by GrantRCanada Sat Sep 27, 2014 10:44 am
I posted that a bit earlier than I intended .....
Rather than editing it right away, i thought I'd first create a personalized avatar, which in fact shows me attired in a reproduction Pattern 1863 tunic, one of my re-enactment impressions being of the 43rd (Carleton) Battalion, circa 1868-70.
Although there was virtually no badging in the Canadian Militia at that time distinguishing one Battalion from another - except for numbers worn of the front of the Kilmarnock-pattern forage cap, and perhaps a unit specific badge on the shako
if the unit in question could afford to have such badges made for themselves - I chose that particular Battalion because the Medal Roll for the Canada General Service Medal 1866-70 lists three Privates with my surname (Rombough) who were awarded the medal with 1870 Fenian Raid clasp, all of whom were enrolled in the 43rd Battalion. All Romboughs in Canada are in fact descended from a single UEL family in which there were four sons, so they are all related to me .... and I am fortunate enough to be the current custodian of two of the three original medals.
The P'63 tunic was worn by the Canadian Militia throughout most of the Fenian Raids period (until the British P'1868 tunic was finally adopted by Canada some time in 1870.)
Full-length studio photos of Canadian Militia infantry wearing the P'63 tunic -
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Colour rendering of an Infantryman -
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Colour rendering of a Rifleman -
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]As an aside, the period during which this tunic pattern was in use bridges the switchover from the muzzle-loaded .577 Enfield Rifle Muskets and Rifles to the newer Snider-Enfield metallic cartridge breech-loader conversion of the same firearms. That is evident in images of militiamen of that period - the Rifleman in the bottom picture is armed with a muzzle-loading Enfield Short Rifle, so his kit still includes a pouch for percussion caps carried on the cross-belt supporting his cartridge box. The soldier's kit remained almost identical after the switchover to the breech-loading Snider-Enfield .... except that a sectioned tin liner in the cartridge box was removed to better accommodate the slightly bulkier 10-round packets of .577 Snider cartridges, and a cap pouch was no longer needed, which is why it is absent in the other images. (The larger pouch seen mounted on the waistbelt over the right hip in two of the images is a "ball bag" or "expense pouch", used to hold the loose rounds when a paper-wrapped packet of ten rounds was removed from the cartridge box and opened up.)
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