June 2022
In addition, a muslin “huck” towel, toothbrush and a couple of small poke bags holding personal items like soap, a clay pipe, and a twist of Virginia tobacco. These were not all necessaries, but certainly were useful to have on hand.
The two long straps in the back go over the flap and secure at the bottom rear of the pack. It has been found that crossing these across the back of the flap helps to keep things from shifting while on the march. The two shoulder straps attach to the bottom front of each respective side. There is a small strap that goes across the chest to help distribute the load a little more evenly across the shoulders. Soldiers found out that with any new pack, the leather straps had to be broken in to avoid misery the first time out.
Confederate Arsenal knapsacks were apparently supplemented with the imported British Trotter packs. The Army of Tennessee carried an unknown, but apparently significant, amount of British equipment during General Braxton Bragg’s invasion of Kentucky in the late summer of 1862. What the figures suggest is that while some AoT soldiers lost or got rid of their knapsacks on the march, just as some lost or got rid of canteens, very few if you notice, blankets, greatcoats, and revolvers. However, a significant majority kept them for the entire campaign season.
In the overwhelming majority of first-hand accounts researched for this article, surviving information in letters and diaries suggests that many Confederate soldiers on campaign preferred a knapsack to the alternative blanket roll and were disappointed when they were lost. The key to the utility of this piece of equipment was not to overload it to the point of discomfort. The “fresh fish” exhausted by their first long march received ribbing from the seasoned veterans, who had learned to make the difficult decisions of what had to stay and what could be discarded.
A Virginia soldier on campaign recalled, “The marching we had now done made all of us discard everything but necessaries, and we began to think that Ritchie Green did a very smart thing, when we left Richmond, to carry nothing in his knapsack but one paper collar and a plug of tobacco!” The veteran Confederate soldier found it critical to learn how little he could get along with and still be somewhat content while on campaign. One Stonewall Brigade soldier recalled just after the retreat from Kernstown when they rested in the Luray Valley during mid-April 1862, “The day we reached here Gen. Jackson ordered all the wagons containing tents and extra baggage to the rear, and so far that we have never saw them again! This was a hard blow to us, since we had gotten in the habit of smuggling many articles into our tents to avoid carrying them and when our tents left, they had dress coats, underclothing, etc., in them. “Old Jack” flanked us that time.”
The problem was, of course, that with the tents gone, so was most of the camping gear. It was not yet springtime in that part of Virginia, and it snowed during the week spent in the Luray bivouac.
about a week, the Second Corps departed for Port Republic, and just as before, they were under “light marching orders.” It would be about a month or six weeks before they were reunited with their baggage, a short while after the Valley Campaign concluded. In the absence of a knapsack, on campaign under Jackson’s version of light marching orders, the blanket was used instead. The blanket roll was fashioned very simply.
Over 190 8 Foot Tables of: • • • • • • •
Civil War & Antique Gun Show
Dug Relics Guns and Swords Books Frameable Prints Metal Detectors Artillery Items Currency
was rolled up with the rubber cloth on the outside, the ends drawn together and fastened with a short strap. To carry this we put it over the head and let it hang from the shoulder.”
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 published books 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 English Arms & Accoutrements, Quartermaster stores and other European imports.
44th Annual Aug. 13 & 14, 2022 Southeastern
160 pages of the best selection of historical reenactment items from Medieval era to Civil War era. Includes over 60 pages on our famous tents and a 4-color section.