‘change’ theunderwear too often, and the disposition not to change grew, as the knapsack was found to gall the back and shoulders, and weary the man before half the march was accomplished. The better way was to dress out and out, and wear that outfit until the enemy’s knapsacks, or the folks at home supplied a change.”
This first-hand account is most likely unique to that single soldier’s personal experience as opposed to the behavior of the majority of Civil War soldiers on campaign, if other period accounts are to be trusted. In addition, Quartermaster records do not support a lack of knapsacks in the field.According to Larry J. Daniel’s Soldiering in the Army of Tennessee. A Portrait of Life in a Confederate Army, a mid-1862 inventory of equipment used by the Second Division, Army of the Tennessee is revealing. If his numbers are correct, then about 66% of the soldiers in the Second Division received and retained knapsacks during the 1862 campaign that included Shiloh and Corinth. Was that percentage of knapsack use exceptionally high for the time period and theater of war?
No. At Chattanooga on August 23, 1862, the four brigades then comprising General William J. Hardee’s Division had nearly 6,000 men present for duty equipped with 4,877 knapsacks, (just over 80%) as well as 5,760 haversacks, and 5,714 canteens. “The percentage of men with packs or knapsacks was similar in General Leonidas Polk’s Corps, constituting the right wing of Braxton Bragg’s army. On August 18, 1862, Lt. John Rawle reported an aggregate force of 6,394 in Cheatham’s Division, the four brigades of which were equipped with 5,222 knapsacks (about 84%), 5,459 haversacks, and 5,209 canteens.” Further, there is evidence that requests for “reissued” or replacement knapsacks for those that were lost or discarded on campaign by Hardee’s Corps were rejected by the Quartermaster, as “the object is to furnish first those to whom they (packs) have never been issued.” Most soldiers on campaign greatly valued their knapsacks and considered them useful. The available supply did not always meet demand for this piece of equipment.
Craig L. Barry was born in Charlottesville, Va. He holds his BA and Masters degrees from UNC (Charlotte). Craig served The Watchdog Civil War Quarterly as Associate Editor and Editor from 2003–2017. The Watchdog and columns on 19th-century material and donated all funds from publications to battlefield preservation. He is the author of several books including The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy (2006, 2011), The Unfinished Fight: Essays on Confederate Material Culture Vol. I and II (2012, 2013). He has also published four books in the Suppliers to the Confederacy series on Accoutrements, Quartermaster stores and imports.