Your Great-Great Grandpa's Army

Here's an Army I would have liked to have been part of:

This is one of several postcards I've picked up lately showing Army live in the early 1900s.  The other postcards dealt with mapping topics, so I've got them posted over on my other blog.  Since this one doesn't deal at all with mapping but it still offers an interesting snapshot of Army life around the turn of the 20th century I thought I'd host it on this blog.

Unfortunately this card is unused and carries no postmark, so I can't put a precise date on when the photo was taken. But there are some good clues in the photo itself.  Blue-gray shirts with khaki pants, leggings and a creased narrow brim hat all indicate the picture is of a cavalry unit taken post-Spanish American War, right around the turn of the century.  There are pistol holsters visible on the hips of several Soldiers in the foreground, all of them carried in the cavalry butt-forward style.  They probably carried the standard issue 7.5" barreled Colt Single Action Army revolver.  Within a decade this venerable sidearm would be replaced by John Browning's masterpiece, the M1911 semi-automatic .45 caliber Automatic Colt Pistol (45 ACP).

I don't think this shot was taken during roll call.  Roll call tends to be a more formal activity conducted while in formation.  It's more likely these Soldiers were ordered to 'break ranks' and gather around to receive their daily assignments.

While I don't see any evidence of sheath knives on the belts of any of these Soldiers, you can bet that virtually all of them had a bone or ivory handled folding knife in their pocket.  It was, and still is, the indispensable Soldier's tool.

Stay sharp!

Brian