I'll bring the Hardtack...

[MACKAY]

I don't have much to add, but thought I would point those with more time to a great resource.

In Philadelphia on Pine St, (18th and Pine) there is a 'private' civil war museum. Not a lot of people know about this place, but it has one of the most extensive private collections of civil war artifacts, and one the largest private libraries of civil war documentation in the United States.

It also has the stuffed head of General Mead’s horse. The horse was shot and killed during a battle, and Mead was so impressed by the bravery of the horse that he had his head removed and mounted, then sent home. After the war the family donated the mount to the museum.

The same Union Officers that founded the Union Leauge on Broad Street started it, and one of the founders was the aforementioned General Mead himself. As many of you know, several prominent Union officers were either Philadelphia natives, or relocated to Philadelphia after the war.

The museum is housed in an early 18th century four story brownstone, and the first two floors are stuffed to the gills with display cases, weapons, flags, uniforms, gear, photos, etc, as this was a repository of numerous personal collections from Union offices and enlisted men. These are not battlefield ‘dug’ relics; these are actually the donated items from the soldiers and the widows and surviving families of those killed at the time of the war. Cool stuff for us history buffs!!!

The top two floors are almost completely stacked from top to bottom with books, journals, diaries, field manuals, letters, dispatches, you name it! I'm sure somewhere in all of this there is that kernel of information that we are looking for to close the gap on kilted regiments in the civil war. If you have time, this would be a great place to start conducting research.

The museum is open to the public on specific days, and accepts donations as an entry fee. They also allow the public to schedule time for research purposes and to go through their collections and books at the site.

Finally, it is not far from the Mutter Museum which was started by Dr Mutter in the 1800’s as a medical learning / curiosity museum – both of these museums are a must see if you are in Center City Philly!

Brian Mackay
'Manu Forti'

[Thistle Stop]

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine is here in Frederick, MD. For info, see http://www.civilwarmed.org/exhibits.cfm. Since we're between Gettysburg and Sharpsburg (Antietam), and also near Harper's Ferry WV and Leesburg VA, it's a good museum to catch when visiting those sites.

[awoodfellow]

just thought i'd post this link ....

http://www.alexismalcolmkilts.bigste...generic10.html

i also wonder if anyone has had any experiences with Alezis Malcolm kilts. looks like they have some fairly nice things.

ambrose

ha ... see if you don't look you won't find
yep there is a thread on AM kilts... cool

[KiltedBishop]

There is actually a small but interesting GAR museum here in Nebraska City. (Grand Army of the Republic)

interesting stuff.