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Re: Observations of ANV cavalry.....
Larry is on point in his discussion about US not wanting to look like THEM, so we follow the rules that we have set for ourselves, although there may be history that runs counter to these beliefs. I have pondered this over the years and have often thought that we've come up with our own set of reenactorisms to off set what we perceive to be mainstream reenactorisms.
On another point, for many years I have studied the inspection reports of Wheeler's cavalry during the Atlanta campaign. Consistently, the reports rarely list any blankets. I've often wondered of that meant that there were few blankets of any kind in the command, whether the IRs differentiated between sleeping blankets and saddle blankets, or, begging the obvious, what did they use, if anything, for saddle blankets?
Having recently re-read David Evans' excellent researched and written "Sherman's Horsemen," I noted that in most every report of the three major cavalry raids by Union troopers around the Atlanta Campaign, each raiding party had pack mules (at the minimum) and wagons / trains (usually) as part of the entourage. Of course, pack mules and a wagon or two allow for less gear and weight on the horse. That's something that we've never really done (at least to my knowledge) - pack mules or a wagon as part of the column.
We all consider the wearing of Federal trousers as the ultimate farb-out, yet there are numerous reports of CS western theater cavalry doing so (Wheeler's command was reported in Federal ORs as wearing complete Federal uniforms in the winter of '63 - '64 as the picketed Northern Alabama, North Georgia, Southeastern Tennessee; Shannon's Scouts in the summer of '64).
Have we let US vs. THEM override the historical record? Maybe, collectively, we devote this winter towards re-examining some of the tenants that we've developed over the years?
Just a thought...
Larry is on point in his discussion about US not wanting to look like THEM, so we follow the rules that we have set for ourselves, although there may be history that runs counter to these beliefs. I have pondered this over the years and have often thought that we've come up with our own set of reenactorisms to off set what we perceive to be mainstream reenactorisms.
On another point, for many years I have studied the inspection reports of Wheeler's cavalry during the Atlanta campaign. Consistently, the reports rarely list any blankets. I've often wondered of that meant that there were few blankets of any kind in the command, whether the IRs differentiated between sleeping blankets and saddle blankets, or, begging the obvious, what did they use, if anything, for saddle blankets?
Having recently re-read David Evans' excellent researched and written "Sherman's Horsemen," I noted that in most every report of the three major cavalry raids by Union troopers around the Atlanta Campaign, each raiding party had pack mules (at the minimum) and wagons / trains (usually) as part of the entourage. Of course, pack mules and a wagon or two allow for less gear and weight on the horse. That's something that we've never really done (at least to my knowledge) - pack mules or a wagon as part of the column.
We all consider the wearing of Federal trousers as the ultimate farb-out, yet there are numerous reports of CS western theater cavalry doing so (Wheeler's command was reported in Federal ORs as wearing complete Federal uniforms in the winter of '63 - '64 as the picketed Northern Alabama, North Georgia, Southeastern Tennessee; Shannon's Scouts in the summer of '64).
Have we let US vs. THEM override the historical record? Maybe, collectively, we devote this winter towards re-examining some of the tenants that we've developed over the years?
Just a thought...
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