Butternut vs Union Blue

 

A Union Zouave faces off against a Rebel infantryman as the bloody War Between the States continues its path of destruction through the country. 

While the Union man is wearing the fancy French stye North African Zouave uniform, the Southerner is reduced to wearing home spun clothing dyed in "Butternut. With the lack of grey dye in the South, most of the soldiers of the Confederacy were reduced to using Butternut Dye for their uniforms. Butternut came from crushing the bark of trees and nut hulls, and when used on cotton clothing it gave a soft brown hue to the clothes. An unintended aspect of Butternut uniforms was that they foreshadowed the later introduction khaki unforms that made soldiers less of a clear target on the battlefield.

While their uniforms vary greatly their weapons are basically the same, the .58 cal. muzzle loading rifled cap and ball musket. The muskets .58 cal./14.73 mm "Minie Ball" could bring death to a target hundreds of yards away (up to 400 yds/366 m for marksmen). While many older as well as the latest repeating firearms were used in the war, the rifled muzzle loader continued to be the main infantry weapon of both sides throughout the war.

(The two soldiers are old 1970's. 25mm metal models that I painted.)