The 19th Indiana were part of what the confederates called "That d*mned Black Hat brigade!" before everyone began calling them the "Iron Brigade" because of their Iron resolve not to back down from the enemy even when under intense fire or pressure. This resolve almost lead to their utter destruction at Gettysburg where it suffered 1200 killed & wounded out of 1900 engaged with some regiments hitting 75% and 80% casualties. Although the brigade was arguably the Unions finest brigade that was ever in the field and sustained more causalities then any other in the course of the war to back that up one must say after Gettysburg the brigade was never quite the same again, however even after that it did still remain an elite formation until the end of the war.
The 19th like the rest of the brigade was composed of western state soldiers that instead of fighting in the west fought in the east wearing the distinctive Hardee hat, frock coats and white gaiters that made them stand out in the army of the Potomac where sack coats and kepi's were the norm.
The 19th Indiana was mustered into service on July 29th, 1861 at Camp Morton in Indianapolis Indiana. The regiment served in numerous campaigns and battles including Brawner Farm, 2nd Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam(suffered heavily here), Fredericksburg, Fitzhugh's Crossing, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Laurel Hill, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Petersburg and it's sieges, Weldon Road and Yellow House. Not including those lost from sickness and disease the regiment lost 5 officers and 194 enlisted men killed/wounded from battle before being mustered out on July 28th, 1864 with those remaining joining the 20th Indiana.
A monument to the regiment can be seen here:
http://www.gettysburgdaily.com/?p=425
More info. on the 19th Indiana:
http://www.19thindiana.co.uk/
Home page of the Iron Brigade:
http://www.ironbrigade.net/index.html
The Iron Brigade as a whole consisted of the 2nd Wisconsin, 6th Wisconsin, 7th, Wisconsin, 19th Indiana and the 24th Michigan. I probably will do another regiment from them with my eye on the Sash and Saber version in the future.
The miniatures are from Redoubt which I believe make the best ACW miniatures on the market followed by Sash and Saber and Perry. While the Perry's probably make the most proportionally correct ACW mini's they are not very painter friendly and sometimes can be a bit static and this is where Redoubt really excels in that their miniatures are not only painter friendly but really pack tons of character as do Sash and Saber which I happen to really like!
I tried a few new things out with these. The first being the coat which I used Foundry Union Blue A, B but then used Deep Blue C for a final highlight as I felt Union Blue C was too dark. I saw Giles do something similar with his French and liked it. The other thing is a tried a new base color as the reddish brown wasn't working for me any more.This new base is more of a grey earth tone and I quite like it. I'm going to also try out a real earthy brown on another regiment and see how it works.
I was just able to finish this unit tonight in time to have my desk cleared off for tomorrow which kicks off Curt's painting competition where I already have a unit primed and ready to go!
As always thanks for viewing!
Miniature Company- Redoubt
