Civil War Uniforms

Civil War Uniforms

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HISTORY:

I am going to tell you a little bit about the history of Union and Confederate uniforms. The Union army had a shortage of uniforms because the factorys couldn't make the uniforms fast enough. Also some of the factorys used a weak dye, making it so that when the uniforms were washed the dark blue dye would fade into a gray color. Which was bad because you probably know that the Union had blue uniforms and the Confederates had gray uniforms. Just think that if you were in the Union and you had a gray uniform, you would be shot down by your own fellow soliders. But luckly factorys in New York were able to make dark blue uniforms for the Union. The Confederate had a few problems of their own. The Confederates didn't really have a color for their uniforms in the beginning of the war, so some of the men went to war without wearing a uniform. Some of the men went into the war wearing blue clothes, so that was a problem.

COLOR CODE:

The Union, and the Confederate used a color code on the uniforms to seperate the different branches. The colors they used were blue, yellow, and red. Red seperated the artillery, the yellow seperated the cavalry, and blue seperated the infantry. So if you look at a uniform, note what color sash or pant stripe the person is wearing. For if they are wearing a yellow trouser stripe you will know that the person is in cavalry.

ITEMS OF WEAR:

During the civil war the men had a lot of items of wear for their uniforms, but the basic items of wear was the sack coats or the frock coat or the great coat, or the shell jacket, trousers, shirts, boots/shoes, vests, and the kepi, forage or slouch hat (officers hat). The design and the color are different for each item depending on if you are on the Confederate or the Union, and if you are an officer, but the items of wear still look basically the same

PICTURES:

Civil War U.S. Enlisted and NCO Sack Coat C.S. Enlisted / NCO early war shelljacket, 1st Virginia Cavalry

Sack Coat Frock Coat Shell Jacket

M1858 Enlisted Foot Greatcoat U.S. Militry Trousers, foot and mounted. M1858 Infantry Sergeant shown.

Great Coat Trousers Boots&Shoes

U.S. Civil War Military Vests Confederate Enlisted Kepi U.S. M1858 Forage Cap (Officer & Enlisted), 19th Century Men's Hat

Vests Kepi Hat Forage Hat

U.S. Officers Slouch Hat, 19th Century Men's Hat Civilain Shirt in Muslin - Bleached or Unbleached, 19th Century Men's Clothing

Slouch Hat Shirt

A Soldier's Life Quiz

By: Zoe