The French Tente d'abri

[fahnenschmied]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

Hmn...my picture seems not to show now at a different computer. I'll try to fix that - in the meantime, I had the source of the dog tent quote attributed to the wrong person...

http://books.google.com/books?id=o9ZBAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Alexander+William+Kinglake%22&hl=en&ei=zHZ1TaaaAc-10QHrq63fBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=dog&f=false

Hopefully that will work better than my link to the picture. Its a quote from an Englishmen saying the French troops call them dog tents. Hopefully..

[pacofeanor]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

Monsieur Mazen

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

Hello, sorry for a lond time without answer! i've just comme back from winter hollydays!!
For the french cartridge box, it contains 4 packets of 9 cartridges. The french soldier wore 90 cartridges in 10 packets. 4 in the cartridge box and the other in the knapsack.

It is the Reason why the french soldier cannot threw away his knapsack ! and he gave a nick name to his knapsack, "Azor" (the name of a little dog , witch is the shadow of his master!!!)
regards
paco

[john duffer]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

Merci. I was particularly asking regarding the Legionnaires that fought at Camerone in Mexico, 1863. The indications are they each carried 60 cartrdiges and I wondered if that was in the box or some other combination.

[fahnenschmied]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

François,

Would you know if the packets of 9 cartridges also included a paper tube of percussion caps? The closest thing I have seen to a French cartridge packet is a Swiss one, and it included a tube of 12 or 14 caps along with 10 cartridges, quite similar to the US type for the same time period. Thanks for the nickname of the pack!

[pacofeanor]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

I made a mystake!!
90 cartridge dotation is from 1866 with the new chassepot riffle !
before it is 4 packets in the cartridge box and 4 other in the 1854 knapsack (in a wooden place on the top of the inside knapsack, open by a leather "door" on the right side)

The dotation is up to 90 cartridge because of the new bolt action system wich need more cartridges (the big fright of french head-quarter!) and the new packets are put in the "cartridge pouch" ("poche à cartouches") in front of the soldier inspired by the US cap pouch !!
Fahnenschmied, i think too that the tenth cartridge is in fact caps !
regards
paco

[markj]

Re: The French Tente d'abri

FWIW,

ZOUAVE TENTS.--Capt. Robinson and Lieut Wilson, both of the [11th Indiana] Zouave regiment, were yesterday [Monday, 29 April 1861] perfecting a tent as a sample of the kind they desire to have for use in the field. It will accommodate one man, is very light, and so arranged that it can be pitched in a moment. The cloth is to be made of muslin boiled in oil. Four light sticks, four pegs and the muslin is all that is required. Each man, if this plan is adopted, will carry his tent on his back. It is an exceedingly simple contrivance, and we see not reason why it will not work well. (Indianapolis Daily Democratic Sentinel, 30 April 1861).

Mark Jaeger