Company B was organized as Captain Alexander White's Tiger Rifles and attached to Major Roberdeau Wheat's Special Battalion. The Tiger Rifles were one of a few Confederate units uniformed in the Zouave fashion, closely matching the uniforms worn by the elite fighting forces in the French Army. The Tiger Rifles' uniforms consisted of a dark blue wool Zouave jacket trimmed with red cotton trim, red flannel fez with red tassels or a broad brim hat, red flannel shirt, outlandish Wedgwood blue and cream one and one-half inch vertically stripped cottonade pantaloons, blue and white horizontally stripped stockings, and white canvas leggings.

 

Roberdeau Wheat was one of the greatest Filibusters of the antebellum period. Filibusters were North American soldiers of fortune who fought to overthrow Latin American governments to have these countries annexed into the United States as slave states to better secure Southern rights within the Union. Wheat was the organizer of units that fought in four expeditions against Cuba, Mexico, and Nicaragua. He rose to the rank of brigadier general in the Mexican Army. He later served in the Italian Army with General Garibaldi's staff as an artillery and logistical adviser.

 

In 1861 Wheat rushed back to New Orleans from Italy to raise a Battalion of infantry. Raised from the docks and streets of New Orleans, of all the units that fought in the defense of Southern rights, none exceeded their audacity, flair, and combative spirit. Originally camping at Mataire Race Track at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans the Battalion was moved to Camp Moore near Tangipahoa, Louisiana for their training and mustering into the Confederate Army.

 

The Battalion received accolades at the battles of First Manassas for charging a superior enemy four times with reckless abandon. During "Stonewall" Jackson's Valley Campaign, they seized key positions at the battles of Fort Royal, Winchester, and Port Republic ensuring Southern victory. During the Seven Days' Battles, the Tigers were among the first to charge strong Federal lines at Gaines' Mill and being thrown into the absolute worst part of the line, where they were blown to pieces. Wheat himself was killed while leading one final and gallant charge against Union forces.