Zouave Port of Arms

[yellowthornoftexas]

Sorry, not port arms, I had three different researched going on.
Does anyone have or know where I can see some illustrations of the Presentation for Inspection Arms used by Col EE Ellsworth's Zouave Cadets? My unit CO has a wild curiosity wild hair about it. It's bugging him. Lol
We're not Zouaves, but he's seen this particular odd Presentation for Inspection Arms a long time ago and he's just being curious.
If anyone has direction to the manuals illustrations, most greatly appreciated.
I've shared with him a link with the manual.

Thanks much!
Al

[SJohsz]

Re: Zouave Port of Arms

Attached is a scan of photos from the 5th New York, Company A's reenactor drill manual. I believe it depicts the position of the musket described in 61, The Present for Inspection, in the Manual of Arms for Light Infantry by Ellsworth dated 1861.Inspection Arms.pdf

[Silas]

Inspection of arms in Ellsworth verses the Big Three

As I suggested in a pm, you should compare what the text in Ellsworth says to other sources. The others sources would be the Big Three of Gilham, Hardee and Casey.

First, Ellsworth :

61 The Present for Inspection.
One time and one motion.
195 Throw up the piece smartly with the right hand ; seize it with the left at the tail band.

Position of the piece.—Barrel to the right, and opposite the left eye ; muzzle inclining to the front, heel of the butt near the hip ; left hand at the height of and eight inches from the chin.

A footnote which precedes this text reads :

Form of Inspection.—As the inspecting officer approaches, the soldier will present his piece as in No 61. The officer, having inspected the piece, will return it to the soldier, who seize it immediately below the middle band, and bring it to position of ordered arms.

Link to both : https://books.google.com/books?id=Kk...page&q&f=false

Let's dive into the text for these same movements from the Big Three :

[Gilham SoS 139.] Third Motion. [ ] The instructor will then inspect in succession the piece of each man, in passing along the front of the rank. Each, as the instructor reaches him, will raise smartly his piece with his right hand, seize it with the left between the tail-band and the feather-spring, the lock to the front, the left hand at the height of the chin, the piece opposite to the left eye (Fig. 40) ; the instructor will take it with the right hand at the handle, and, after inspecting it, will return it to the soldier, who will receive it back with the right hand, and replace it in the position of ordered arms.

[Hardee's Revised SoS] 229. The instructor will then inspect in succession the piece of each recruit, in passing along the front of the rank. Each, as the instructor reaches him, will raise smartly his piece with his right hand, seize it with the left between the lower band and guide-sight, the lock to the front, the left hand at the height of the chin, the piece opposite to the left eye ; the instructor will take it with the right hand at the handle, and, after inspecting it, will return it to the recruit, who will receive it back with the right hand, and replace it in the position of ordered arms.

[Casey SoS] 238. The instructor will then inspect in succession the piece of each man, in passing along the front of the rank. Each, as the instructor reaches him,will raise smartly his piece with his right hand, seize it with the left between the lower band and guide-sight, the lock to the front, the left hand at the height of the chin, the piece opposite to the left eye ; the instructor will take it with the right hand at the handle, and, after inspecting it, will return it to the man, who will receive it back with the right hand, and replace it in the position of ordered arms.

That's a lot of text. Let's break each of the three down to essential phrases and see if they are different from each other.

[Gilham SoS] Third Motion. [ ] The instructor will then inspect in succession the piece of each man, in passing along the front of the rank.
[Hardee's Revised SoS] 229. The instructor will then inspect in succession the piece of each recruit, in passing along the front of the rank.
[Casey SoS] 238. The instructor will then inspect in succession the piece of each man, in passing along the front of the rank.

No differences.

[Gilham SoS] Each, as the instructor reaches him, will raise smartly his piece with his right hand,
[Hardee's Revised SoS] Each, as the instructor reaches him, will raise smartly his piece with his right hand,
[Casey SoS] Each, as the instructor reaches him, will raise smartly his piece with his right hand,

No differences.

[Gilham SoS] seize it with the left between the tail-band and the feather-spring,
[Hardee's Revised SoS] seize it with the left between the lower band and guide-sight,
[Casey SoS] seize it with the left between the lower band and guide-sight,

Although there is a slight difference in wording, each is essentially the same as the left hand seizes the weapon just above the lowest band on the weapon.

[Gilham SoS] the lock to the front,
[Hardee's Revised SoS] the lock to the front,
[Casey SoS] the lock to the front,

No differences.

[Gilham SoS] the left hand at the height of the chin,
[Hardee's Revised SoS] the left hand at the height of the chin,
[Casey SoS] the left hand at the height of the chin,

No differences.

[Gilham SoS] the piece opposite to the left eye (Fig. 40) ;
[Hardee's Revised SoS] the piece opposite to the left eye ;
[Casey SoS] the piece opposite to the left eye ;

No differences in text. I'll come back to Figure 40 in a minute.

[Gilham SoS] the instructor will take it with the right hand at the handle,
[Hardee's Revised SoS] the instructor will take it with the right hand at the handle,
[Casey SoS] the instructor will take it with the right hand at the handle,

No differences.

[Gilham SoS] and, after inspecting it, will return it to the soldier,
[Hardee's Revised SoS] and, after inspecting it, will return it to the recruit,
[Casey SoS] and, after inspecting it, will return it to the man,

No substantive differences : is he a soldier, a recruit or a man? Hmmm.

[Gilham SoS] who will receive it back with the right hand,
[Hardee's Revised SoS] who will receive it back with the right hand,
[Casey SoS] who will receive it back with the right hand,

No differences.

[Gilham SoS] and replace it in the position of ordered arms.
[Hardee's Revised SoS] and replace it in the position of ordered arms.
[Casey SoS] and replace it in the position of ordered arms.

No differences.

A review of the Big Three shows no substantive differences in text. Regarding Figure 40, since there are no substantive differences in text, the figure or illustration from Gilham applies equally to all methods. Here is Figure 40 :



With each of the Big Three being substantially the same, any of the three can be compared to Ellsworth. I'm going to choose Gilham because he included the illustration known as Figure 40. Now to compare Ellsworth to Gilham :

[Gilham SoS] The instructor will then inspect in succession the piece of each man, in passing along the front of the rank.
[Ellsworth] No text.

[Gilham SoS] Each, as the instructor reaches him,
[Ellsworth-footnote] Form of Inspection.—As the inspecting officer approaches, the soldier will present his piece as in No 61.

No substantial differences. No. 61 commences in the next compared text.

[Gilham SoS] will raise smartly his piece with his right hand,
[Ellsworth 61] Throw up the piece smartly with the right hand ;

No substantial difference between "raise smartly" and "Throw up the piece smartly."

[Gilham SoS] seize it with the left between the tail-band and the feather-spring,
[Ellsworth] seize it with the left at the tail band.

No substantial difference as both are at the tail-band. I like the text from the Big Three better as it makes clear that the seizure occurs above the band. Ellsworth leaves it up to interpretation, meaning, what is written in the other manuals.

[Gilham SoS] the lock to the front,
[Ellsworth] Position of the piece.—Barrel to the right,

Different wording, but same result : with the lockplate to the front, the barrel is to the right.

[Gilham SoS] the left hand at the height of the chin,
[Ellsworth] left hand at the height of and eight inches from the chin.

Same height of weapon, and Ellsworth, unlike the Big Three, adds how far away from the chin.

[Gilham SoS] the piece opposite to the left eye (Fig. 40) ;
[Ellsworth] and opposite the left eye ;

No difference.

[Gilham SoS] No text.
[Ellsworth] muzzle inclining to the front, heel of the butt near the hip ;

I really like this one. The lack of text from the Big Three isn't fatal as Figure 40 from Gilham shows the weapon inclined to the front with the heel of the butt near the hip. The illustration again :



Men in the ranks don't appreciate the need for them to lean their weapons toward the inspecting officer. They only have to handle their weapons once. The inspector has to do the entire company. When the weapon is leaned toward the inspector, it makes his job quicker and easier. If folks reading this are not entirely clear about this, I suggest they inspect thirty muskets in one fell swoop. They'll insist that in the future, weapons be inclined toward the inspector.

[Gilham SoS] the instructor will take it with the right hand at the handle,
[Ellsworth] No text.

[Gilham SoS] and, after inspecting it, will return it to the soldier,
[Ellsworth] The officer, having inspected the piece, will return it to the soldier,

No differences.

[Gilham SoS] who will receive it back with the right hand,
[Ellsworth] who seize it immediately below the middle band,

Here's a difference, but not substantial. First, Ellsworth does not say which hand, but the next line implies it is the right hand. This ambiguity in Ellsworth is resolved when consulting the other manuals. Second, the Big Three do not state where on his weapon that the soldier should seize his weapon. Ellsworth's text makes perfect sense as a soldier using the other manuals cannot seize his weapon near the tail-spring because he cannot place the weapon in the position of ordered arms. It will dangle in the air. The soldier would have to drop the weapon to the ground or bend over to replace it. Neither method is noted in any manual. Accordingly, the method for all manuals would be for the soldier to receive the weapon below the middle band as it can be gently settled (ordered) upon the ground.

[Gilham SoS] and replace it in the position of ordered arms.
[Ellsworth] and bring it to position of ordered arms.

That pretty well covers it. The only real difference between Ellsworth and the Big Three is distance of the weapon from the chin. Ellsworth says eight inches. The others don't say ; however, the illustration from Gilham looks to be more than eight inches. Beyond this, there isn't any difference in any of the manuals.

Just because someone does something at a reenactment doesn't mean it's correct. When it comes to drill, there is a lot of made up stuff. I'm wondering if your captain saw something which he is trying to figure out when the question ought to be put to the people who are doing something which does not conform to the manuals. Where did they get it? Chances are it has become a practice done by somebody a long time ago which was flashy or different. Because no one questioned it, it became an accepted practice, i.e., a reenactorism.

Regarding the interesting pdf from the reenacting manual for the old 5th NY, the footnote for the photos cites to the same paragraphs in Casey and Hardee which are cited in my response. They would be Casey SoS 238 and Hardee SoS 229. The only difference is the distance of the weapon from the chin which appears to follow Ellsworth. Can't say if it was intentional or not. I'm just pointing out what is shown in the photos. The heel of the butt in the photo is near the hip as noted in Ellsworth, but not at the hip as shown in the Gilham illustration. All in all, the photos seem to conform to Ellsworth. If the soldier holds the weapon just above the tail band with the hand at the height of the chin AND eight inches from the chin, the length of the weapon is going to be below, but near the hip.