Work in Progress

Hurtling along the production line is my next regiment, the 41st NYSVs (aka the De Kalb Zouaves), raised by the fiery Leopold von Gilsa, a former Prussian officer.  The De Kalb Zouaves are probably best known for being on the extreme right of the XI Corps at Chancellorsville, in which position they were the first Federal troops to receive Jackson's assault.  For a thorough and impartial history of the 41st and its actions at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, please see this post from Michael Bell's excellent (and, sadly, seemingly defunct) blog on the XI Corps.

The 41st began the war with a highly unusual uniform that merged the cut of US Army fatigues with the traditional colors of German Jäger uniforms: a dark green frock coat, trimmed in red and with Prussian cuffs, grey trousers striped red, and a dark green kepi.  By '62, however, the regiment had been issued a new uniform consisting of the typical dark blue short New York sack coat and trousers, Prussian half-boots, imported Prussian cartridge and percussion cap boxes (both worn on the belt), and a distinctive metal cap-badge for the dark blue kepi.  (Both of these uniforms doubtless pleased von Gilsa with their Prussianness.)  Like the 8th NY (and so many German regiments), the men were issued with the 1842 smoothbore musket, in spite of the soldiers' avowed emphasis on marksmanship.

History has left us a remarkable photograph of Company C, 41st NYST in Manassas, VA only a few weeks before Second Bull Run.  Apart from being an excellent visual reference for the uniform, it's somewhat haunting to see the faces of the very men one is trying to bring back to life in miniature.

Here are some greens and the test scheme for the 41st.  The boots came out rather too bulky (compare to the photo), and I decided to leave the cartridge boxes as they were because it would have been a terrible pain to cut them off even the plastic miniatures, let alone the metal ones.  Overall, though, I think they give a good approxmiation of the regiment's appearance in '62.

Company A of the 41st, however, had existed before the war as a kind of para-military fraternity.  It had its own uniform, zouave dress with a unique pattern of yellow embroidery on the sleeves; once again, Don Troiani's painting, copied after a jacket in the Smithsonian, served as a model.

The regiment is nearly complete, but while I wait for a new draft of recruits to arrive in the mail, I'm making progress on the brigade's next unit, the 27th Pennsylvania, which will make an appearance shortly.

Another Fall, Another Blog

Hello, all.

Since my Stoke Field project is slowing down a bit, I figured it was time to start a new blog.  This one will focus primarily on my Second Bull Run project, though my various other efforts will doubtless make an appearance here as well.

To begin with, here is the first regiment of the first brigade, first division, I Corps: the 8th New York State Volunteers, then under the command of Lt. Col. Hedterich.

The regiment was also called the 1st German Rifles or Blenker's Rifles, after its founder, Col. Ludwig Blenker.  Composed of German immigrants, almost all of whom had seen service in various German (and revolutionary) armies, the regiment was noted for its discipline, and at a review in 1861, Winfield Scott called it the finest volunteer regiment in Federal service.

Perhaps its most notable deed was the covering of the Federal retreat/rout after First Bull Run, when it intercepted and repulsed a Confederate cavalry charge aimed at the mass of fleeing Union troops.  Joseph E. Johnston, surprised that there was still fight in the Union army, called off all subsequent pursuit, and the Federal army was thus allowed to slip back to the safety of Centreville.

The 8th continued to perform well, especially at Cross Keys (suffering almost 40% casualties) and at Second Bull Run, both on the first day and, once again, during the covering of the Federal retreat.  It was mustered out in early '63, but many of its men were either folded into the 68th NYSV or into an independent HQ company.  By the end of its service, it had lost more than twice as many men to wounds as it did to disease, which was fairly unusual in the Civil War.

The regimental colors are conjectural.  This design is copied from a real NYS color, but I don't know whether the 8th carried this or a more normal variant.

Figures are Perry Confederate infantry in frock coats, with some GS additions to "Unionize" them.  I also put in a regimental sapper (I believe these were rarities in the Civil War) in reference to Don Troiani's painting.

More Federals to follow soon.