Authenticity in my impression. Did I do my research?

[REBEL BOY]

Hello again,
I did a bit of reasearch on Silas' Reenacting Links and thought I'd share a bit of what I learned as well as what my impression will be. I am in the 9th Virginia Company C and our unit is pretty loose with new recruits like myself, so I need to be careful with this kind of aspect in the hobby.

Anyway...

Shelter
You want to represent a soldier on campaighn most of the time, unless at winter camp or garrison. Shelter such as shelter halves were unheard of as they were too heavy or even too scarce for their Yankee counter parts. I will get one though because I hate the rain and sleeping under the dining fly is a great way to get stepped on it the morning. A Shebang or just a ground cloth tied between some trees as protection from the rain will be OK. You could also just spoon with some pards when it gets cold.

Jackets
Jackets and Jacket color is a big issue in some units. Ours does not want Butternut in the ranks. Your jacket should be made of natural dyes. Ben Tart makes some reasoable blanks which gives you some room to customize it. The Butternut color is created through the prosses of the natural grey dye in the jacket being exposed to the sunlight for an extensive period of time. However, it could have been an original dye. Make sure your buttons are tarnished. They would bury them or pee on them to make them less shiny. Less shiny means less of a target. Most of your jacket should be hand sewn. New reenactors should buy a sutlers row jacket to start, then upgrade.

Hats
Hats can get expensive, especially the G. Starbuck hats. Kepis are a no no in the ranks of common soldiers. You should have either a beehive, slouch or a bummer. I made the mistake of buying a kepi, but you learn from your mistakes and move on. Sleeping hats should be woolen and hand knitten. Find your grandma or someone who can knit and ask themif they could knit you one. Be polite.

Shirts
There are many shirts out there. WW&Co. make a good CS issue shirt kit. If you get a second shirt, it should be homespun and a square pattern. Family Heirloom Weavers make some nice fabric.

[REBEL BOY]

Continued...

Drawers
CS issue or Civillian are acceptable drawers for a cs impression.

Braces
Poor boy suspenders are the best, but any other should be cotton with a buckle, not those tabs you see in Sutlers row. NO ELASTIC!

Trousers
RD trousers or any mule ear pocket trousers are desired. However, the old Sky Blue stand by is not the worst. Trousers should not match your jacket. If you need to patch your trousers, Trim around the rip, then sew the patch from the inside out. The patch should closely resemble the color of your trousers. The same goes for your jacket.

Socks
Mickey Black makes a nice pair of CS issue socks, so does Ben Tart. You should also have a pair of hand kit socks.

Brogans
US brogans or a pair of MB&S CS brogans will do as long as the CS brogans were common. Hob nails and Heel plates will protect your shoes, but make it hard going up hills sometimes.

[REBEL BOY]

Even more...



Knapsacks
Knapsacks can be a treicky thing. Choosing a knapsack means you need to know what your unit likes and what time period you are portraying. A federal double bag is good for mid war to late. A bedroll is your best bet for an early war impression.

Haversacks
A mexican war 3 button is good for an early war impression, but you should buy a Joe Hill Federal haversack. Only keep food in your haversacks, no housewives or pipes. Use folding utensils when possible.

Well, thats all I have to say for now. Personal Items are up to you, but don't overdo it. Stay simple. When you look at the contents of you kit, you should ask yourself: If I walk hundreds of miles a day, will this become to heavy. Do I really need this or that? If you can answer this important question with confidence, then you have achieved authenticity.


Good luck and happy reenacting!!

Pvt. REBEL BOY

Company C 9th Virginia

[S.D.Swart]

Okay I do a western impression. So, there will be some differences.

1. Shelter: Your correct. Sometimes you have to make exceptions. Early war had company A frames. I use one when I go, but would never carry it on your back. That is what the company wagons are for!! If the weather is nice I go with a simple oil cloth as my shelter or just use it to sleep on with bed ticking and a coverlet. I'm not as young as I use to be!

2. Jackets: Unless you can prove it the peeing thing is a myth. Are you sure about the tarnishing? Weapons gleam in the sunlight as do anything metal. I just can't see men spending the time to tarnish them. You have to remove them then resew them back on!! Easiest way to upgrade is buy a decent sutler row outfit, then remove outer stitching and hand stitch them back up, along with redoing all the buttonholes. Save a ton of money till you can save up for something better.

3. Hats: Kepi's were issued from the depots. But, a brimmed hat is more practical. BTW: A beehive is a slouch. Slouch hats came in a variety of shapes. Early war should have more kepis.

4. Shirts: If your doing a southern Impression, have as many homespun shirts as you wish. I have no clue about the eastern depots, but in the west, issued shirts were no that common. Again, if you get the proper material, it matter little about the sewing, since you can remove machine stitching and replace them by hand.

5. 6. Drawers and braces. Ditto!!!

7.8. Socks and Brogans. There are some good sources for both. The hills are easier with the heel plates and hob nails, it that damned asphalt, and tile floors that will kill you!!!!!

9. Knapsacks. They are a EARLY war look. most were discarded. Soldiers in the west tended to use blanket rolls, or blanket slings. Some did keep thier knapsacks throughout however, while others traveled even lighter! Mexican war knapsacks were copied by south.

10. Haversacks. Oil Cloth, or canvas ticked or white are fine. Two button, three button or one button. You will find them all. Soldiers carried ration and some personal items, such as thier mess tools. The rest would go in thier pockets.

11. Trowsers. I would not use Federal pants unless it was shown your unit captured a depot and wore them. Side pockets or Mule pocket pants are just fine. I see no reason why your pants would not match, unless you were not supplied jacket and pants at the same time from the same depot. As for sewing, If you really want to support your tear, after adding the patch from the inside, add a second patch over the first on the top of the tear.

Have fun!

3.

[mmescher]

Hello new recruit,

I’ll be responding to your posts but would request that you sign your real name to your posts. There are a lot of “rebel boy” members on this forum!

You are to be congratulated for researching your impression. Usually your unit will provide advice if not specific directions about your uniform and gear as well as the best place to get it. Unfortunately, it sounds like this unit is not doing that. Before you get your gear focused on this group – without going into your reasons for joining them – you might want to cast about and find a group that takes better care of its new recruits. Good advice can also save you money because you get the right stuff in the beginning.

I drafted my message on a wordprocessing program and unfortunately the indents I put in to set your text off from mine didn't transfer. But your text for each topic will appear first and then my comments will follow.

Shelter
You want to represent a soldier on campaighn most of the time, unless at winter camp or garrison. Shelter such as shelter halves were unheard of as they were too heavy or even too scarce for their Yankee counter parts. I will get one though because I hate the rain and sleeping under the dining fly is a great way to get stepped on it the morning. A Shebang or just a ground cloth tied between some trees as protection from the rain will be OK. You could also just spoon with some pards when it gets cold.

I’m not certain where this came from. When I just skimmed through the source of your information (Silas’ links), I found a discussion that said shelter halves are underrepresented in the hobby, both in the union and confederate armies.

Jackets
Jackets and Jacket color is a big issue in some units. Ours does not want Butternut in the ranks. Your jacket should be made of natural dyes. Ben Tart makes some reasoable blanks which gives you some room to customize it. The Butternut color is created through the prosses of the natural grey dye in the jacket being exposed to the sunlight for an extensive period of time. However, it could have been an original dye. Make sure your buttons are tarnished. They would bury them or pee on them to make them less shiny. Less shiny means less of a target. Most of your jacket should be hand sewn. New reenactors should buy a sutlers row jacket to start, then upgrade.

Unless there is evidence that you’ve discovered that relate solely to the 9th Virginia, this paragraph is full of absolute statements for things that may be “sometimes events” or reenactorisms. The color butternut does not always result from the grey changing to brown. Some grey dye materials produced grey which stayed grey. A dye made of copperas and walnut hulls produced the dye dubbed butternut. In the source material, in the article about patching your uniform they state to keep your buttons polished. The soaking buttons in urine is a reenactorism. I’d like to see the documentation that claimed shiny buttons make you more of a target when you are a couple hundred yards away in the middle of several hundred other soldiers. Claiming a jacket should be hand sewn ignores the existence of sewing machines. Considering buying an inferior and possibly incorrect jacket to begin with and then upgrading is a disservice to the portrayal of history and a waste of money.

Hats
Hats can get expensive, especially the G. Starbuck hats. Kepis are a no no in the ranks of common soldiers. You should have either a beehive, slouch or a bummer. I made the mistake of buying a kepi, but you learn from your mistakes and move on. Sleeping hats should be woolen and hand knitten. Find your grandma or someone who can knit and ask themif they could knit you one. Be polite.

You make several absolute statements about hats. I’ve never heard that kepis weren’t worn by the common soldier. In Wiley’s Johnny Reb, he describes the confederate private as specified in army regulations in 1861 as wearing “headpiece was a capo modeled after the style of the French kepi...” But, depending upon your age, if you are young you might want to wear a plug or pork pie, set at an angle to show you have an attitude. Sleeping hats are nice but not high on the list for most reenactments. And they are not like the normal knit woolen cap so you would need to provide your knitter with a period pattern and appropriate weight yarn.

Shirts
There are many shirts out there. WW&Co. make a good CS issue shirt kit. If you get a second shirt, it should be homespun and a square pattern. Family Heirloom Weavers make some nice fabric.

I don’t know all the shirt manufactures so I can’t address the various makers. But I don’t see why a second shirt should be homespun and I have never heard of a square pattern unless you are meaning a plaid. If your first shirt is manufactured woven cloth, there is nothing that says your second, third, or fourth cannot be the same type of fabric. Likewise plaids are not required. But if you do choose a plaid, get a woven plaid and not a printed one. You can tell be seeing if it is a clear plaid on the underside as well. Printed plaids do not follow grain lines.

Drawers
CS issue or Civillian are acceptable drawers for a cs impression.

I’m not familiar with the difference between CS issue and civilian drawers. I’ve seen different drawer patterns.

Braces
Poor boy suspenders are the best, but any other should be cotton with a buckle, not those tabs you see in Sutlers row. NO ELASTIC!

The statement “poor boy suspenders [whatever they are] are the best” implies that the confederate army was a ragtag collection of paupers. Many were what we would consider comfortably middle class and would have used decent suspenders. I’ve also gotten suspenders from vendors that I consider very dependable sources with leather tabs on the ends. And when you shout a prohibition about elastic, they did have elastic and used it on suspenders. The problem is that its stretchy qualities don’t hold up.

Trousers
RD trousers or any mule ear pocket trousers are desired. However, the old Sky Blue stand by is not the worst. Trousers should not match your jacket. If you need to patch your trousers, Trim around the rip, then sew the patch from the inside out. The patch should closely resemble the color of your trousers. The same goes for your jacket.

I’ve never heard a prohibition to the trousers matching the jacket. In our unit, we use the same fabric for both which is supported by text in Wiley’s book. His book also describes the often elaborate patching done to the uniforms. While many soldiers may have patched in the manner you describe, the description of some of the patches is of external patching, sometimes done in fanciful shapes.

Socks
Mickey Black makes a nice pair of CS issue socks, so does Ben Tart. You should also have a pair of hand kit socks.

I can’t comment on the sock makers. But if you have machine made socks, a second, third, or fourth pair of machine made would be fine. There isn’t any requirement to have a pair of hand knit socks. But any hand knit socks should follow period appropriate patterns and should use the proper weight yarn. Many reproduction knit items use modern worsted weight yarn which is too big but is confused by the use of the term “worsted” in the pattern.

Brogans
US brogans or a pair of MB&S CS brogans will do as long as the CS brogans were common. Hob nails and Heel plates will protect your shoes, but make it hard going up hills sometimes.

A confederate could wear either US or CS brogans. I’m not familiar with the MB&S brogans. But if the soles of the shoes are attached with pegs, the pegs should be a double row and should be set at an angle so that if you looked at them in cross section the successive pegs would form X’s. Cosmetic pegs in a single row will fail and you will be left with your sole flapping. I’d be a bit cautious about putting hobnails on the shoes without documentation. And if you are inside, hobnails (and heel plates) are often frowned on if you are on wood floors. As a safety issue, if you are on stone floors or outside stone or paved surfaces, hobnails and heel plates can be downright dangerous.

I would look some more before making purchases based upon your conclusions so far. Try your best to document your decision. You might want to look at Wiley’s book for uniform ideas as well as other helps in creating your impression. For example, my own pet peeve unrelated to uniforms is the desire among many confederate reenactors to claim to be illiterate. That is an insult to the men they claim to portray. In my unit, the literacy rate would have been around 90 percent. The losest literacy rate I’ve seen in the South was from Arkansas but still came in with greater than 60 percent literate.

In making purchases, remember that not everything on sutler row is historically correct.

And while I was preparing my response, you posted some more which isn’t addressed here.

Good luck in your research and don’t forget to sign your name!

Michael Mescher

[billwatson2]

Michael, I'm glad you had the energy to tackle all that. I got exhausted just thinking about where to begin.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Way too many generalities and some wrong infomation altogether. Kepis were indeed quite common, just less in number than civilian hats and caps. Shelter halves were rare for either side, but particularly CS troops. That hooey about tarnished buttons is just that. Elastic was indeed around back then, just usually in a different configuration than the modern stuff at craft shops. Shirts were available in a variety of patterns and materials so your statement is a broad generalization that was quite different then- there just isn't a general type but several (and "CS issue" shirts is midleading, as most of them were to a general citizen's pattern, not like issued shirts from the Feds which conformed to different military standards). You just can't make these kinds of statements as a "one size fits all" for the CS infantryman, and again, check some of your facts before painting the broad brush of absoluteness

[rpierson]

Shelter halves were rare for either side, but particularly CS troops.

??? Don't think Mr. Gaede would agree. Wartime production #'s put the total of Fed halves in excess of 2 million and photographic evidence suggests that they were anything but "rare" to a Federal soldier.

Randall Pierson

[hanktrent]

??? Don't think Mr. Gaede would agree. Wartime production #'s put the total of Fed halves in excess of 2 million and photographic evidence suggests that they were anything but "rare" to a Federal soldier.

Randall Pierson

I don't know much about military stuff, but isn't it fairly dependent on the year that one is portraying? (Not to mention the specific time and place, but that's another story.) I just don't see how one can generalize for the whole war, about something that went from basically unknown in the summer of 1861 to several million floating around by 1865.

In fact, that's the problem with any collection of generalized tips like these. It's helpful so a new reenactor can decide what to buy to get started with an impression that will sorta kinda work for the broadest number of situations. It might be perfect for some event but still might be out of place for another. As long as there's nothing just dead wrong (like a few things here that have been mentioned), a general overview is helpful.

But one has to guard against it becoming dogma rather than what it should be--a starting point for tweaking one's impression as one gets more experienced in time-and-place-specific research and gradually gathers more stuff. In the long run, keeping focussed on what social and practical pressures they faced at a particular time and place, rather than what will make one fit in with other reenactors at most events, keeps the hobby more about them than us.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[D.W. Scalf]

Hmmm....Not sure what the point of the original post was. Are you asking us if you did your research correctly? Are you asking for constructive criticism? Are you meaning to be informative?

You've made a lot of broad generalizations, as has been previously mentioned. Restated a few valid points too. You've also attributed your findings to Silas' links. I haven't read all of them, but I highly doubt any of them talked about soldiers p*ssing on their buttons to "take the shine off". Maybe you took some things out of context??

True research is not skimming someone else's links. It's beating the bushes, reading primary resources and first person accounts, looking at all the original photos you can, etc. But you're on the right track. If you're as new as you say you are, and you're actually LOOKING to improve your impression already, not just accepting the status quo, you're probably ahead of where most of us were at the same stage. Keep working on it. Those of us that have been at it for years still are....

And even though it's not a forum rule, it would be nice to know who we're talking to.

Just my worthless opinion...

D.W. (Trace)Scalf