Newbie from Left Coast says Howdy

[KeithP]

Folks-

I am happy to find myself here with you.

A bit of an intro...

I have been interested in American and Military history for as long as I can remember (which is almost 50 years now )

I read Catton's books in college and was hooked. My interest was reinvigorated following the PBS Civil War series.

My hobby is painting historical figures. I recently completed a very lovely Stonewall Jackson as well as a fine 11th New York Fire Zouave. I am making an effort at sculpting my own figures too. I started a 1st Maine Heavy Artillerist at the Battle of Harris Farm.

I love all of Don Troiani's works and find them useful reference for the "hobby:.

Mainly, I suppose I read the books... I am working my way thru Gordon Rhea's excellent Overland Campaign series. Also, I am about 1/2 thru Sears' Antietam book. I am disappointed at his heavy handed treatment of McC. Having read his Gettysburg and Chancellorsville books, which I thought reasonable to both sides.

Hopefully, you folks can direct me to more good books.
I don't consider myself much of an expert on any aspect of the war. I have to tell you I just want to learn more and enjoy myself. I am not much for flaming or pushing anyone's buttons.

Keith

[unionblue]

Keith,

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you for the background information on yourself and how you became interested in the Civil War. Catton was also an inspiration of mine to take more interest in the time, via his three books on the Army of the Potomac.

I hope you find the information you're looking for here. We have a wonderful group of people with much knowledge on many aspects of the period.

Feel free to ask questions and see what happens.

Sincerely,
Unionblue

[gary]

Hi Keith,

About 86 or more of us and we can form the California Hundred. What part of the great state are you in?

Are you going to the 2008 Annual West Coast Civil War Conference in Clovis? If you don't have any info on it, goggle Friends of Civil War Alcatraz and you'll find some announcement therein. Robert Krick, Jeffrey Werts, Peter Cozzens will all be there.

Gary

[ole]

Hey, Keith. There's lots of room here for another friend. Ain't one of us knows everything. Another who doesn't know everything isn't out of place. But we're all working on it. You are cordially invited to help.

ole

[M E Wolf]

Dear KeithP;

Welcome to Civil War Talk. I think it will be a wonderful avenue to explore and perhaps paint history where words fail, to create a figure by hand to which telegraphs the 'soul' and 'spirit' of the character molded in your artistic magic.

Should you post in a forum, there is a naughty word catcher in the software to which moderators are helpless. It often is an extremely innocent word, to which pops up in the net of naughty caught words as ****. You then have to go back to your original posting and edit with cleverly placed hyphen and break up the words. For example, f-ur-ther is one of those innocent words that gets caught frequently. So, if you see a bunch of **** in your posts--it isn't the moderators picking on you.

Please take your time in posting--we don't want you to feel there is a quota or to give some pressure to respond.

As Ole said, nobody knows it all. Many of us know a lot but--not all.
Where the beauty lies in this forum though; is we have a collective membership that cover a broad brush of expertise` and knowledge is kindly shared. References also help; as to permit those who desire--to read for themselves and discuss the topic, with the aid of the same reference.

I hope that you are able to take advantage of the many re-enactors and impressionists in your area. To have them drill and fire for you, may enhance the art and inspire you.

I have visions of what I would love to create but, I have no talent --
How I would love to see a portrait of a squad, resting on arms, as a brave soldier or officer is laid to rest. Or, the dignified march at reverse arms by officers and soldiers, also a ceremonial situation. I have yet to see such in print, in paint or re-enacted.

Anyway -- please do feel welcomed and comfortable. I look forward to your posts in the future.

Respectfully submitted,
M. E. Wolf

[diddyriddick]

Welcome, Sir! Hope you enjoy your stay.

[timewalker]

My welcome as well, sir. I also am a painter of figures, although mine are for wargaming, not diorama so I am sure that my skills are considerably poorer than yours. I paint 15mm. I assume you are doing 54mm or are you using another scale?

The forum has been valuable in answering questions I have come across in my painting. We had a rousing debate awhile back on the color of officers sashes which led to M.E. Wolf (I believe) sending a query to the Museum of the Confederacy to learn the "official" answer as to the color of Lee's sash.

Quite fun.

[KeithP]

Unionblue -- Thanks very much. I sure will ask questions.

Gary -- I am in Santa Cruz. I had not realized there was a large gathering in Clovis. I will look in to that as I would enjoy seeing the reenactors in a larger quantity. My family and I have made the rounds to Roaring Camp in July 4th and enjoy watching and "listening".

Ole -- I appreciate the warm welcome, my friend!

ME Wolf -- Thx for the advice on posting. I assure you that lack of talent has not stopped me. The most important step is to to just try out any aspect of the hobby or art. Pencil dwg, figure painting. The second most important thing is to keep at it. You will improve.
I have many photo's of the local reenactors. However, many of them are not very accurate in their accoutrements

Timewalker: Most of what I work with is 54mm. Even the 54mm is a bit of a stretch for these old eyes. Not sure I would even be able to see those small gaming figgies!

Thanks very much to all of you who welcomed me. It is very appreciated!

Cheers---

Keith

[Bonny Blue Flag]

Howdy from the 3rd coast (Irving / Dallas, Texas -- oh, yes, movies and t.v. shows are made here too!)

I understand about experiencing the bias of authors--it is so frustrating. I am currently reading a book entitled, "Truth In History" by Oscar Handlin - 1979. This author states those who transcribe history and facts do so thru the "lenses of their life" (my words); no matter when or where a writer was born, all are affected by the era they were raised in which leaves it's impression on them and therefor is either blatently or subtley reflected in their work; they may feel the need to meet an expectation-be it from the reader, their peers or from who or what is in power at the time; history writers may have their own ax to grind on the subject at hand or they may have an agenda to get across to the reading public.
There is another great book along the same lines entitled, "After The Fact: The Art of Historical Detection" by James West Davidson and Mark Hamilton Lytle - 1982. It basically describes how to tell when a work was written, by the sophistication of the language and the influence of government/religion in cultures.

Anyway, welcome aboard!

--BBF

[M E Wolf]

Dear KeithP;

Have you attempted contacting the www.cwreenactor.com board? It is dedicated to all levels of re-enacting.

As far as the Union Army, I invite consideration to contact Kim Holien at 703-696-3114, who is the US Army Historian; for Ft. Meyer (Arlington, VA) and Ft. McNair (DC); and he is also involved in re-enacting and I 'think' he is going to 'direct' a re-enactment in October but, I don't know where in Richmond, Virginia it will be.

The 3rd US Infantry Regiment (US Army)'s Regimental Commander is Colonel Joseph P. Buche; at Fort Meyer, Arlington-Virginia; or you may try the Garrison Commander to Ft. Meyer (Arlington); Building #59, Ft. Meyer, VA 22211 - the phone number is 703-696-3249.

But, personally; I think Mr. Kim Holien is your best bet, as he is a very good resource guide. I won't be a bit surprised if the "Buffsticks" of the 3rd US Infantry-Company D; Re-enactors are helped by Mr. Holien.

Buffsticks site is http://buffsticks.org

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As far as the Confederate uniforms go; the uniform was explained by General Moxey Sorrel
in his written accounts of the Civil War. He mentioned that it was approved by the War Department (Richmond). And, he identified the braid design on the sleeves as "Hungarian Knot--not Austrian; so--I believe his label over any others.'

I believe, Mr. Holien may advise where that information can be drawn from today--be it his facility/archives or the National Archives in Washington, DC.
------------------------------
The US Library of Congress also has several black and white photos on file of all sorts. I've used "Pictures of Civil War Uniforms" as well as "Pictures of Confederate Uniforms," "Pictures of Union Civil War Uniforms," as an inquiry on AOL's browsers and, perhaps is available on yours.
[excerpt from "Pictures of Confederate Uniforms."
Source: Atlas Editions; Civil War Cards]

Confederate officers were expected to provide their own uniforms, and while they were certainly better dressed than most of the enlisted men, their clothing was equally nonuniform. The standards set by the War Department in 1861 for military officer attire were generally observed, but they were subject to the tastes and circumstances of the individual.

Coats were of many different cuts and materials, but after the first year of the war, they were usually a shade of gray. Officers' coats, whether tunics, frock coats, or shell jackets, featured standing collars and were double-breasted, with two rows of seven brass buttons down the front. Generals could be distinguished from other officers by the eagles on their buttons, which were distinctively spaced in pairs. The regulations made no distinctions among the uniforms of different grades of generals, but some major generals adopted the federal custom of spacing their buttons in groups of three. The rank insignia for generals was found on the collar; for all grades, it consisted of three stars encircled by a wreath. Cuffs, collars, edging, and sash of a buff color also denoted the rank of general. Officers had gold braiding on their sleeves in the configuration of the "Austrian knot." Generals' uniforms had four strands of the braiding; lesser ranks had fewer strands. Dark blue trousers trimmed in buff were standard for Confederate generals. Soldiers in all ranks wore a wide variety of hats, with no particular distinction for generals, except possibly for the four-stranded gold braid.
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And--if necessary, you can also try the US Quarter-Master-General's office, which should be on this site:

The Quartermaster Heraldic Section
in support of the US Army Quartermaster Museum and this Website ... The Army Adjutant General’s office assumed responsibility of the Institute in 1962 when ...

qmfound.com/heraldry.htm - 12k - Similar pages

[ More results from qmfound.com ]

http://qmfound.com/heraldry.htm

and
http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/

---------------and---------

For queries and specific questions on museum services write: Quartermaster Museum, USA Quartermaster Center, 1201 22nd Street, Fort Lee, VA 23801-1601

For Webpage Feedback:
leeeqmmuseum@conus.army.mil
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
US MARINE CORPS
Marine Corps History Division
Reference Branch
3079 Moreell Ave. Building- 3079
Quantico, VA 22134

Their uniforms were identical, with the Army's but, the differences were in the kepi's emblem/heraldry--it had an "M" and, the cheverons were pointed upwards. I'm sure the historian/reference section can be of assistance in that regard.
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In working with old eyes (I have a set myself) LOL -- Have you tried using jeweler's loops and rubberband them onto a set of old glasses?


Just some thoughts.

Respectfully submitted for consideration,
M. E. Wolf