Aha!

I didn't take the OP in that light (I was responding to him...) sorry for the confusion!

If the OP is looking for pictures to prove that his expedient poles are correct for his impression... well... odds were the troops wouldn't have been using an A frames anyway unless they were encamped for a longer period of time. Instead, they would be using dog tents or sleeping under the stars for the most part. As Jim states the encampment tents tended to be for a more permanent camp, and for the reasons I cited, the manufactured poles make more sense.

Now, when I reenacted we were more worried about keeping our personal stuff private, and having a bit of coverage should it rain, so we used A frames... and I guess my response is if you're going in for a little farb and using the a frame, don't worry about the poles... the tent is already pretty much wrong. Its great if you can find the similar manufactured poles (they are out there, we used to use them as boy scouts for the summer camp canvas we flew), but otherwise use whatever you can find.