Today was the annual St. Patrick's Day parade in Pittsburgh, and as usual, I marched with my reenactment unit, the 116th PA. The 116th was part of the famous Irish Brigade of the Army of the Potomac, and Company "I" of the 116th was the only Irish Brigade company raised in Allegheny County. In addition to my wool uniform, I carried a cartridge box, waist belt with bayonet and scabbard, haversack, and canteen, topped off with my model 1842 Springfield .69 caliber smoothbore musket.
All in all, I was probably toting about 15 pounds of gear (the bulk of the weight being the musket), which is probably about half the weight I'll be lugging on the trail, so it's something of a warm-up. I only covered about 3.5 miles in total during the parade and the walk back to my vehicle. That typed, I was able to do the route with ease, so I find that encouraging!
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