One of the things that often causes confusion among gamers and amateur historians of which is what many of us are, is trying to decide how everyday equipment appeared during the war. Artillery pieces, supply wagons, ambulances, pontoons, supply crates, and even tents are things we seldom think about, until we decide to paint them. This article will attempt to answer the questions as to how this equipment appeared.

Artillery

Artillery pieces often appeared on the battlefield in natural wood colors. While there is no doubt in my mind that in the resource-starved south, this was often the case, it was not the rule. For quite some time, it was believed that gun carriages were painted a light tan color, or even gray. This also was not the case.

Gun carriages were painted green. The green is usually shown as a flat, medium color. I usually use olive drab, or a variant paint meant for use as ground covering. There is no doubt that the color varied from factory to factory, and depot to depot, so this color could be anything from a light forest green to a dark Russian green. I have seen hand-tinted photographs that show siege/naval guns in forts with light tan carriages, and a friend of mine has a six-pound smoothbore with a red carriage that we use for pre-war militia batteries.

For my personal use, I use a variety of greens for both my Federal and Confederate guns, with a few Confederate pieces in natural wood. In 15mm, I believe that Stone Mountain Miniatures makes the most complete and realistic-looking set of field guns on the market.

Wagons

Supply wagons were colored light blue (that had a hint of gray) and had red wheels and undercarriages. I have been told that most wagons of this period, civilian as well as military, were painted like this, although no one has ever been able to explain why. The greatest amount of variation in painting wagons comes when one reaches the canvas colors. These could be very simple, or even plain without any adornment, or very ornate. They could have a simple "U.S." or "C.S.", or a unit designation, such as "2nd Mass." over crossed sabres, with "Cav." underneath. Some of the more ornate ones I have seen photos of, include one that had "Commissary Train" in an arch, with the Maltese Cross of V Corps (Army of the Potomac) underneath, and also had a solid circle towards the back of the wagon, possibly in the color used to designate which division the wagons belonged to. Any good collection of photos will reveal dozens of possible marking for your wagons.

For Confederate wagons, any marking should be allowed, as captured equipment was used quite extensively. By far the best wagon on the market is the one made by Essex Miniatures. Not only is it being pulled by mules rather than horses, but the body shape is correct (the rear wheels are larger than the front ones), and the driver is astride one of the mules. I cannot recall any pictures or drawings showing a wagon with the driver sitting in a seat. Most photos show the driver riding one of the animals pulling the wagon, and Essex makes the only wagon with the driver in that position.

Ambulances

Ambulances can present a special problem, as none survive today and no one can be sure how they looked. It is possible they were painted exactly like supply wagons; in fact, many were simply supply wagons that had been pressed into service to carry wounded. A friend of mine has done a great deal of research into Federal ambulances and has found references to some being painted black and some painted red. He theorizes that each depot, corps, or army, painted them to their own specifications. Again, the best 15mm ambulance model on the market is made by Essex Miniatures. Their ambulance actually has the rockers on the bottom that were designed to give the passengers an easier ride.

Pontoon Boats

Pontoon boats were most likely painted in the same green as artillery carriages or, in the Southern Army, left unpainted. Many Federal pontoon boats were actually made of canvas and were collapsible. A careful examination of photographs reveals many of these in Northern service. Supply crates were usually green or unpainted with black lettering. I have seen a few that were white, such as the crates Enfield rifles were delivered in.

Tents should be white, although I have seen photos of striped ones. A heavy dry-brushing of dun paint, to represent mud, and a dark wash will go a long way to making your tents look like they've been in the field awhile, rather than on the White House lawn.

Flags

The main purpose of this section is not to give tips on painting flags as such, but to give advice on what flags to equip your regiments with. In deciding what flags to give your regiments, you must decide on what period of the war you are fighting, what theatre your troops are fighting in, and what command your troops belong to.

For the Confederates, the time frame can be the deciding factor on the amount of variety you have in a brigade's choice of colors. Of course, early in the war, each regiment can have its own unique flag. Often, these were presented by local civic groups or the local women. Until mid-1862 in the east, and until probably late 1862 in the west, many units carried the first national or state flags. After First Manassas, General Joseph Johnston ordered his command, which would later become the Army of Northern Virginia, to carry state flags rather than the first national flag, to cut down on the confusion caused by the fact that on a windless day, that flag strongly resembled the flag of the United States.

Once the Confederate armies were more organized, they began to issue colors by commands. As a general rule, all the units in one command would carry the same type of flag. In the east, the entire Army of Northern Virginia carried the famed battle flag that has become the symbol of the South. In the western Confederate armies, usually a corps or a division carried a single type of flag. Even when Bragg attempted to issue a variation of the Army of Northern Virginia's battle flag, many units rebelled and refused to give up their old colors. Generally, all units not attached to an army, but part of the same department, would carry a single flag, such as the department of Florida.

There were exceptions to these rules. Quite often units, with a particular reason for wishing to remain distinct, would refuse to give up their old flags. The Texans in Lee's army carried a Texas flag until it was lost at Antietam, and Pat Cleburne's division refused to give up its colors in 1863. Also, it seems that North Carolina regiments held on to their state flags longer than most regiments. Also, if a unit was attached to a command, but was not considered part of it for some reason, it would carry a different flag. For example, the engineer troops attached to the Army of Northern Virginia were apparently not considered combat troops and carried the second national flag rather than the Army of Northern Virginia's battle flag.

The bottom line for myself is: when I paint a miniature brigade of Confederates, unless it is a unit from the early part of the war, each regiment carries the same flag.

Surprisingly enough, the Union Army actually had a greater diversity of flags throughout the war than did its southern counterpart. The Federal regiments chose their colors based on what state they were from, rather than what command they were attached to, as a general rule. Exceptions did exist. The Irish Brigade comes immediately to mind, but this works as a general "rule of thumb."

Each Federal regiment was supposed to have a national color ("the stars and stripes") and a regimental color like those carried by the regulars. Where the variations occurred are in what each state chose to use as its national or regimental colors. Some of the variations are as follows:

New York: These regiments seem to have seldom carried the issue regimentals. Units often carried either state issued, city issued, or privately purchased regimental flags. There are dozens of variations of these regimentals and a person could paint several New York units without giving two units the same flag.

Pennsylvania: These regiments, with few exceptions, carried the issued regimental colors, but carried a national color that consisted of "the stars and stripes," with the seal of the state of Pennsylvania in the canton surrounded by the proper number of stars.

Massachusetts: About half of the Massachusetts troops carried the Massachusetts flag in place of the issue regimentals.

Connecticut : These regiments usually replaced the issued regimentals with dark blue flags, and with the state seal in their centers.

Kentucky: The Kentucky troops in Federal service often carried a dark blue flag with the state seal in the center.

New Jersey: These regiments carried a national flag with the state seal in the canton, surrounded by the proper number of stars.

Vermont: These regiments apparently replaced their regimentals with either dark blue or white flags bearing the state seal.

I finally gave up hand-painting miniature flags about three years ago. The U.S. flag is just too hard to do. I searched around for a viable alternative for quite some time, until a friend showed me how to make incredible-looking flags for my troops. There are about a half dozen or so companies out there making paper flags for the Civil War, but I never liked them because they look like paper flags. However, the flags made by Revo can be made to look stunning, because they are unique in being printed on self-adhesive paper. Also, they have an excellent selection of flags.

Realistic Flags

Here's the secret of making Revo flags look like painted flags:

1. Get some incredibly fine sheet lead or brass. Most hobby shops that deal in model trains can get you sheets of paper-thin brass.

2. Cut the brass to the same width of the flag and about a third longer than the finished length of the flag.

3. Wrap the end of the brass around the standard bearer's flagpole, so that it comes around enough to touch itself. Press the brass together and place some super glue on the brass to affix it to the pole.

4. Peel the Revo flag from its sheet and wrap it around the flag pole as you would normally, matching it up with the brass.

5. Trim any excess brass from the edges of the flag.

6. Now, crumple the flag and bend it in such a way as to make it look as if it were being blown by the wind. The brass provides the flag with strength and keeps it where you place it.

7. Take a heat gun (these devices look like hair dryers and can be purchased in most hobby shops) and blow it on the flag. This partially melts the adhesive material on the flag and helps "set" the flag to the brass.

8. Now give the flag a dark wash. My friend used ink and his flags looked far better that the ones I used paint washes on, and my flags look better that most I've seen.

I hope this series has helped readers improve the look of their armies. Perhaps it will serve as a springboard for an extended discussion in this magazine on improving the look of our miniature armies.

Revo flags and Essex Miniatures are available from Wargames, P. O. Box 278, Tridelphia, West Virginia, 26059, or call 800-221-2011 and Stone Mountain Miniatures, Dept Z, PO Box 675, Brighton, CO 80601, 303-654-7989.

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© Copyright 1995 The American Civil War Society

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