The Iron Brigade, 1863 and English Knights, 1346

The Iron Brigade was one of the most reputable units on either side of the American Civil War.

Composed of five western state volunteer regiments: the 24^th Michigan, 19^th Indiana, 2^nd, 6^th, and 7^th Wisconsin Regiments, the Iron Brigade was called what it was because of its reputation as one of the most formidable units of the Army of the Potomac. Perhaps their most famous act was being one of the first Union infantry units thrust into action on the first day at the Battle of Gettysburg.

They were deployed by the Corps commander himself: Major General John Fulton Reynolds, pictured above. Faced with stiff opposition from the Tennessee and Alabama regiments,

Reynolds railed the Iron Brigade as they engaged in fierce forest combat. "For God’s sake, forwards!" he yelled and then fell dead from his horse,  a bullet in the back of the neck.

General Reynolds was the highest ranking officer on either side killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.

His death remains shrouded in mystery. Although it is commonly upheld that he was killed by a Confederate sharpshooter, it is also possible that he was killed by a stray bullet from either side.

In fact at every Gettysburg reunion, at least one Confederate veteran would claim that he was the one who shot and killed General Reynolds.

The next personality pictured is the commander of the 24^th Michigan at Gettysburg, Colonel Henry Andrew Morrow.  Although the Iron Brigade did manage to drive back the Tennessee and Alabama regiments, they were pushed back into the woods by the Virginia and North Carolina regiments. 

After the first three standard bearers of the 24^thMichigan fell, Colonel Morrow himself picked up the tattered battle standard and rallied his men, as he is pictured doing here. In fact a private, William Kelly was so concerned for the life of his commanding officer that he took them from him and bore them until he himself was killed. Despite the heroic action of Colonel Morrow, heavy casualties and pressure on the flanks eventually forced him to withdraw. During the withdrawal Colonel Morrow himself was wounded. He successfully reached the safety of the city of Gettysburg, but the city fell to the Confederate forces later that day, and the injured Morrow was captured. The confrontation between the 24^th Michigan and the 26^th North Carolina was in fact the bloodiest regimental engagement of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.

Above are normal soldiers from the various regiments of the brigade. Notice that the Iron Brigade soldiers preferred the wide-brimmed Hardee hats over the narrow-brimmed kepis and similar-looking forage caps. Wide-brimmed hats were especially popular among the western regiments.

The insignia on the Hardee hat is a bugle to represent an infantry regiment. The bugle was previously associated with the light infantry, but by the time of the Civil War, with advancements in rifling and updates in infantry tactics, all infantry were in essence light infantry.

You will also notice that one private is wearing a knapsack, while another is wearing a rolled blanket wrapped as a bandolier to carry his things. Some soldiers found this simpler solution more practical.

The sergeant and corporal are not wearing either,  as they were normally removed before battle.

I did overlook two things with this sketch, regarding the dress of the Iron Brigade. Although I could not possibly fail to remember their iconic black hats, with exception of the sergeant, I portrayed the Iron Brigade soldiers in short sack coats, instead of the longer frock coats which remained popular in the regiment. Also, none of the soldiers are wearing canvas gaiters, which remained popular among the Iron Brigade.

The second entry is of two English knights, who fought with Edward, the Black Prince of Wales at the Battle of Crecy in 1346: John de Vere, the Seventh Earl of Oxford and Sir Thomas Holland.

During the Battle of Crecy, the right flank under the Prince of Wales was under enormous pressure and Prince Edward sent a group of knights, including de Vere to ask his father for reinforcements.

King Edward sent his famous reply "that they suffer him this day to win his spurs, 

for if God be pleased, I will this journey be his, and the honor thereof, and to 

them that be about him." Commonly abridged to "Let the boy win his spurs."

Both knights were in command of about a hundred foot soldiers, and were similar in essence to modern army captains, except, that knights fought separately as their own unit of heavy cavalry.

The Battle of Crecy, however, was an exception. The English knights, having learned painful lessons from the War of Scottish Independence, dismounted and fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the common foot soldiery. This defensive tactic worked wonderfully and the impudent mounted French knights, despite their audacity and élan, could not break the English lines.

They are nonetheless depicted on horseback for two reasons: first, the English knights, still rode into battle on horseback, as did some of the foot soldiers who could afford it. Second, the commanding English knights probably still fought on horseback, so as to be seen in battle.

Both knights are wearing suits of plate armor, which were new at the time. Since plate armor was expensive to manufacture, and the technology at the time was limited, these early suits  of plate armor, like many in the 14^th century, are reinforced by chain mail, or in the case of Holland’s, brigandine armor, which was canvas armor reinforced by small plates. Mail and brigandine armor also served to cover weak points, such as joints left exposed by the half-plate armor.

Both knights are wearing the open-faced bascinet. There were two types of helmets available to knights in the 14^th Century: the open-faced bascinet and the great helm, left over from the last century. The bascinet was probably preferred by knights in battle, as it was less restrictive to its wearer’s sight. The helm, obviously was preferred for jousting, because of the greater protection provided to the wearer’s face. Later in the 14^th Century, a visor would be added, to provide protection in battle.

Both wear surcoats bearing their coat-of-arms, as on their shields, over their armor. The surcoat was used from the prevalence of mail armor in the 12^th Century until the prevalence of plate armor in the 15^th century. de Vere is armed with a battle-ax, which could penetrate armor, due to its wedge blade and spiked tips to stab through any chinks in an opponent’s armor. Holland is armed with a broad sword, the primary weapon of a knight. Since armor offered decent protection against swords, most knightly swordfights were in essence brawls, where both knights would attempt to pummel their opponent into submission. Today, one can only imagine what these knights would have been through. Fortunately for the young Prince Edward, he did win his spurs that day.