1st special battalion Louisiana infantry (Wheat’s tigers) 1862-62 – plate

source : ‘military uniforms in America (3) long endure – the civil war period 1852-67’, company of military historians

1st special battalion Louisiana infantry, company B, tiger rifles – plate D : Bull Run 1861

source : ‘american civil war zouaves’ elite 062, Osprey publishing

Wheat’s Tiger Rifles (1st Louisiana special battalion zouaves) 1861 by Don Troiani

1st Louisiana special battalion at the first battle of Manassas

source : ‘America’s civil war’ magazine, by Gary Schreckengost, may 1999

Of all the units that took the field at the first battle of Manassas in july 1861, none exceeded the flair and intensity of the 1st Louisiana special battalion, ‘Wheat’s Tigers’.

southern tigers

source : ‘american civil war zouaves’ elite 062, Osprey publishing

Standing six feet four and weighing a hefty 275 pounds, Roberdeau Wheat was an imposing figure.

1st Lousiana special battalion by SP Smith

1st Louisiana special battalion by Mark Maritato

Louisiana zouaves & turcos

source : ‘the CSA 1861-65 (3) Louisiana & Texas’ men at arms 430, Osprey publishing

In New Orleans at least 16 percent of the foreign population was of french origin, so zouave-style uniforms were more popular among volunteers in Louisiana than in any other state in the Confederacy.

the confederate irish : Louisiana

source : ‘irish-american units in the civil war’ men at arms 448, Osprey publishing

The largest irish-american units in the southern army came from Louisiana.