The Flag of Sumter, October 20, 1863, oil painting by Conrad Wise Chapman, American Civil War Museum, Richmond, Virginia.
Confederate Uniforms of the Lower South, Part IV: Atlantic Seaboard
by Fred Adolphus, August 30, 2019
Updated January 18, 2023
Continued from Part III: click here to navigate back to the previous page...
The next part of this study encompasses the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The region comprised the Atlantic seaboard in those three states, with Charleston forming the epicenter. The Augusta and Charleston Confederate clothing manufacturing depots mainly supplied the Atlantic seaboard, but Augusta occasionally sent clothing to the Army of Tennessee in northern Georgia. The department kept an issuing, post quartermaster depot at Savannah, as well. Charleston had access to imported goods and many of the uniforms issued there were made from imported, blue-gray and light blue kerseys. Likewise, Southern jeans clothing was also much in evidence. I touched upon the Confederate Depot at Augusta in the previous section about Georgia but will elaborate further in this section.
A report filed by a Confederate inspection officer reflects the mix of imported and domestic uniform variants found issued in the department. The report is an inventory for the Savannah post quartermaster in 1863. It provides good descriptions of the clothing on-hand in October 31, 1863. The clothing and related items included the following: 1,300 infantry jackets, made of English cloth, with metallic buttons, “a good article and strongly put up;” 2,600 infantry jackets, made of Georgia jeans, from the Richmond [Georgia] factory, with wooden buttons, “an inferior article compared to the first [the English cloth jackets];” 150 pantaloons, English tweed pants, high quality (the artillery in and around Savannah issued these pants for the last six months); 800 Pantaloons, Georgia homespun, manufactured in Savannah, a strong fabric, light gray color, rather thin for winter; 6,700 pantaloons, Georgia jeans, fairly good quality, off light-gray color; a lot of 1,400 jackets and pants made of Georgia homespun (the suits were furnished by the State of Georgia), to be issued only as a last resort, being “… a poor article… thin for the season, and almost white [in color];” 8,000 white cotton pair drawers and shirts; made in Savannah by the quartermaster depot; 150 pairs of shoes of different patterns; 200 pairs French army shoes of strong materials, but most mis-matched and not fit for issue; 6,000 pairs of cotton socks; 2,000 blankets, as well as 18 second handed blankets fit for use, and 36 second handed blankets, damaged, rotten, entirely unfit for use; about 175 oil cloth caps; about 300 gray cloth caps; 10,000 spools of thread; 600 great gross of bone buttons for drawers and shirts; 700 gross of metallic buttons; and, 400 gross of shirt buttons.[175] The inventory is especially interesting because it documents several variants of soldier suits made in different qualities, fabrics and colors. Regrettably, the uniform variants cannot always be associated with specific makers. Uniforms were made of English cloth and English tweed (presumably cadet gray in color); of good quality, off light-gray colored Georgia jeans; of strong but thin, light gray Georgia homespun; and, poor, thin, almost white Georgia homespun. The clothing buttons are described: wooden buttons on the Georgia jeans infantry jackets; bone shirt and drawer buttons; and, metallic, possibly military buttons. The inventory included both imported and domestic articles, and it confirmed that Savannah had an active post quartermaster operation.
The department relied on imports for much of its clothing, and nearly all its blankets, taking advantage of Charleston’s seaport.[176] Blockade runners furnished a plethora of military supplies throughout the war. For example, successful blockade runners delivered to Charleston and Wilmington between early April and late December 1864 at least 311,521 pair shoes; 169,868 blankets; and, 803,761 yards of uniform cloth; and, Secretary of War James Seddon estimated these totals at 545,000 pair shoes and 316,000 blankets.[177] As was the case with the big Georgia depots and mills, the Richmond Clothing Bureau drew on the largesse of the Atlantic seaboard department, which sent much of the imported material to the Army of Northern Virginia. When Robert E. Lee’s army suffered from shortages of shoes during the Gettysburg campaign, Major Hutson Lee, Confederate chief quartermaster at the Charleston Depot, sent a few thousand pairs of shoes from Columbia to Richmond, while more were forwarded from the cargo of a blockade runner at Wilmington, North Carolina, all during the July 8-18, 1863 timeframe.[178] Even so, South Carolina had several cotton mills along the Savannah River, in Columbia and in Spartenburg that furnished goods to the Confederate quartermaster, and even had some small woolen mills in Spartenburg by March 1865.[179] The Confederacy’s largest sock factory was in Columbia: John Judge’s mill. Judge’s mill, established in 1863, made up to 3,000 pairs of socks daily, and contracted to deliver the Confederate quartermaster with a million pair annually. Judge delivered his production to Major Hutson Lee, and most of the socks issued to the Confederate army were made in his factory.[180] In October 1862, the Confederate Quartermaster operation was established in Charleston, and by the end of March 1863, Captain George J. Crafts’ clothing department in Charleston had begun issuing clothing to Confederate troops from that location.[181] Crafts, the Assistant Quartermaster at Charleston, used both imported and domestic fabrics to make uniforms.[182] An issue of February 7, 1863 is typical of what George J. Crafts provided. It included: 528 melton shirts; 240 jeans pants; 11 blue cloth pants; 486 caps; and, 180 pairs of shoes. Another issue in December 1864 included 200 jackets and 200 pairs of pants.[183] These issues reflect a mix of domestic and imported fabric used in making uniforms, and that the ubiquitous jacket was the standard uniform. Charleston remained in operation throughout the war since Sherman bypassed the port city to burn Columbia instead.[184] By the last year of the war, the Charleston and Augusta depots provided significant quantities of clothing to Lieutenant General William J. Hardee’s troops on the Atlantic seaboard. The Confederate quartermaster’s field issues to the Department of South Carolina, Florida and Georgia, from July 1, 1864 to January 1, 1865 included: 19,751 jackets; 21,022 pairs of pants; 26,376 pairs of shoes; 12,429 blankets; 500 hats and caps; 19,264 cotton shirts; 20,571 pairs of drawers; 26,719 pairs of socks; and, 594 overcoats.[185]
Documentation of the Atlantic seaboard’s uniform is available from a variety of sources: archival records, surviving uniforms, photographs and paintings. It was the good fortune of the Charleston garrison that soldier-artist Conrad Wise Chapman was assigned to General Pierre G.T. Beauregard from mid-September 1863 to early April 1864. For those seven months, Chapman documented the war at that place through his numerous oil paintings. Typical of the era, he took care to paint exactly what he saw. This included the accurate depiction of the soldiers’ uniforms. Chapman’s paintings show the different variants of the enlisted uniform. Many of Chapman’s subjects wear a suits of steel gray cap, jacket and pants, made without facings. Others have brownish-gray, brown, or pale blue pants. The pale blue pants are shown both with red stripes or without any stripes. Some soldiers wear steel gray jackets with belt loops and red facings. Headgear also includes the wool slouch hat, a steel gray cap with a red band, or an all-red cap. At least one soldier has a gray enlisted frock coat. The soldiers wear solid-colored shirts: white, light blue or red.[186]
Four excellent photos document the uniforms of the army at Charleston, as well. Two depict the South Carolina Palmetto Light Artillery Battery at the Stono River, in Charleston, at their guns and lounging in camp. These images would have been made between March and June 1862, after the battery formed and before it departed for Virginia.[187] Another photo shows an unnamed light artillery crew practicing cannon drill in a Charleston fortification. This image was presumably taken during the same time frame that the Palmetto Light battery photos were made.[188] In all three images, most of the jackets and caps are of a matching color and fabric. The pants seem to be a different color and texture than the jackets, for the most part. Some of the pants are rather dark, and others are just slightly darker than the jackets. Only one pair of pants have stripes (presumably red). The rest are plain. One of the jackets matches the slightly darker pants color and texture, and has pointed cuff facings (presumably red in color). Two of the lighter colored jackets have red facings on the collar and cuffs, and a few appear to have red cuff edging, but most have neither. The jackets appear to have either five or six buttons in front and pointed back edges. Most of the caps are made in the chasseur pattern, in the M1861 style with a red band, and the sides and crown of the basic uniform cloth (presumably gray). However, one of the caps is made in the U.S. army, forage cap pattern; one is a lower-sided, Confederate style forage cap (without a countersunk crown); and, one is a tall, high-sided cap (of a darker material than the light-colored jackets).
The last image depicts a light artillery gun crew with the caption, “Coles Island No 4.” The caption refers to the battery’s location and its position on the line. The back of the image has the inscription, “Marion Artillery of Charleston.” The inscription may have been added after the war, but the caption indicates that the gun crew is South Carolinian.[189] Seven of the gun crew are prominently depicted. Each of these wears a matching sack coat of a rather unusual design. It is light in color, rather loose in its fit and extends to a couple of inches below the cuff. Judging from the surface wrinkles, the basic fabric might be cotton. The coat has two large, exterior patch pockets, with the openings slightly below the elbow. It has facings, presumably red in color, that include pointed cuffs, inch wide bands at the pocket openings, collars (inside and out), and a wide stripe along the left lapel with buttonholes. Some of the crew wear the collar up, standing, and other wear it down, as a fall collar. The coat closes with five brass buttons, the bottom one at about wrist level. The soldiers wear differing shades of pants, ranging from light to medium to dark, and one pair has colored edging along the outside seams, presumably red. All seven of the crew wear caps. Four of the caps appear to be shiny, enameled cloth, of the chasseur pattern. One of these is worn with the chinstrap down. One of the caps is a light-colored, plain chasseur pattern without a colored band, worn with the chinstrap down. One is made in the high forage cap style (without a countersunk crown), having a crown that falls slightly forward. It is made from light-colored basic cloth, without a colored band, and worn with the chinstrap down. The last cap depicted is a dark-colored, high forage cap, of the Federal pattern.
The next part of this study encompasses the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The region comprised the Atlantic seaboard in those three states, with Charleston forming the epicenter. The Augusta and Charleston Confederate clothing manufacturing depots mainly supplied the Atlantic seaboard, but Augusta occasionally sent clothing to the Army of Tennessee in northern Georgia. The department kept an issuing, post quartermaster depot at Savannah, as well. Charleston had access to imported goods and many of the uniforms issued there were made from imported, blue-gray and light blue kerseys. Likewise, Southern jeans clothing was also much in evidence. I touched upon the Confederate Depot at Augusta in the previous section about Georgia but will elaborate further in this section.
A report filed by a Confederate inspection officer reflects the mix of imported and domestic uniform variants found issued in the department. The report is an inventory for the Savannah post quartermaster in 1863. It provides good descriptions of the clothing on-hand in October 31, 1863. The clothing and related items included the following: 1,300 infantry jackets, made of English cloth, with metallic buttons, “a good article and strongly put up;” 2,600 infantry jackets, made of Georgia jeans, from the Richmond [Georgia] factory, with wooden buttons, “an inferior article compared to the first [the English cloth jackets];” 150 pantaloons, English tweed pants, high quality (the artillery in and around Savannah issued these pants for the last six months); 800 Pantaloons, Georgia homespun, manufactured in Savannah, a strong fabric, light gray color, rather thin for winter; 6,700 pantaloons, Georgia jeans, fairly good quality, off light-gray color; a lot of 1,400 jackets and pants made of Georgia homespun (the suits were furnished by the State of Georgia), to be issued only as a last resort, being “… a poor article… thin for the season, and almost white [in color];” 8,000 white cotton pair drawers and shirts; made in Savannah by the quartermaster depot; 150 pairs of shoes of different patterns; 200 pairs French army shoes of strong materials, but most mis-matched and not fit for issue; 6,000 pairs of cotton socks; 2,000 blankets, as well as 18 second handed blankets fit for use, and 36 second handed blankets, damaged, rotten, entirely unfit for use; about 175 oil cloth caps; about 300 gray cloth caps; 10,000 spools of thread; 600 great gross of bone buttons for drawers and shirts; 700 gross of metallic buttons; and, 400 gross of shirt buttons.[175] The inventory is especially interesting because it documents several variants of soldier suits made in different qualities, fabrics and colors. Regrettably, the uniform variants cannot always be associated with specific makers. Uniforms were made of English cloth and English tweed (presumably cadet gray in color); of good quality, off light-gray colored Georgia jeans; of strong but thin, light gray Georgia homespun; and, poor, thin, almost white Georgia homespun. The clothing buttons are described: wooden buttons on the Georgia jeans infantry jackets; bone shirt and drawer buttons; and, metallic, possibly military buttons. The inventory included both imported and domestic articles, and it confirmed that Savannah had an active post quartermaster operation.
The department relied on imports for much of its clothing, and nearly all its blankets, taking advantage of Charleston’s seaport.[176] Blockade runners furnished a plethora of military supplies throughout the war. For example, successful blockade runners delivered to Charleston and Wilmington between early April and late December 1864 at least 311,521 pair shoes; 169,868 blankets; and, 803,761 yards of uniform cloth; and, Secretary of War James Seddon estimated these totals at 545,000 pair shoes and 316,000 blankets.[177] As was the case with the big Georgia depots and mills, the Richmond Clothing Bureau drew on the largesse of the Atlantic seaboard department, which sent much of the imported material to the Army of Northern Virginia. When Robert E. Lee’s army suffered from shortages of shoes during the Gettysburg campaign, Major Hutson Lee, Confederate chief quartermaster at the Charleston Depot, sent a few thousand pairs of shoes from Columbia to Richmond, while more were forwarded from the cargo of a blockade runner at Wilmington, North Carolina, all during the July 8-18, 1863 timeframe.[178] Even so, South Carolina had several cotton mills along the Savannah River, in Columbia and in Spartenburg that furnished goods to the Confederate quartermaster, and even had some small woolen mills in Spartenburg by March 1865.[179] The Confederacy’s largest sock factory was in Columbia: John Judge’s mill. Judge’s mill, established in 1863, made up to 3,000 pairs of socks daily, and contracted to deliver the Confederate quartermaster with a million pair annually. Judge delivered his production to Major Hutson Lee, and most of the socks issued to the Confederate army were made in his factory.[180] In October 1862, the Confederate Quartermaster operation was established in Charleston, and by the end of March 1863, Captain George J. Crafts’ clothing department in Charleston had begun issuing clothing to Confederate troops from that location.[181] Crafts, the Assistant Quartermaster at Charleston, used both imported and domestic fabrics to make uniforms.[182] An issue of February 7, 1863 is typical of what George J. Crafts provided. It included: 528 melton shirts; 240 jeans pants; 11 blue cloth pants; 486 caps; and, 180 pairs of shoes. Another issue in December 1864 included 200 jackets and 200 pairs of pants.[183] These issues reflect a mix of domestic and imported fabric used in making uniforms, and that the ubiquitous jacket was the standard uniform. Charleston remained in operation throughout the war since Sherman bypassed the port city to burn Columbia instead.[184] By the last year of the war, the Charleston and Augusta depots provided significant quantities of clothing to Lieutenant General William J. Hardee’s troops on the Atlantic seaboard. The Confederate quartermaster’s field issues to the Department of South Carolina, Florida and Georgia, from July 1, 1864 to January 1, 1865 included: 19,751 jackets; 21,022 pairs of pants; 26,376 pairs of shoes; 12,429 blankets; 500 hats and caps; 19,264 cotton shirts; 20,571 pairs of drawers; 26,719 pairs of socks; and, 594 overcoats.[185]
Documentation of the Atlantic seaboard’s uniform is available from a variety of sources: archival records, surviving uniforms, photographs and paintings. It was the good fortune of the Charleston garrison that soldier-artist Conrad Wise Chapman was assigned to General Pierre G.T. Beauregard from mid-September 1863 to early April 1864. For those seven months, Chapman documented the war at that place through his numerous oil paintings. Typical of the era, he took care to paint exactly what he saw. This included the accurate depiction of the soldiers’ uniforms. Chapman’s paintings show the different variants of the enlisted uniform. Many of Chapman’s subjects wear a suits of steel gray cap, jacket and pants, made without facings. Others have brownish-gray, brown, or pale blue pants. The pale blue pants are shown both with red stripes or without any stripes. Some soldiers wear steel gray jackets with belt loops and red facings. Headgear also includes the wool slouch hat, a steel gray cap with a red band, or an all-red cap. At least one soldier has a gray enlisted frock coat. The soldiers wear solid-colored shirts: white, light blue or red.[186]
Four excellent photos document the uniforms of the army at Charleston, as well. Two depict the South Carolina Palmetto Light Artillery Battery at the Stono River, in Charleston, at their guns and lounging in camp. These images would have been made between March and June 1862, after the battery formed and before it departed for Virginia.[187] Another photo shows an unnamed light artillery crew practicing cannon drill in a Charleston fortification. This image was presumably taken during the same time frame that the Palmetto Light battery photos were made.[188] In all three images, most of the jackets and caps are of a matching color and fabric. The pants seem to be a different color and texture than the jackets, for the most part. Some of the pants are rather dark, and others are just slightly darker than the jackets. Only one pair of pants have stripes (presumably red). The rest are plain. One of the jackets matches the slightly darker pants color and texture, and has pointed cuff facings (presumably red in color). Two of the lighter colored jackets have red facings on the collar and cuffs, and a few appear to have red cuff edging, but most have neither. The jackets appear to have either five or six buttons in front and pointed back edges. Most of the caps are made in the chasseur pattern, in the M1861 style with a red band, and the sides and crown of the basic uniform cloth (presumably gray). However, one of the caps is made in the U.S. army, forage cap pattern; one is a lower-sided, Confederate style forage cap (without a countersunk crown); and, one is a tall, high-sided cap (of a darker material than the light-colored jackets).
The last image depicts a light artillery gun crew with the caption, “Coles Island No 4.” The caption refers to the battery’s location and its position on the line. The back of the image has the inscription, “Marion Artillery of Charleston.” The inscription may have been added after the war, but the caption indicates that the gun crew is South Carolinian.[189] Seven of the gun crew are prominently depicted. Each of these wears a matching sack coat of a rather unusual design. It is light in color, rather loose in its fit and extends to a couple of inches below the cuff. Judging from the surface wrinkles, the basic fabric might be cotton. The coat has two large, exterior patch pockets, with the openings slightly below the elbow. It has facings, presumably red in color, that include pointed cuffs, inch wide bands at the pocket openings, collars (inside and out), and a wide stripe along the left lapel with buttonholes. Some of the crew wear the collar up, standing, and other wear it down, as a fall collar. The coat closes with five brass buttons, the bottom one at about wrist level. The soldiers wear differing shades of pants, ranging from light to medium to dark, and one pair has colored edging along the outside seams, presumably red. All seven of the crew wear caps. Four of the caps appear to be shiny, enameled cloth, of the chasseur pattern. One of these is worn with the chinstrap down. One of the caps is a light-colored, plain chasseur pattern without a colored band, worn with the chinstrap down. One is made in the high forage cap style (without a countersunk crown), having a crown that falls slightly forward. It is made from light-colored basic cloth, without a colored band, and worn with the chinstrap down. The last cap depicted is a dark-colored, high forage cap, of the Federal pattern.
Image is courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. Confederate artillery near Charleston, S.C. in 1862, LC-B8184-4389, by photographer George S. Cook.
Image is courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. A Confederate picket post near Charleston, S.C., 1862, LC-B8184-4390 by the photographer George S. Cook.
Image is courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. Confederate artillery near Charleston, S.C. in 1862, LC-DIG-ppmsca-35457, probably by photographer George S. Cook.
Image is courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. Coles Island No. 4, LC-DIG-stereo-2s03890, probably by photographer Osborn & Durbec's Southern Stereoscopic & Photographic Depot, Charleston, South Carolina.
The sales records of Charles F. Jackson’s clothing manufacturing company in Columbia, South Carolina provide further insights to uniforms of the region. Jackson began manufacturing and selling men’s clothing in Charleston in 1860. He produced both ready-made citizen clothing and military uniforms. When the war broke out, he switched mainly to making uniforms. Jackson relocated his company to Columbia in June 1862 and sold a quantity of uniforms to the Confederate quartermaster. His sales consisted mainly of caps, jackets and pants, and to a lesser degree, shirts, drawers and hats. His jackets and pants were made of “jean” as described in his invoices, and slightly more than half the jackets were “trimmed” (with cording) and just under half were “plain” (without trim). Sometimes, he specifically notes on the invoice that the jackets were trimmed, but his prices always make it clear which were or were not trimmed, since he charged ten to fifteen cents extra per jacket for cording trim. His caps were made of either kersey or jean in almost equal proportions. He made his pants almost exclusively from jean and these included adjusting buckles. He also made some “blue” and “cassimere” pants (three percent of the total). Judging from the prices that he charged for his clothing, it appears that the government provided Jackson with the materials and his company fabricated these into finished garments. From June 1863 to November 1864, Jackson provided the Confederate quartermaster with 12,294 caps, 9,916 jackets and 11,019 pairs of pants. He provided 3,100 shirts (a mix of cotton, red flannel and “white”), 270 pairs of drawers and 360 jean hats. Jackson’s uniforms might account for many of the domestic, jean fabric uniforms issued in South Carolina.[190]
South Carolina also had an active state quartermaster operation that provided clothing to South Carolina soldiers before the Confederate quartermaster became fully functional. As early as January 1861, Reverend Anthony Toomer Porter’s Industrial School for Girls in Charleston began manufacturing clothing for the state quartermaster. By March, Charles F. Jackson’s clothing factory was furnishing the Industrial School with cut jackets and pants to be sewn and finished, then returned to Jackson’s Clothing Emporium for sale. The Industrial School operated thirty-two sewing machines at the time. While Porter’s Industrial School made some coats and pantaloons, by 1862 the school concentrated mainly on making plain underwear (shirts and drawers). Nonetheless, the Industrial School and Jackson’s company supplied uniforms for South Carolina volunteers made from dark gray cloth supplied by the G. Gibbes & Company mill at Columbia. These early uniforms consisted of frock coats and matching pants. The coats often had tape trim on the collar, but not the cuffs. The Williams and Brown hatter company in Charleston furnished gray or blue chasseur style caps. Surviving uniforms and photographs confirm the widespread use of this type of uniform in 1861. By July, the Industrial School was taken over by the state quartermaster under Colonel Lewis M. Hatch. By August Hatch’s operation employed two tailors, Hermann Koppel and D.H. Kemme, who acted as foremen, supervising forty cutters and distributing cut clothing sets to 1,500 needlewomen in Charleston.[191] One invoice for the period from 14 December 1861 to 31 January 1862 paid Koppel and Kemme for cutting 3,019 frock coats, 1,157 overcoats, 113 pairs of pants, 168 flannel shirts, 21 unspecified shirts and 13 pairs of drawers.[192] By August 30, 1862, the South Carolina Quartermaster Department had since January 1, 1862 purchased, manufactured and received 8,265 coats, 4,260 over-coats, 4,977 pairs of pants, 898 pairs of drawers, 5,452 shirts, 6,074 pairs of socks, 3,325 pairs of shoes, 2,545 hats, 2,430 caps, 10,293 blankets, 6,078 knapsacks, 2,733 haversacks and 2,554 canteens. The quartermaster had on July1, 1862 the following on-hand: 8,171 coats, 2,508 over-coats, 4,219 pairs of pants, 837 pairs of drawers, 501 shirts, 2,516 pairs of socks, 60 pairs of shoes, 174 hats, 665 caps, 7,092 blankets, 2,867 knapsacks, 6,547 haversacks and 1,352 canteens. In addition to the state quartermaster department, the volunteer Soldiers’ Relief Association made some clothing for South Carolina volunteers from July 1861 to July 1862.[193]
After commutation ended, the state quartermaster turned over a portion of its clothing stores to Colonel Samuel McGowan, the Confederate Quartermaster in Charleston, on about October 28, 1862. These stocks consisted of about 7,000 coats, 2,000 over-coats, 3,000 pairs of pants and 6,000 blankets. The state quartermaster nonetheless remained operational and reported in December 1862 stocks on hand of 8,228 coats, 2,507 over-coats, 2,996 pairs of pants, 863 pairs of cotton drawers, 58 cotton shirts, 135 flannel drawers, 277 flannel shirts, 6 hickory shirts, 2,402 pairs of socks, 4 pairs of shoes, 127 woolen capes, 665 caps, 7,007 blankets, 20 hats and 1,500 haversacks. These statistics indicate that the State of South Carolina supplied significant amounts of clothing to its own troops.[194]
The final documentation of the uniforms of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida comes from ten surviving, similar jackets. Their similarity and related provenance suggest that they are products of the Charleston and Augusta Confederate depots. Their most salient feature is the straight-cut left front, the collar and lapel edge being plumb with one another. Nine of the ten jackets are made of imported, dark, blue-gray woolen cloth (albeit in two different weaves). All have a six-piece body, one-piece sleeves, two-piece collars inside and out, and similar tailoring. The button counts are similar, having either five or six front buttons.
The Charleston and Augusta depots both supplied the Atlantic coast region of South Carolina. Georgia and Florida. The Charleston Depot apparently limited its issues to troops close at hand. The Augusta Depot generally supplied the coastal region, but occasionally sent clothing to the Army of Tennessee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Of the ten surviving jackets, six might be attributed to the Augusta Depot (Les Jensen classified some of these as “Atlanta” jackets in his 1989 study) and four to the Charleston Depot.
We can begin by examining the Charleston Depot jackets. Two of these jackets were examined by Les Jensen: I was not able to see them for myself. Their descriptions are taken from Jensen’s observations. I did, however, examine one of them, and I received excellent pictures of another, that provide critical details. All four of the jackets are made of imported, coarse, enlisted grade, English, blue-gray woolen kersey and have unbleached cotton osnaburg linings. They have the six-piece body with one-piece sleeves, an interlined collar and five buttons down the front. The left front of the jacket features the “plumb edge” of the collar and left front lapel. The back pieces form a slight point at the bottom edge. The two that were studied by Jensen have very large belt loops, shaped like shoulder straps, sewn at the waistline. These are flat at the bottom and tapering to a point at the top. The two jackets that I studied had neither belt loops nor indications that they ever had any. The four jackets all have provenance. The provenance for three of them, the Simons, Brown and Farrell jackets, support Les Jensen’s supposition that they were made at the Charleston Depot. The fourth, with provenance to John C. Bach, has provenance to the Trans-Mississippi Department. Nonetheless, Bach’s jacket is a perfect match for The Farrell jackets, and deserves mention herein.
The first of these jackets was worn by Corporal Thomas Grange Simons, 25th South Carolina Infantry. Simons served with his command in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida until early 1864, when his regiment transferred to Lee's army. Simons had been severely wounded in 1862 at the Battle of Secessionville and recovered, but while in Virginia, he was hospitalized for illness in August 1864. Due to failing health, Simons was assigned in late 1864 to the quartermaster’s office in Charleston. There, he received issues of clothing on November 11 and December 9, 1864, presumably to include his Charleston jacket. He ended the war in South Carolina on sick furlough. Simons’s jacket has Roman I buttons with Courtney & Tennent backmarks. Courtney & Tennent was a Charleston firm. The belt loops are 4 1/8 inches high by 1 ¾ inches wide.[195]
The next Charleston jacket was worn by William Kirby Brown, 1st South Carolina Artillery Regiment. Brown’s service record is inconclusive since there were two “William Browns” in the regiment, and none with the middle initial “K.” Nonetheless, the regiment was in the Charleston vicinity until the city was evacuated in 1865. In February, his regiment converted from heavy artillery to infantry, joined General Joseph E. Johnston’s army, and finished the war in at Greensboro, North Carolina. At least one of these soldiers appears to have served the entire war with the regiment, and the command’s provenance would have ensured that both would have gotten jackets from the Charleston Depot. The Brown jacket has Confederate staff buttons with the backmarks of Hammond, Turner & Bates of Manchester, England. The officer buttons may be post-war replacements. His belt loops are 5 5/ 8 inches high by 2 5/8 inches wide.[196]
The third jacket was worn by Sergeant Patrick William Farrell, who served with the 1st South Carolina Artillery from February 1861 until the end of the war, April 1865. Farrell served in Companies A and D, and his command was first designated in March 1861 Walter’s Battery of Light Artillery, or the “Washington Artillery.” This jacket is in good condition, and was presumably the one he wore at the Battle of Bentonville, 19 March 1865, which suggests that he had received it within the last months of his service.[197]
Farrell’s jacket is characteristic of the Charleston type, but it had red wool braid sewn entirely around the edge of the jacket, to include the top and bottom edges of the collar. There is an additional strip of braid sewn into the middle of the collar, a few inches in length, that resembles a lieutenant bar. The basic cloth is imported, coarse, enlisted grade, cadet gray kersey. The lining is unbleached osnaburg. The jacket front closes with five buttons, and there are five, intact “CSA” buttons, presumably original to the jacket. According to Heritage Auctions, these buttons are English-made, Smith, Kemp & Wright buttons, backmarked “Superior Quality,” (Tice CSG-203A3). Of special note, the left interior lining features a rectangular, patch pocket, applied along the edge of the lapel facing. Farrell had penned his name in black ink to the lining in two places. What is furthermore so remarkable about this jacket, is that it is a perfect match to the fourth jacket studied in this category: the John Calhoun Back jacket.
South Carolina also had an active state quartermaster operation that provided clothing to South Carolina soldiers before the Confederate quartermaster became fully functional. As early as January 1861, Reverend Anthony Toomer Porter’s Industrial School for Girls in Charleston began manufacturing clothing for the state quartermaster. By March, Charles F. Jackson’s clothing factory was furnishing the Industrial School with cut jackets and pants to be sewn and finished, then returned to Jackson’s Clothing Emporium for sale. The Industrial School operated thirty-two sewing machines at the time. While Porter’s Industrial School made some coats and pantaloons, by 1862 the school concentrated mainly on making plain underwear (shirts and drawers). Nonetheless, the Industrial School and Jackson’s company supplied uniforms for South Carolina volunteers made from dark gray cloth supplied by the G. Gibbes & Company mill at Columbia. These early uniforms consisted of frock coats and matching pants. The coats often had tape trim on the collar, but not the cuffs. The Williams and Brown hatter company in Charleston furnished gray or blue chasseur style caps. Surviving uniforms and photographs confirm the widespread use of this type of uniform in 1861. By July, the Industrial School was taken over by the state quartermaster under Colonel Lewis M. Hatch. By August Hatch’s operation employed two tailors, Hermann Koppel and D.H. Kemme, who acted as foremen, supervising forty cutters and distributing cut clothing sets to 1,500 needlewomen in Charleston.[191] One invoice for the period from 14 December 1861 to 31 January 1862 paid Koppel and Kemme for cutting 3,019 frock coats, 1,157 overcoats, 113 pairs of pants, 168 flannel shirts, 21 unspecified shirts and 13 pairs of drawers.[192] By August 30, 1862, the South Carolina Quartermaster Department had since January 1, 1862 purchased, manufactured and received 8,265 coats, 4,260 over-coats, 4,977 pairs of pants, 898 pairs of drawers, 5,452 shirts, 6,074 pairs of socks, 3,325 pairs of shoes, 2,545 hats, 2,430 caps, 10,293 blankets, 6,078 knapsacks, 2,733 haversacks and 2,554 canteens. The quartermaster had on July1, 1862 the following on-hand: 8,171 coats, 2,508 over-coats, 4,219 pairs of pants, 837 pairs of drawers, 501 shirts, 2,516 pairs of socks, 60 pairs of shoes, 174 hats, 665 caps, 7,092 blankets, 2,867 knapsacks, 6,547 haversacks and 1,352 canteens. In addition to the state quartermaster department, the volunteer Soldiers’ Relief Association made some clothing for South Carolina volunteers from July 1861 to July 1862.[193]
After commutation ended, the state quartermaster turned over a portion of its clothing stores to Colonel Samuel McGowan, the Confederate Quartermaster in Charleston, on about October 28, 1862. These stocks consisted of about 7,000 coats, 2,000 over-coats, 3,000 pairs of pants and 6,000 blankets. The state quartermaster nonetheless remained operational and reported in December 1862 stocks on hand of 8,228 coats, 2,507 over-coats, 2,996 pairs of pants, 863 pairs of cotton drawers, 58 cotton shirts, 135 flannel drawers, 277 flannel shirts, 6 hickory shirts, 2,402 pairs of socks, 4 pairs of shoes, 127 woolen capes, 665 caps, 7,007 blankets, 20 hats and 1,500 haversacks. These statistics indicate that the State of South Carolina supplied significant amounts of clothing to its own troops.[194]
The final documentation of the uniforms of the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida comes from ten surviving, similar jackets. Their similarity and related provenance suggest that they are products of the Charleston and Augusta Confederate depots. Their most salient feature is the straight-cut left front, the collar and lapel edge being plumb with one another. Nine of the ten jackets are made of imported, dark, blue-gray woolen cloth (albeit in two different weaves). All have a six-piece body, one-piece sleeves, two-piece collars inside and out, and similar tailoring. The button counts are similar, having either five or six front buttons.
The Charleston and Augusta depots both supplied the Atlantic coast region of South Carolina. Georgia and Florida. The Charleston Depot apparently limited its issues to troops close at hand. The Augusta Depot generally supplied the coastal region, but occasionally sent clothing to the Army of Tennessee and the Army of Northern Virginia. Of the ten surviving jackets, six might be attributed to the Augusta Depot (Les Jensen classified some of these as “Atlanta” jackets in his 1989 study) and four to the Charleston Depot.
We can begin by examining the Charleston Depot jackets. Two of these jackets were examined by Les Jensen: I was not able to see them for myself. Their descriptions are taken from Jensen’s observations. I did, however, examine one of them, and I received excellent pictures of another, that provide critical details. All four of the jackets are made of imported, coarse, enlisted grade, English, blue-gray woolen kersey and have unbleached cotton osnaburg linings. They have the six-piece body with one-piece sleeves, an interlined collar and five buttons down the front. The left front of the jacket features the “plumb edge” of the collar and left front lapel. The back pieces form a slight point at the bottom edge. The two that were studied by Jensen have very large belt loops, shaped like shoulder straps, sewn at the waistline. These are flat at the bottom and tapering to a point at the top. The two jackets that I studied had neither belt loops nor indications that they ever had any. The four jackets all have provenance. The provenance for three of them, the Simons, Brown and Farrell jackets, support Les Jensen’s supposition that they were made at the Charleston Depot. The fourth, with provenance to John C. Bach, has provenance to the Trans-Mississippi Department. Nonetheless, Bach’s jacket is a perfect match for The Farrell jackets, and deserves mention herein.
The first of these jackets was worn by Corporal Thomas Grange Simons, 25th South Carolina Infantry. Simons served with his command in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida until early 1864, when his regiment transferred to Lee's army. Simons had been severely wounded in 1862 at the Battle of Secessionville and recovered, but while in Virginia, he was hospitalized for illness in August 1864. Due to failing health, Simons was assigned in late 1864 to the quartermaster’s office in Charleston. There, he received issues of clothing on November 11 and December 9, 1864, presumably to include his Charleston jacket. He ended the war in South Carolina on sick furlough. Simons’s jacket has Roman I buttons with Courtney & Tennent backmarks. Courtney & Tennent was a Charleston firm. The belt loops are 4 1/8 inches high by 1 ¾ inches wide.[195]
The next Charleston jacket was worn by William Kirby Brown, 1st South Carolina Artillery Regiment. Brown’s service record is inconclusive since there were two “William Browns” in the regiment, and none with the middle initial “K.” Nonetheless, the regiment was in the Charleston vicinity until the city was evacuated in 1865. In February, his regiment converted from heavy artillery to infantry, joined General Joseph E. Johnston’s army, and finished the war in at Greensboro, North Carolina. At least one of these soldiers appears to have served the entire war with the regiment, and the command’s provenance would have ensured that both would have gotten jackets from the Charleston Depot. The Brown jacket has Confederate staff buttons with the backmarks of Hammond, Turner & Bates of Manchester, England. The officer buttons may be post-war replacements. His belt loops are 5 5/ 8 inches high by 2 5/8 inches wide.[196]
The third jacket was worn by Sergeant Patrick William Farrell, who served with the 1st South Carolina Artillery from February 1861 until the end of the war, April 1865. Farrell served in Companies A and D, and his command was first designated in March 1861 Walter’s Battery of Light Artillery, or the “Washington Artillery.” This jacket is in good condition, and was presumably the one he wore at the Battle of Bentonville, 19 March 1865, which suggests that he had received it within the last months of his service.[197]
Farrell’s jacket is characteristic of the Charleston type, but it had red wool braid sewn entirely around the edge of the jacket, to include the top and bottom edges of the collar. There is an additional strip of braid sewn into the middle of the collar, a few inches in length, that resembles a lieutenant bar. The basic cloth is imported, coarse, enlisted grade, cadet gray kersey. The lining is unbleached osnaburg. The jacket front closes with five buttons, and there are five, intact “CSA” buttons, presumably original to the jacket. According to Heritage Auctions, these buttons are English-made, Smith, Kemp & Wright buttons, backmarked “Superior Quality,” (Tice CSG-203A3). Of special note, the left interior lining features a rectangular, patch pocket, applied along the edge of the lapel facing. Farrell had penned his name in black ink to the lining in two places. What is furthermore so remarkable about this jacket, is that it is a perfect match to the fourth jacket studied in this category: the John Calhoun Back jacket.
101a. The front of Farrell's jacket exhibits the red woolen braid that is also a feature of the Bach jacket. The general service, CSA buttons are noteworthy because they may be original to the jacket. As such, they document the use of CSA buttons, which are often decried as postwar additions to authentic Confederate uniforms. The Farrell jacket has the characteristic plumb left lapel and collar edge, as well. All of the 101 series of images are courtesy of Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas.
101b. The rear of Farrell's jacket shows the lack of belt loops and the collar construction.
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101c. The jacket's lining has the same type of large, patch pocket seen in Bach's jacket:.
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101d. A close view of the inside shows remnants of red braid around the top of the the collar, as well as Farrell's name penned on the lining.
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101e. This image provides a close look at the interior pocket, which has Farrell's name penned on the opening.
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The fourth, and last jacket, which has all the characteristics of the Charleston jacket, was worn by John Calhoun Back. Back served in Louisiana, in the Post Office Department from March until November 1861, and subsequently in the Medical Department. He joined Captain Joseph Benjamin’s Independent Company, Louisiana Cavalry on 15 January 1864, serving as a courier until he was captured on 10 May 1864, whereupon he reported his command as the “Signal Corps in Taylor’s Army.” Back remained a prisoner until his parole on 15 May 1865. In 1916, Back’s wife donated the jacket to the Louisiana State Museum under the name Mrs. John C. Bach. She was living in New Orleans at the time. The misspelling of her husband’s name, which may be the fault of a museum registrar, caused much confusion over the provenance of this jacket. This confusion was exacerbated by the fact the Fold3.com did not add Back’s complete service records until quite recently. Until January 2023, I had associated its provenance with John Bach, Company A, 31st Louisiana Infantry, and presumed that the jacket was the product of the Houston Clothing Bureau. Having the updated service records with the correct identity (John Calhoun Back), as well as the matching jacket belonging to Farrell, I now surmise that Back may have received his jacket while in prison, and that it is indeed a Charleston Depot jacket.
Aside from all the basic characteristics that match the Farrell jacket, to include the lack of belt loops, the Back jacket shares to same usage of red woolen tape. The only difference is that on Back’s jacket the red tape only goes around the top edge of the collar and its base. Another uncanny feature of the Back jacket is its interior patch pocket: again, a perfect match for that in the Farrell jacket. Although Back’s pocket has been partially cut away, enough of the edges remain to see its original construction. The pocket was seven inches high and six and three-quarters inches wide. Unfortunately, none of the original buttons are intact. There is only a single remaining, postwar, Louisiana pelican button on the front.[198]
Aside from all the basic characteristics that match the Farrell jacket, to include the lack of belt loops, the Back jacket shares to same usage of red woolen tape. The only difference is that on Back’s jacket the red tape only goes around the top edge of the collar and its base. Another uncanny feature of the Back jacket is its interior patch pocket: again, a perfect match for that in the Farrell jacket. Although Back’s pocket has been partially cut away, enough of the edges remain to see its original construction. The pocket was seven inches high and six and three-quarters inches wide. Unfortunately, none of the original buttons are intact. There is only a single remaining, postwar, Louisiana pelican button on the front.[198]
102a. The front of Back's jacket is identical to Farrell's except for the lack of red braid attached all around the edge of the body. One of the salient features of this jacket is the plumb edge of the left lapel and collar. The artifact is courtesy of the Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana.
102b. The rear of Back's jacket is likewise identical to Farrell's jacket, to include the absence of belt loops.
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102c. Back's jacket lining has the same type of pocket as Farrell's, albeit only a remnant. The original pocket was largely removed at some point.
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102d. This close-up of the front of Back's collar shows the same red braid along the entire edge as Farrell's collar, but the braid on this jacket is applied only along the front edge. The braid on Farrell's collar was folded over the top collar edge and attached to the inside.
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102ed. This close-up view of the rear of Back's collar shows the same construction as noted in the Farrell collar.
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The remaining six jackets are nearly identical in every way, except for the weave of the basic cloth. These are the Augusta Depot jackets. Three are made of a coarse, all woolen, tabby weave material with a natural white warp and a dark, blue-gray weft, rendering an overall blue-gray color. All three of these were described in Les Jensen’s study as “Atlanta” jackets. Another two jackets, that are nearly identical to the three tabby weave jackets, are made of a dark, blue-gray satinet with a finely spun, white cotton warp, and a blue-gray woolen weft. The surface has a heavy, blue-gray nap. Both the tabby and the satinet fabrics are the same color as the commonly imported, coarse, enlisted grade, blue-gray kersey; which suggests that they, too, were both imported. The five jackets thus far described have six-button fronts. The final Augusta jacket differs only from the previous five in color and number of buttons, having only five front buttons and a coarse twill, steel gray colored basic cloth. These six jackets are remarkably similar to the Charleston jackets, sharing the same basic pattern, to include the plumb edge along the left front collar and lapel, and the large belt loops (when intact). All are lined with unbleached cotton osnaburg. Given their similarities and common provenance, all six jackets were likely made at the Augusta Depot.
The first of the six Augusta-named jackets belonged to Robert E. Reynolds who served in the Army of Northern Virginia with Company C, Virginia Norfolk Light Artillery.[199] He was captured at Gettysburg and died as a prisoner at Fort Delaware on June 13, 1864. His body was turned over to his mother for burial in Virginia, and the jacket and pants attributed to him were probably taken from his body by his family as keepsakes. While his surviving pants may have been made at the Richmond Depot, his jacket appears to be one of numerous Augusta jackets sent to Lee’s army by the Confederate quartermaster at Augusta. As such, this jacket may represent a very early Augusta Depot product that pre-dates the Battle of Gettysburg and the blue-gray Augusta jackets. Reynold’s jacket was probably made in the spring of 1863. The tailoring in Reynold’s jacket matches that of Joseph Israel Daniel’s jacket in every respect except for the for its five-button front. The Daniel jacket is an Augusta uniform described next in this study.
Reynolds’ jacket is made of a coarse, steel gray colored tabby weave. This fabric may be an imported English tweed. The basic cloth still has portions of a thick nap on the surface. The jacket retains its five original buttons: imported English script “A” buttons (Tice’s CSA215 or CSA218). The lining is osnaburg. The right lapel of the jacket has a double row of topstitching to support the buttons and the entire edge around the body and top of the collar have a row of topstitching, as well. Both the jacket’s sleeves have large repair panels worked into their inside, bottom portions, indicating extreme wear and fraying prior to the repair. Such harsh wear would correlate to the rigors of prison life, and the family may have repaired the sleeve’s after recovering Reynold’s remains. The light brown patches appear to be Confederate era fabric. The jacket has a two-piece collar (inside and out), a six-piece body and one-piece sleeves. The collar has pointed ends with a front height of one and three-quarter inches and rear height of two inches. The lining construction matches that of the body and has two interior patch pockets that align with the bottom edge of the jacket and the lapel facings. The pockets have a notable feature: their openings slant downwards towards the side seams. Evidently, the seamstress attached them backwards instead of having the downward slant angle towards the lapel. The pocket lining is a whiter hue than the rest of the lining, indicative of the typical practice of using scrap from mismatched lining pieces to make small components. The right pocket has been sewn closed at the top. The lapel facings were sewn to the lining with the top of the basic cloth facing the lining, then turned outward and pressed flat. The left front lapel edge is not perfectly plum with the collar, either because the button pulled it outward or the seamstress did not align the collar components correctly when joining the pieces. The Reynolds jacket also lacks the pronounced point at the bottom of the rear seam. The lining at the cuffs is folded inwards a half inch from the edge of the opening and whipstitched in place.
Reynold's uniform includes a pair of dark brown trousers. Whether these were issued to him by a depot along with his jacket, or sent from home is not known. A picture is included herein to round out this study.
The first of the six Augusta-named jackets belonged to Robert E. Reynolds who served in the Army of Northern Virginia with Company C, Virginia Norfolk Light Artillery.[199] He was captured at Gettysburg and died as a prisoner at Fort Delaware on June 13, 1864. His body was turned over to his mother for burial in Virginia, and the jacket and pants attributed to him were probably taken from his body by his family as keepsakes. While his surviving pants may have been made at the Richmond Depot, his jacket appears to be one of numerous Augusta jackets sent to Lee’s army by the Confederate quartermaster at Augusta. As such, this jacket may represent a very early Augusta Depot product that pre-dates the Battle of Gettysburg and the blue-gray Augusta jackets. Reynold’s jacket was probably made in the spring of 1863. The tailoring in Reynold’s jacket matches that of Joseph Israel Daniel’s jacket in every respect except for the for its five-button front. The Daniel jacket is an Augusta uniform described next in this study.
Reynolds’ jacket is made of a coarse, steel gray colored tabby weave. This fabric may be an imported English tweed. The basic cloth still has portions of a thick nap on the surface. The jacket retains its five original buttons: imported English script “A” buttons (Tice’s CSA215 or CSA218). The lining is osnaburg. The right lapel of the jacket has a double row of topstitching to support the buttons and the entire edge around the body and top of the collar have a row of topstitching, as well. Both the jacket’s sleeves have large repair panels worked into their inside, bottom portions, indicating extreme wear and fraying prior to the repair. Such harsh wear would correlate to the rigors of prison life, and the family may have repaired the sleeve’s after recovering Reynold’s remains. The light brown patches appear to be Confederate era fabric. The jacket has a two-piece collar (inside and out), a six-piece body and one-piece sleeves. The collar has pointed ends with a front height of one and three-quarter inches and rear height of two inches. The lining construction matches that of the body and has two interior patch pockets that align with the bottom edge of the jacket and the lapel facings. The pockets have a notable feature: their openings slant downwards towards the side seams. Evidently, the seamstress attached them backwards instead of having the downward slant angle towards the lapel. The pocket lining is a whiter hue than the rest of the lining, indicative of the typical practice of using scrap from mismatched lining pieces to make small components. The right pocket has been sewn closed at the top. The lapel facings were sewn to the lining with the top of the basic cloth facing the lining, then turned outward and pressed flat. The left front lapel edge is not perfectly plum with the collar, either because the button pulled it outward or the seamstress did not align the collar components correctly when joining the pieces. The Reynolds jacket also lacks the pronounced point at the bottom of the rear seam. The lining at the cuffs is folded inwards a half inch from the edge of the opening and whipstitched in place.
Reynold's uniform includes a pair of dark brown trousers. Whether these were issued to him by a depot along with his jacket, or sent from home is not known. A picture is included herein to round out this study.
64a. The 64-series artifact is courtesy of the Texas Civil War Museum, Fort Worth, Texas. This view shows the Reynolds jacket buttoned closed.
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64b. This front view shows the button lapel.
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64c. A close view of the collar front highlights its construction.
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64d. The imported script "A" button is shown in this image.
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64e. The right side of the collar has a typical spacing allowance between the edge of the collar and the edge of the lapel.
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64f. The left lapel plumb edge is somewhat uneven. The collar was set slightly askew.
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64g. The right view of the collar shows the topstitching along the top edge.
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64h. The topstitching is also clearly seen in this image.
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64i. The entire right lapel is visible in this image.
64j. The left lapel is shown here.
64k. This close-up view of the right lapel highlights the two rows of stitching either side of the row of buttons. The stitching serves to hold the interlining in place and strengthen the button lapel.
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64l. A close view of a buttonhole shows both the good construction and the heavy wear from the rubbing of the button.
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64m. The right sleeve highlights its voluminous width and a wide cuff opening.
64n. This image offers a view of the left sleeve's shape.
64o. The right cuff is shown here.
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64p. The left cuff is shown in this image.
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64q. The inside construction of the cuff is visible here.
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64r. This image shows the repair made to one of the sleeves.
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64s. The back of Reynold's jacket is shown in this image.
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64t. The inside of Reynold's jacket is visible here.
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64u. This image shows a close view of the collar's rear.
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64v. The bottom edge of the rear of Reynold's jacket is seen in this image.
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64w. The inside of the right lapel is seen in this image.
64x. The inside of the left lapel is visible here.
64y. The outside view of the two-piece collar is seen in this image.
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64z. The of the two-piece collar is viewed here.
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64z27. A closer view of the inside of the collar shows the construction along the bottom edge. The bottom edge is folded inward and whipstitched in place.
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64z28. The inside left of the collar shows folded and whipstitched bottom edge.
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64z29. The right interior patch pocket is whipstitched in place along the interior edge of the lapel.
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64z30. The interior patch pockets are made of a lighter hue of lining than the rest of the lining components. The pockets are rather large, roughly six-and-a-half inches wide and seven-and-a-half inches high on the lapel side.
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64z31. This image shows a magnified view of the basic jacket, plain-weave fabric.
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64z32. The woolen weft yarns are clearly of a light, steel gray color. Whether this color was intentionally dyed or a natural sheep's gray is not clear.
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64z33. More interior cuff details are visible in this image, to include the repair panel that is folded inside the cuff.
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64z34. A close view of the lining fabric shows the plain weave of the unbleached osnaburg cloth.
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64z35. This image shows the whipstitched construction used in the lining along the seams between the back and side panels.
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64z36. The bottom, inside edge of the jacket is highlighted in this image. The topstitching appears to consist of a widely spaced backstitch.
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64z37. Reynold's dark brown trousers survived with his Augusta jacket. It is not known whether these trousers are homemade or depot-issued.
The next Augusta jacket (dubbed by Jensen as an Atlanta jacket) was worn by Private Joseph Israel Daniel of Company D, 5th Georgia Cavalry, Liberty Rangers. The jacket is accompanied by a surviving pair of homemade, brown-colored, jeans trousers. Daniel wore this jacket when he was wounded on June 20, 1864 at Noonday Church during the Atlanta campaign. Just prior to this battle, Daniel's command had arrived in Atlanta from the Atlantic coast. Daniel was incapacitated by his wound for the rest of the year, and was sent home on a surgeon’s certificate to Liberty County, Georgia (on the Georgia coast, near Savannah).[200] Daniel may have been issued his jacket while stationed on the coast prior to the battle, or while he was in Liberty County recuperating from his wound (if one considers that he might not have worn it when he was wounded). Since the Augusta Depot supplied the areas where Daniel was stationed, it is reasonable to assume that his jacket came from there.
Daniel’s jacket has two belt loops, each placed along the side seam. These have 4 ½ inch wide openings as allowance for the waist belt. The jacket has six buttonholes, in unbleached white thread, but all of the buttons are now missing. The basic cloth is the all-woolen, tabby fabric, possibly an imported English tweed. The warp is a coarse, undyed natural white woolen yarn and the weft a coarse dark blue gray woolen yarn. The overall effect from only a few feet away renders the cloth a medium gray color. If the fabric had a nap, it is now absent. The collar ends are square-shaped with a front and rear height of one and seven-eighths inches. The bottom edge of the lapel is curved. There is unbleached white thread topstitching all around the edge of the body, collar and cuffs. There are also remnants of topstitching along the lower edge of the collar. The collar components are two-piece and have pointed ends. The right lapel of the jacket has a double row of topstitching, as well, to support the buttons. The jacket has one interior, patch pocket on the left side that is stitched to lapel facing and lining. This pocket is nearly identical to those in the Reynolds jacket in its dimensions and construction, but having the slanted opening facing the lapel. The collar was also attached well to the left front piece rending a perfectly straight plumb edge. The lining is a tightly woven, white osnaburg, now somewhat soiled. The sleeve lining is folded inwards a half inch from the cuff edge (the same as the Reynolds jacket). The Daniel jacket has a distinct point at the bottom edge of the back seam.
Some images of Daniel’s pants are also included in the study, even though they are not depot trousers, in order to give a full picture of his uniform.
Daniel’s jacket has two belt loops, each placed along the side seam. These have 4 ½ inch wide openings as allowance for the waist belt. The jacket has six buttonholes, in unbleached white thread, but all of the buttons are now missing. The basic cloth is the all-woolen, tabby fabric, possibly an imported English tweed. The warp is a coarse, undyed natural white woolen yarn and the weft a coarse dark blue gray woolen yarn. The overall effect from only a few feet away renders the cloth a medium gray color. If the fabric had a nap, it is now absent. The collar ends are square-shaped with a front and rear height of one and seven-eighths inches. The bottom edge of the lapel is curved. There is unbleached white thread topstitching all around the edge of the body, collar and cuffs. There are also remnants of topstitching along the lower edge of the collar. The collar components are two-piece and have pointed ends. The right lapel of the jacket has a double row of topstitching, as well, to support the buttons. The jacket has one interior, patch pocket on the left side that is stitched to lapel facing and lining. This pocket is nearly identical to those in the Reynolds jacket in its dimensions and construction, but having the slanted opening facing the lapel. The collar was also attached well to the left front piece rending a perfectly straight plumb edge. The lining is a tightly woven, white osnaburg, now somewhat soiled. The sleeve lining is folded inwards a half inch from the cuff edge (the same as the Reynolds jacket). The Daniel jacket has a distinct point at the bottom edge of the back seam.
Some images of Daniel’s pants are also included in the study, even though they are not depot trousers, in order to give a full picture of his uniform.
65a. The 65-series artifact is courtesy of the Midway Museum, Midway, Georgia. This view shows the Daniel jacket from the right front.
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65b. The left front view of Daniel's jacket highlights the plumb collar edge of the left lapel.
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65c. The right collar side is shown in this image.
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65d. The damage to the left side of the collar allows a view of the interlining, buckram stiffening.
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65e. The entire, outside of the collar is viewed here.
65f. The right sleeve highlights the generous width of the sleeve and its wide cuff opening.
65g. This image offers a view of the left sleeve.
65h. The right cuff is shown here.
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65i. The left cuff is shown in this image.
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65j. The inside construction of the cuff is visible here.
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65k. The entire right lapel is visible in this image. All of the jacket's six buttons are missing.
65l. The left, buttonhole lapel is shown here.
65m. This close-up view of the right lapel highlights the two rows of stitching either side of the row of buttons.
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65n. Another close view of the right lapel shows the reinforcing stitching at the bottom.
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65o. The buttonholes are very well-made on this jacket. Additionally, the buckram interlining in the lapel can be seen through the damaged spot above and to the right of the buttonhole.
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65p. This image shows the position of the left side belt loop.
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65q. A closer view of the left belt loop highlights its construction.
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65r. This image shows the inside of the left side belt loop.
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65s. This image shows the position of the right side belt loop.
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65t. This image shows the construction of the right belt loop.
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65u. The inside of the right belt loop is shown here.
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65v. The back of Daniel's jacket is shown in this image.
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65w. The inside of Daniel's jacket is visible here.
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65x. This image shows a closer view of the collar's rear.
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65y. The bottom edge of the rear of Daniel's jacket highlights the distinct point at the rear seam.
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65z. The interior construction of the two-piece collar is visible here. The damage to the lining was most likely caused by the acidic affect of ink markings made by Daniel himself. Since the ink has dissolved the osnaburg, we will never know what Daniel may have written in the lining.
65z27. A closer view of the inside of the collar shows the construction along the bottom edge. In contrast to Reynold's jacket, Daniel's collar has been finished by laying the raw edge along the lining and whipstitching it in place.
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65z28. The inside view of the left of the collar shows the raw-edged finish along the bottom.
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65z29. The inside of the right lapel is seen in this image.
65z30. The inside of the left lapel is visible here.
65z31. The interior patch pocket is quite similar in construction to those seen in the Reynold's jacket. This pocket was applied to the jacket after the work to the body had been completed, rather than sewing the outer edge into the lapel seam. This is evident by the way that the outer pocket edge is whipstitched to the lapel facing itself.
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65z32. The damage to the pocket allows for a close look at the way that the opening edge was folded over and the edge tucked into the fold, which was whipstitched in place.
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65z33. This close-up view of the interior pocket highlights the backstitch used to attach the pocket to the lining.
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65z34. This close image of the interior, bottom edge shows the widely spaced backstitch used around the edge.
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65z35. This image shows the backstitch on the top of the bottom edge.
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65z36. This image shows the plain weave of the basic fabric.
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64z37. This image shows a magnified view of the basic jacket, plain-weave fabric. The bluish hue of the weft is clearly visible here. The undyed white warp contrasts strongly with the blue-gray weft.
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65z38. The buckram collar interlining is visible here. The buckram weave is plain, but features two yarns in one directions and one yarn in the opposite direction. The same type of buckram is visible in the lapel interlining.
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65z39. The quarter-inch seam of the basic cloth is shown here. The protected seam still exhibits some residual nap.
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65z40. This image shows the backstitch used to join the seams together.
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65z41. This offers another view of the seam's backstitch and the residual nap.
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65z42. This image shows a front view of Daniel's homemade pants.
65z43. This image shows the rear of Daniel's pants.
65z44. This photo provides a close-up view of the adjustment belt with its rusty, iron swivel buckle.
65z45. The interior of Daniel's pants show how most of the small components, most notably the pockets, were made from the basic cloth rather than lining cloth. The waistband lining, however, is made of a colorful checked material.
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65z46. This magnified view of the basic cloth highlights the brown weft and the mixed-color warp yarn. The warp contains brown yarns interspersed with a bi-color yarn: natural white strands twisted together with bluish-gray strands.
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The third Augusta jacket was worn by James Fuller Lyon, 19th South Carolina Infantry, during the Atlanta Campaign, when he was wounded at the Battle of Ezra Church, July 28, 1864.[201] Prior to this campaign, Lyon’s command had served in Tennessee. The buttons from Lyon’s jacket are missing. Lyon’s jacket may have been part of the clothing supply delivered from Augusta to the Army of Tennessee, after quartermaster operations were suspended at the Atlanta Depot in June 1864.
Lyon’s jacket follows the characteristics of the Reynolds and Daniel jackets. The basic fabric matches that observed in the Daniel jacket. Some notable features of the Lyon jacket include rounded ends and the plumb lapel edge that does not align perfectly with the collar. As with the Reynolds jacket, the collar was incorrectly attached to the neck hole which put the alignment off. The inside bottom edge of the collar is whipstitched raw over the lining, exactly like the Daniel collar. The rear collar height is one and a half inches. The fabric has a thick nap over much of the surface. The buttons are missing from the six-buttonhole front and there is no belt loop on the outside. The jacket body has topstitching around bottom edge only with double stitching at the inside of the back panels. There is no topstitching around the lapel edges, cuffs or edge of collar. The lapel facing seams at the lining are turned and pressed and the bottom lapel edges are curved, identical to those of the Reynolds and Daniel jackets. The rear seam comes to a point. The topstitching thread is natural white, while the buttonhole thread is brown. The pocket bag has curved corners at the bottom, but is otherwise like the previously mentioned jacket, being whipstitched in place. The cuff basic cloth is exposed where the lining is folded inwards almost an inch above the edge of the opening, where it is whipstitched to the turned back cuff.
Lyon’s jacket follows the characteristics of the Reynolds and Daniel jackets. The basic fabric matches that observed in the Daniel jacket. Some notable features of the Lyon jacket include rounded ends and the plumb lapel edge that does not align perfectly with the collar. As with the Reynolds jacket, the collar was incorrectly attached to the neck hole which put the alignment off. The inside bottom edge of the collar is whipstitched raw over the lining, exactly like the Daniel collar. The rear collar height is one and a half inches. The fabric has a thick nap over much of the surface. The buttons are missing from the six-buttonhole front and there is no belt loop on the outside. The jacket body has topstitching around bottom edge only with double stitching at the inside of the back panels. There is no topstitching around the lapel edges, cuffs or edge of collar. The lapel facing seams at the lining are turned and pressed and the bottom lapel edges are curved, identical to those of the Reynolds and Daniel jackets. The rear seam comes to a point. The topstitching thread is natural white, while the buttonhole thread is brown. The pocket bag has curved corners at the bottom, but is otherwise like the previously mentioned jacket, being whipstitched in place. The cuff basic cloth is exposed where the lining is folded inwards almost an inch above the edge of the opening, where it is whipstitched to the turned back cuff.
66a. The 66-series artifact is courtesy of the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room, Columbia, South Carolina. This images offers a front view of Lyon's jacket.
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66b. This image shows the inside collar construction whereby the raw-cut bottom edge was laid flat over the lining and whipstitched in place.
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66c. The basic cloth weave and composition is visible here: the undyed, natural white, woolen warp and the blue-gray woolen weft.
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66d. The back of Lyon's jacket is shown in this image.
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Another Augusta jacket is said to have been worn by J.B. Stanley at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, November 30, 1864. According to Les Jensen, who dubbed it an Atlanta jacket, Stanley lived after the war in Greenville, Alabama and may have served in the 22nd Alabama Infantry.[202] Stanley might have received his jacket from the copious fall issues to the Army of Tennessee that came from Augusta. The Stanley jacket has W.C. Allen wooden buttons from Prattville, Alabama.
The fifth Augusta jacket resides in the Smithsonian Institution collection. It is without provenance and identified herein by its catalog number: U-173.[203] This jacket has a six-button front, and is made of dark, blue-gray satinet (the same color as the imported blue-gray kersey) and retains much of its thick nap. Its tailoring shares similarities with the other Augusta jackets thus far described. The U-173 jacket has a belt loop at each side seam. The left belt loop has a buttonhole with its button intact. The belt loops have generous openings for the waist belt, the right loop being five inches high and the left four and three-eighths inches high. The collar has round edges and is made similarly to the Reynolds collar with the top seam edges tucked inwards and whipstitched together. The collar height, front and rear, is one and a quarter inches. The plumb edge of collar and left front align well. The topstitching and buttonholes are finished in brown thread, and like the Lyon jacket, there is no topstitching around the lapel edges, cuffs or collar, only along the bottom inside edge of the lining. The interior, patch pocket bag matches that of the Lyon jacket, having curved bottom corners, but is attached with a sturdy, tight backstitch around the edge. The rear seam has a distinct point, and the cuffs are finished like the those of the Lyon jacket with almost an inch of the basic cloth exposed at the opening. The lapel facing construction matches that of the previously described Augusta jackets. All six of the jacket’s buttons are intact, but these are undoubtedly replacements added by the officer who wore this jacket. The buttons are Confederate staff officer, eagle buttons (Tice CS205A5), with the backmark “Extra Rich treble Gilt.”
The fifth Augusta jacket resides in the Smithsonian Institution collection. It is without provenance and identified herein by its catalog number: U-173.[203] This jacket has a six-button front, and is made of dark, blue-gray satinet (the same color as the imported blue-gray kersey) and retains much of its thick nap. Its tailoring shares similarities with the other Augusta jackets thus far described. The U-173 jacket has a belt loop at each side seam. The left belt loop has a buttonhole with its button intact. The belt loops have generous openings for the waist belt, the right loop being five inches high and the left four and three-eighths inches high. The collar has round edges and is made similarly to the Reynolds collar with the top seam edges tucked inwards and whipstitched together. The collar height, front and rear, is one and a quarter inches. The plumb edge of collar and left front align well. The topstitching and buttonholes are finished in brown thread, and like the Lyon jacket, there is no topstitching around the lapel edges, cuffs or collar, only along the bottom inside edge of the lining. The interior, patch pocket bag matches that of the Lyon jacket, having curved bottom corners, but is attached with a sturdy, tight backstitch around the edge. The rear seam has a distinct point, and the cuffs are finished like the those of the Lyon jacket with almost an inch of the basic cloth exposed at the opening. The lapel facing construction matches that of the previously described Augusta jackets. All six of the jacket’s buttons are intact, but these are undoubtedly replacements added by the officer who wore this jacket. The buttons are Confederate staff officer, eagle buttons (Tice CS205A5), with the backmark “Extra Rich treble Gilt.”
67a. The 67-series artifact is courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. This particular image is courtesy of Don Troiani, while the rest of the images in this series are from the author. This view shows the U-173 jacket with its front buttons closed.
67b. This front view shows the buttonhole lapel.
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67c. This front view shows the button lapel.
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67d. A close view of the collar front highlights its lack of topstitching.
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67e. A close view of a buttonhole shows how the its stitches have been worn away with usage. All of the front buttonholes exhibit this severe wear to their stitching.
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67f. The U-173 jacket is adorned with common, Confederate staff officer buttons. These, however, have slightly different characteristics, indicating that the buttons were made by at leas t two different manufacturers.
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67g. This image shows another of the staff buttons, this one slightly different from the previous button depicted.
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67h. The buttons are backmarked “Extra Rich treble Gilt.”
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67i. This picture shows more of the backmark stamping.
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67i. This image shows the right sleeve. It appears a bit narrower than the Reynolds sleeve but has the same, very wide cuff openings.
67j. This image offers a view of the left sleeve.
67k. An image of the right cuff highlights the lack of topstitching around the edge.
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67l. An close image of the left cuff shows its construction.
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67m. This view of the inside of the cuff shows how the lining was folded inward a half inch from the edge of the cuff opening.
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67n. Remarkably, the end of the cuff was not simply folded inward to complete the edge: there is a separate welt added that forms the cuff opening.
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67o. This image shows the position of the right side belt loop.
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67p. This image shows the construction of the right belt loop.
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67q. The lining of the right belt loop is shown here.
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67r. This image shows the position of the left side belt loop. The U-173 jacket is unique in that one of its belt loops has a functional button.
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67s. This image shows the left belt loop unbuttoned, highlighting the japanned, stamoed button.
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67t. This image shows the left side belt loop's lining.
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67u. This image provides a close view of the left side belt loop's buttonhole, that is very well-constructed.
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67v. The back of the U-173 jacket is shown in this image.
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67w. This image shows a slightly closer view of the back of the U-173 jacket.
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67x. The inside of the U-173 jacket is visible here.
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67y. This image shows a closer view of the collar's rear.
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67z. The bottom edge of the rear of the U-173 jacket highlights the distinct point at the rear seam.
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67z27. The U-173 jacket's interior patch pocket is quite similar to those of the other Augusta jackets. What stands out about this pocket is that the seamstress sewed the bottom of left belt loop, and its button, straight through the pocket bag, This unintentional mistake renders the pocket somewhat less serviceable.
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67z28. The images provides a close view of the pocket opening.
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67z29. This image shows the stitching going through the lining that secures the bottom of right belt loop.
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67z30. This image shows the interior bottom edge of the jacket rear with its widely spaced backstitch.
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67z31. This image offers view of the jacket's interior construction, notably the buckram interlining inside the lapel. This buckram matches that used in the Daniel jacket.
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67z32. This image provides a close view of the osnaburg lining.
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67z33. The inside of the collar appears to have had its bottom edge folded inward and whipstitched in place, if indeed it was not joined to the lining with a regular seam, turned up and pressed flat.
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67z34. The inside view of the left of the collar is seen in this image.
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67z35. The inside view of the left of the collar is seen in this image.
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67z36. This close-up view shows the basic cloth, satinet's weave: an over one, under two warp, and an under one, over two weft.
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67z37. This image shows a magnified view of the basic fabric. The cloth is imported having been made in the blue-gray color typical of the uniform cloth sent from England, France and Belgium. In contrast to the often encountered, all-wool kersey imported cloth, this satinet variant has a cotton warp.
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67z38. Another close-up image of the basic cloth exhibits the white cotton warp in damaged spots. The basic cloth retains over much of its surface the original, thick nap that masked the cotton warp to give the effect of a higher grade, all-woolen cloth.
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The sixth Augusta jacket resides in the Confederate Museum, Charleston, South Carolina, United Daughters of the Confederacy collection. It is an identical jacket to the U-173 jacket, and was worn by 1st Lieutenant Legare J. Walker, Company B, 7th South Carolina Cavalry (previously Rutledge’s Mounted Riflemen). The regiment served first in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, but by early 1864 was serving in the Army of Northern Virginia. Walker was wounded at the Battle of Old Church on May 30, 1864, sent to the hospital in Richmond, and finally transferred to a hospital in Augusta on June 3rd. He returned to the regiment in September, and was detached to Pineville, South Carolina in February 1865. He returned to his regiment in time for the Appomattox Campaign, where he was again wounded on about April 9th. He ended his service in a Federal hospital. He probably got his jacket when he was in the Augusta hospital in the summer of 1864, or while he was stationed in Pineville (in the coastal region) in early 1865.
The author was not permitted to examine or photograph Walker’s jacket, and only observed it in its vitrine. Despite the limited scope of the viewing, Walker’s jacket clearly resembles the U-173 jacket. The dark, blue-gray satinet, heavily napped basic cloth is the same, the tailoring (to include the plumb collar edge), and the six-button front all match the U-173 jacket. Interestingly, the jacket body was shortened to within about a half-inch from the bottom buttonhole. The buttons are imported English script “C,” Tice CSC215 or CSC218. The jacket is marked where the bullet struck Walker when he was wounded. The collar has quarter-inch, raised first lieutenant bars.
Walker’s jacket is accompanied by a pair of depot-made, enlisted, light French blue pants with white edging, apparently faded from another color. The pants have a belt at the rear waist seam. The blue pants may be from either the Augusta, Charleston, or Richmond Depots. Walker would have had ample opportunity to draw pants from any of these sources. The Charleston and Richmond depots are known to have issued light blue enlisted pants, and the Augusta Depot doubtless had access to imported, light blue cloth. As with the jacket, no first-hand examination or photographs were permitted.[204]
The Charleston and Augusta jackets represent the quartermasters’ success at synchronizing a standard jacket pattern for both the Charleston and Augusta depots. With the minor exception of the button count (five for Charleston and six for Augusta) the department’s clothing bureau successfully established a universal jacket pattern late in the war.
Only one enlisted cap with impeccable provenance to the Charleston region is known to survive. This was worn by Private R.V. Sweatman, Kannapaux’s South Carolina Artillery Battalion, and it resides in the Charleston Museum collection. The cap’s basic cloth is tannish-gray jeans that has probably faded from steel gray or cadet gray. The lining is unbleached osnaburg, the sweatband enameled cloth, and the visor is leather. The chinstrap and buttons are missing. What is especially noteworthy is that this cap is cut along the lines of the Federal forage cap, not the Confederate chasseur cap. The body of the cap follows the shape of the Federal forage cap, but it has a separate band piece. This differs from the Federal forage cap only in that the sides of the Federal forage cap form the cap’s base. The one-piece band’s seam closes in the front rather that at the rear of the cap. The crown is held in place with a reinforced welt placed between it and the side pieces. The welt is apparently stiffened with a reed which acts as a spring to hold the welt’s circular shape. The purpose of the welt was to prevent the crown from collapsing into the sides. The welt is made of red cloth, a feature that dates to the ante-bellum, M1858 Federal forage cap, when these caps were trimmed with their branch-of-service color. Other than the red crown welt, the band is trimmed with a piece of three-quarter inch wide, red woolen tape. The tape is sewn into the top edge of the band and does not extend to the base (only a half inch of the tape extends from the seam). Sweatman’s cap represents one of the many variants made in Charleston or Augusta. While it may not be typical of majority of caps issued in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, it might be the sole surviving enlisted depot cap from the department.[205]
The author was not permitted to examine or photograph Walker’s jacket, and only observed it in its vitrine. Despite the limited scope of the viewing, Walker’s jacket clearly resembles the U-173 jacket. The dark, blue-gray satinet, heavily napped basic cloth is the same, the tailoring (to include the plumb collar edge), and the six-button front all match the U-173 jacket. Interestingly, the jacket body was shortened to within about a half-inch from the bottom buttonhole. The buttons are imported English script “C,” Tice CSC215 or CSC218. The jacket is marked where the bullet struck Walker when he was wounded. The collar has quarter-inch, raised first lieutenant bars.
Walker’s jacket is accompanied by a pair of depot-made, enlisted, light French blue pants with white edging, apparently faded from another color. The pants have a belt at the rear waist seam. The blue pants may be from either the Augusta, Charleston, or Richmond Depots. Walker would have had ample opportunity to draw pants from any of these sources. The Charleston and Richmond depots are known to have issued light blue enlisted pants, and the Augusta Depot doubtless had access to imported, light blue cloth. As with the jacket, no first-hand examination or photographs were permitted.[204]
The Charleston and Augusta jackets represent the quartermasters’ success at synchronizing a standard jacket pattern for both the Charleston and Augusta depots. With the minor exception of the button count (five for Charleston and six for Augusta) the department’s clothing bureau successfully established a universal jacket pattern late in the war.
Only one enlisted cap with impeccable provenance to the Charleston region is known to survive. This was worn by Private R.V. Sweatman, Kannapaux’s South Carolina Artillery Battalion, and it resides in the Charleston Museum collection. The cap’s basic cloth is tannish-gray jeans that has probably faded from steel gray or cadet gray. The lining is unbleached osnaburg, the sweatband enameled cloth, and the visor is leather. The chinstrap and buttons are missing. What is especially noteworthy is that this cap is cut along the lines of the Federal forage cap, not the Confederate chasseur cap. The body of the cap follows the shape of the Federal forage cap, but it has a separate band piece. This differs from the Federal forage cap only in that the sides of the Federal forage cap form the cap’s base. The one-piece band’s seam closes in the front rather that at the rear of the cap. The crown is held in place with a reinforced welt placed between it and the side pieces. The welt is apparently stiffened with a reed which acts as a spring to hold the welt’s circular shape. The purpose of the welt was to prevent the crown from collapsing into the sides. The welt is made of red cloth, a feature that dates to the ante-bellum, M1858 Federal forage cap, when these caps were trimmed with their branch-of-service color. Other than the red crown welt, the band is trimmed with a piece of three-quarter inch wide, red woolen tape. The tape is sewn into the top edge of the band and does not extend to the base (only a half inch of the tape extends from the seam). Sweatman’s cap represents one of the many variants made in Charleston or Augusta. While it may not be typical of majority of caps issued in the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, it might be the sole surviving enlisted depot cap from the department.[205]
68a. The 68-series artifact is courtesy of the Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina. This image shows the Sweatman cap from the side, highlighting the unusual stripe of red trim that covers only the top half of the band.
68b. A front view of Sweatman's cap shows its similarity to the Federal forage cap of 1858, including the overall form and the retaining welt at the crown, made in the branch color. The pattern varies from Federal cap with its separate band, which incidentally is made of two parts by economizing the use of scrap cloth.
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68c. Sweatman, presumably, marked his cap on the inside of the crown with his name. The marking "180A" is cryptic and as yet undeciphered.
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Click this link to navigate to Part V...
Acknowledgments:
The institutions, museum professionals and private collectors who have shared artifacts and images used in the fourth part of this study are listed below. Without their generosity and time, this study would not be complete. These include the American Civil War Museum, Richmond, Virginia; the Library of Congress; the Texas Civil War Museum, Fort Worth, Texas and CEO Ray Richey; the Midway Museum, Midway, Georgia and Museum Director Tina Scott Ladson; the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room, Columbia, South Carolina and Curators Rachel H. Cockrell and William J. Long; the Smithsonian Institution and Curators Patri O’Gan and the late Margaret Vining; the Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina and Curator of Textiles Jan Hiester; Wayne Phillips, Curator of Costumes and Textiles, Louisiana State Museum; Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas; and, Don Troiani.
The author would also like to acknowledge the following individuals for their insights on period fabrics: Charles R. Childs, Ben Tart, Pat Kline, Rabbit Goody and David Burt. Additionally, the research of Bob Williams, Ron Fields and Harold S. Wilson provided an underlying foundational for this study.
Copyright: All images in this article are copyrighted to the Adolphus Confederate Uniforms website with the exception of those that are part of the Library of Congress collection.
Bibliography
[175] Williams, Bob, Confederate Quartermaster Stores: Savannah Coastal Defenses, website “Plowshares & Bayonets:” A Scholarly Blog of the 26th North Carolina Regiment, 26nc.org/blog/, posted January 26, 2014.
[176] Civil War Newspaper Transcriptions, by Vicki Betts, http://www.uttyl.edu/vbetts/. The Confederacy, in general, relied almost exclusively on imports for blankets due to a severe lack of blanket factories in the South. An article in the Savannah [Georgia] Republican, September 3, 1862, page 2, column 2, entitled Blankets for the Rebels, reflected this state of affairs. The New York Tribune wrote an editorial about this on September 12, 1862, reporting, “The South is now destitute of blankets, and of any substitute. Under these circumstances, considerable sums of money have been sent to England to buy blankets for the army, with orders to ship them to Charleston.”
[177] Wilson, p. 178.
[178] Wilson, p. 85; CSR Officers, M331, Roll 155, Major Hutson Lee, QM Charleston.
[179] Wilson, pp. 114, & 223.
[180] Wilson, pp. 38, 150-151, 160, 179.
[181] Field, Ron, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1: The State Quartermaster Department, Military Collector & Historian, Journal of the Company of Military Historians, Vol. 70, No. 1, Spring 2018, Washington, DC, pp. 90-91, (hereafter, Field, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1).
[182] Jensen Survey, Part 2, pp. 165-166; CSR Officers, M331, Roll 65, Captain George J. Crafts, AQM Charleston; see also G.O. 13, A&IGO, Richmond, 31 January 1863.
[183] CSR Officers, M331, Roll 65, Captain George J. Crafts, AQM Charleston, transfer to Captain R. Ward, at Adams Run, SC, 1863; and, transfer to Captain C.L. Davies, AQM, Greenville, SC, 1864.
[184] Wilson, p. 213.
[185] Wilson, p. 127.
[186] The Conrad Wise Chapman paintings of the Charleston garrison are in the American Civil War Museum collection. Those relevant to this study included: The H.L. Hunley; Fort Sumter; Battery Bee; Torpedo Boat David; Battery Rutledge; Church Flat Camp; White Point Battery; Battery Simkins; Entrance of Fort Sumter; Battery Lauren Street; The Flag of Sumter; Forts Sumter and Johnson; Battery Chevis; Quaker Battery; Fort Moultrie; Battery Marshall Sullivan; Battery Marshall Long; Fort Johnson; Fort Moultrie Interior; and, Battery on Long Island.
[187] Images are courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. (hereafter, Library of Congress): Confederate artillery near Charleston, S.C. in 1861, LC-B8184-4389 and A Confederate picket post near Charleston, S.C., 1861, LC-B8184-4390; The photographer for both images was George S. Cook (George Smith). The dates are incorrect: they should be 1862.
[188] Image courtesy of the Library of Congress: Confederate artillery near Charleston, S.C. in 1861, (same title as the previously cited image), LC-DIG-ppmsca-35457. The photographer is believed to have been George S. Cook (George Smith). The date is incorrect: it should be 1862.
[189] Image courtesy of the Library of Congress: Coles Island No. 4, LC-DIG-stereo-2s03890. The photographer may have been Osborn & Durbec's Southern Stereoscopic & Photographic Depot, Charleston, South Carolina.
[190] Field, Ron, Charles F. Jackson: A Uniform Supplier of South Carolina, Military Collector & Historian, Journal of the Company of Military Historians, Vol. 69, No. 3, Fall 2017, Washington, DC, pp. 223-229; and, CSA Citizens, M346, Roll 494, C.F. Jackson. The author is grateful for the exhaustive research and excellent article by Ron Field. The statistical data is gleaned from C.F. Jackson’s invoices.
[191] Field, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1, pp. 88-89.
[192] Field, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1, p. 89.
[193] Field, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1, p. 90.
[194] Field, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1, pp. 90-91.
[195] The Simons jacket is in the Washington Light Infantry collection, Charleston, SC. I have not personally examined this jacket and have relied on Les Jensen’s observations; CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 348, Corporal Thomas Grange Simons, Company B, 25th South Carolina Infantry.
[196] The Brown jacket is part of the United Daughters of the Confederacy collection, Charleston, South Carolina, Catalog # 7528. I have not personally examined this jacket and have relied on Les Jensen’s observations. CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 57, two William Browns, one in Company B (with service records for 1863), the other in Company G (with service records for February 1862 through December 1864), 1st South Carolina Artillery Regiment.
[197] Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas, Lot # 40086, 2021; CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 59, Patrick Farrell, 1st South Carolina Artillery.
[198] Artifact courtesy of the Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana; CSR Louisiana, M320, Roll 362, John Bach, Company A, 31st Louisiana Infantry; CSR Louisiana, M320, Roll 30, J.C. Back, Captain Benjamin’s Company, Louisiana Cavalry; CSR Confederate, M258, Roll 116, J. Calhoun Back, CSA Signal Corps.
[199] The Reynolds jacket and pants are courtesy of the TCWM. The author examined the jacket on 19 February 2018. CSR Virginia, M324, Roll 306, Robert E. Reynolds, Captain Grandy’s Company (C), Virginia Light Artillery (Norfolk Light Artillery Blues), Garnett’s (later Richardson’s) Battalion of Light Artillery.
[200] The Daniel jacket and pants are courtesy of the Midway Museum, Midway, GA; CSR Georgia, M266, Roll 29, Private J.I. Daniel, 5th Georgia Cavalry. The author first viewed the jacket on 29 June 2002, and examined it on 19 May 2016 and 29 March 2018; Jensen, Part 2, p. 171, note 103.
[201] The Lyon jacket is courtesy of the SCCRR, author examined the jacket on 3 July 2002; CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 306, First Sergeant James F. (and J. Fuller) Lyon, 19th South Carolina Infantry. Approximately July 14, 1864, Lyon was promoted from first sergeant in Company H to second lieutenant in Company A. His service record does not explicitly state when he was promoted.
[202] See Jensen Survey for details pertaining to the Stanley jacket. I have not seen this jacket, nor have I ever been able to track it down. The ADAH has no record of it, and Jensen may have found it in a private collection. Regarding J.B. Stanley, there are nine soldiers in the Consolidated Service Records with that name, but only one with records to suggest he was present at the Battle of Franklin: a private in Company B, 24th and 25th Consolidated Texas Cavalry.
[203] The U-173 jacket is courtesy of the SI, American History Center, Military History Division, Washington DC, Confederate Shell Jacket ID # AF*U-173, Accession #1980.0399, Catalog #U-173, Former Catalog #1980.0399.0946, Record Serial # 81817W00, Donor: Charles Bremner Hogg Jackson, no known provenance. The author examined the jacket on 10 November 2016.
[204] The Walker uniform is in the Confederate Museum, Charleston, South Carolina, United Daughters of the Confederacy collection, as the Legare J. Walker jacket and pants, catalog numbers 253 and 252. The author viewed the uniform in the vitrine 18 May 2016 but was not allowed to examine it or take pictures. CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 48, First Lieutenant Legare J. Walker, Company B, 7th South Carolina Cavalry.
[205] The Sweatman cap is courtesy of the Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina. The author examined the cap on 11 November 2016. CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 100, R.V. Sweatman, Captain J.T. Kanapaux’s Company, Lafayette Artillery, South Carolina Light Artillery.
Acknowledgments:
The institutions, museum professionals and private collectors who have shared artifacts and images used in the fourth part of this study are listed below. Without their generosity and time, this study would not be complete. These include the American Civil War Museum, Richmond, Virginia; the Library of Congress; the Texas Civil War Museum, Fort Worth, Texas and CEO Ray Richey; the Midway Museum, Midway, Georgia and Museum Director Tina Scott Ladson; the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room, Columbia, South Carolina and Curators Rachel H. Cockrell and William J. Long; the Smithsonian Institution and Curators Patri O’Gan and the late Margaret Vining; the Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina and Curator of Textiles Jan Hiester; Wayne Phillips, Curator of Costumes and Textiles, Louisiana State Museum; Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas; and, Don Troiani.
The author would also like to acknowledge the following individuals for their insights on period fabrics: Charles R. Childs, Ben Tart, Pat Kline, Rabbit Goody and David Burt. Additionally, the research of Bob Williams, Ron Fields and Harold S. Wilson provided an underlying foundational for this study.
Copyright: All images in this article are copyrighted to the Adolphus Confederate Uniforms website with the exception of those that are part of the Library of Congress collection.
Bibliography
[175] Williams, Bob, Confederate Quartermaster Stores: Savannah Coastal Defenses, website “Plowshares & Bayonets:” A Scholarly Blog of the 26th North Carolina Regiment, 26nc.org/blog/, posted January 26, 2014.
[176] Civil War Newspaper Transcriptions, by Vicki Betts, http://www.uttyl.edu/vbetts/. The Confederacy, in general, relied almost exclusively on imports for blankets due to a severe lack of blanket factories in the South. An article in the Savannah [Georgia] Republican, September 3, 1862, page 2, column 2, entitled Blankets for the Rebels, reflected this state of affairs. The New York Tribune wrote an editorial about this on September 12, 1862, reporting, “The South is now destitute of blankets, and of any substitute. Under these circumstances, considerable sums of money have been sent to England to buy blankets for the army, with orders to ship them to Charleston.”
[177] Wilson, p. 178.
[178] Wilson, p. 85; CSR Officers, M331, Roll 155, Major Hutson Lee, QM Charleston.
[179] Wilson, pp. 114, & 223.
[180] Wilson, pp. 38, 150-151, 160, 179.
[181] Field, Ron, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1: The State Quartermaster Department, Military Collector & Historian, Journal of the Company of Military Historians, Vol. 70, No. 1, Spring 2018, Washington, DC, pp. 90-91, (hereafter, Field, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1).
[182] Jensen Survey, Part 2, pp. 165-166; CSR Officers, M331, Roll 65, Captain George J. Crafts, AQM Charleston; see also G.O. 13, A&IGO, Richmond, 31 January 1863.
[183] CSR Officers, M331, Roll 65, Captain George J. Crafts, AQM Charleston, transfer to Captain R. Ward, at Adams Run, SC, 1863; and, transfer to Captain C.L. Davies, AQM, Greenville, SC, 1864.
[184] Wilson, p. 213.
[185] Wilson, p. 127.
[186] The Conrad Wise Chapman paintings of the Charleston garrison are in the American Civil War Museum collection. Those relevant to this study included: The H.L. Hunley; Fort Sumter; Battery Bee; Torpedo Boat David; Battery Rutledge; Church Flat Camp; White Point Battery; Battery Simkins; Entrance of Fort Sumter; Battery Lauren Street; The Flag of Sumter; Forts Sumter and Johnson; Battery Chevis; Quaker Battery; Fort Moultrie; Battery Marshall Sullivan; Battery Marshall Long; Fort Johnson; Fort Moultrie Interior; and, Battery on Long Island.
[187] Images are courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. (hereafter, Library of Congress): Confederate artillery near Charleston, S.C. in 1861, LC-B8184-4389 and A Confederate picket post near Charleston, S.C., 1861, LC-B8184-4390; The photographer for both images was George S. Cook (George Smith). The dates are incorrect: they should be 1862.
[188] Image courtesy of the Library of Congress: Confederate artillery near Charleston, S.C. in 1861, (same title as the previously cited image), LC-DIG-ppmsca-35457. The photographer is believed to have been George S. Cook (George Smith). The date is incorrect: it should be 1862.
[189] Image courtesy of the Library of Congress: Coles Island No. 4, LC-DIG-stereo-2s03890. The photographer may have been Osborn & Durbec's Southern Stereoscopic & Photographic Depot, Charleston, South Carolina.
[190] Field, Ron, Charles F. Jackson: A Uniform Supplier of South Carolina, Military Collector & Historian, Journal of the Company of Military Historians, Vol. 69, No. 3, Fall 2017, Washington, DC, pp. 223-229; and, CSA Citizens, M346, Roll 494, C.F. Jackson. The author is grateful for the exhaustive research and excellent article by Ron Field. The statistical data is gleaned from C.F. Jackson’s invoices.
[191] Field, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1, pp. 88-89.
[192] Field, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1, p. 89.
[193] Field, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1, p. 90.
[194] Field, Clothing the Confederate Soldiers of South Carolina, 1861-1865, Part 1, pp. 90-91.
[195] The Simons jacket is in the Washington Light Infantry collection, Charleston, SC. I have not personally examined this jacket and have relied on Les Jensen’s observations; CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 348, Corporal Thomas Grange Simons, Company B, 25th South Carolina Infantry.
[196] The Brown jacket is part of the United Daughters of the Confederacy collection, Charleston, South Carolina, Catalog # 7528. I have not personally examined this jacket and have relied on Les Jensen’s observations. CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 57, two William Browns, one in Company B (with service records for 1863), the other in Company G (with service records for February 1862 through December 1864), 1st South Carolina Artillery Regiment.
[197] Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas, Lot # 40086, 2021; CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 59, Patrick Farrell, 1st South Carolina Artillery.
[198] Artifact courtesy of the Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana; CSR Louisiana, M320, Roll 362, John Bach, Company A, 31st Louisiana Infantry; CSR Louisiana, M320, Roll 30, J.C. Back, Captain Benjamin’s Company, Louisiana Cavalry; CSR Confederate, M258, Roll 116, J. Calhoun Back, CSA Signal Corps.
[199] The Reynolds jacket and pants are courtesy of the TCWM. The author examined the jacket on 19 February 2018. CSR Virginia, M324, Roll 306, Robert E. Reynolds, Captain Grandy’s Company (C), Virginia Light Artillery (Norfolk Light Artillery Blues), Garnett’s (later Richardson’s) Battalion of Light Artillery.
[200] The Daniel jacket and pants are courtesy of the Midway Museum, Midway, GA; CSR Georgia, M266, Roll 29, Private J.I. Daniel, 5th Georgia Cavalry. The author first viewed the jacket on 29 June 2002, and examined it on 19 May 2016 and 29 March 2018; Jensen, Part 2, p. 171, note 103.
[201] The Lyon jacket is courtesy of the SCCRR, author examined the jacket on 3 July 2002; CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 306, First Sergeant James F. (and J. Fuller) Lyon, 19th South Carolina Infantry. Approximately July 14, 1864, Lyon was promoted from first sergeant in Company H to second lieutenant in Company A. His service record does not explicitly state when he was promoted.
[202] See Jensen Survey for details pertaining to the Stanley jacket. I have not seen this jacket, nor have I ever been able to track it down. The ADAH has no record of it, and Jensen may have found it in a private collection. Regarding J.B. Stanley, there are nine soldiers in the Consolidated Service Records with that name, but only one with records to suggest he was present at the Battle of Franklin: a private in Company B, 24th and 25th Consolidated Texas Cavalry.
[203] The U-173 jacket is courtesy of the SI, American History Center, Military History Division, Washington DC, Confederate Shell Jacket ID # AF*U-173, Accession #1980.0399, Catalog #U-173, Former Catalog #1980.0399.0946, Record Serial # 81817W00, Donor: Charles Bremner Hogg Jackson, no known provenance. The author examined the jacket on 10 November 2016.
[204] The Walker uniform is in the Confederate Museum, Charleston, South Carolina, United Daughters of the Confederacy collection, as the Legare J. Walker jacket and pants, catalog numbers 253 and 252. The author viewed the uniform in the vitrine 18 May 2016 but was not allowed to examine it or take pictures. CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 48, First Lieutenant Legare J. Walker, Company B, 7th South Carolina Cavalry.
[205] The Sweatman cap is courtesy of the Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina. The author examined the cap on 11 November 2016. CSR South Carolina, M267, Roll 100, R.V. Sweatman, Captain J.T. Kanapaux’s Company, Lafayette Artillery, South Carolina Light Artillery.