A Regiment A Month Part 2

Hello all,

It's almost the end of the month, so it's time for the next regiment in the "A Regiment A Month" series.

As my second regiment for my Confederate Army, I picked the Alexandria Riflemen. Ok, they weren't a regiment as such, more like a company in the much bigger 17th Virginia Infantry Regiment but let's not get picky.

Despite having so much time at the beginning of the month, due to unexpected events at work I actually had to rush to get them finished in time. Not willing to go just half way, I decided to make this regiment a bit smaller than I had in mind, just to have enough time to get them finished without delivering sub-par models. All that needs to be done is give them a coat of varnish to protect them from handling. They are after all gaming models.

Now the first thing you may notice about them is that they are green. Aren't Confederate troops supposed to be grey? Well most of them where, at least most of them where supposed to be grey late war. Early war most regiments used their old uniforms. Some Unionist troops had grey uniforms while some Confederate troops wore blue, then there were the colourfull Zouaves, some dark green sharpshooter regiments and some other odd combinations. After some very bloody friendly fire incidents and overruns because commanders had mistaken an approaching enemy regiment for reinforcements, both sides tried to supply all their troops with the same uniforms. However due to supply issues, or stubborn pride, not all of them got to change their uniforms. The Alexandria Riflemen were one of those regiments. Throughout the war they stuck to their dark green uniforms.

The Alexandria Riflemen were organized on March 10, 1856. Originally choosing the name "Alexandria Sharp Shooters", they quickly reconvened their meeting when some realized how the initials would look painted on the back of their knapsacks. The change of name to "Alexandria Riflemen" was unanimous. They were organized, with the Mount Vernon Guard, into a volunteer battalion under the command of Major Turner Wade Ashby.

  
The Alexandria Riflemen were one of 10 companies that made up the 17^th Virginia Infantry. They took part in :Bull Run, Va. (Blackburn's Ford),Williamsburg, Va.,Seven Pines, Va,Gaines' Mill, Va.,Frazier's Farm, Va,Second Manassas, Va., Boonsboro, Md. (South Mountain), Fredericksburg, Va, Cold Harbor, Va., the defense of Petersburg, Va., Five Forks,Va., Sayler's Creek, Va., and surrendered at Appomattox.