Civil War soldiers' knives

[mnblade]

I'm currently reading Michael Shaara's excellent book about Gettysburg, "Killer Angels." Just before that, I read his son's book, "Gods And Generals," which precedes it in the father/son trilogy. At any rate ... these got me to thinking about Civil War-era knives. What did the common soldiers of the day carry? I'm certain that someone here on the forum has looked into this. Care you share you knowledge?! Many thanks in advance.

 

[bob bowie]

You'd see many personal knives. There were'nt many issue knives, more along the lines of individual unit purchases.

There was the Hicks Riflemans knife, the Ames 1849 Riflemans knife, and a few others.

You'd see many Dirks and Daggers. Bowies were there also, but they were lighter and faster affairs, not like many of the monster Bowies you see today.

Folding knives ran from folding Bowies to English Sportsman's knives(sorta like an early Swiss Army). Mostly you'd probably see standard Jack knives.

Edit: The South issued some big D-guard Bowies, but many were cast off because of their weight.