Wheat's Tiger Rifles (1st Louisiana Special
Battalion Zouaves) 54-mm scale white metal kit box art painted by Doug
Cohen.
"Tigers, go in once more,
go in my sons, I'll be gloriously God-damned if the sons of bitches can
ever whip the Tigers!"
The most famous Louisiana unit from
the war, this battalion took the nickname "Louisiana Tigers"
from its Company B. Its reputation led in time to the nickname being
applied to all the Louisiana units in Virginia. Though generally
represented as being completely outfitted in Zouave uniforms, the
battalion had only one such company-the Tiger Rifles. The battalion began
organizing at Camp Walker in New Orleans. It moved to Camp Moore and
completed its organization on June 6, 1861, with five companies and 416
men. Ordered to Virginia, the battalion became the first Louisiana unit to
be engaged in the war, when it fought a skirmish at Seneca Falls on the
Potomac River on June 28. The men played an important role in the Battle
of First Manassas, July 21, by helping to hold back the Union flank attack
until more troops could come up and form a defensive line. In battle, 8 of
the battalion's men were killed, 38 were wounded, and 2 were missing. The
battalion was assigned to General Richard Taylor's Louisiana brigade along
with the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Louisiana regiments later in the month.
That winter, the men drilled and did picket duty. They sometimes fought
with other Confederate units and among themselves. One of the internal
fracases led to the December 9 execution by firing squad of two men of
Company B, the first men executed in the Army of Northern Virginia.
Taylor's brigade joined General Stonewall Jackson's army in the Shenandoah
Valley in May, 1862. The battalion played the major role in the capture of
Front Royal, May 23. On May 25, the battalion was detached on the left
flank of the army and saw no fighting in the Battle of Winchester. The
brigade distinguished itself again in the Battle of Port Republic, June 9.
Rejoining the Army of Northern Virginia near Richmond, the brigade
participated in the Battle of Gaine's Mill, June 27. In that fight, Major
Wheat and 5 other men were killed and 16 men were wounded. The battalion
was so reduced in strength by the end of the Seven Days' Campaign, and the
men were so hard to control following Wheat's death, that it was
recommended that the battalion be disbanded. This occured on August 15.
During the war, 39 men of the battalion were killed, 15 died of disease, 2
were executed, and 1 died in an accident. "Tigers Never Say Die"