Confederate Soldier, Picture of the Day

Here's an interesting picture of a Confederate soldier.  He is wearing a slouch hat, pinned up in the front, making him look quite dashing.

This must have been taken in early war, as he appears to be holding a flintlock musket.  This type of musket was used in the Revolutionary War, not so much in the American Civil War.  However, early in the war, rifles were hard to get and many Confederates made do with personal weapons, like flintlocks or shotguns.  The 1853 Enfield rifle from Great Britain soon replaced these older muskets, and became the most typical weapon of the Confederate infantryman.

I have two replica 1853 Enfields, and they both fire real minie balls. When Lindsay Graham comes to dig up my great grandfather's grave, however, I will probably resort to more modern hardware in order to dissuade him.  (Don't try it Lindsay, you prissy, pathetic, political whore.)