The French Tente d'abri

[wade03]

Hey,
I was looking on a website that shows you to build an early war shelter tent. Personally I really liked the article and may attempt making one myself. The article mentioned " French Tente d'abri" several times. The author said that this was the tent the US copied for their shelter tent. I was wondering if the french ever imported this tent for the US. I believe he also refered to it as the type I or the translation as "Tent of shelter."
Anyone?

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

According to "The Federal Shelter Tent" by Fred Gaede, the tent mentioned as the tent d'abri was just the extent shelter that the US chose to copy (partially because of McClellan's pre-war visit to France with other US officers). There is nothing to indicate that the French imported them and it is highly unlikely that they did. In the book there were several other examples of early war shelters including painted halves and halves that folded up to create a knapsack. These were small in numbers and quite rare, with no surviving examples.

[Cfarrell]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

I don't know which article you read. But the book stated above by Mr. Lamoreaux is a great read. I'd suggest getting it if you really enjoyed that article because pretty much everything you want to know about the shelter tent you can find in it. SkilletLicker has a few in stock for a good price.

Regards,

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

OK...so I've anxiously been reading for years the works of others (either published, website (lazyjacks), or through the forums, about the use of Tent Flys and Shelter Halves by Confederates. There are several documented cases of Confederates using Shelter halves (sometimes explicitely being captured items)...and at least one extant example at the North Carolina Museum of History (which is believed to be of Federal Origin)...but why are we so apt as historians not to accept that the Confederacy (in some numbers), may have actually manufactured their own version of the French Shelter Tent (d'abri), tent knapsacks...etc.?

In reading Gilham's Manual for Volunteers & Militia; I reference our readers to the following Article XIII. DUTIES OF CAPTAINS_COMPANIES_DUTIES IN CAMP AND GARRISON, ETC.

761. There are several forms of tents--the common tent, covering an area of about 7 feet square, and capable of accomodating from five to six men; the wall tent, usually used by officers, about nine feet square, and having its roof proteced by a second piece of canvas, known as the "fly;" the Sibley tent, which is conical in shape, has but a single central pole, with an arrangement at the top to admit of a fire in the center for cooking purposes, or for comfort in cold weather, and sufficiently large to accomodate from twelve to fifteen men; and the shelter tent of the French. The Sibley tent is in general use in the U.S. service. Fig. 172 is a representation of the Sibley tent, and Fig. 173 of the shelter tent. The later is invaluable in the summer campaign, when transportation is limited.

A new invention has been lately introduced into the U.S. service, which promises to be very useful; it is called the tent knapsack, and serves he purpose of a knapsack on the march, and a shelter tent when in camp. It is a piece of gutta percha, five feet 3 inches long, and three feet eight inches wide, with double edges on one side, and brass studs and button holes along two edges, and straps and buckles on the fourth; with two sticks three feet eight inches long, by one and a half inches in diameter, and a small cord. When used as a knapsack, the clothing is packed in a cotton bag, and the gutta-percha sheet is folded around it, lapping at the ends. The clothing is thus protected by two or three thicknesses of gutta-percha; the knapsack adapts itself to the size of the contents, so that a compact and portable bundle can be made, whether the "kit" be entire or not; and with the cotton bag, it forms a convenient, commodious, and desirable, receptacle for all a soldier's clothing and necessaries.

While I realize that this does not substantiate "proof" that said shelter tents, were indeed manufactured by the Confederacy, it hopefully provides for an arguement that these could have possibly produced in some number for issuance...too bad, there's still no "smoking-gun" to substantiate CS manufacture of shelter tents...

Paul B.

[Marc29thGA]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

In “Red Clay to Richmond – Trail of the 35th Georgia Infantry Regiment, CSA” by John J. Fox III on page 32 is the following:

“Benjamin Moody reported on March 24 (1862) that the men anticipated turning in their tents. He expected the quartermaster would issue smaller French tents the men could easily carry.”

No more is mentioned in the book after that. This could suggest that there were some of the French tent d'abri available in the ANV in the early part of the war. Maybe some day, more information will turn up on the subject with some concrete numbers or evidence for either side of the argument.

Y.O.S.,

[James Slonders]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

Hey,
I was looking on a website that shows you to build an early war shelter tent. Personally I really liked the article and may attempt making one myself. The article mentioned " French Tente d'abri" several times. The author said that this was the tent the US copied for their shelter tent. I was wondering if the french ever imported this tent for the US. I believe he also refered to it as the type I or the translation as "Tent of shelter."
Anyone?

What website were you on?

James Slonders

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

What website were you on?

James Slonders

While I can't speak for Mr. Wade....the Olathe Union Guard has had this posted on their website for many years, under the Articles Section:

http://www.geocities.com/union_guard/

Paul B.

[RN_PAC]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

OK...so I've anxiously been reading for years the works of others (either published, website (lazyjacks), or through the forums, about the use of Tent Flys and Shelter Halves by Confederates. There are several documented cases of Confederates using Shelter halves (sometimes explicitely being captured items)...and at least one extant example at the North Carolina Museum of History (which is believed to be of Federal Origin)...but why are we so apt as historians not to accept that the Confederacy (in some numbers), may have actually manufactured their own version of the French Shelter Tent (d'abri...etc.?

While I realize that this does not substantiate "proof" that said shelter tents, were indeed manufactured by the Confederacy, it hopefully provides for an arguement that these could have possibly produced in some number for issuance...too bad, there's still no "smoking-gun" to substantiate CS manufacture of shelter tents...

Paul B.

I feel your frustration. References to them are not rare. Just to add to the smattering of documentation on this thread, Worsham mentions he and his comrades using them in One of Jackson's Foot Cavalry, although he too credits Uncle Sam as the supplier. I believe Joshua Chamberlain also mentioned in a memoir seeing the remnant of the ANV the morning after Appomattox "folding up their little shelter-tents" (to paraphrase).

Yet no concrete evidence that they were manufactured. So vexing, because it is not like their manufacture required any particularly hard-to-get raw materials; designing one is not exactly a marvel of engineering or anything either...

In reference to the original poster's question: to me, it sounds like you meant to ask weather the US imported French shelters, viz a viz their being sent the other way across the pond. The only intance I know of, off the cuff, where French shelters were imported were with the 10,000 or so complete kits of Chasseur De Vincennes uniforms and eqipage that were issued to several AOP regiments...83rd PVI, among others...

[RN_PAC]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

Google is just amazing. Here is the quote I was just barely recollecting re:Chamberlain (third paragraph down):

http://www.civilwarhome.com/Chamberlainappomattomax.htm

And here is the Worsham reference on the Lazy Jacks site (at the bottom). However, when I read Foot Cavalry, I could swear Worsham mentioned the "flys" as he called them being captured...I'll have to check my copy at home:

http://www.lazyjacks.org.uk/tenting1.htm

Regards,

[Dignann]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

While I realize that this does not substantiate "proof" that said shelter tents, were indeed manufactured by the Confederacy, it hopefully provides for an arguement that these could have possibly produced in some number for issuance...too bad, there's still no "smoking-gun" to substantiate CS manufacture of shelter tents...

Yet no concrete evidence that they were manufactured. So vexing, because it is not like their manufacture required any particularly hard-to-get raw materials; designing one is not exactly a marvel of engineering or anything either...

Although it doesn't necessarily pertain to French pattern tents, check posts #3 and #5 under previous thread Tent Fly for info on CS shelter tents.

Eric

[Brian Baird]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

If you use the Olathe Union Guard's directions for the early war tent, they are going to be shorter than what the QM Dept. wanted. From the start, the spec's for shelter tents were 66.6 long by 63 inches wide, finished for each half until the end of the war. These diamensions are from Page 44 of Mr Gaede's book, THE FEDERAL CIVIL WAR SHELTER TENT.
Brian Baird

[fahnenschmied]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

Just thought I would share something posted on a French blog "Paco Fait le Zouave", a photo from some magazine article on French equippage of the 1860s. There is a tantalizing glimpse of an old shelter tent, not enough to see the corners unfortunately, but enough to see that it has hand sewn hems and very black buttons. I am assuming they are bone or possibly horn - one of them is broken and a metal button wouldn't break like that.
All right, since I cant trick this into posting a picture, I'll send a link...

http://pacofaitlezouave.blogspot.com/search/label/collection

Scroll down about three quarters of the way. You'll see a blanket with white gloves, a red and blue kepi, and lots of little items, all partially lying on a shelter tent. Hope somebody is looking for this and never yet found it. Just might explain why the Cincinnati Depot used darkened bone buttons....

[pacofeanor]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

Hello fahnenschmied, the shelter is dated two times 1856 and 1859, and it seems to be entirly hand steach!!You are right for the buttons, they are made from bone, teinted in black. They serve for french trousers too (for suspenders), and for cap pocket on the cartridge box. (french army didn't use a separate cap pouch!)

best regards
paco

François Mazen
French volunteers

[john duffer]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

Monsieur Mazen

Would you happen to know offhand if French cartridge boxes circa 1860ish held 60 cartridges ?

[fahnenschmied]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

Thanks, François, I suspected that the buttons were the same as trouser buttons - I thought I saw bright red ones on some Zouave trousers once, but they were fabric covered. Now I will have to dye or find some black bone buttons for my French tente d'abri. I made mine from some drawings given to my by some German zouave reenactors from a site Les-zouaves.de, I believe, but I cannot find their site anymore. I would post the picture but I cannot trick AC into letting me upload an image from my computer...let me try one other thing

Maybe that'll work...
Perhaps it did! While in the sketch, it looks like there might be buttons and buttonholes in the upper corners of the tent, the detail sketch of the corner show three eyelets. So what, you say? Well, Flomerfelts (Sp?) description of the shelter tent says something like "First button to be 11 3/4 inches from the end of the tent"....and all surving Federal tents have the first button only an inch from the end of the tent. This bit of information seems to be overlooked in Gaedes excellent book on the Federal Shelter Tent, but I noticed it in making my replica. If you made a tent sticking to the earliest published U.S. description, it will have 21 buttons and not 23...
While I am on the subject, if you look at the odd fractions that the buttonholes are to be spaced at, they are not at some even figure like 8 inches, on the US models the earliest descriptions have them at 7 5/6 or 7 21/24 or some other really odd fraction - I cannot remember exactly what they are, and I don't have Gaedes book handy - but it is really obvious that someone was measuring a French one and trying to get at the nearest equivalent to 20 centimeters, on an English ruler.
One last parting shot - perhaps the Frenchmen here might know - but the nickname "dog tent" predates our use of it. Lord Raglan in a History of the Crimean War mentions it. I don't have a copy here to tell you which page. You may, however, find something on Google Books - even if most of the copies on Google Books are published after our entry into to our own Civil War.
Lastly, the French "Giberne" is about the size of our .58 caliber box, there is a space in the middle for tools, and the cartridges for it were a big .69 cartridge. You might be able to cram 40 rounds of
.58 caliber rounds in there...