72nd Indiana of Wilder's Lightning Brigade - Civil War arms & uniforms

[Music] hello and welcome to civil war digital digest i'm andy today for arms and uniforms we're going to be talking about the 72nd indiana of wilder's lightning brigade arms and uniforms is our opportunity to talk about a unit during the war and how it changed over the course of its service its arms its uniform its equipment how they changed how their service shaped what they carried the 72nd indiana holds a special place in history as a member of wilder's lightning brigade they started the war as a regular infantry brigade but early in 1863 converted to mounted infantry carrying one of the most revolutionary weapons of the civil war the model 1860 spencer rifle the 72nd indiana went on to great renown during the war for its service with this brigade starting at the tula homa campaign holding holding hoover's gap against confederate forces during the chickamauga campaign at the battle of alexander's bridges and then at the actual battle itself near the vineyard farm they went on to fight with the army of the cumberland through the end of the war all that's in the future for the 72nd indiana though when they first entered service in 1862 as they entered service they didn't look much different from any other federal regiment so let's check out to see where they started [Music] in 1862 when the 72nd indiana was formed the us army had already taken over production of equipment and uniforms that in the early parts of the war have been done by the states if you've seen some of the other episodes in this series you've seen the early war looks the pennsylvania bucktails or the second wisconsin with very odd uniform combinations or very non-regulation for the war but when the 72nd enter service they're being supplied by the federal government with standard uniform items that are commonly recognizable to many of us that are interested in this period of the civil war the soldiers are carrying the model 1861 springfield rifle this is the commonplace us army weapon during the war 58 caliber weapon capable of firing approximately three rounds a minute it's an outstanding weapon for the war one of the first class weapons and it's great for this unit that they start with such a good weapon a lot of other units when they first entered service had to make do with converted muskets smooth bores 69 calibers weapons of foreign import their questionable value but not this regiment they started with the standard weapon for most soldiers during the civil war for their uniform they're also wearing a relatively normal uniform on his head he's wearing the model 1858 forage cap this is the underdress hat for soldiers in the army the fatigue hat and our sources show that this is what the soldiers in the 72nd were wearing on his body he's wearing the frock coat the model 1858 army dress code shown here without shoulder scales is was very common in service during the civil war while this is the dress code of the army soldiers commonly wore this on campaign the other major portion of his uniform is the model 1858 foot trousers here shown in light blue that became army standard issue in december of 1861. he's also wearing model 1851 jefferson bootes the standard infantry booty of the war for soldiers you can see that he's wearing a blue contract shirt here it's not the army domit flannel shirt but it is one of the army-issued contract shirts that was to supplement the insufficient stocks of domet flannel moving on to his equipment you're seeing a lot of early war leather equipment here you're either seeing a model 1857 or 1861 cartridge box you would have seen a model 1856 belt with the puppy paw buckle on it you would have seen an early war whether a shield front or a model 1861 cap pouch and then you would have seen a cincinnati issue canteen along with this and a federal issue eight model 1851 [ __ ] haversack finally to complete this initial uniform look you see the model 1855 federal knapsack the double bag knapsack with some version of the blanket here we showed just a standard federal issue blanket rather than an emergency blanket or anything else like that again by this point in the war we're past the point where the federal government is issuing things like an emergency blanket or making do with substitute items now the supply system is caught up and they are able to issue actual regulation items to soldiers finally in the background you'll notice that the soldier is using the sibley tent it's a large tent introduced before the war based on the tepees used by native american tribes in the great plains while it was a great warm tent soldiers who lived in it loved it it was not very mobile required wagons and mule teams in order to carry it with them and really cut down on the army's mobility later in the war you'll start to see the issue of shelter halves and then already taken place in eastern armies by this point but in the western armies there are cumberland army and tennessee they're still using whether common tense or sibling tense or combinations thereof by this point in the war the uniform here that you see that the 72nd india is wearing is very standard federal issue and it really reflects where they're entering service and this matches what we see in the records for this regimen and the description from the soldiers in their unit history the uniform you see here is the one that the 72nd indiana entered service with where they had their baptism of fire at perryville and stones river however it wasn't the uniform they were wearing when they became famous the next uniform you're going to see is the one they were wearing when the brigade came to fame during the tolahoma campaign in the spring of 1863 the 72nd indiana converted to mounted infantry along with the rest of its brigade when they converted their brigade commander john wilder decided that not only did he want his men to be on horses but he decided that he wanted them to have a different look a distinctive uniform that went with it the look you see here is what the 72nd indiana would look like as they first transitioned over to mounted infantry in the spring of 1863. on the top of his head you see the model 1858 us army dress header the hardy hat here shown in on trim condition soldiers loved this hat for its wide brim which kept the sun and the rain the elements off his face it was a much more utilitarian hat than the forage cap that we saw previously first coat you see a u.s army mounted service jacket with the trim removed and there's always been some discussion of whether it was made without trim or if it was removed but looking at it is clear that it was trimmed originally and removed which makes sense wilder was able to get jackets that were meant for other mountain units so that would have been light artillery cavalry dragoons mounted rifles and have the the stickton branch color removed to leave them in on trim condition the advantage of this coat is that it's shorter which means that you're not going to have the legs of the coat getting in the way of the horse it has a it does have more buttons on it slightly more ornate than a regular uh frock coat but with the trim remove it's a little less so you notice the equipment here is still the standard infantry equipment of a soldier it's not cavalry equipment he's not wearing a sword belt he's not wearing a saber he is still wearing infantry equipment he's still wearing a pack the soldiers were very clear that they maintained their infantry equipment even as they converted to mounted infantry the other uniform item that's different here is the model 1858 mounted trousers as opposed to the mall 1858 foot trousers we saw previously the major differences are reinforced on the inside of the leg and through the crotch in order to provide better wear for soldiers who are spending the majority of their time in a saddle the soldier's still wearing the model 1851 jefferson bootes and again the rest of his equipment is very standard but there are some new additions or substitutions we chose to show them here with the bayonet there were spencers that were issued with triangular bayonets the other item that soldiers in the brigade would have had was a hatchet it would have been they're originally issued with a two foot long hatchet that was supposed to be their edged weapon to use while mounted they were never issued sabers but this was wilder's solution to give them something to use as a melee weapon while mounted and before they earned the lightning brigade name they originally were called the hatchet brigade for a brief period the other item has changed the tentage here you now finally see the shelter half or the dog 10 that became so iconic from the civil war early in 1863 the army the cumberland finally got supplied with these and that that point wilder's brigade swished over using this tent the shelter has some advantages over the sibley because each soldier carries his own half of it on his person which gets rid of the need for a large supply train to carry it with him it does have some disadvantages though because this tent doesn't give nearly the amount of protection that a sibley tent would have so there is a compromise however soldiers in the end tended to love this tent because while it didn't cover them as well as a sibley or common tented they could always have it with them which meant that in the end it was much more utilitarian because a lot of times they would outrun their wagon trains and not have their tents available when they needed them and of course here you see this form of transportation the horse wilder mounted his brigade in 1863 by going out into the surrounding farms game whatever they could they weren't just getting riding horses they were getting draft horses mules donkeys even apparently one soldier came back on a cow anything with four hoofs that could move is what they were getting over the course of the war they were able to get a more standardized set of horses but their initial horses were whatever the soldiers could get from the field similarly the tack that went along with it were whatever was available soldiers improvised tank they got some old u.s army issued ones they were using civilian ones that they took anywhere that they could get tack that was usable on the horse they took it part of the merit of wilder's plan when it was approved by the army is that it was to be no cost for the army the soldiers went out into the field to gather the supplies they needed to become mounted infantry they lived off the land in order to do it which meant there was no cost for the army consequently it meant that there was a hodgepodge of different kinds of animals and different kinds of equipment that was on the animals on the model you see here we chose to use a issue blanket rather than a horse blanket for underneath the attack and for the saddle itself we showed a officer's mcclellan saddle rather than the standard mcclellan cell was issued again soldiers would have found whatever settles they could and one we wanted to show one here that was different than just a standard issue u.s army mcclellan saddle finally let's talk about the item everyone's been waiting for me to talk about the model 1860 spencer rifle the inventor of the rifle brought his weapon on tour out to the various armies to try to bring it to the troops and get a grassroots effort for them to buy it john wilder saw this weapon in demonstration and thought it was an outstanding weapon and the perfect weapon to outfit his new brigade of mounted infantry working with his local bank in indiana john wilder underwrote loans in order for the men to be able to purchase their own spencer rifles to equip themselves with the very best weapon that they could think of for their new role as mounted infantry the spencer rifle was a revolutionary weapon he was able to carry seven shots in its tubular magazine with another round in the chamber a 5650 rimfire metallic cartridge ammunition this ammunition was a generational leap forward now it was no longer susceptible to water damage which meant that soldiers could continue to fire in all sorts of elements at the battle of hoover gap in a driving rain storm the 72nd indiana was still able to get effective fire from their rifles when other soldiers were having trouble loading in the rain it also meant though that there was a trade-off in the ammunition this metallic cartridge ammunition was much heavier than the paper ammunition used by regular soldiers it meant that the soldiers had to be careful about how much they carried with them wilder had to be careful with his soldiers about the usage of this ammunition and one of the ways he did that was by having his men still fire in volleys so that the officers could control the ammunition rate instead of letting the men fire at individual marks this is how the 72nd indiana looked when they first converted to mount infantry in the spring and summer of 1863 and how they looked when they fought during the tulahoma and chickamauga campaigns they continued on as mounted infantry and increasingly as the war went on began to be more and more supplied by the federal army so we'll see him as they look towards the end of the war and how their equipment has changed for the last time [Music] following its successes during the chickamauga and chattanooga campaigns wilder's brigade was transferred to the cavalry corps as the army of the cumberland they continued to serve as mounted troops as mounted infantry now with the cavalry arm of the army formally at the conclusion the atlanta campaign general sherman decided to take one cavalry division with him on the march to the sea however the condition the horses the one division weren't up to that campaign so all the other cavalry troops in the army were dismounted so that one division could have the pick of all the horses and equipment to go to the sea the remaining troops with the 72nd indiana included were shipped to louisville to be remounted and re-equipped for the final campaigns of the war and that's where we're joined in the 72nd indiana as you can see the individual soldier's equipment and weapon remain the same he looks much the same as he did in 1863 however the equipment on the horse is much different now here you see the saddle blanket is now a issue saddle blanket you also see a mcclellan issue saddle and model 1859 mcclellan saddle on the horse following the atlanta campaign when the brigade was re-equipped it was entirely at the government's expense just like they were any other cavalry brigade in the army going into the final campaigns of the war the 72nd indiana would be equipped by the cavalry branch just like any cavalry brigade in the army and that's reflected in the equipment you see on the horse here for this late war look when they went on their final campaigns of the war fighting in the selma campaign as part of wilson's cavalry corps this is how the 72nd indiana would have looked as you can see the 72nd indians still carrying their spencer rifle that seven shot repeater that they'd learned to love wilder's brigade is the largest infantry unit in the army to use repeating metallic weapons the spencer carbine was widely issued among cavalry troops in the federal service and there were plenty of cavalry brigades or divisions that had majority of their troopers armed with it wilder's brigade is unique for being the one federal brigade that is entirely equipped with repeating rifles as an infantry brigade and these troops had put it to great use in 1863 1864 and then the last campaigns of the war in 1865. the soldier from the 72nd indiana you see here is still wearing infantry equipment the same kind of equipment he wore in 1862 when he was a regular infantryman after two years of being in the saddle the soldiers though had learned to modify their gear in order to meet their lifestyle the regimental history talks about how they modified the knapsack straps so that in addition to being worn on the shoulder it could also be put on the front of the saddle and secured to the saddle that way when soldiers dismount it they could still put on their knapsack and wear it like a regular soldier but when they were mounted they didn't have to wear it it could be easily strapped to the saddle now we don't know exactly what they did in modified so we didn't try to show that here but we wanted to address it because it shows the ingenuity of these troops and that they made adaptations to their new form of service over almost two years in this role today we've seen the 72nd indiana transition from a fairly standard federal infantry regiment into a mounted regiment one that carried a unique set of equipment and one that over the course of the war went from supplying its own horses and equipment to being fully incorporated into the mounted arm of the united states some trade their springfield rifles for one of the more revolutionary weapons of the war we saw them give up their big but comfortable sibley tends to go the utilitarian dog tents they traded their infantry uniform for something that showed a much more mounted look but still sediments unique from their cavalry brethren for all the changes in the arms and equipments in uniform of this brigade the 72nd made this mark on the battlefield as individual soldiers certainly their spencer rifles gave him an edge in many battles but they still prove their medal by holding against superior numbers time after time on the battlefield and the reason wilder's lightning brigade was so successful was because of the men the arms and the equipment that are part of it only adds to the story but it was a fantastic group of men that made their mark on the battlefield and that's why we wanted to talk about the 72nd indiana today i hope you've really enjoyed your journey into their history their arms their equipment and we'll catch you next time

Channel: Civil War Digital Digest

Views: 13,248

Keywords: Civil War Digital Digest, indiana history, dighist, civil war uniforms, CWDD, history, digital history, digital historian, education, research, connection, civil war, Indiana, infantry, horses, cavalry, uniform, veteran, chickamauga, Murfreesboro, Spencer, american history, living history, military history, civil war history, american history documentary, military history channel, military history documentary, american civil wars, living history documentary, History documentary

Id: zCUqJK39I_I

Length: 17min 56sec (1076 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 08 2022