English Army Cloth/Blue grey kersey

[bv10182]

I was alittle unsure about posting this but please forgive me if this appears to be somewhat of a dumb question. I'm basically confused on the uniform materials of blue grey kersey, cadet grey kersey, and English army cloth. What is the difference between all of these if any difference at all? Most of the original uniforms described as blue grey kersey and English army cloth appear to look very similar. Any more sources on this information would help. Thank you much.

Brian Villanueva

[GenuineInformation]

Re: English Army Cloth/Blue grey kersey

Brian,

It definitely can get confusing. English army cloth is a generic name for stout woolens that were coming into the Confederacy through the blockade from England. It varied somewhat in color and weave, but judging from extant garments, it appears generally that English army cloth was somewhere between blue and grey in color and was commonly of a kersey weave.

Blue-gray kersey is then a more descriptive name for the same material. However, there are a few garments out there that appear to be made from English goods but do not exhibit a kersey weave. Whether the bolt from which this material was cut was labeled English Army Cloth in a shipping manifest, I cannot say, but I would assume it probably was.

Cadet gray is another name for some fabric in this color spectrum. Though there are garments made from English army cloth/blue gray kersey that are considerably darker in color than what is generally thought of as cadet gray. If you look at finely crafted CS officers' uniforms, those made from English woolen broadcloth or melton are commonly "cadet gray" in color.

[DougCooper]

Re: English Army Cloth/Blue grey kersey

Now that was an excellent, concise answer! Well said Joseph!

[Coatsy]

Re: English Army Cloth/Blue grey kersey

Brian,

Lon Webster's book "Entrepot" is a great source to start learning about the imported goods from Britan, especially in regards to the large amounts of cloth. Also, Mr. David Burt has multiple articles/books on the same subject as well. Mr. Burt posts quite frequently on the AC as well. Finally, if you are a fan of Peter Tait goods, Fred Adolphus has a great book on those uniforms. You'll get a solid understanding of the cloth, and other imported British goods with these sources.

[bv10182]

Re: English Army Cloth/Blue grey kersey

Thank you all for the information. It does get confusing at times and I'm still relatively new to researching the details and origins of the cloth. Herb, I will definitely look up those books. Thank you much pards!

Brian Villanueva

[Coatsy]

Re: English Army Cloth/Blue grey kersey

Brian, the good news is that you can get these books off of Amazon, in the NPS book stores, and they are sometimes up for sale on the AC.