Actually I don't think we mentioned the knives as photo props...I mentioned that they were ridiculous and I feel that the soldiers were probably hawked into buying them by an semi-unscrupulous sutler.

I guess part of the reason I even noticed is that even when I was a soldier 125 years later, many guys carried big knives that were mostly useless but looked intimidating. They would never part with them because they paid so much for them. Soldiers are soldiers, whenever they served.