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CW Body Armor?

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  • #1

    CW Body Armor?

    I'm sure many of you have seen this insert from an 1862 version of Harper's Weekly. I thought it was quite interesting (and somewhat amusing). I'm sure that it wouldn't be effective when worn in the sweltering heat or against a minie ball....

    Brian
    Attached Files
    Brian Shajari
    Tolerance Lodge 1165 AF&AM, Texas
    Co. L, 1st Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment Lone Star Rifles
    Hawaii American Civil War Roundtable Group


    Proud descendent of: PVT William B. Wales, Louisiana Crescent Regiment
    and Pvt. James Groves, Jr., Co. K, 6th Louisiana Cavalry
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: CW Body Armor?

    There is an original set of body armor sold to a soldier by a Sutler at the beginning of the war that is on exibit at the Atlanta History Center.
    -Brandon Hand
    48th NY Co. F
    Unit Clerk/Newsletter Editor

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    • #3
      Re: CW Body Armor?

      What was it made of? I'm really curious about this now and want to research it more...I'm a former Coast Guard law enforcement guy and have always been interested in early body armor.
      Brian Shajari
      Tolerance Lodge 1165 AF&AM, Texas
      Co. L, 1st Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment Lone Star Rifles
      Hawaii American Civil War Roundtable Group


      Proud descendent of: PVT William B. Wales, Louisiana Crescent Regiment
      and Pvt. James Groves, Jr., Co. K, 6th Louisiana Cavalry

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: CW Body Armor?

        I believe they made a mention of body armor in the Boyd book on the 15th Iowa. He said a few people in the regiment purchased them, however when tested the bullets went right through. I will try to get the original quote.
        Jake Koch
        The Debonair Society of Coffee Coolers, Brewers, and Debaters
        https://coffeecoolersmess.weebly.com/

        -Pvt. Max Doermann, 3x Great Uncle, Co. E, 66th New York Infantry. Died at Andersonville, Dec. 22, 1864.
        -Pvt. David Rousch, 4x Great Uncle, Co. A, 107th Ohio Infantry. Wounded and Captured at Gettysburg. Died at Andersonville, June 5, 1864.
        -Pvt. Carl Sievert, 3x Great Uncle, Co. H, 7th New York Infantry (Steuben Guard). Mortally Wounded at Malvern Hill.

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        • #5
          Re: CW Body Armor?

          Many thanks, Jake.
          Brian Shajari
          Tolerance Lodge 1165 AF&AM, Texas
          Co. L, 1st Texas Volunteer Infantry Regiment Lone Star Rifles
          Hawaii American Civil War Roundtable Group


          Proud descendent of: PVT William B. Wales, Louisiana Crescent Regiment
          and Pvt. James Groves, Jr., Co. K, 6th Louisiana Cavalry

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: CW Body Armor?

            It appeared to made of thin steel that was soldered and rivited together. There is no way it could stop anything. I have a picture of it but it is on my phone and I cannot post it at the moment.
            -Brandon Hand
            48th NY Co. F
            Unit Clerk/Newsletter Editor

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: CW Body Armor?

              Confederates found a deceased Yankee on the battlefield of 1st Manasses wearing a patented iron breatplate with a hole through it of sufficient size to allow the escape of a number of lives. Some of Jackson's men in the Shenandoah Valley campaign captured Union body armour and gleefully used it for target practice. I also recall a contrary reference of a soldier's reaction to being struck in the front of his patented armour: the ball failed to penetrate and the wearer thereafter felt much bolder. To echo a previous post, in 1968 Vietnam I refused to wear body armour as did most of the company with whom I campaigned. It was beastly hot. That is, I refused to wear it until I was a short timer. Then I didn't even go to the can without being zipped and snapped in.
              David Fox

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: CW Body Armor?

                From the collection of the Wisconsin Veteran's Museum (please note the caveat in the Museum's documentation):
                http://collections.dva.state.wi.us/U...3-335954743755

                I have also read two different different accounts from the battle of Perryville relating to armor:

                John Otto in Memoirs of a Dutch Mudsill says that Hamlin B. Williams of the 21st Wisconsin Infantry had a "mail waistcoat, made of fine steel wire and quite heavy" stowed on the baggage train on the march to Perryville (pg 25). The fellow was shot in the chest at Perryville, the mail waistcoat still with the baggage. It's worth noting the 21st WI had been in service less than one month at that time, the men were quite green.

                The other is a quote from Marcus B. Toney of the 1st Tennessee, quoted by David R. Logsdon in Eyewitness to the Battle of Perryville "There were no spades or shovels to be had, but I saw a breast plate upon a dead Federal, and by inverting it made a kind of scoop. With this I covered our dead." (pg 98)
                Last edited by Andy Ackeret; 05-20-2011, 10:02 PM. Reason: Typo
                Andy Ackeret
                A/C Staff
                Mess No. 3 / Hard Head Mess / O.N.V

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                • #9
                  Re: CW Body Armor?

                  Just to tie into this, below is a previous thread on this very topic that can provide some additional information.

                  Breast Plate Armor
                  [B][U][I]Michael T. Moses[/I][/U][/B]
                  [URL="http://www.armoryguards.org/"]Armory Guards[/URL]
                  [URL="http://www.westernindependentgrays.org/"]Western Independent Grays[/URL]
                  [URL="http://www.military-historians.org/publications/journal/issuesbynumber.htm"]Company of Military Historians[/URL]
                  [URL="www.civilwar.org"]CWPT[/URL]

                  [SIZE="2"][U][I]Aut Dosce, Aut Disce, Aut Discede [/I][/U][/SIZE]
                  [URL="http://www.zipcon.net/~silas/links.htm"]Wealth of Information[/URL] (Drill Manuals, Regimental Histories, etc.)
                  [URL="http://colquitt.k12.ga.us/gspurloc/Cobbslegion/gasca/units/53rd_reg2.htm"]53rd Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry Articles
                  [/URL][URL="http://www.soldierstudies.org/index.php?action=subject_search"]Soldier Studies Database of letters & memoirs[/URL]
                  [URL="http://www.vmi.edu/archives.aspx?id=3723"]VMI Archives[/URL]

                  [I]" I have rather be a Dead Hero than a live Coward.
                  They can stay at home & blow about this war but they will dare not face this music."[/I] ~Corporal George H. Davis, Co. C, 26th Massachusetts Infantry

                  [I]"The first person bugbear is just another tool to use in the attempt to squint at the experience of another time. It seems like we get tangled up in the method and forget the goal."[/I] ~Todd S. Bemis


                  [B]Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-2004[/B]

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                  Please support CWPT at [url]www.civilwar.org[/url]

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                  • #10
                    Re: CW Body Armor?

                    Colonel W.P. Rogers was killed at Corinth, MS. while wearing body armor.

                    http://www.corinthcivilwarrelics.com/wprogers/story.htm
                    Tom Yearby
                    Texas Ground Hornets

                    "I'd rather shoot a man than a snake." Robert Stumbling Bear

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