Stack Arms: Eliminating the Fumbling in the Federal Ranks by Paul Calloway

[paulcalloway]

Friends -
With the help of my good friend Mark Jaeger, I've put the finishing touches on an article that I began work on in the summer of 2003. This article received some attention in The Watchdog, Volume 11, No. 4, Fall 2003 where a much abbreviated version appeared on pages 12-14.

This is the full work which addresses Stack Arms in much depth. I hope the article will spurn some debate - I don't claim to have all the answers but this was my best shot at a issue that we see every time Federal Reenactors take the field.

This is a fairly extensive article and Mark Jaeger was kind enough to put it into a Adobe Acrobat format for me.

Once again, I want to share my profound respect and appreciation for Mark Jaeger who as always is such a stalwart resource on almost any subject, Civil War.

[Greg Renault]

Paul,
Nice work! A fine step-by-step breakdown of Casey's adaptation of Scott's musket stacking method. It's even clear to me--and I've been using the revised Hardee's "swing" for 15 years in a CS unit.

Greg Renault

[Strawfoot]

Paul,

All of the manuals you have referenced, but particularly Casey's, states that the rear rank one will place his own rifle on the formed musket stack. Likewise, that soldier also retrieves his own rifle when taking arms.

Is it just me, or is this never practiced in our hobby? Almost everytime I am a front rank two, and have formed the first three rifles in the stack, the rear rank one is ALWAYS trying to hand me his rifle. Always. It's about as befuddling as that militia swing they do...

By the way, nice job on the article.

Mike Phineas
Arlington, TX

[dusty27]

We stress that once the "triad" is placed, the #2 front is done. Rear rank #1 places his rifle on the stack using his LEFT hand. Takes with the same. Only he should touch his rifle......

[CaptainUCSB]

In the Fighting Boys, we have always done this correctly. But it is nice to see it spelled out for those that need the help.

As for the rear-rank #1, his musket should also be facing muzzle toward the front and his musket should protrude from the stack to his left toe. This way the men know exactly where their position is when they retake the line.

[handy.harris]

Hello guys,

I have a quick question, and please don't kill me for asking:
Does anybody have a good description for 'stack arms' when using a Mississippi rifle with a saber bayonet?

Kind regards
Klaus

[Private Rob]

These descriptions are excellent. One thing I would like to see graphically though is the position and orientation of the muskets.