Here, you will find information regarding equipment, uniforms, and vendors.
Below is the required MINIMUM items needed for a federal Infantry impression.
Required weapons and accoutrements
1855 Cartridge box, black, with tins and oval US box plate
Leather cartridge box sling with Eagle breast plate
1850 Cap pouch, black
1856 leather belt, black, and Oval US plate
1861 Springfield Rifle w/ bayonet and leather sling
Canteen, Stainless, smoothside, wool covered, brown.
Tarred 12x12" Haversack with ration bag
Required clothing
*Sack Coat, dark blue flannel
Trousers, foot pattern, skyblue kersey wool
*Kepi, solid, dark blue flannel
Socks, rag wool, or wool/cotton blend, 4 pair minimum
Brogans, black, (Robert Land)
Shirt, Cotton or light weight flannel
*Preferbly between 10 and 14 oz blue wool flannel--Fall Creek and C&D Jarnagin both sell sack coats in this range.
As a recruit, first item you'll need is your brogans. These should be your very first purchase. Robert Land reproduces quality brogans from original patterns, and the cost is relatively the same as you'll find at most sutlers who import from Mexico.
Your next investment, should be your rifle, 1861 Springfield Rifle. It don't matter who makes it, or where from you buy it, just as long as its an 1861 Springfield rifle. Euroarms is a nicer reproduction, however, it costs a bit more than some of the others.
Tarred double bag knapsack
Gum blanket or Poncho
Drawers (cotton), long johns or pajama pants will suffice
Shelter half
Plate or canteen half (tin)
Cup (tin)
Mucket (tin) with bail or lid
Small Period type camp axe or hatchet
Small sheet iron frying pan
Linen or muslin poke sacks (food bags)
Period Eyeglass frames
Eating utensils
Toilet paper (STRONGLY SUGGESTED)
Skyblue Foot pattern Great coat (Over coat)
Gloves, rag wool, fingerless
Wool Blanket
Misc Items
Candle lantern
Period bible
Period journal
Playing cards
Reproduction currency
Period Wallet
Letters from “home”
Period candles and candlesticks
Period Mattress tick
Small period campstool
Your typical Federal soldier was issued the following types of food.
Hole Bean coffee
Hard tack
Potatoes, onions, carrots
Small wax coated cheese wheel
Navy beans
Dried Field peas
Smoked, dried, or salted meats (beef or pork)
Dried rice
If you plan on forming a mess, contact your mess mates ahead of time, to plan meals and figure out who’s buying/carrying what.
When you buy your rations, buy only enough for the weekend; don’t over load yourself with food. When you buy your beef ration, wait till you arrive at the event, say Friday night, and cook it as soon as you get back to camp. Fry it in a pan, drain it, encase it in salt, and stuff it in a poke bag. Salt is still today the best preservative. When your ready to fix a meal with it, wash or soak the salt off of it, and its ready to re-heat it.
Hardtack is simply a hard cracker made of wheat flour, salt, and water. You can find many different recipes for making Hardtack online. However when you buy your flour, look for stone ground whole-wheat flour. This was the most common type of flour on the market at that point in time. At most sutlers, you can buy a “hardtack cutter”, which will make the process a lot easier.
When you go to eat hardtack, avoid sitting there gnawing on it, you’ll be sitting there all weekend if you do that. Instead, soften it in a little coffee for a quick breakfast, or fry it in beef or bacon grease for an afternoon or evening meal.