Monday, October 31, 2016

Forget What I Said.... unit "re-armed"

I recently said that I was not inclined to make changes in the order of battle, but.... I have seen a reference to Virginia (US) regiments getting muskets from Massachusetts in two places, including this, from an article on the Battle of Philippi:

"Scott wasn't providing weapons to the pro-Union Virginia troops organizing on Wheeling Island, either. The 1st Virginia Infantry (Union), commanded by Colonel Benjamin Franklin Kelley, had 1,000 men by mid-May. Unionists were forming a second regiment in Wheeling, but until Virginians voted for or against secession, the War Department was maintaining neutrality in the state. McClellan may have sent some old flintlocks, but Virginia's ambiguous status and the federal government's non-interference policy limited what he could do. To arm the men at Wheeling, residents of nearby Wellsburg finally arranged through Governor John Andrew of Massachusetts to purchase some old Springfield muskets"

Since the simulation hasn't started yet, I am going to change the order of battle and "re-arm" the 1st Virginia (US) with Model 1822 Springfield Muskets (converted to percussion). It is very similar to this conversion of a Model 1816 Musket:





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