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This is an exhibit I built in the main atrium of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)'s headquarters at Fort Campbell, KY. As many of you may know, the Screaming Eagle on our patch is "Old Abe", wartime mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1864.
I built this exhibit using appropriate funds, Soldier labor, and AC approved vendors. It can be done--government contracting officers WILL buy from quality vendors if you are persistent and insistent with your needs and expectations.
Our stand-in for “Old Abe” is still under construction in Washington, D.C. and will join the exhibit in a month, or so. It will depict “Old Abe” in strike pose tethered to his perch, flying in front of, and above, the Eagle bearer. Since our famous shoulder patch shows "Old Abe" with white head feathers, I had to depict Abe after he "veteranized".
Vendors:
Hats: Tim Bender.
Frocks, shirts, trousers: C.J. Daley.
Flags: Steven Hill.
Museum figures: Dorfman Museum Figures, Inc.
Dirt: Courtesy of Wisconsin.
Leather/field equipment: various sources.
Construction of the perch. The perch/shield was the most challenging part of this exhibit. I reconstructed Old Abe's shield-shaped perch from extant photographs. However, only a handful of photos of the perch during actual wartime exist. Even then, it evolved quite a bit over time. Actual measurements were gleaned by viewing the famous “Old Abe” color guard photo and comparing the shield dimensions with known distances measured from the Springfield rifles in the same image. We chose to show the perch/shield as it originally looked. In the beginning, the actual perch was supported above the shield by three small struts and was pierced by three arrows. I will be the first to admit that I made some educated guesses when building it.
Orientation and carriage of the perch. Some of you may be puzzled by the orientation of the perch (shield forward). Since no first-hand accounts regarding how this perch was carried on the march seem to exist, I had to improvise and experiment. I took the perch you see here, attached two sacks of flour to the top of it, and took it on a five-mile march. I learned alot from this experience! First of all---it sucked. When carrying this thing over long distances, the bearer must have had to rotate the shield/perch to gain relief for his shoulders. He could do this by alternately leaning it forward (as depicted) and turning it--then bringing it closer to his face (as depicted in Troiani’s painting). This experience tells me that regular repositioning of the perch/shield was a must.
I am looking for some well-worn, but good quality, confederate and federal equipment/clothing items that I can add to this exhibit as “battlefield dropped” gear.
If anyone is in our area and would like to check it out, the exhibit is open to the general public during the day. Address: General Anthony C. McAuliffe Hall, 2700 Indiana Avenue, Fort Campbell, KY 42223.
Jim Page
Captain, U.S. Army
Division Historian
BG Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum
5702 Tennessee Avenue
Fort Campbell, KY 42223-5500
I built this exhibit using appropriate funds, Soldier labor, and AC approved vendors. It can be done--government contracting officers WILL buy from quality vendors if you are persistent and insistent with your needs and expectations.
Our stand-in for “Old Abe” is still under construction in Washington, D.C. and will join the exhibit in a month, or so. It will depict “Old Abe” in strike pose tethered to his perch, flying in front of, and above, the Eagle bearer. Since our famous shoulder patch shows "Old Abe" with white head feathers, I had to depict Abe after he "veteranized".
Vendors:
Hats: Tim Bender.
Frocks, shirts, trousers: C.J. Daley.
Flags: Steven Hill.
Museum figures: Dorfman Museum Figures, Inc.
Dirt: Courtesy of Wisconsin.
Leather/field equipment: various sources.
Construction of the perch. The perch/shield was the most challenging part of this exhibit. I reconstructed Old Abe's shield-shaped perch from extant photographs. However, only a handful of photos of the perch during actual wartime exist. Even then, it evolved quite a bit over time. Actual measurements were gleaned by viewing the famous “Old Abe” color guard photo and comparing the shield dimensions with known distances measured from the Springfield rifles in the same image. We chose to show the perch/shield as it originally looked. In the beginning, the actual perch was supported above the shield by three small struts and was pierced by three arrows. I will be the first to admit that I made some educated guesses when building it.
Orientation and carriage of the perch. Some of you may be puzzled by the orientation of the perch (shield forward). Since no first-hand accounts regarding how this perch was carried on the march seem to exist, I had to improvise and experiment. I took the perch you see here, attached two sacks of flour to the top of it, and took it on a five-mile march. I learned alot from this experience! First of all---it sucked. When carrying this thing over long distances, the bearer must have had to rotate the shield/perch to gain relief for his shoulders. He could do this by alternately leaning it forward (as depicted) and turning it--then bringing it closer to his face (as depicted in Troiani’s painting). This experience tells me that regular repositioning of the perch/shield was a must.
I am looking for some well-worn, but good quality, confederate and federal equipment/clothing items that I can add to this exhibit as “battlefield dropped” gear.
If anyone is in our area and would like to check it out, the exhibit is open to the general public during the day. Address: General Anthony C. McAuliffe Hall, 2700 Indiana Avenue, Fort Campbell, KY 42223.
Jim Page
Captain, U.S. Army
Division Historian
BG Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum
5702 Tennessee Avenue
Fort Campbell, KY 42223-5500
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