AOT .... Question

[Cpl Winge]

Could this pass as an AOT (army of Tennessee)
uniform?

Undyed jean cloth shell jacket
sky blue trousers (look like a light grey from 10yrds away)


...of course there is more to it but would this jacket/trouser combo work??

Cpl Jacob winge

4th Fla. Co. A

10th Tenn. Vol. Cav. Reg.

[Nighthawk]

Try the Lazy Jacks Mess, along with other websites, or conduct your own research, such as museums, books, etc. Research your unit, wear what they wore. Here's a link to get you started. Best of luck on your journey.

http://www.lazyjacks.org.uk/

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

I've said this before and I'll say it again, get "Cadet Gray and Butternut Brown" by Tom Arliskas. Also look into the journal of sergeant Washington Ives of the 4th Florida (available in an online format or book). Then get "Southern Service on Land and Sea: The Journal of Robert Watson" who was in the 7th Florida. Then there is "Company Aytch" by Sam Watkins,another AoT'er. Rather than ask the question, "is this alright" referring to your modern reproductions, ask "what did they wear". Look into the above references and you'll be on your way. For the record, if you're doing the 4th Fla, Ives talks quite a bit about their uniforms, including an oft quoted statement about their receiving "jackets, mostly gray, with blue cuffs and collars" - probably a Columbus depot - in summer of 63.

[Lwhite64]

Not much to add to what Ross posted except, sky blue fed trousers should be avoided for an AoT impression, chances for capturing them were very limited and then the space between then and the next oportunity would make having them for the next battle impossible.

Lee

[mississippian]

sky blue fed trousers should be avoided for an AoT impression, chances for capturing them were very limited and then the space between then and the next oportunity would make having them for the next battle impossible.

Lee,

Tell that to Cleburne's boys at Perryville.

To tell the truth, the "No Sky Blue Trousers" rule for the AoT doesn't sit well with me. We have numerous accounts of all sorts of clothes being looted from the Federal camps at Shiloh, federal stores being captured in the Kentucky Campaign, and the Federal dead being stripped at Stones River and Chickamauga. So the chance to get Federal clothing was there for some units at a point in time. So wearing captured Federal clothes for an event set just after Shiloh might be justified (as an example).

But you have to research the impression carefully to know what is right at the time and place you want to portray.

Will MacDonald

[flattop32355]

Tell that to Cleburne's boys at Perryville.

Thing is, to our knowledge, that only happened with them the one time. Odds are, those wore out within six months at the longest, so by summer, they'd have needed new clothing, of Confederate issue.

Battlefield looting seems to me like an individual thing, not something that an entire regiment, or larger, would have been able to accomplish; that only seemed to happen when a depot got captured, as with Cleburne's. Post-battle, the authorities claimed what was salvageable and doled it out later. I'm kinda doubting that clothing, already well worn by the previous owners, was worth recycling to troops. Nor do I recall much evidence of routine stripping of the dead of their clothing before burial as a Confederate supply policy.

Unless one was going up against Commissary Banks, such opportunities became rarer as the war went on.

[Poor Private]

A couple of questions come to mind concerning what you wear and what theater your in.
Why are you asking about the AOT? Are you portraying a person from that army? Do you belong to a group that is portraying that army? Can you afford different clothing than you presently have? How many times a year will you be doing the AOT?
If your finances are like mine, wearing what you have will fit in most if not all mainstream events. If you are only going to do this once a year does the cost justify the expense? If you belong to a unit that does the AOT what are their reccommendations? If your doing this, most if not all year take a minute and buy the book that Ross reccomended( buy it anyway, it's well worth the price if for no other reason than referance, and a good read) and star from there. If your doing a more advanced event , or even a living history take the time to read the guidelines that may help you out a bit.
Clothing is only the tip of the iceburg:
what musket did they use?
Do they use tents?
blanket roll or napsack?
What was thier primary food?
What drill manual did they use?
If your not careful you can end up with a stack of books, printed loose leaf paper, a list of web sites a mile long. And most important of all a whole bunch of new friends who are either looking for the same info, or who can help guide you on your way.
Good Luck with your search!

[brown30741]

Hey Will, I'll bite. Heck, I'm looking for anyone who knows more about Old Pat C & Chickamauga than Lee White.
We all know about the one reference to the blue trowsers in the Kentucky campaign, but I would love to see the stripping the dead at Chickamauga references. Read a lot of Chattanooga Campaign primary sources, but have missed those so far.
Thanks for posting them.

[mississippian]

Hey Will, I'll bite. Heck, I'm looking for anyone who knows more about Old Pat C & Chickamauga than Lee White.
We all know about the one reference to the blue trowsers in the Kentucky campaign, but I would love to see the stripping the dead at Chickamauga references. Read a lot of Chattanooga Campaign primary sources, but have missed those so far.
Thanks for posting them

Lindsey,

Happy to help you!

From "Cadet Gray and Butternut Brown" pg. 69-70

"Like Stones River nine months earlier, those who were most destitute or threadbare searched the battlefield of Chickamauga for Yankee or Confederate clothing. If they could not find what they needed, there were those soldiers around who had shoes or hats for sale or barter. A soldier in the 15th Texas Infantry inspected the work of the scavengers and found, "many [of the dead] had been stripped of all clothing, and many whose pockets had been rifled and turned out," just after the battle. After the scavengers came the Army Quartermaster and Ordnance officers who sent out details to police the field gathering up "abandoned guns, accouterments, even taking the harness of the head horses and other war stores scattered about," observed one of Bragg's men."

Will MacDonald

[WestTN_reb]

Something else to take into account on the matter of Confederates stripping the Federal dead is feces. Yes, better known as doodoo. When a human dies, usually the first thing that happens is a relaxing of all the body's muscles, including the rectal sphincter. Put simply, when a person dies, nine times out of ten they will void their bowels.

Proud member of the "Those aren't sh*t stains, they're patina" Mess.