Model wearing Confederate memorial tartan

[Jerry]

I was just checking out some kiltmaker's sites. On one of them, there is a picture of a man wearing a kilt in the Confederate memorial tartan. Hr is also wearing a blue jacket. I didn't know that any confredrate troops wore blue.The worst descrepancy is his rifle. The one he is holding has a sporterized synthetic stock. In fact, it appears to be a modern Knight muzzle loader, probably an American Knight in .50 cal. Check it out, it's on the Alexis Malcolm site. Right click on the confererate memorial tartan on the left side of the page.

[Zardoz]

I think that website is trying to sell some kilts, not go for historic accuracy! Various units of the Confederate military wore widely different uniforms. I don't think any of them wore kilts, but I'm no expert in this area. I know many officers and men wore parts of their US Army uniforms in the beginning. If you look at the movie 'Gods and Generals' which is a pretty accurate depiction of the first months of the conflict, and 'Gettysburg' also pretty accurate, and you'll see everything from US Army to VMI cadet uniforms, as well as some unique state guard uniforms and homemade / civilian clothing adaptions being worn by Confederate troops.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Well, if the model were trying to accurately portray a Confederate uniform, he would not have been wearing the Confederate Memorial tartan, which was designed in 1995. :-)

[macwilkin]

I think that website is trying to sell some kilts, not go for historic accuracy! Various units of the Confederate military wore widely different uniforms. I don't think any of them wore kilts, but I'm no expert in this area. I know many officers and men wore parts of their US Army uniforms in the beginning. If you look at the movie 'Gods and Generals' which is a pretty accurate depiction of the first months of the conflict, and 'Gettysburg' also pretty accurate, and you'll see everything from US Army to VMI cadet uniforms, as well as some unique state guard uniforms and homemade / civilian clothing adaptions being worn by Confederate troops.

Give that man a cheroot! Plus ten for observation!

At the beginning of the war, both the Northern & Southern governments did not have funds and/or resources to equip and uniform their forces, so volunteers relied on the individual states, as well as local militia units, to provide uniforms. Some states funded their militias very well, others like Missouri and Iowa did not. So, at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in August, 1861, there were several Southern units wearing blue militia uniforms, such as the Washington Blues of St. Louis and the Belle Point Guards and Reid's Battery of Ft. Smith, Arkansas. The Missouri State Guard had a wide mixture of dress, from uniformed companies, such as the aforementioned St. Louis unit, all the way to farmers in civilian attire, armed with shotguns and hunting rifles.

On the Northern side, you had the US Regulars, dressed in army issue uniforms, and several units wearing militia uniforms -- no two companies of the 1st Iowa Infantry were dressed alike, with one company, I Coy. (The Govenor's Greys), wearing grey tunics. The 3rd & 5th Missouri, composed mostly of German immigrants from St. Louis, also wore grey overshirts. Both grey and blue were popular colours for militia uniforms. While the Federal Army was able to standardize uniforms for its volunteers for the most part (with many exceptions), the Confederate forces never really achieved anything like that, with all sorts of colours (butternut brown and even undeyed white wool jackets for the Missouri Brigade), styles and equipment.

There were some very good impressions in "Gettysburg", and some very BAD ones!

Whilst I have read claims of some Confederate uniforms wearing kilts (the SC Highland Guard comes to mind), I have never seen concrete documentation for it. The most famous example is the 79th New York, which as a militia unit based it's uniforms on the Cameron Highlanders, right down to the Cameron of Erracht kilt, but there is quite a debate among historians as to whether they were ever actually worn in the field during the first months of the war. Most sources say trews, and then later, the standard issue sky-blue kersey trousers.

Cheers,

Todd

[James]

On a lighter note, whilst the official dress regulations and pictures will give one idea of what a soldier might wear-the reality can be so very different: at least in the British Army.

For soldiers seem to have great propensity for aquiring the unforms of others-adapting, losing and relacing the missing item with something very different. Put mine alongside an American unit-and I'd wonder which army was on parade the next day: enemy kit just as attractive and so on.

Not that my nice chaps would have stolen anything-of course not!

Whilst after Suez, we all had Russian rifles-I wonder how that happened.

I wonder if American soldiers are that different?

Even Field Marshal Alexander so liked the German style of peaked cap, that he had his London hatters make his British uniform hats to a German model.

James

[Mike n NC]

First, don't let the advertising discourage you from considering Alexis as a great kilt source. I have one of her kilts and she does fantastic work!

Secondly, Gray is a misnomer when talking about the Confederate uniforms, they ranged from butternut (a yellow-brown) to Richmond Gray (very blue to my eyes). The unit in the North-South Skirmish Association that I belong to, and shoot with, was never issued a gray uniform at all but a red battle shirt and black trousers. Jacket? It was bring your own. The material from which uniforms were made ranged just as much, mostly all wool but greatly different weaves.

During the First War for Southern Independence many units were formed by individuals and the uniforming depended on how much money they were willing, or could, spend to outfit the men.

And, yeah I agree the weapon is a bit modern.

Mike

[macwilkin]

On a lighter note, whilst the official dress regulations and pictures will give one idea of what a soldier might wear-the reality can be so very different: at least in the British Army.

For soldiers seem to have great propensity for aquiring the unforms of others-adapting, losing and relacing the missing item with something very different. Put mine alongside an American unit-and I'd wonder which army was on parade the next day: enemy kit just as attractive and so on.

Not that my nice chaps would have stolen anything-of course not!

Whilst after Suez, we all had Russian rifles-I wonder how that happened.

I wonder if American soldiers are that different?

Even Field Marshal Alexander so liked the German style of peaked cap, that he had his London hatters make his British uniform hats to a German model.

James

James -- good points all. Confederate soldiers, on the whole, did use captured federal uniforms, weapons and equipment. And there were many "field-expedient" modifications by both Federals and Confederates; the adoption of the civilian "slouch hat" as a more pratical piece of headgear than the army-issue forage cap, or the army dress ("Hardee") hat. Soldiers would often get rid of the "hat brass" on the Hardee and turn it into a civilian-style slouch.

During the Wilson's Creek campaign, a number of units on both sides literaly marched themselves out of their uniforms; homemade and/or shoddy items fell apart on the march, and were replaced by civilian items (beggged, borrowed or stolen!)

I'll try to dig up some examples of the "field-expedient" uniforms. We have some great stories from contemporary accounts by soldiers at Wilson's Creek.

Cheers,

Todd

[davedove]

I'm sure that as the war went along there was also a lot of "field acquisitions", especially among the Confederate Army, since it was notoriously hard to supply. While there was surely some resistance to wearing "Yankee Blue", I'm sure that a confederate soldier, having ruined his jacket in the winter, would be happy to have a jacket "acquired" from a union soldier.:rolleyes:

And as Todd has said, there was a wide variety of uniforms anyway, especially at the beginning.

I remember a movie I saw once (I have no idea the title or even the actors) where a confederate soldier had come from a northern state and had no uniform to wear except his old one, which happened to be blue. He was subjected to a lot of prejudice because of this, but still fought alongside the confederate troops.

[Jerry]

I'm not a real expert on Confederate uniforms, but I am fairly sure that the rifle is a Knight muzzleloader(inline), first manufactured near the end of the last century (20th that is). I have two Knights, a Wolverine and a disc rifle.

[sav]

As Todd has already so astutely mentioned, blue isn't always an anachronistic color for a confederate to wear...in this picture:

http://www.6thlouisiana.com/photos/i...mFilters=t#pic

Obviously color is absent, but the coat I'm wearing (i'm standing dead center) is actually a deep blue kersey interwoven with logwood-dyed grey.