Any old manuals available now?

[Clark Badgett]

Since I left a few years back, has anyone reprinted various old manuals? I have Baxter's, Hardee's, a zerox of Casey's, a zerox of G.O. Affecting Volunteers and the 1861 regs. Would like a copy of the old '61 Ordnance manual, and good book of Casey's. So has anyone put out highly accurate copies of any books lately, is basically what I'm wondering? ;)

[dreierjs]

Clark,

As for Casey's, check out CJ Daley's In Stock Page (http://www.cjdaley.com/instock.htm) .

[coffee boiler]

Clark, you may also want to check out casey's on-line

http://www.usregulars.com/library.htm

[RyanBWeddle]

Clark Badgett:

Chris Daley sells quality copies of the Gilham's Manual for Virginia Militia 1860 and the Three Volume Set of Casey's for 1862.

Both are reproduced by Ken Mink out of Gettysburg. And I hear Mink is exploring the idea of coming out with a repro of the Hardee's Revised Manual of 1862 as well.

Hope that helps you out, also I believe the Ordnance Manual & others are available online for reading at various websites, MoA, DrillNetwork, etc. etc.

Sinc.

[Jarnagin]

Johnson Graphics is coping the Gilham's Manual with the Confederate title page that is dated 1861. I allowed his to copy my original Gillhans’s manual.

David Jarnagin
:)

[mladair]

The '50 Ordnance manual is available online through Making of America at http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/

The '61 manual has finally been reprinted by Johnson Graphics from Decatur, MI. It isn't a real high quality reprint, but at least the information is there. I'd check with some of the skinner row sites and you should be able to find a copy there.

[Yellowhammer]

Clark,

Stackpole Books is doing a series of manuals and have done some interesting volumes including:

"1862 Army Officer's Pocket Companion"

Both the NCO and Officer's versions of Kautz's "Customs of Service"

The oddly titled, "1863 US Infantry Tactics" (This one is particularly interesting since it is a US version of Gilham's published in 1861. Obviously, Gilham's name was removed since he was a rebel.)

Butterfield's "Camp and Outpost Duty for Infantry" (This one is a great addition to Mahan's for those doing picket posts or similar immersive scenarios.)

The books are pocket-sized, have cloth covers and paper dust jackets. While debatably acceptable for field use, they are an excellent resource.

Most NPS sites have them in their bookstores and I've even seen them in selected Borders and Barnes and Nobles.

Check them out at Stackpole's site: http://www.stackpolebooks.com/cgi-bin/StackpoleBooks.storefront

[markj]

Greetings,

This may be of potential interest to you: I am currently transcribing an unpublished manual compiled by Army IG Sylvester Churchill just prior to the war. Churchill was ahead of his time in trying to compile, streamline, and reconcile the various manuals then available to Regular Army and state militia units and he very nearly succeeded in his task--his manual got as far as the pre-publication stage and he was already taking orders for it from state adjutants general when the war came. However, Churchill's project was aborted due to bureaucratic inertia as well as his retirement from active service in September 1861. He was still trying to get it published by the War Department as late as July 1862 but died the following December.

The manual is in the form of a draft manuscript and is really something. Churchill even went as far as to send out dozens of "questionnaires" around 1858 to various Regular Army and militia officers seeking their feedback on vexing drill and honors questions. The list of respondents reads like a "Who's Who" of Union and Confederate officers (G. H. Thomas provided one reply). This manual never saw print and, thus, apparently had no direct impact on CW drill. However, it may be nevertheless helpful to reenactors since it seems to address various gaps noted in "Hardee," for example, and shows how these were dealt with at the time.

With luck, I'll have a working transcription of Churchill's manual done within the next few months.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Clark Badgett]

Interesting Mark, keep us posted with your progress. I'm sure a few of us would be interested in a copy.