Uniforms Walhalla Riflemen

[Harrison1871]

I have recently stumbled across a very interesting civil war era militia unit called the Walhalla Riflemen or Walhalla Jägers, and have been trying to find out more information. Unfortunately there is almost no info on this formation available. Luckily I found an older thread about German style helmets in the civil war, and the user @CBHunt posted a photo and a small write up on the unit. So far all I know is that they were raised in 1852 in the German town of Walhalla in Pickens District (today Oconee County), South Carolina. Their rule book is available online at https://archive.org/details/rulesregulations00walh
Attached is the aforementioned photo, edited by me to show the uniforms more clearly.
The uniform is very interesting (and definitely of a German style) and the caps aren't dissimilar to the contemporary Prussian Landwehr's oilcloth caps (also attached below).

Any other information on the unit is very much appreciated, and I would love to know where they served (if they did). Supposedly they were one of the first to volunteer for confederate service, but I haven't found mention of the unit anywhere in confederate or union sources. Thank you for reading!

 

[Harrison1871]

I just found a source that says C company of Orr's Rifles was organized from the Walhalla Riflemen. I don't know where this information originally comes from, but it was on this website: https://corktree.tripod.com/South_Carolina_Infantry_Units_in_the_War_of_the_Rebellion
And it appears to be a reliable source. This isn't for sure accurate, but it's at least a start.

 

[Mississippian1861]

Just a minor note, Oconee County wasn't formed until after the war, before that it was part of Pickens. That area had a lot of men go into the 4th SC Infantry and the 1st & 2nd SC Rifles.

 

[Harrison1871]

Thank you for the note, I will be sure to change it to be period accurate!

 

[R. Porter]

What did that Maltese cross cap badge look like? Was it identical to the one used in the German army during World War 1?

 

[Harrison1871]

The cap with a cross is a Prussian Landwehr oilcloth cap, shown for reference as to the "Germanness" of the uniform. These were used from approximately 1813-1918 by the Prussian Landwehr until the end of the German Empire. The cap badge is the Iron cross used by the Landwehr since the Napoleonic wars.

 

[Harrison1871]

Of note in the photo are the caps with white bands (officers maybe?) and the bugler in the foreground appears to have an infantry bugle on his cap. One of the officers (off to the right in the middle of the column) also appears to have some sort of epaulettes or perhaps a type of the German musician's Schwalbennester.

Here is an example of Schwalbennester on a Prussian musician for those who are unfamiliar. His uniform is actually remarkably similar to that of the Walhalla Riflemen, with its 8 button front, standing collar, two button cuffs and shoulder boards. Just another testament to the German influence of the uniform, which was essentially just a copy of the Prussian waffenrock.

 

[Mississippian1861]

Ok. Since almost all of my mom's family his from this area it has sent me down the rabbit hole. This company was trying to recruit up to strength in early 1861 but it looks like they were unsuccessful. I've found a few names of members and they appear in various different units. Co. C 1st SC Rifles, Co. K 12th SC Infantry, and the German Artillery of Charleston. The company was reorganized in the 1870's.

 

[Mississippian1861]

The 1861 Captain of the Riflemen, John M. Hencken, becomes a 1st Lieutenant in Co. K, 12th SC Infantry, and his taken prisoner during the Appomattox Campaign.

 

[Harrison1871]

That's great! Thank you for the info. I figured since they were a smaller company that they were absorbed into more regular units like many other militias, but it's great to have proof! Although now I'm wondering if the photo might be from the 1870s. If anybody could help date it that would be fantastic.

Here is the original photo:

 

[Mississippian1861]

The photo strikes me more late 1850s. The newspaper account of them recruiting seems to indicate they were drilling in German but would use English from then on.

 

[major bill]

Just for discussion. In post #1 are we seeing 'German' style uniforms? Perhaps yes or perhaps no. The caps look a lot like M1839 Army fatigue caps, which were still common in militia companies at the start of the Civil War. Are the frock coats 'German' style. First we have to discuss what a 'German' style frock coat looked like.

 

[Harrison1871]

This is my attempt at an illustration of the company's uniform as lain out in the rule book. The uniform here is called a "Waffenrock" in the German language section, but is called a coat in the English section. I am more inclined to trust the original German versus the English, especially because the English leaves out a few details, like the 8 button breast. The gray turned out a bit darker than I would have liked, but all in all this should be a good approximation of the uniform as lain out by the company. Whether or not the uniforms were actually held to this standard I do not know, but all I have to go off of is the regulations and one photograph. I am open to criticism, and I do not pretend to be an expert on this unit, so tell me what you think below.

 

[Mississippian1861]

They look like they have M1841 Rifles, or the SC made Palmetto copies.

 

[Harrison1871]

Just for discussion. In post #1 are we seeing 'German' style uniforms? Perhaps yes or perhaps no. The caps look a lot like M1839 Army fatigue caps, which were still common in militia companies at the start of the Civil War. Are the frock coats 'German' style. First we have to discuss what a 'German' style frock coat looked like.

It should be noted that at this time a "German" style coat would be a single breasted, standing collar frock coat with shoulder boards and a skirt that came down only to the mid thigh. The usual frock coat was either double or single breasted, sometimes with shoulder boards and sometimes not, and usually with a skirt that fell just above the knee. I cannot say for certain, but the uniforms in the photo appear to be of the "German" style.

 

[Harrison1871]

They look like they have M1841 Rifles, or the SC made Palmetto copies.

Great to have info about the rifles! I have almost no knowledge when it comes to weaponry of the era, so I didn't even try to identify them!

 

[major bill]

When I think of US militia 'German' style frock coats, I think of a Frick coat that is shorter than American frock coats. The American 'German' style frock coats also had wider skirts that flared out a bit. Is thar what we see in post #1? Perhaps we do, but when I enlarge the image it starts to blur. I do think the image could show 'German' style frock coats.

Some but not all. 'German' style frock coats also had matching cloth epaulets with out fringe. Again the bluring of the image makes it hard to see if they have these.

I would be interested in what our forum uniform "experts" have to say.

 

[Harrison1871]

I am not at all a uniform expert ( in fact this is my first ever post) and I am not at all an expert on this unit, so I would love to hear what an expert in this era's uniforms would think of the photo. You are right about the shoulder boards, I can hardly see them in the photo, and the blurring makes me think it could just be my imagination, although the band member on the far left of the third row definitely has something dark on his shoulder.

 

[Harrison1871]

For reference here is an original Confederate frock coat and an original Württemburg artillery waffenrock. Both are single breasted and have eight buttons, as well as a standing collar but the waffenrock has a much shorter skirt and shoulder boards.

Of course there will always be variation of styles, but I believe the coats shown in the photo are more akin to the waffenrock.

 

[major bill]

I think I see dark collars, dark cloth shoulder straps (epaulets wuthering out fringe, but fringe on the officers). I also think I see two buttons on the coat sleeves. At least the officers might have what I call 'French' cuff with flashes on their sleeve. These flashes covered where the sleeves could open, originally to reenfoce the flap and to prevent fraying, but by the Civil War many of these were purely decorative and the sleeve cuffs did not open (false flashes or false button patches).

The officers in the image may have false button hole trim, again originally used to prevent fraying about the button holes. It was fairly common for both officers and enlisted to have these 'French' cuffs with false button hole trim, often the offices had more buttons on the sleeves than the enlisted men.

For our forum members who are not uniform people. 'Polish' cuffs had pointed turn backs on the cuffs so the cuffs could be unbuttoned and pulled down over the top of the hand to keep it warn. But leave the fingers free to fire the musket. "'French' cuffs might or might not have a cuffs that could be turned down. 'German' cuffs were usually a strait turn back. By the Civil War many turn back cuffs were unfunctionable and were just cloth decorations. See the US Army frock coat points cuffs and the turn back were nothing more than a pointed cord trim. Some Army frock coats did have cuffs that opened.

Again perhaps a real uniform expert will comment and correct me.