]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

Thanks Mark, I don't know why I couldn't find that thread earlier with a search. I've definetly been hitting the books and trying to find as much as I could. But since the forum is a great tool as well, I figured it wouldn't hurt. The thing with private purchase haversacks, I could never figure why they would take an expensive leather tooled bag for their rations. That's why I guess I always assumed there was a difference in what they carried.

I had my Sergeant's impression about down and now I got to start all over!

:confused_

[Wild Rover]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

I mostly carry one for paperwork and one for food....one officer's haversack for work, and one pvts for rations...If you are doing the proper paperwork it may take up part of your knapsack as well.

Our Adjutant can speak of that!

Pards,

[Adjutant]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

One of the most enjoyable aspects about putting together an officer?s impression is the wonderful variety of items you can use. As officers purchased their own uniforms and equipment, they had the flexibility to find pieces that matched their style, tastes and needs. For a good sweep of these types of items I would recommend the following sources:

Echoes of Glory (as already mentioned)
Gallery Books, Commanders of the Civil War (the illustrations are off, but many great spreads of original items)
Brassey?s History of Uniforms: American Civil War Union Army
Brassey?s History of Uniforms: American Civil War Confederate Army
Don Troiani?s Regiments and Uniforms of the Civil War
And individual histories such as
Elisha Hunt Rhodes All for the Union
And Theodore Dodges?s diary

An important question to ask is: are you a staff, line, or field officer? In uniform and equipment line officers tended to look more like their men. Lieu?ts and Cap?ts on active campaign often worn plainer uniforms, carried knapsacks, and stomped around in shoes or bootees. Staff and field officers often wore more elaborate uniforms with rank more prominent, and did not need knapsacks, but strapped their equipment on their horses. Again this is really basic. The truth often crosses these lines and this is where research needs to start. One thing common to many officers were the new patent inventions designed to make life easier in the field. Roll up desks, steel or gold pens, rim-fire pistols, rubber raincoats or capes, filter canteens, haversacks, shoes, boots, etc. These can often be the little touches that make a really great officer?s impression.

As for myself, I like to carry: short roll w/ civilian coverlet, lightweight painted cloth or raincoat, and extra socks; large officer's haversack with many compartments for my paperwork, regimental books, blanks, roll-up desk, comb, pipe, tobacco, toothbrush, hair pomade, candles, etc.; enlisted or small officer's haversack for food; sword belt; sword; rarely a pistol (never close enough to use anyway); and a towel and handkerchief.

Hope this helps,
A. Dangel,
Adjutant, Liberty Rifles

[rebjeb04]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

Gents,
Does anyone know if officers (infantry, field/staff) carried knapsacks to store their other needed items, such as shirts, socks, dandy stuff, etc? I have seen some fellows in the field wearing them, but no existing examples in EOG. Would they have just carried as much as possible on their person, and depend on the wagons to carry their tents along with these things.

Thanks,
Adj. Chrisopher E. McBroom
16th Ark. Co. B and G, 1st Ark. Btln. CSA
:confused_

[VaTrooper]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

An important question to ask is: are you a staff, line, or field officer? In uniform and equipment line officers tended to look more like their men. Lieu?ts and Cap?ts on active campaign often worn plainer uniforms, carried knapsacks, and stomped around in shoes or bootees. Hope this helps,
A. Dangel,
Adjutant, Liberty Rifles

Chris,
Miss that?

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

Does anyone know if officers (infantry, field/staff) carried knapsacks to store their other needed items, such as shirts, socks, dandy stuff, etc?

In short, yes, but it depened on the officer.

Line officers probably tended to carry knapsacks or a blanket roll more than field or staff officers, because line officers of the infantry walked like their men. Of course, some line officers went into a campaign (at least, a warmer weather one) without much gear other than light marching order. In another thread on this forum today I referred to a distant ancestor of mine who was a Captain in the Army of the Potomac's Third Corps. At Chancellorsville he was a "dandy" enough to wear white gauntlets through the campaign (at least until he was shot through the torso early on May 3, 1863) but apparently he did not carry a knapsack, blanket roll, or anything like that. In his account of the evening of May 2-3, 1863, he wrote that the night was getting chill and he found a soldier already asleep covered by a blanket and lifted up a corner of the blanket and crawled under; that to me says he didn't carry a pack or blanket roll. (Of course, when he awoke in the morning, he found that he'd been sleeping with a corpse.)

Field and many staff officers were mounted on horses, and would have carried personal baggage strapped to their saddle and in saddlebags, instead of using a knapsack.

In the end, the officer had to decide as he prepared for a campaign and was sending his personal trunk of possessions to the rear just what he was going to need on the campaign. Some packed heavier than others. What would YOU want or need on a campaign, if you portray an officer? Personally, I dislike camping in the rain without a gum blanket AND either a shelter half or an oilcloth, so I usually have both in the blanket roll I typically carry when I portray a line officer, and I virtually always have a wool blanket too. It's rare that I carry the white gauntlets unless it's a garrison-type event, but it's not unsual for me to be a "dandy" and carry a sash... just in case someone tags me for Officer of the Day (or if I have to loan it to someone else who got that duty). Those are my preferences, and others' mileage in their officer portrayal may vary.

By the way, there's a chapter devoted to infantry line officer kit in the new-book-that-cannot-be-named-here.

[ScottCross]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

There is no substitute for primary research. Officer's tended to be a little more educated than enlisted men, so there are more first hand published accounts by officers out there than I care to list. Many of these officer's accounts go into great detail concerning the questions that have been asked. Crack the books and do some homework.

[westcoastcampaigner]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

Aaron,

Mr. Dangel listed it and I will full heartedly second his suggestion...get yourself a copy of On Campaign With The Army Of The Potomac: The Civil War Journal of Theodore Dodge. I just finished reading it and it is in my opinion on of the best first hand accounts of the war. Any living historian who plans on portraying an officer esp. at the Adjutant level should give this a read. Lots of great stuff.

Josh Sawyer

[Johan Steele]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

I remember looking at a CDV in a private collection that might be somewhat relevant to this. In the background is a single officer in front of the stacks, his men are lounging on the ground further in the background. He was not carrying a sword & I could see no evidence of a pistol. Looked like he was wearing a private purchase Sack Coat w/ a beat up slouch hat. He was sitting on what looked to be a knapsack smoking a pipe w/ what looked like a notepad & pencil in hand. Possibly catching up on some company paperwork or more likely penning a note home. Smoothside canteen sitting ontop of a haversack. He was sitting in such a way that you could see the hobnails on his shoes. THe shape of his shoulder boards was evident... I remember thinking that officer was a classic example of a line officer in the field.

In the foreground (subject of the picture) was a telegraph wagon w/ two men posed as though sending/receiving a message. A beautiful picture.

[Tom Ezell]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

Back in the "good old days", Camp Chase Gazette published a 6-part series, "Relics From Captain Kellogg's Trunk" by Michael R. Cunningham, which covered the items actually carried by a company officer of the 33rd Illinois during the Mississippi Valley campaign, 1862-1863, when said officer was killed at Vicksburg. Makes for fascinating reading, and an excellent example for putting your kit together. I clipped/scanned the articles into my reference notebook, but looking back at it to try and capture which issues they came from, CCG had omitted the little monthly date stamp at the bottom of every other page, so I'll have to go pull the original magazines back out of the archives out back... They are well worth looking up if you're interested in assembling a good line officer's kit.

There are a host of other first-person references which are good sources for the day to day life of a company officer. My tastes run mostly to the Mississippi Valley and Trans-Mississippi, so they may not be all that applicable. The folks up above have given good sources for an Eastern impression, though...

[rebjeb04]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

Thanks alot gents for the good info. I reacon the account of an ancestor who was really there would be the best to source.

Cheers,
Christopher E. McBroom
Adjutant, 16th Arkansas Inf. Co. G and B, CSA

[Tom Ezell]

Re: Officer's Accouterments

In an update to the remarks about the Captain Kellog articles above, the specific issues of Camp Chase Gazette are:

April 2003 (the field trunk & tan slouch hat)
June 2003 (frock coat, sash, vest, & recruiting poster)
August 2003 (officer's haversack & its contents
Holiday 2003 (Shirt, tie, white cotton summer trousers, gauntlets, and rubber cloak/rain cape)
Winter 2004 (Personal items, bible, CDVs, and other papers)
April 2004 (Sword, sword belt, and fatigue cap)