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Army of the Tennessee

and

Army of the Cumberland

1862-1865

"No terms except an unconditional and

immediate surrender can be accepted..."
 

It has often been noted that from 1861-1865 the war in the East made all the headlines, but the West was where the war was won.  While this may not be completely true, there is no doubt that without key victories at Ft. Donelson, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Franklin, and Nashville the war would have never been won. 

While the Federal troops in the East spent long periods in camp, and retraced the same 90-100 miles of roads through Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania over and over again, the Federal troops in the West traversed extremely rugged terrain through Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and finally through the Carolinas...well over a thousand miles from 1862-1865! 

The troops of the Western Federal armies were generally leaner, more rugged, and bore much more resemblance to their Confederate counterparts than did the Eastern Federal troops.  Western Federal troops came from more rural settings in places like Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana...which were very much still on the frontier in the 1860s. 

We choose to portray the troops of the Army of the Tennessee and the Army of the Cumberland because that's what we know, and that's what is in our own backyard.  Central Indiana lies nine or ten hours (or more) from the battlefields in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, but just two to five hours from several sites of major battles and smaller engagements in Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee.  We grew up in the towns that these soldiers grew up in, and heard childhood stories of our ancestors that fought with Grant, Buell, Rosecrans, Sherman, or Thomas.

These were brave soldiers and they were vital in winning the Civil War.  While exploits of McClellan, Hooker, Jackson, and Lee still dominate the historical landscape, it was men like Grant, Sherman, and Thomas who crippled the forces of the Confederacy and brought the bloody Civil War to a close.  We portray the soldiers that fought under these great generals to honor and keep their memories alive. 

We portray the Western Federal impression mainly at national events and hardcore immersion events which are themed around the Western Theater of the war.  While our Eastern Impression is mainly confined to the 19th Indiana, our Western Impression may be just about any regiment on any weekend from the 18th Indiana to the 122nd Illinois to the 44th Missouri.  While specifics for each unit may change a bit, following is a list of the uniform guidelines (and the recommended vendors for each item) for the basic impression:

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