Federal undershirt

[southern confederate]

Does anyone on here know about , discription , or maker of a Federal issue undershirt ? Any help is appretiated.

[Chad Wrinn]

http://www.wwandcompany.com/ Sells the finished product and sells a kit that enables you to put it together. The kits are extremely easy to follow.

[marktaylor]

Here are two great articles dealing with Federal Issue shirts:
http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1096
http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8199

[gwagner]

I think he is talking about an bottom shirt (undershirt):

http://www.morris-clothiers.com/drawers.html

[hanktrent]

I think he is talking about an bottom shirt (undershirt):

http://www.morris-clothiers.com/drawers.html

Were those issued? I thought only the typical federal shirt was actually issued, and anything else would be private purchase.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[jthlmnn]

Were those issued? I thought only the typical federal shirt was actually issued, and anything else would be private purchase.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

From the Morris Clothiers webpage, linked above:
RESEARCH NOTE:
(This is in regard to the original garment, upon which the one they sell is based-JT)
Our research indicates that the shirt is a period garment. In a conversation with Mike Vice, former curator at the Gettysbrug National Military Park the originality of this garment was confirmed. Mr. Vice stated " The garment was sent to Harpers Ferry where it was documented as being a period piece." In adiditon, he stated, " We were not able to determine if it was of civilian or military manufacture".

[gwagner]

Were those issued? I thought only the typical federal shirt was actually issued, and anything else would be private purchase.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

You would know better than me Hank. You da man on these sorts of intricasies when it comes to clothes.

I just got the impression this is what he was asking about because he said undershirt.

[hanktrent]

You would know better than me Hank. You da man on these sorts of intricasies when it comes to clothes.

I just got the impression this is what he was asking about because he said undershirt.

Nope, not me! I don't know much at all about military issue stuff. I've just not heard folks talking about more than one kind of shirt being issued (I mean, more than one kind at a time, overshirt and undershit).

The Gettysburg one looks like a typical civilian undershirt, but even they don't seem to be saying that it's military issue.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[GreencoatCross]

I am not familiar with any sort of military pattern, government or state made undershirt issued to the army during the war. There were plenty of civilian style undershirts (and drawers) made from all sorts of fabrics; canton and wool flannel, knit wool or silk, sheeting, silk, jeancloth (yes, jeancloth!), and the like. Garments like these would range from home-made affairs to fancy imported Parisian styles, and soldiers could simply order about any type they wanted as long as they could pay for it. Another source for undershirts I've come across are soldier's aid societies and the United States Sanitary and Christian Commissions, although they provided undershirts to a much lesser extent than soldiers buying their own.

[marktaylor]

I am also not aware of an "undershirt" being issued. As others have stated, they would have been privately procured.
Most of the period undershirts I've seen in person/pictured/described do seem to be a very simple pattern that is collar-less and sometimes cuff-less, much like the reproduction pictured above.

[southern confederate]

Thanks for all the input on the matter , I never heard of one myself until a fellow mess mate asked me if I could make one for him . As far as the " issued " part , well I do not know what I was thinkin , I guess everyone is allowed goofs , but in the meanwhile I will put the good input to use and I thankyou .

[Silas]

That's one heavy shirt sold by Morris and Co. Per their webpage :

The shirt is made out of Canton Flannel, which makes for a very durable shirt. We are looking for the appropriate weight shirt material for summer wear, for those of you who may want a lighter shirt. The shirt features hand felled seams with hand sewn button holes on the right handed placket, patterned from the shirt on display at the Gettysburg Visitor Center. The collar is a small one piece collar rolled to the outside and then whip stitched. For those who wear the Federal Issue Domet Flannel shirt, the undershirt would greatly aid combating the itchy nature of Domet Flannel.

Canton flannel! I've got several yards of canton ready to sew into something. I've considered making a shirt out of it, but for the weight, I've so far decided to stick with domet. The wicking quality of domet is fantastic. After being washed a few times, domet isn't itchy. It's very soft.

But considering the chocolate, vanilla and strawberry of life, I've noticed that domet isn't for everybody or every body. I've got some canton drawers and they are soft, soft, soft. A shirt made from canton would be just as noted on the Morris and Co. webpage : durable and soft. But, I'd prefer to be dry and warm at night over being comfortable during the day. But, that's just my flavor ...

[sigsaye]

For what it's worth, the US Navy did issue undershirts. They were either blue or white (no stripes). They were either long or 3/4 lingth sleeved and could be round neck, boat neck or have button plackets. The Navy produced them in "Light, Medium or Heavy Weight". They were made from every thing from linen to heavy wool flannel. These shirts were isseud and worn without reguard to the color, meaning that both blue and white shirts were issued and worn at the same time with either blue or white uniforms.

Blue shirts are often seen in photos worn as the outer garment of working Sailors.

Interestingly enough, Sailors also were issued both blue and white drawers, again made of anything from linen to heavy woolen flannel, as per the undershirts.

Steve Hesson

[Regular3]

Jarnagin sells an undershirt made of Canton flannel. The pattern is different than the one sold by Morris and others -- It has a collar but no cuffs, and only the top button of four is exposed; the rest are concealed by a panel like the fly of our trousers.

I'm not sure what he used to document the existence or issuance of such shirts, and the only reference I've been able to find anywhere for it is a photo of a model in his underwear in Army Blue: The Uniform of Uncle Sam's Regulars ... And I'm not sure it's not a post-Civil War photo.

Despite the lack of documentation I have one, and I wear it as an outer garment when it's too cool for a cotton shirt and too warm for my contract wool shirt.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

This is another one of those times having a ready copy of the Columbia Rifles Research Compendium comes in handy. There's a whole chapter on Federal shirts with good notes on undershirts.....

[jibbittyflibbitt]

is the CRRC still available anywhere? i have been looking for ages in the classifieds and on ebay.. just missed the latest ebay copy that went for $100 2 days ago.

Jeremy Smith
71st PA

[RJSamp]

Jarnagin sells an undershirt made of Canton flannel. The pattern is different than the one sold by Morris and others -- It has a collar but no cuffs, and only the top button of four is exposed; the rest are concealed by a panel like the fly of our trousers.

I'm not sure what he used to document the existence or issuance of such shirts, and the only reference I've been able to find anywhere for it is a photo of a model in his underwear in Army Blue: The Uniform of Uncle Sam's Regulars ... And I'm not sure it's not a post-Civil War photo.

Despite the lack of documentation I have one, and I wear it as an outer garment when it's too cool for a cotton shirt and too warm for my contract wool shirt.


You've just been drummed out of the Regulars.

DOMET wool flannel, not canton. When were the regulars ever issued canton flannel shirts?

Period, period.

[Bill_Cross]

I've noticed that domet isn't for everybody or every body. I've got some canton drawers and they are soft, soft, soft. A shirt made from canton would be just as noted on the Morris and Co. webpage : durable and soft. But, I'd prefer to be dry and warm at night over being comfortable during the day. But, that's just my flavor ...
What is often overlooked about domet shirts (what Bill Rodman refers to as "the hair shirt") is how well they perform in HOT weather. When I first got into the hobby, I purchased cotton shirts, which are still the PEC choice for when I'm wearing gray. But I soon began to HATE AND DETEST cotton shirts in hot weather because they become heavy with sweat, then clammy against my body, preventing its natural cooling processes that occur when perspiration evaporates. And if you don't strip off the shirt and have a reasonably long period to air it out before sundown, you'll have a clammy, wet mess the next morning.

Domet flannel never becomes saturated with moisture and allows the body's natural ventilation to happen. The shirt "wicks" away the sweat, leaving you as cool as heavy woolen clothing will permit us to be (the boys of 186X knew how to move less in hot weather, and accepted some of them would die from heat prostration if the military situation required them to ignore common sense).

And if the afternoon offers an opportunity to take off one's coat, that domet flannel shirt will be dry on your back long before the cotton cousin is, even if hung from a tree or a line.

[WestTN_reb]

That's one heavy shirt sold by Morris and Co. Per their webpage :
The wicking quality of domet is fantastic. After being washed a few times, domet isn't itchy. It's very soft.
I'll agree on the wicking ability. I wore one at "The Eastern Flank" in June, and stayed fairly comfortable. The only problem with washing it so it isn't itchy is that you need to get it a couple of sizes big, because when you wash domet, it shrinks.

[Regular3]

You've just been drummed out of the Regulars.

DOMET wool flannel, not canton. When were the regulars ever issued canton flannel shirts?

Period, period.I know the difference between the "flannel shirt ... -- the same as now furnished" [meaning Domet] and what I described. I've had a couple of them, and sold them all after one wearing.

Having read sigsaye's description I think what Jarnagin sells is closer to a Navy undershirt than anything the Army ever issued.

And nobody ever got drummed out of the Regulars for having a different shirt - They didn't just wear what they were given. Sgt. Jacob Brown of the 14th Infantry wrote his wife in New York to send him some cotton shirts because he couldn't stand the flannel issue shirt. :mrgreen:

[Pvt Schnapps]

And Augustus Myers mentioned buying several "boiled shirts" so he could strut his stuff as a young musician in Carlisle.

I think he also mentioned shaving down the issued "stock" so that it became reasonably wearable.

Regulars seem to have known better than anyone how to get comfortable within the possible ranges of clothing.

Having had my own experiences with the "wicking" ability of domet flannel in August, in Virginia, and having read a Sanitary Commission report of soldier's complaints about their inability to wear the government flannel, I suspect that many of the issue shirts were drawn simply for their efficacy as gun patches and cleaning rags.