Quote Originally Posted by gilmore View Post
I am very interested in hearing about the source of that story.

There was a thread here a few months ago you might want to search for on the subject of whether kilts were worn in the Civil War by troops on either side. As I recall the conclusion was that there were no kilted Confederate troops, and that the only kilted Union regiment never wore them into battle.
Gilmore has summed it up quite nicely; at this time, there is no hard evidence of kilted units in the Civil War, save the 79th New York, and even then, most historians are doubtful that the 79th, which did wear kilts as a NY National Guard unit, actually wore them in the field. There are other "Scottish" units, such as the 12th Illinois, which did wear balmorals, but no other piece of Highland kit. Evidence for Southern militia units is even more scarce. And, since the adoption of Highland kit by Irish regiments in the British Army didn't happen until the late 19th century, it is fairly safe to say that were no kilts in the various Irish regiments; in fact, if anything, you were more likely to find Irishmen (and Scots) wearing another "foreign" uniform, that of the Zouave regiments, which was borrowed from the French army.

If such a document does prove the story true, it will certainly change the way that historians view Civil uniforms in regards to Highland kit.

Of course, that does not dimish the service of many Scottish immigrants who fought for both sides.

Regards,

Todd