Federal needs

[Longstreet]

Was there anything in particular that Federals would try to forage from Confederates? In other words, did a Confederate carry anything that a Federal valued? I know there would be some basics, but something of true quality that was better than what they already had.
Thanks
Mark Akerman
Greensboro, Nc
Gainesville, Fl

[ScottCross]

Re: Federal needs

The items most valued and sent home (not for use, but as souvenirs) were wooden or tin drum canteens and D-guard bowie knives.

[CompanyWag]

Re: Federal needs

Tobacco perhaps?

Paul McKee

"The Yankees are very much in want of tobacco, and our Government gives it to us, and we used to trade tobacco with them for knives and canteens."

O.D. Chester
Near Chattahoochee, Fulton County, July 15 1864

[john duffer]

Re: Federal needs

It's also somewhat situational. On the way to Perryville or at the end of the march to the sea most anything might be looking good and I've seen accounts of Federal units at Gettysburg exchanging weapons.

[CompanyWag]

Re: Federal needs

I seem to recall that at the fall of Vicksburg, .69 caliber pumpkin-slingers were exchanged for captured Enfields.

Paul McKee

"After the surrender of Vicksburg the 101st Illinois along with about 20 regiments armed with "2nd Class" arms exchanged its weapons for captured Confederate rifle-muskets. Although Confederate records are incomplete it seems that some 50,000 shoulder weapons were surrendered at Vicksburg, most British-made Enfields."

--pg. 32, Staff Ride Handbook for Vicksburg Campaign Dec. 1862-July 1863.

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Federal needs

A member of the 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters went onto the battlefield of Cedar Mountain in search of a new blanket. He found one near an abandoned CS field hospital and described it as a "beautiful English blanket" that he assumed belonged to some wounded officer. Despite being blood-stained and the corners distended from use as a liter, he had it washed and kept it.* A second sharpshooter, from the first regiment, also had a "secesh" blanket that he kept and used but he gave no further details.**

* "The Civil War Diary of Wyman S. White, First Sergeant of Company F, 2nd United States Sharpshooter Regiment, 1861-1865" page 79-80.

** "The Civil War Diary of Charles B. Mead of Company F, First U.S. Sharpshooters" Rutland Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 1, page 4.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Federal needs

This is the Authentic-Campaigner...right? Where are the citations?

Paul B.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Federal needs

This is the Authentic-Campaigner...right? Where are the citations?

Paul, we've trained you well! Yes, folks, this is the Camp of Instruction...
a place for newbies to ask questions and "get their feet wet" as to the M.O. here on the A-C. We "old hands" here need to model the behavior we want them to follow.

Source citations are the best defense against campfire lore and reenactorisms.

Thanks, Paul!

[john duffer]

Re: Federal needs

'Source citations are the best defense against campfire lore and reenactorisms."

This is of course correct but it wipes out four of the five replies on this thread and on the "U on barrel bands" thread it wipes out 5 of 5. I've read hundreds of books, when there's a drill question I'll look back at my sources before posting but for something like Sherman's men being ragged at a certain point or units swapping out weapons when chance offered it's quite an effort to reread dozens of books to prove I'm right. Even so I still don't consider my reply to be campfire lore or reenactorism and I know more than one person that I'll listen to without them having to prove it to me.

I see a vast difference between saying with no citation "they never took their coat off unless they were wearing a vest" and 'Grant took Fort Donelson".

[CompanyWag]

Re: Federal needs

Citations have been added.

Paul McKee

[Jim S]

Re: Federal needs

From John Michael Priest's "Before Antietam: The Battle of South Mountain" (Oxford University Press, 1992) referring to the 48th Pennsylvania on page 212:

>>Wren and his men captured quite a few of the 13th North Carolina's knapsacks. They were loaded with booty. "[they had] all kind[s] of little articles such as rasor, photegrafs, Bibels with some[e] very fine motos on the margons of them," the captain boasted. He stole a Bible from one of them, then gave orders for his soldiers to change their shirts, socks, and drawers from the Southerners' supply.<<

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Federal needs

Thank you, gents, for citing your sources! I know in some cases it seems tedious, but it is worth it.

I've been re-reading a lot of stuff this evening from the pre-internet daze. So many questions that we see here were answered very thoroughly way back when by the likes of Mess'r's McKee, Wedeward, Cross, Braun, and others. Its great to have those same folks contributing here.

The internet gives us great quantities of info, but the quality of info these guys produced when it took effort to get it into folks' hands is unsurpassed.

[Doughboy]

Re: Federal needs

Not trying to be a pain, but is a staff ride handbook considered a source? Wouldn't that be second hand and not primary info? Just trying to define what is actually considered a source.

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Federal needs

I think that secondary sources are fine, as long as they are somewhat academic, or come from a reliable source. Staff Rides certainly fit that bill.

No need to re-invent the research-wheel... many folks have published some great information. We need to...
1) give them proper credit for their efforts.
2) put in source citations to avoid "reenactor campfire lore and mythology" and other such farbological (or is that "farbillogical"?) sins.

[CompanyWag]

Re: Federal needs

Not trying to be a pain, but is a staff ride handbook considered a source? Wouldn't that be second hand and not primary info? Just trying to define what is actually considered a source.

From Grant's Memoirs:

At Vicksburg 31,600 prisoners were surrendered, together with 172 cannon about 60,000 muskets and a large amount of ammunition. The small-arms of the enemy were far superior to the bulk of ours. Up to this time our troops at the West had been limited to the old United States flint-lock muskets changed into percussion, or the Belgian musket imported early in the war--almost as dangerous to the person firing it as to the one aimed at--and a few new and improved arms. These were of many different calibers, a fact that caused much trouble in distributing ammunition during an engagement. The enemy had generally new arms which had run the blockade and were of uniform caliber. After the surrender I authorized all colonels whose regiments were armed with inferior muskets, to place them in the stack of captured arms and replace them with the latter. A large number of arms turned in to the Ordnance Department as captured, were thus arms that had really been used by the Union army in the capture of Vicksburg.