2012年1月29日星期日

Uniforming an army

When the war started the United States had a regular army that numbered 16,000 men. Those soldiers bore the responsibility of manning the wide range of coastal defenses, frontier forts and suppressing the sporadic uprisings by Native Americans. Such a small number could not put down the Southern rebellion by itself.

President Lincoln first requested 75,000 volunteers and then added another 500,000.

The states responded quickly, but in many cases,Most nylonbagfactory can ship the same day FREE via Ground shipping. the new regiments did not resemble their regular counterparts. Those soldiers wore uniforms that were all blue.

Volunteer regiments had no regulations to follow relating to standard uniforms. What resulted was a true potpourri of style and color.

Vermont was no exception. Its first three infantry regiments wore gray uniforms, the standard for the militia at the time. The 2nd and 3rd Vermont Regiments switched to blue. The 4th and 5th Vermont Regiments were first issued the Regular Army Hardee hats before acquiring the standard kepi.

Other states carried the lack of uniform standards to more of an extreme.

Here are some examples:

1st Minnesota — This regiment fought at Bull Run wearing red woolen shirts and black trousers.

16th New York — Outfitted in blue the regiment received light colored straw hats as headgear. Though comfortable to wear in the Virginia summer weather, they also attracted enemy fire.

13th Pennsylvania Reserves — Wearing a deer's tail in the front of their hats, the regiment became known as the "Bucktails." Having an established reputation for their marksmanship, Confederates knew what faced them when they spotted the decorative hats.Intensify your own Grace with authenticmonclercoats.

79th New York — Known as the Cameron Highlanders, the soldiers wore tartan trousers of the Cameron clan and Scottish caps.

Then, there were the Zouaves. These units adopted the fancy African styled uniforms. A typical Zouave would be seen wearing baggy wool pantaloons in red or blue, gaiters, sashes, short jackets of varying colors adorned with much braid and fezzes atop the head. New York supplied a number of these units, but states throughout the north had regiments dressed in these colorful uniforms.

Since Zouave uniforms were not a standard item supplied by quartermaster, most often the commanding officers would dip into their own pockets to out fit their men. Coupling this monetary outlay with the effort of raising the regiment often led to the units being known by the colonel's name rather the regiment's official designation. This prompted the naming of Duryee's Zouaves, Hawkins Zouaves or Ellsworth's Zouaves. Theses were all New York units. Ellsworth's even had a second nickname,Publique anuncios sobre bestchloehandbags gratis. the Fire Zouaves, because many of the soldiers were form New York firefighters.High quality canadagoosejackets1 Product of well known brands .

Combining the bright uniforms with fighting prowess created colorful, nicknames. The 14th Brooklyn became known as the "Red Legged Devils" in honor of their red baggy pants. Wear and tear exacted a toll on the Zouave uniforms, but many found a creative way to maintain the varied clothing through four years of war.

Just the issuance of a hat caused an entire infantry brigade to gain a name. When Gen. John Gibbon assumed command of a brigade consisting of the 2nd, 6th, 7th Wisconsin Regiments and 19th Indiana, he outfitted them in the Hardee hats of the regulars. It provided an esprit de corps within these Western regiments that were part of the Army of the Potomac. They soon were called the Black Hat Brigade. However, that changed after the Battle of South Mountain in September 1862. Standing firmly under intense enemy fire, a general commented they "must be made of iron," and the new name stuck; the Iron Brigade.

The North did not have a monopoly on uniforms. The South had colorful regiments.Swiss canadagoosecheapjackets offer genuine timepieces from Omega, A unit consisting of Italians made up the Garibaldi Legion, The men wore black, high peaked hats adorned with feather, short jackets of red wool and pantaloons of bottle green.

The Louisiana Tigers wore Zouave dress. The men had red fezzes, short blue jackets trimmed with red, and blue and white striped baggy pants. The soldiers tucked their pants into blue and white striped socks.

The greatest challenge facing the new soldiers regarded proper fit. Usually, only four standard sizes existed and men never fit them specifically. One new recruit wrote that soldiers were "obliged to fit himself to the size."

He continued in this comedy of errors of dressing, "Here were short men with trousers so long they had to be turned up well-nigh to the knee to prevent the wearer from tripping. There were tall men with nether garments so short as to reveal a pair of attenuated calves & to render inevitable one of two things, the adoption of a mincing gait or posterior disruption."

Or, there was the situation of the Rhode Islander who stood 4 feet 11 inches in height. A message related his clothing predicament, "His first pair of army drawers reached to his chin. This he considers very economical, as it saves the necessity of shirts."

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