Military Uniforms in America, Volume IV: The Modern Era, from 1868
Presidio, Press

This book shows all sorts of US military uniforms from the end of the American Civil War until about 1980. It is amazing to me how many US military units wore what were essentially Napoleonic uniforms for regular use, ceremonial use or even combat into the 21st Century.

So one of the things I have been doing is looking through the book to find unusual uniforms and build a small force, somewhere in size between a platoon, 50 men, to a company, of 200 men.

The hussar busby seems popular, but even British style bear skin hats make an appearance. The kepi seems to have been worn for decades after the Civil War and all this makes for an interesting group of troops.

Now many of these were local militia, often raised in large cities, such as Philadelphia, and Chicago, and served mostly as social and ceremonial units. But in theory, and in some cases in practice could be called into local, state, or national service in an emergency.

So take a look at your excess Napoleonic troops and ask yourself, can they be repurposed for more modern use? It is possible that they can!

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
Bunker Talk blog

That’s a very interesting and niche topic Mike. Thanks for sharing. I’ve done a little bit of research on this in the past, but I was only up until the Civil War. I never thought to look after!