Gator Weiss
Member
.58 Cal late civil war production known as Remington Contract Rifle, great gun. Does anyone know why they call it Zouave?
Misnomer. The Remington 2-band rifles were never issued during the Civil War, least of all to Zouave units. (I suppose that the colorful Berber dress of the Zouaves was analogous in some people's minds to the colorful brass-mounted rifles.)Does anyone know why they call it Zouave?
The problem with 2-banders, in general, during the Civil War was the lack of "reach" when mounted with a bayonet. To overcome this problem, they were used with long sword-type bayonets. Those in themselves were ungainly and not very practical.
The problem with 2-banders, in general, during the Civil War was the lack of "reach" when mounted with a bayonet. To overcome this problem, they were used with long sword-type bayonets. Those in themselves were ungainly and not very practical.
Most bayonets were tossed away by troops who hated carrying the things.
In the Civil War, bayonets were a critical component of a unit's effectiveness (for example, take the 20th Maine's bayonet charge at Little Round Top). It was the responsibility of the officers / noncoms to make sure the men did not toss them away.Most bayonets were tossed away by troops who hated carrying the things.
Nevertheless many of them were thrown away along with anything else a foot soldier deemed unnecessary weight. A lot of them tossed their knapsacks and carried everything in a rolled up blanket. Many of them even tossed their canteens, most of which leaked anyway.
I'd rather have a leaky canteen than no canteen. Virginia can be brutally hot in the summer. I was at the 125th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of the Crater (1989). I had to empty my entire canteen over my head to keep from passing out from heat stroke. Then I had to refill the canteen and do the same thing all over again. If there was ever an event that I regretted participating in, this was it. In fact that was just about the end of my reenacting career.Many of them even tossed their canteens, most of which leaked anyway.
One of my ancestors was in the 8th Mississippi Infantry at Chickamauga. They captured those five cannon from general Thomas and took them off the field. They got the crossed cannon battle honors for their company flag for that.