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  • Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

    Hi,

    I recently bought some cotton trousers from Fred Adolphus, copied from those worn by a CS soldier who died at Vicksburg. I enquired further about the history of the trousers they were copied from and would like to share some information gained from that correspondence (posted with Mr Adolphus's permission):-


    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Regarding your inquiry, I studied this set of artifacts in the first week of June 1997. The collection consisted a cotton shirt and cotton trousers, in the custody of Mr Frank LaRue of Athens, Texas. Mr LaRue was a member of the local historical society and a ranking member in the local Sons of Confederate Veterans. Based on these credentials, he was given custody of an original Confederate shirt and trousers. He was already old when I met him, and when I called to ask him about the artifacts this summer, I figured he would be deceased. Sure enough, he was.


    Now here is the heart-breaking part: When he died, no one knew what he had, and the family came and took his belongings or disposed of them. No one knows where the Confederate clothing is now, and I curse myself for not having contacted him years ago. He died four or five years ago, and I just found this out when I called the historical society in August of this year (2009).

    Now for the details on the artifacts. The shirt and pants were worn by Private John Jay, Company H, 1st Louisiana Heavy Artillery. Jay died at Vicksburg, Mississippi in a hospital on December 31, 1862. He had enlisted September 11, 1862 in Winn Parish, Louisiana for three years or the war. The clothes were probably made by Jay's wife. Following his demise, his body was sent home in the shirt and pants. The clothes were removed from the body so that he could be laid to rest in a formal suit. The shirt and pants were washed and packed away.


    The shirt is natural, off-white, unbleached, cream color cotton with three porcelain/glass buttons on front and one at each wrist. It has no pockets. The pants are cotton tabby weave, having a brown fill and a light blue warp. Pockets are of the same material. The fly has five white bone buttons. Suspenders were held by two white bone buttons in the front and two white glass buttons in the rear. There is no adjustment belt at the rear seam.



    Sincerely,


    Fred Adolphus


    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Mr Adolphus may be able to e-mail some pictures to me of the artifacts, taken before they were lost. I will post them if I receive them unless Mr Adolphus posts them first.

    Mr Adolphus also stated that he has found a number of references to cotton trousers in diary accounts and letters that he has studied, as well as having viewed several original pairs. Obviously I cannot expand on this.


    I would be interested in further views/ thoughts/ observations on this subject. Could cotton trousers be under-represented for CS portrayals, or is there a feeling that Pvt Jay was in a small minority. Or simply, will we ever know....


    Best regards
    Paul Jonsson (England, UK)

  • #2
    Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

    and can You post the photos of this items?
    [I][SIZE="2"]Igor Karpov[/SIZE][/I]

    From Moscow with love! :beer_yum:

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

      Mr Jonsson,

      I am going to try and post the pictures that I scanned. Please send me your email address and mailing address. I cleaned out my email files and inadvertantly deleted your email. Anyway, I have some letters from Jay, as well as the photos I can forward to you if this doesn't work out.

      Also, as I mentioned in a previous email, there are many examples of Confederate cotton trousers. The Marchbanks trousers which are in a museum in Cleburne, Texas are brown cotton. The Hill College Texas Heritage Museum has two pairs of cotton trousers: one pair worn by a Confederate officer and one pair made for a young boy on the home front. Also, a Louisiana soldier named Fay, who wrote "This Infernal War" wrote numerous letters to his wife asking for cotton trousers and thanking her for the same after he received them. So, Confederates did were cotton trousers, and its documented.

      Wish me luck at posting the pictures!

      Fred Adolphus
      Attached Files

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      • #4
        Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

        I was just re-reading letters written between my gg-grandfather and gg-grandmother during the war. On June 12, 1863, evidently just before heading north to Gettysburg, he wrote home, saying "send me a pair of cotton pants. I have drawed (sic) heavy yarn pants." Previously, he had written home stating that he needed pants and asking his wife to "color them to suit a soldier." Ironically, he never received the cotton pants, and on June 17, 1863, en route to Gettysburg wrote that he was "sorry that I did not get the pants for the ones I have are heavy winter goods."
        Carlton Mansfield
        26th North Carolina Troops

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        • #5
          Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

          To the folks who are smarter than I, would "heavy yarn pants" more likely refer to kersey or to a stout jean cloth or satinette? This combined with the outstanding research by Mr. Webster may be another piece of the puzzle.
          Bryant Roberts
          Palmetto Guards/WIG/LR

          Interested in the Palmetto Guards?
          palmettoguards@gmail.com

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

            In "Letters to Lucinda" a soldier in the 9th GA Battery specifically asks his wife to send him a set of cotton trousers. Sorry, I don't have the complete reference. He also asks for other clothing articles, including a coat. He mentions that if she sends clothes, then he won't have to "buy them from the Captain." In other words, funds won't be deducted from his pay if he declines the issue garments.

            I think clothes from home were common and cotton pants are indeed under represented.
            Mark Hubbs
            My book, The Secret of Wattensaw Bayou, is availible at Amazon.com and other on-line book sellers

            Visit my history and archaeology blog at: www.erasgone.blogspot.com

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

              Originally posted by threepdr View Post
              In "Letters to Lucinda" a soldier in the 9th GA Battery specifically asks his wife to send him a set of cotton trousers. Sorry, I don't have the complete reference. He also asks for other clothing articles, including a coat. He mentions that if she sends clothes, then he won't have to "buy them from the Captain." In other words, funds won't be deducted from his pay if he declines the issue garments.
              Interesting...but it would be helpful if we had a date/location...was this 1861/1862 when the Confederacy was still issueing/reimbursing under the 'Commutation System' or is this much later when an established issuance/allotment was in place. Another question, why is the soldier in need of a new trousers and a new coat? Has he simply worn through these from an agressive campaign, or has it been deemed that his uniform/clothing was destroyed through willful neglect? The options here are limitless, and short of being able to place this in proper context, it may be challenging to pinpoint what we're seeing here.

              I think clothes from home were common and cotton pants are indeed under represented.
              Perhaps.

              Paul B.
              Paul B. Boulden Jr.


              RAH VA MIL '04
              (Loblolly Mess)
              [URL="http://23rdva.netfirms.com/welcome.htm"]23rd VA Vol. Regt.[/URL]
              [URL="http://www.virginiaregiment.org/The_Virginia_Regiment/Home.html"]Waggoner's Company of the Virginia Regiment [/URL]

              [URL="http://www.military-historians.org/"]Company of Military Historians[/URL]
              [URL="http://www.moc.org/site/PageServer"]Museum of the Confederacy[/URL]
              [URL="http://www.historicsandusky.org/index.html"]Historic Sandusky [/URL]

              Inscription Capt. Archibold Willet headstone:

              "A span is all that we can boast, An inch or two of time, Man is but vanity and dust, In all his flower and prime."

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              • #8
                Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

                From William F. Tunnard's "History of the 3rd Louisiana," the time frame being October 1863: "Louisiana's noble and warm-hearted Governor H. W. Allen . . . furnished the men of the regiment with a number of suits of clothes, comprising pants and shirts [of] homespun and entirely cotton. Inadequate though it might be to keep out the chilly wintry air, heartfelt expressions of gratitude were bestowed upon him . . ."
                Bob Williams
                26th North Carolina Troops
                Blogsite: http://26nc.org/blog/

                As [one of our cavalry] passed by, the general halted him and inquired "what part of the army he belonged to." "I don't belong to the army, I belong to the cavalry." "That's a fact," says [the general], "you can pass on." Silas Grisamore, 18th Louisiana

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                • #9
                  Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

                  Being someone who is in the process of learning more about men's clothing, primarily civilian, but also southern military, I"m finding this discussion about cotton trousers very interesting.

                  Knowing that linen was worn a great deal in warm weather both north and south for civilians, it was always difficult for me to reason that all the clothing worn by the military was wool, jeans, kersey, etc. (fibers of wool/linen predominately)

                  The only down side of cotton is that it faded more quickly, but for summer wear the lighter colors were more comfortable as a rule. I doubt few cared that the color was going from their comfortable cotton trousers:sarcastic

                  Regards
                  Vivian Murphy

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                  • #10
                    Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

                    Originally posted by Stonewall_Greyfox View Post
                    Interesting...but it would be helpful if we had a date/location...was this 1861/1862 .
                    Letters to Lucinda 1862 - 1864

                    Letters from James Addison McMurtrey, 9th GA Artillery Battalion

                    Transcribed from the orignals in Woodruff Library Special Collections, Emory University. Transcribed by Mary Frances Johnston in 1985.

                    This letter set is filled with great clothing, food and weapons details

                    Examples:

                    Sept 1 1862
                    "McGinnis is gone to Atlanta to get harness and the Major is gone to Whitville to get horses we will get 200 mississippi rifles and 12 cannon"

                    March 26, 1863 Bristol Tenn
                    "I want you to buy some wool and get a hat made for me."

                    March 30, 1863
                    "We are drawing cloths I have drawed one shirt at 3 dollars 2 pair of pants at 9 dollars a piece whitch makes 21 dollars we draw 133 dollars a year in clothing. I think Jess and henry drawed a full sute of clothes. I want you to send 2 pair of pants and one pair of shoes the pants I drawed is woolings ones and not fit for summer time I drawed 2 pair of shoes but was not allowed to pick them and I got one pair of sevens and I cant ware them they will fit you so I intend to send them to you they only cost 6 dollars I want you to send me one pair of shoes and 2 pair of pants by the first chance you get.

                    March 31 1863
                    "Bill in the package sent one pair of shoes number 9 for France and in one of them one paper of needles for France Joe sent a coverlead to his Mother henry sent one quilt to his mother Jack send one quilt to his wife and I sent one pair of shoes to you number sevens.
                    I also sent one coat and 2 pair of pants that I drawed I want you to make the pants over and make the legs shorter I sent you 24 needles and 100 beans I want you to plant them and see how you like them
                    and I want you to send me 2 pair of cotton pants and one pair of shoes and then I will have enuff clothes to do me till cold weather for I have got 4 shirts 2 pair of pants one coat one overcoat one jacket 2 pair of drawers 5 pair of socks one pair of shoes and that is as much as I want for summer."

                    Remarkably well supplied Rebs!
                    Mark Hubbs
                    My book, The Secret of Wattensaw Bayou, is availible at Amazon.com and other on-line book sellers

                    Visit my history and archaeology blog at: www.erasgone.blogspot.com

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

                      Originally posted by VMurphy View Post
                      The only down side of cotton is that it faded more quickly, but for summer wear the lighter colors were more comfortable as a rule. I doubt few cared that the color was going from their comfortable cotton trousers:sarcastic

                      Regards
                      Vivian Murphy

                      Also I believe in a description in "Cadet Gray..." by Arliskas,there is an account of soldiers being issued cotton clothing in the winter, maybe around 64'-65', which needless to say wouldn't do much for the cold. As well as there is an etching noting the "highwater pants" worn by Confederates taking the oath, these are beileved to be cotton trousers, which after continued exposure to the elements have shrunk, as cotton will do. I also find the references to "white cotton osnanburg overcoats"interesting , you don't see those a whole lot.
                      Eric N. Harley-Brown
                      Currently known to associate with the WIG/AG


                      "It has never been fully realized, nor appreciated by the people of the North-the great part in preserving the Union, the brave, loyal,and patriotic Union men, in the mountainous parts of the Southern states, rendered" - Orderly Sgt. Silas P. Woodall (2nd grt. grnd...) member of "Kennemers Union Scouts & Guides"-organized in Woodville, Alabama 1863.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

                        A good reference book would be Camp Morton (Winslow & Moore) which reports detailed period observation of prisoners. In brief you can follow as the early war prisoner comes clothed in...well anything with a piece of carpet for a blanket. Basically the "farmer clothes" you see mentioned in other books and memoirs.

                        As the war moves to later years, the prisoners come well dressed in a uniform manner; "Nearly all having a blanket." The well dressed being warm wool uniforms.

                        This book also gives a good look at physical and mental health of the rebel soldier and his dietary preferences.
                        Thaddaeus Dolzall
                        Liberty Hall Volunteers

                        We began to think that Ritchie Green did a very smart thing, when we left Richmond, to carry nothing in his knapsack but one paper collar and a plug of tobacco!

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                        • #13
                          Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

                          Folk:

                          The cotton shirt and trousers formerly owned by Mr. Larue were kindly loaned for exhibit at two museums I directed and I had the opportunity to examine them closely. Many on this thread may have seen them when they were on display at Rippavilla Plantation for a few years. They contain fascinating details.

                          A few weeks ago, I examined shirts, trousers and drawers worn during the war by an Alabama Soldier still in his family. The gent served in the cavalry. One of the pairs of trousers was of very sturdy unbleached cotton, entirely hand-stitched. There is a large, circular black stain that looks suspiciously like the impression of a sooty frying pan on one thigh! Also of interest is the possibility that he received his disabling wound on the Dallas-Acworth line the week before 1 June 1864.

                          Dave Stieghan
                          David Stieghan
                          aka, DBAR1918

                          US Army Infantry Branch Historian,
                          Fort Benning, Georgia

                          Former Regular Army Field Artillery Caption, Disabled
                          Costumed Interpreter since 1973

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                          • #14
                            Re: Cotton trousers - use by CS soldiers

                            Who are some of the folks who make good acurate cotton trousers?

                            Mark Akerman
                            markakerman@yahoo.com

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