Hello all,

I recently saw a pic of a drawing done in 1861 of a CS Sailor on Shore Patrol. He seems to be wearing dark pants and hat but the white shirt. He is wearing what appears to be a Union 1861 style cutlass. I thought that was interesting in light of the fact that I have seen where some people say that CW sailors never wore their cutlasses when sent on land duties and wore them only onboard ship in case of boarders, or for a boarding party, etc.. Some also say that the CS sailors only had the older type cutlasses. But I reckon a few of the US '61 models might have been captured and used. So what is the deal? Is Shore Patrol a duty in which they would just wear their cutlass and maybe a pistol or something? I just thought that someone might find that interesting.

By the way, what exactly is "Shore Patrol"? Isn't it sort of like the Navy's version of M.P. duty?
Take care,
Dave