Blue & Grey (Butternut Actually) at it Again

 

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 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 the crushed bark of trees and nut hulls, and when used on cotton clothing, gave a soft brown hue to the clothes.

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. "Minie Ball" could bring death to a target hundreds of yards away. 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.

These are old 1970's metal models that I recently found in one of my bits boxes.