Camp Shoes!

[PvtHull48thovi]

Hello all, my father and I have a debate going on in which i think im right. I know the stanard issue shoes to the federal infantry was the jefferson bootie, but when an individual soldier could buy a pair of civilian shoes a.k.a camp shoes, would that soldier seriosuly lug those bad boys around "or" would he in that case, throw away his issue shoes, either because they were blown out or just un comfortable, and just use his new aquired shoes for all purpose, marching fighting etc.

Thanks in Advance gentlemen!

[coastaltrash]

Re: Camp Shoes!

Bumpy,
Keep in mind that private did not own those shoes and during an inspection, if they weren't present he was responsible for paying for them. Besides, those shoes weren't meant for hard campaigns. They would have blown pretty early on. Hate to admit it, but that old man of yours is right.

[PvtHull48thovi]

Re: Camp Shoes!

Well i figured that was comin, lol, preciate the info freidns!

[Tom Craig]

Re: Camp Shoes!

To add a little wrinkle to the discussion...Pat is certainly right that army shoes were supposed to appear at inspection, but if you look through enough correspondence, diaries etc, you will find plenty of instances where the "rules" were disobeyed, ignored etc. That part of things all depends on the outfit you are portraying. If the original unit was lead by a martinet, you can be sure that there were consequences for not having the proper equipment. If the CO were more of a slacker, the chances of finding non-issue equipment gets much better. That is of course a general statement, and needs to be taken on a case by case basis for the scenario and unit being portrayed.

Not related to the infantry, but there is an excellent account about these canvas type shoes from the regimental of the 1st Massachusetts Cavalry. During the fighting between Brandy Station and Gettysburg, the 1st was involved in three fights over three days. During the first fight one of the troopers stumbled on a dead Confederate wearing canvas shoes. According to the regimental, the trooper stopped, and took the shoes off the dead man. That night he stenciled his initials and 1st Mass on the toes. The next day that man was killed wearing the shoes, and one of his comrades stopped and took the shoes for himself. The next day, that man was also killed, and according to the story no one else wanted a part of those shoes.

BTW, there are a lot of other types of civilian shoes beyond the canvas ones.

Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Camp Shoes!

This is Virginia's spouse posting.

Another factor to consider is lugging around another pair of shoes. I would think that after much marching, any extra item that could be discarded would have been tossed in order to lighten the load. I think it was observed on both sides that the soldiers quickly decided that "spares" really weren't needed. A second pair of shoes would, to me, seem be a luxury.

Michael Mescher

[Huck]

Re: Camp Shoes!

There was an account I read once, of the hospital Rats in Richmond all wearing camp shoes and dyeing them in berries, that grew wild around main military hospital. (I think the book was to the Gates of Richmod or something)

[DougCooper]

Re: Camp Shoes!

I once brought some bedroom slippers to an event so my dogs would be comfy but grew tired of changing from shoes to slippers whenever we stopped for an hour or so...

At another event, we all wore camp shoes...but some of us all brought "march shoes" in case we had to suddenly change base. :wink_smil

Seriously, there is precious little space in knapsack or wagon for an extra pair of shoes for your average private in the ranks...one man, one pair.

[GWagner]

Re: Camp Shoes!

Bumpy,
Keep in mind that private did not own those shoes and during an inspection, if they weren't present he was responsible for paying for them. Besides, those shoes weren't meant for hard campaigns. They would have blown pretty early on. Hate to admit it, but that old man of yours is right.

I'd like to add they were overrepresented at Blakely last year!

[Ken_Irvin]

Re: Camp Shoes!

Huck,

I remember that story also, and was trying to figure out where I read it. I thought it was from a newspaper account from V. Betts site. Is that the name of the book the best you can recollect? I thought it was about some missouri guys.

Ken Irvin
TSM

[Huck]

Re: Camp Shoes!

Huck,

I remember that story also, and was trying to figure out where I read it. I thought it was from a newspaper account from V. Betts site. Is that the name of the book the best you can recollect? I thought it was about some missouri guys.

Ken Irvin
TSM

I read it years ago and I thought about doing that to a pair of mine. As for the book name, I honestly cant remember.