Commonly called "Billy Yank" by his confederate foe, the soldier of the industrially powerful North was better supplied than his Southern counterpart.
Along with this soldier's French-inspired, regimentally-marked kepi hat, his regiment still wears the regulation 1858 nine-button frock coat piped in infantry light blue that had become less popular with other units. His light blue trousers are held up by suspenders and omit the earlier regulation leg stripe.
This soldier had stripped the wool cover off his model canteen 1858 smooth-sided canteen, which he slings over his shoulder along with his tarred haversack that carries his rations. On his opposite shoulder hangs his leather cartridge box emblazoned with a brass U.S. On his belt he carries an angular bayonet in a leather scabboard. On the opposite side he carries a hardened leather cap box holding pecussion caps to prime his musket for firing. |
