On March 20, the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center will be unveiling its newest addition to the collection. The new Civil War soldier mannequins are now on display in the museum lobby and showcase the uniforms of two different regiments during the Gettysburg campaign.
The new mannequins represent the 12th United States Infantry and the 37th North Carolina State Troops. The 12th United States Infantry was a part of the Army of the Potomac’s 5th Corps and saw action on July 2, 1863, in and around The Wheatfield. The regiment suffered 92 casualties during the late afternoon Confederate assault. The 37th North Carolina regiment experienced significant action on July 1, 1863, and participated in the “Pickett’s Charge” assault on July 3, 1863, suffering 61% casualties.
The Gettysburg National Military Park Museum Curator Gregory Goodell states, “Our icon mannequins provide a unique opportunity to open a window to the past for our visitors. With extensive research through photographic and written records, we can reconstruct soldiers as they would have actually appeared—something we cannot always do with original artifacts.”
“As seen in our two current mannequins, the clothing, arms and equipment of Gettysburg’s combatants is both diverse and sometimes counter to current popular preconceptions. Future changes to the mannequins will continue to show the diversity of appearance of the armies at Gettysburg and, we hope, encourage visitors to dive more deeply into the material culture of Civil War armies,” Goodell added.
Source: https://www.gettysburgfoundation.org/