Uniform Quiz

[major bill]

These men are all part of the Alabama Volunteer Corps from 1860-1861. We must have an Alabama expert in the forum. Who can name all 6 Alabama units?

 

[major bill]

Maybe I should have started with an easier Alabama unit. The Alabama company shown here in 1861 was known because of it's raccoon caps. Other artist have done illustrations of the Alabama company.

 

[major bill]

Alabama in January 15 1861 passed a bill "Am Act for the Organization of the Army of Alabama". General Order # 1 issued on March 281861 established the uniforms for the Alabama Volunteer Corps. Officers and men were to wear dark blue frock coats with gray trousers. The uniforms in post #1 shows how several Alabama units interpreted what uniforms this General Order required.

 

[Package4]

These men are all part of the Alabama Volunteer Corps from 1860-1861. We must have an Alabama expert in the forum. Who can name all 6 Alabama units?

View attachment 116504 View attachment 116506

Mount Meigs Rangers (I know that Montgomery Mounted Rifles is the expected answer, but according to McAfee this is wrong), Auburn Guards, Independent Blues, Companies I & D of the 6th AL, Officer AVC uniform and AVC Volunteer uniform.

 

[major bill]

According to the uniform plate the uniforms in post #1;

top plate: corporal Montgomery Mounted Rifles, Private Camdem rifles, Officer Alabama Zouaves.
bottom plate: Privates Metropolitan Guard in fatigue dress (in distance), Private Selma Independent blues, Officer Auburn Guard.

 

[AUG]

Last illustration is the Raccoon Roughs, Company I of the 6th Alabama Infantry. John B. Gordon's original company, and according to his memoirs, recruited from the rough mountaineers of northern Alabama and Georgia and East Tennessee, right where the borders of all three states meet.

 

[Package4]

According to the uniform plate the uniforms in post #1;

top plate: corporal Montgomery Mounted Rifles, Private Camdem rifles, Officer Alabama Zouaves.
bottom plate: Privates Metropolitan Guard in fatigue dress (in distance), Private Selma Independent blues, Officer Auburn Guard.

Michael McAfee actually has or had the original photograph that the uniform plate was derived and the identification on the original is: J H Bohannon Mount Meigs Rangers (MMR). I have scoured Alabama records and can not find a J H Bohannon.

 

[Tennessee_Mountainman]

Last illustration is the Raccoon Roughs, Company I of the 6th Alabama Infantry. John B. Gordon's original company, and according to his memoirs, recruited from the rough mountaineers of northern Alabama and Georgia and East Tennessee, right where the borders of all three states meet.

Yeah, I can confirm. That's what it said in a documentary I was watching the other day. They were rugged mountainmen.

Accounts of the 6th AL in the Sunken Road of Antietam.

 

[AUG]

Yeah, I can confirm. That's what it said in a documentary I was watching the other day. They were rugged mountainmen.

Accounts of the 6th AL in the Sunken Road of Antietam.

According to Gordon's memoirs, the Raccoon Roughs got their name while "marching" through the streets of Atlanta:

The march, or rather straggle, through that city was a sight marvellous to behold and never to be forgotten. Totally undisciplined and undrilled, no two of these men marched abreast; no two kept the same step; no two wore the same colored coats or trousers. The only pretence at uniformity was the rough fur caps made of raccoon skins, with long, bushy, streaked raccoon tails hanging from behind them. The streets were packed with men, women, and children, eager to catch a glimpse of this grotesque company. Naturally we were the observed of all observers. Curiosity was on tip-toe, and from crowded sidewalks there came to me the inquiry, "Are you the captain of that company, sir?" With a pride which I trust was pardonable, I indicated that I was. In a moment there came to me the second inquiry, "What company is that, sir?" Up to this time no name had been chosen—at least, none had been announced to the men. I had myself, however, selected a name I considered both poetic and appropriate, and I replied to the question, "This company is the Mountain Rifles." Instantly a tall mountaineer said in a tone not intended for his captain, but easily overheard by his companions and the bystanders: "Mountain hell! we are no Mountain Rifles; we are the Raccoon Roughs." It is scarcely necessary to say that my selected name was never heard of again. This towering Ajax had killed it by a single blow. The name he gave us clung to the company during all of its long and faithful service.