New article published on Confederate leather....
For those of you interested in 19th century or Confederate leather, David Jarnagin and I (Ken R Knopp) have finally published our article (CONFEDERATE LEATHER, BLACK OR BROWN, HOW AND WHERE?) in the current (August) issue of the NORTH SOUTH TRADER’’S MAGAZINE (offices located in Orange, Va.).
We feel this article makes public some very important new information relative to leather colors and types used in the manufacture of Confederate accoutrements and saddlery. Helpful at the very least, to identifying leather origins both domestic (southern or northern tanned) and imported. It also provides an overview of Confederate leather production and the very complicated and largely misunderstood 19th century tanning processes.
Due to the competitive nature of the leather business and the complex chemical reactions involved (often not understood even by the tanners themselves), 19th century tanners were often very secretive about their trade practices. Moreover, modern vegetable tanning process are vastly different today leaving little opportunity for comparison. As a result the information we discovered was difficult to unravel, understand and then to explain in laymen’s terms. Because of the above, sadly, much of it is also likely lost forever.
Our view is that for years collectors, reenactors and historians have been laboring under significant misconceptions and are generally very ill informed about leather particularly about the cause/effects of leather colors and dyes. Another example of what we have learned is that a thorough understanding of war time leather tanning and finishing can sometimes enable one to identify what kind and often the origins (Northern, Southern or imported British) of the leather used in an artifact. This can go along way to collaborating legitimate artifacts and maybe more importantly, identifying fakes. This article begins to address “some” of these questions however, it is not meant to be an in depth study but rather a general overview.
Several years of study went into this effort. The documentation used came from several rare 19th century tanning manuals/books, CS & US archival records, knowledgeable collectors as well as wonderful insights provided by one of the oldest and most experienced “leather men” in American today. For us, one of the more interesting aspects to come out of this study was the discovery that leather tanning in its day was both a science and an art form. Tanning required considerable in depth knowledge of intricate chemical processes and their reactions. Considering that tanners started with raw, quickly rotting hides from cattle, horses (and a vast array of other animals) and ended with any one of a wide variety of finely finished multiple use products, tanning in that day was truly an art form akin to making quality jewelry, furniture or other high skill craft items.
This is the second of what we hope with be many similar articles. Our first leather article was published in the Company Journal of Military Historians (Hemlock Leather- The Federal Ordnance Department’’s Other War. Journal of the Military Collector & Historian, The Company of Military Historians, Washington DC., Vol. 57, No. 1 -- Spring 2005). More are in production.
We are promoting the publishing of this article as a means to educate and share information. There are no commissions nor any payment made whatsoever for our efforts. This is truly a labor of love. In addition, we do not represent this article as the “end all” on the subject and like all published historical pieces there will be mistakes. We accept the responsibility for those. We hope you will pick up a copy and enjoy it for its intended purpose that is, another brick in the building of historical enlightenment. I enclose some “brief”” excerpts from the article:
Ken R Knopp
As any artifact collector or reenactor knows there are two primary colors when it comes to Civil War era leather- black and brown (“russet”). It was thought for many years that Confederate leather equipment was russet and all black leather was Federal...... But what about the different shades of russet that are found from chocolate to light brown to yellow? Can we tell what is more likely to be Confederate?.........
.....a basic understanding of the vegetable tanning operation is needed..... Nineteenth century tan yards had three distinct departments, each designed to transform the raw hide as it passes on its way to becoming useable leather..........
........In all vegetable leather tanning, then as now, color is nothing more than the natural color of the leather after the tanning processes; that is to say, whatever color the bark gives to the leather. Various barks were used but by far, the two most common in the 19th century were oak and hemlock tree bark. Each strikes a unique color and ......
...........oak tanned leather could be dyed a permanent deep, rich black; however,........ Due to it acidic nature hemlock tanned leather could not permanently accept black dye solutions. Despite tanners routinely cheating the process with special paints or dyes, Hemlock tanned leather would always eventually (often quickly) fade to a chocolate brown color so often seen in surviving artifacts. This was a big problem for the Federal Ordnance Bureau.......
.......Although official regulations both North and South prescribed leather be dyed black, delivery receipts from many southern tanneries contracted by the Confederacy suggest that this was not routine. In general, early war production tended to include more black dyed leather while russet was far more common later in the conflict. This was especially true of..............
........another dark brown russet color similar to faded hemlock and quite often seen in Confederate equipment comes from imported English leather (sometimes called “London” leather). This is not a black faded to brown leather but a unique, rich brown color tanned overseas from English oak bark and stained using a staining formula different but ...............
........For the South, obtaining leather regardless of color was an incessant problem. The South’s domestic manufacture during the war was severely limited by a lack of infrastructure, labor and transportation.................
...Following President Davis’ directive, the Quartermaster Bureau, with the responsibility for providing shoes and transportation equipment, was given top priority, while the responsibilities of the Ordnance Bureau: cartridge boxes, cap boxes, belts, saddles, bridles, artillery harness, etc., would follow. ..............
......Forced to do more with less, one option available to the Ordnance Bureau was to simply replace leather with cloth. By mid-1863, this heavy cotton cloth, "domestic", was commonly used both East and West. Canvas duck or cloth stitched in three to four thicknesses, then painted with lamp black and finally varnished with one or more coats of linseed oil was used for waist belts, cartridge box belts, bridle reins, cap boxes, ground cloths and later, saddle coverings, skirts and saddle bags...............
...........However, clearly of far greater impact was the leather imported from England via Bermuda and the Bahamas. Shipping records, including those at the Ordnance Bureau’s main port of entry at Wilmington, show huge numbers of “cases”, “bundles”, “bales”, “boxes” and “rolls” of leather came through the Blockade throughout the war. Still more ..........the sheer number of listings in foreign import records, cargo manifests, voluminous War Department correspondence and post war accounts suggest......................
...........Nevertheless, in spite of all of these trials, the South never failed to provide enough leather to manufacture an adequate supply of military equipment and accoutrements. On the last day of 1864 Chief of Ordnance Josiah Gorgas wrote the Secretary of War that...........
......In summary, the leather the Confederacy produced clearly differed from that of the Federals. While most Federal accoutrements were made of hemlock or oak tanned leather and dyed to black (albeit with hemlock the color was sometimes only temporary), the majority of Confederate domestic tanned accoutrement leather was.................
Thank you!!
Ken R Knopp
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