Perhaps like many of you, when I made the switch to the dark side of the hobby almost five years ago I asked somewhat naively what the best hat to get for a western federal impression was. Fortunately I didn't ask on line so I didn't get a rousing chorus of "use the search button" :tounge_sm. After talking with some buddies recently the question came up as to whether Hardees are overdone. I went the old-fashioned route and went through some pictures in several Civil War Photographic books and on-line in the LOC site. I looked to see if there was a similiar thread but had no luck, if this is repetitive I apologize.
My method may not have been perfect, however what I did was go through identified Western Theater photographs or photographs of soldiers identified to western troops.
I threw out any that were identified as being from 1861 as I was searching for generic mid to late war impressions.
If I could not identify what type of hat they were wearing I didn't count them.
I tried not to include officers.
If I could not tell if the hat was a black slouch or an altered Hardee I gave the nod to the Hardee.
There are also three pictures I did not include in the count that were of battalion to regimantal sized organizations. Two were from near Vicksburg in 1863-64. In one of these the troops were all wearing forage caps, and in the other the men were all wearing Hardees. The third photograph was from Chattanooga in 1863 and showed troops wearing all forage caps.
Essentially this is for a generic, non unit specific impression. I in no way intend this to be a challenge to impressions for units that have proven equipment that can be traced to a specific time and place.
Out of 539 persons viewed -
142 were wearing some form of a Hardee
203 were wearing Forage Caps
177 were wearing a Dark Slouch Hat
17 were wearing a Light Slouch Hat
I was rather surprised to see such a large amount of Forage Caps, however I had guessed that there would be more Dark Slouchs than Hardees. Take what you want from the information, hopefully it is helpful.
My method may not have been perfect, however what I did was go through identified Western Theater photographs or photographs of soldiers identified to western troops.
I threw out any that were identified as being from 1861 as I was searching for generic mid to late war impressions.
If I could not identify what type of hat they were wearing I didn't count them.
I tried not to include officers.
If I could not tell if the hat was a black slouch or an altered Hardee I gave the nod to the Hardee.
There are also three pictures I did not include in the count that were of battalion to regimantal sized organizations. Two were from near Vicksburg in 1863-64. In one of these the troops were all wearing forage caps, and in the other the men were all wearing Hardees. The third photograph was from Chattanooga in 1863 and showed troops wearing all forage caps.
Essentially this is for a generic, non unit specific impression. I in no way intend this to be a challenge to impressions for units that have proven equipment that can be traced to a specific time and place.
Out of 539 persons viewed -
142 were wearing some form of a Hardee
203 were wearing Forage Caps
177 were wearing a Dark Slouch Hat
17 were wearing a Light Slouch Hat
I was rather surprised to see such a large amount of Forage Caps, however I had guessed that there would be more Dark Slouchs than Hardees. Take what you want from the information, hopefully it is helpful.
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