Tweet
Here are some notes on patches and sashes used by the MSG and the other forces serving under Ben McCulloch at Wilsons Creek in August of 1861. Research here shows some kind of mark or field sign was desired by the Missouri State Guard and Confederate forces serving in the Southwest. Having an Army with few uniformed men, the majority in civilian clothes, I can understand how a mark of military service to distinquish soldiers from civilians was needed. Will put more on later
Tom Arliskas
CSuniforms
I also put up for viewing an Arkansas soldier wearing a patch on his arm. I dont have the ID or even where I got this one but thought it was appropriate to the text. Some might say he is simply patching his jacket, but the size and the diamond shape so high on his sleeve I believe it to be a military mark or field sign.
These are some notes on the bits of cloth or ribbons worn by Missouri State Guard Troops that searched under General Sterling Price and Ben McCulloch at Wilsons Creek. The first is the often quoted description of MSG troops from the book THE FIGHT FOR MISSOURI by Thomas Snead written in 1886. P. 238
“In all their motley array there was hardly a uniform to be seen, and then, and throughout all the brilliant campaign on which they were about to enter there was nothing to distinguish their officers, even a General, from the men in the ranks, save a bit of red flannel, or a piece of cotton cloth fashioned to the shoulder, or to the arm of the former.”
This one is from a memoir of a Private Peter D. Lane who served in the MSG and later the 16th Missouri Infantry CSA and was written in 1865, making his account a period one. P.10
“We had not been long encamped [Cowskin Prairie] when it was found to appoint a number of Provost Guards…to arrest all soldiers found committing depravations of any kind. These guards wore a red rib band around their shoulders as a token of their office.”
A good find is from the Rock Island Register newspaper issue dated September 11th 1861. This is an account written right after Wilsons Creek and days before the Siege of Lexington, Missouri which
occurred from September 13-20, 1861.
“HOW THE REBELS ARE UNIFORMED” The uniform of the Confederate Army as Lady Montague would say, is multiform. Those who draw their conception of the appearance of rebel soldiery from pictures in Harpers Weekly would hardly recognize them on sight. They are not uniformed at all, and generally speaking, it is impossible to distinguish a Colonel from a Private. The only mark of distinction about them is a piece of flannel stitched to the right shoulder. I was told white flannel was the distinguishing mark of the Missouri troops, yellow that of Arkansas, red that of Louisiana, and so on. Of course, this only applies to the Southwest.”
I have an account of Confederate Cavalry at Wilsons Creek wearing arm bands from a contemporary newspaper which I have to look for.
Another is from Kip Lindberg that appeared on Authentic Campaigner in 2008 and is from the Chicago Tribune of March 18, 1862-before the retreat south by Price and Pea Ridge.
“About four hundred of Prices Missourians sick were left in the Court House [in Springfield] in two churches and in a large hotel. A green or red stripe sewn on their sleeves [the mark of the beast] was the only indication of uniform about them. Otherwise they were the same miscellaneous copper-bottoms as all of Prices’ hordes of beggars coming to town.”
There are also references to the 3rd Louisiana wearing armbands at Wilsons Creek, but I have yet found no general orders for troops to sew on patches. Did the MSG wear armbands at Wilsons Creek? Yes they did, but how many and for how long needs research. It would be a distinctive piece to sew on your clothing. I would do it.
Tom Arliskas
CSuniforms
I also put up for viewing an Arkansas soldier wearing a patch on his arm. I dont have the ID or even where I got this one but thought it was appropriate to the text. Some might say he is simply patching his jacket, but the size and the diamond shape so high on his sleeve I believe it to be a military mark or field sign.
These are some notes on the bits of cloth or ribbons worn by Missouri State Guard Troops that searched under General Sterling Price and Ben McCulloch at Wilsons Creek. The first is the often quoted description of MSG troops from the book THE FIGHT FOR MISSOURI by Thomas Snead written in 1886. P. 238
“In all their motley array there was hardly a uniform to be seen, and then, and throughout all the brilliant campaign on which they were about to enter there was nothing to distinguish their officers, even a General, from the men in the ranks, save a bit of red flannel, or a piece of cotton cloth fashioned to the shoulder, or to the arm of the former.”
This one is from a memoir of a Private Peter D. Lane who served in the MSG and later the 16th Missouri Infantry CSA and was written in 1865, making his account a period one. P.10
“We had not been long encamped [Cowskin Prairie] when it was found to appoint a number of Provost Guards…to arrest all soldiers found committing depravations of any kind. These guards wore a red rib band around their shoulders as a token of their office.”
A good find is from the Rock Island Register newspaper issue dated September 11th 1861. This is an account written right after Wilsons Creek and days before the Siege of Lexington, Missouri which
occurred from September 13-20, 1861.
“HOW THE REBELS ARE UNIFORMED” The uniform of the Confederate Army as Lady Montague would say, is multiform. Those who draw their conception of the appearance of rebel soldiery from pictures in Harpers Weekly would hardly recognize them on sight. They are not uniformed at all, and generally speaking, it is impossible to distinguish a Colonel from a Private. The only mark of distinction about them is a piece of flannel stitched to the right shoulder. I was told white flannel was the distinguishing mark of the Missouri troops, yellow that of Arkansas, red that of Louisiana, and so on. Of course, this only applies to the Southwest.”
I have an account of Confederate Cavalry at Wilsons Creek wearing arm bands from a contemporary newspaper which I have to look for.
Another is from Kip Lindberg that appeared on Authentic Campaigner in 2008 and is from the Chicago Tribune of March 18, 1862-before the retreat south by Price and Pea Ridge.
“About four hundred of Prices Missourians sick were left in the Court House [in Springfield] in two churches and in a large hotel. A green or red stripe sewn on their sleeves [the mark of the beast] was the only indication of uniform about them. Otherwise they were the same miscellaneous copper-bottoms as all of Prices’ hordes of beggars coming to town.”
There are also references to the 3rd Louisiana wearing armbands at Wilsons Creek, but I have yet found no general orders for troops to sew on patches. Did the MSG wear armbands at Wilsons Creek? Yes they did, but how many and for how long needs research. It would be a distinctive piece to sew on your clothing. I would do it.
Attached Files
Comment