Dark Blue Confederate trousers

[The True Guts and Glory]

Hi all,
I'm finally starting to put together my confederate kit after several years of union reenacting but have had trouble with pants. I have a dark blue pair and sky blue pair. I guess what I'm asking is how authentic is it for a confederate reenactor to wear dark blue or light blue pants.

Thanks,
Anthony B.

[brown]

Re: Dark Blue Confederate trousers

Are these US pattern pants? The overwhelming evidence (in my opinion) points toward CS soldiers wearing US trowsers VERY rarely and most authentic CS units I know will not allow them.

On the other hand, blue CS made trowsers seem to have been fairly common. I know the Army of Tennessee best and they had a number of references to blue jean trowsers on a number of occasions. Rarely specified if liught or dark blue jean.

Also, when Longstreet's Corps went west in September of 1863, they were wearing light blue trowsers, and the current scholarship points toward English kersey in medium to light blue, but I don't know of an exact fiber reference. Odd are these were not the same color or cut as US trowsers.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Dark Blue Confederate trousers

What unit? What time period? What theater? The best bet is to base your impression around research not your research around your impression.

[Lewis Robinson]

Re: Dark Blue Confederate trousers

This thread may help:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?32510-Blue-confederate-trousers

[The True Guts and Glory]

Re: Dark Blue Confederate trousers

Thanks for your input everyone, after learning this I think I'm going to go towards making a pair of civilian trousers. Does anybody know where to get the best type of cotton for trousers and a pattern?

[Mark Choate]

Re: Dark Blue Confederate trousers

Anthony,

Glad you are finding answers and direction regarding your question.

I have to point out that one of the cardinal rules here in the forum is that each post must be signed with both the first and last name of the person doing the posting. Rather than trying to remember to do this each time, you should go to your profile settings and set up your signature line to automatically display your name each time.

Enjoy the forum,

regards,
Mark

[JulianNew]

Re: Dark Blue Confederate trousers

Hi Anthony,
If you are wanting to make a pair of blue civilian trousers Wambaugh White & Co. sells garment kits that come with the needed materials and fabric. I am currently assembling their CS/ Civilian trouser kit in a blue green color, and the directions make the process fairly simple. For the kit you get a choice of any of their CS fabrics, and they have two blue cottons. Here is a link to the kit. http://wwandcompany.com/store/garmen...ouser-kit.html

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Dark Blue Confederate trousers

Wambaugh and White do great work. I would also point out that the "Richmond Depot" pattern for trousers offered by County Cloth is essentially identical to what you might expect to see from civilian trousers of the period. If you wanted to go that route, you could buy pattern or kit and go from there.

I put together some photos of construction for those who decide to tackle such a project:

http://www.4thvirginia.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=73

Enjoy!

[The True Guts and Glory]

Re: Dark Blue Confederate trousers

What I'm really looking for at this point is the type of Cotton to use. Any ideas?

[LibertyHallVols]

Re: Dark Blue Confederate trousers

Why cotton? Is there a particular pair of trousers you're trying to reproduce?

They're not military, but I recently made a pair of cotton corduroy trousers.

I've seen linen and cotton/linen blend civilian trousers, as well, but those were also civilian. So, given the thread title, I'm not sure if that is what you're looking for. For repros of those trousers, I would look for a cotton/linen fustian from someone like William Booth Draper or 96th District.

If you're going to make "summer weight" trousers out of cotton, linen, or cotton/linen blend fabric, you will want to be sure you have good, stout construction of stress points, like suspender attachments, waistband, and crutch.

[yatman56]

In November of 1862 some of the Confederate troops garrisoning Port Hudson, La. were issued new uniforms. The uniforms were described as gray jackets with blue trim (even to artillerymen), caps, and blue trousers. NO mention was made of what type of material they were made of; wool, jean, cotton, etc. NO mention was made of what shade of blue; dark blue, medium blue, light blue, or blue/gray. I would appreciate any feedback from knowledgeable sources. Mike Fraering