WHEAT'S LOUISIANA TIGERS
FIRST MANASSAS
OIL PAINTING
40"X30"
BY
H. BROWN
THE BATTALION CALLED THE LOUISIANA TIGERS WAS THE CREATION OF TOBERDEAU
CHATHAM WHEAT, SON OF AN EPISCOPAL CLERGYMAN AND INHERITOR OF THE COURTLY
TRADITIONS OF AN OLD HUGUENOT FAMILY OF MARYLAND. OVER SIX FEET TALL, PHYSICALLY
SUPERB, AND WITH MANNERS WHICH BESPOKE HIS UPREARING, HE WAS WITHAL
THE ORGANIZER OF ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS MILITARY CORPS EVER TO BE RAISE
ON THIS CONTINENT.
IN ACTION FINALLY AT FIRST MANASSAS, THE TIGERS SHOWED THEY COULD ALSO
FIGHT IN BATTLE. AN ENGLISH OBSERVER WROTE OF THEM "ALTHOUGH FEW IN NUMBER
THESE HEROIC SOLDIERS SUSTAINED EVERY SHOCK WITH UNWAVERING COURAGE, AND
ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION DROOPED THEIR RIFLES AND RUSHED AMONG THE ENEMY
WITH LONG BOWIE KNIVES. AS THE MAJORITY WERE LOUISIANA IRISH, THEY
ROBBED THE DEAD OF THEIR WHISKEY AND WERE IN HIGH SPRITS."
WHEAT, BRAVE TO THE POINT OF RECKLESSNESS, WAS KILLED 27 JUNE 1862
AT GAINES MILL.
IT MAY BE APPROPRIATE HERE TO MENTION THE FACT THAT THE TIGERS HAD
A HABIT OF WEARING SLOGANS ON THEIR HATS. SOME OF THE SLOGANS WERE "LINCOLN'S
LIFE OR A TIGERS DEATH," "TIGER BY NATURE," "TIGER TRY ME."
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