question for my confederate impression

[billyreb61]

I have been doing union reenacting for many years now. My unit is slowly doing some events as confederates. I have acquired a number of items now and i have a question on the canteen. Wood canteen or tin drum canteen? Was one more prodominent than the other or equally used. And also where is a good place to get a good confederate canteen?

thanks

[Chris Suppelsa]

Re: question for my confederate impression

Before everyone else tells you to use the search function, I would suggest a tin drum style because it can cover most every time period, east or west. A wood canteen is also a pain in the a$$ to maintain.

[billyreb61]

Re: question for my confederate impression

Thanks for your help chris. i'll look into it.

thanks again

[MickCole]

Re: question for my confederate impression

Personally, I prefer a wooden canteen, as they seem to be under-represented in re-enactor ranks. Mine does require occasional re-waxing, which takes maybe 5 or 10 minutes once or twice a year.
It seems to me that water just tastes better out of and stays cooler in a wooden canteen, but that's a matter of personal preference.
Mick Cole

[toptimlrd]

Re: question for my confederate impression

You could also use a Federal canteen, claim it was a battlefield capture

Nick,

He could, but isn't this over represented? It would also be dependednt upon his unit and what year of the war he is portraying. Having "captured gear" at 1st Manassas (for example) would be a stretch as they would not have seen as much action and would have been fairly well supplied at that stage of the war. All too often we fall into the "captured gear" trap when we try to validate using inappropriate Federal Gear in our Confederate impression (of which I am as guilty as the next guy so no stones are being thrown).

[1stMaine]

Re: question for my confederate impression

Comrade,

As far as the early war period is concerned, remember that everything in the southern arsenals was federal pattern. There was no cenfederacy before the war, and a great deal of the equipment in both federal and state arsenals was of the patterns approved for use by the regular army, regardless of where it was made.

So, having a "federal" canteen or cartridge box, or haversack, is a bit of a misnomer, and depends a lot on when your unit was raised and where the equipment came from.

Respects,

[Gawd Awful Lad]

Re: question for my confederate impression

I feel alot of times, Federal canteens in the ranks are underrepresented.
Just look at alot of the photos of captured and dead confederates. Alot of federal smooth side and bullseye canteens can be found. Alot of it does depend on the unit you portray and the year you are portraying, sure. But, I do not know of many confederate accounts that describe the exact style of canteen they were issued. Like I said, I feel the best thing to do would be examine photographs.
Thanks

[Jim Mayo]

Re: question for my confederate impression

Don't forget that on battlefields which remained under Southern control, after the battle, anything that wasn't picked up by the solders during the battle was collected by the quartermaster for reuse. This would include undamaged federal canteens.

As to the number of wood, tin drum and CS manufactured knock offs compared to federal issued canteens in use, I don't think anyone could ever come up with this ratio. From photos in the field it seems that the federal canteen is the most common. Tin drum canteens are recovered from sites of all periods of the war so I would put them a distant second for common use. Wood canteens were also around during the entire duration of the war but there is no way to tell in what numbers. They did make good souvenirs for the Yankees and we have that fact to explain why so many survive.

[Gawd Awful Lad]

Re: question for my confederate impression

While on this topic...
Has anyone seen other copies of the "Nukols" (or however its spelt) wooden canteen?
Was it mass produced or was it just privately purchased or brought from home?
Was it a copy of sorts?
Thanks,

[SKIP-34TH VA CAV]

Re: question for my confederate impression

Sir,
The Use Of A Federal Canteen With The Addition Of A Leather Sling Split At The Bottom To Cradle The Body Of The Canteen Is An Excellent
Reprresentation Of A Much Used (documented) Canteen. You May Already Have One , Just Remove Tne Cover And Add The Sling.

Skip Mclean
34th Va Cav

[Jeb Hawthorn]

Re: question for my confederate impression

While on the topic, of all the styles of tin drum canteen manufactured durring the war, which are most prevelent? Also, are any of them tied strictly to a certain period of the conflict?

[Bill]

Re: question for my confederate impression

Keep in mind the wood (Gardner Pattern) canteens were a mid to late War issue item. They didn't begin showing up in any numbers in the ANV until the Spring of 1863. I believe they started showing up in the AOT about a year earlier, but I won't swear to that.

Their usage can be pretty well documented by when the Yankees started picking the Gardner Pattern canteens off battlefields to send them home as souvenirs. A lot of those Yankees were nice enough to mark the canteens with where and when they picked them up.

[Bob Steele]

Re: question for my confederate impression

Doug, I do have some information about your question of which were used more often, tin or wood drum canteens in the Confederacy to share with you. In the Civil War canteen book, Steve Sylvia and Mike O'Donnell mention that the wood drum canteen became more common in the Confederate Army after mid 1863. Ron Smith of Trans-Mississippi Depot Company told me that the Gardner pattern wood drum canteen was manufactured from early 1862 on. Therefore, either wood or tin drum canteens would be appropriate for a Confederate impression from 1862 to the end of the war. Shannon Pritchard in his Collecting the Confederacy mentions the wood drum canteen as the most common pattern of Confederate canteen. Doug, I hope this information is helpful to you, and any addition information about the Gardner wood drum canteen would be appreciated by me. As have been mentioned by many Civil War living historians, the wood drum canteen is underrepresented, but finding a good reproduction is very difficult to do, the only source I know is S and S Sutlers of Gettysburg.

Bob Steele

[Slouch]

Re: question for my confederate impression

Keep in mind the wood (Gardner Pattern) canteens were a mid to late War issue item. They didn't begin showing up in any numbers in the ANV until the Spring of 1863. I believe they started showing up in the AOT about a year earlier, but I won't swear to that.

.

Make what you will out of this...General Longstreet's memoir includes an illustration showing a wood drum canteen "on the battlefield of Antietam".

Sorry, I dont have the reference on me for this, but I have read a Confederate memoir that noted only recruits would be found having white haversacks and wood canteens.

Many sources note that Confederates were trading their wood canteens to federals in exchange for Federal canteens or other goods, so it seems at least some folks were eager to upgrade.

I think a standard tin drum, uncovered Federal canteen, or a wooden canteen are equally good. Much depends on the scenerio.

If you decide on a wooden canteen, do your research before buying. Their are a lot of bad wooden canteens out there on sutler row.

[Coatsy]

Re: question for my confederate impression

"Much depends on the scenerio."

Read that line, read it again. And then perhaps again.

When it comes to any event, a good idea is to read up about as much as possible, including trying to finding information about gear.

The good news is that most events listed on the AC have equpiment lists that are very attainable for most folks who are interested in attending.