Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

[davidf]

I was watching the movie "Glory" again resently and I observed that the confederates in that movie when they were in South Carolina were wearing a lot of sky blue trousers. I thought about it, and unless there was a depot in the south that produced sky blue trousers (I think there might be, but I am not sure, can anyone help out on that? The only ones I can think of would possibly the English imported ones), where are they getting these sky blue trousers? One might say, "capturing them off dead yankees," but were there enought battles being fought down there that were Confederate victories (to loot the dead, your side has to posses the battlefield at the end of the battle) that would account for all those trousers? Also, I have been reading around here that confederates really didn't steal the trousers off the dead that much. So here are the key questions here I want to know:
-What kind of trousers did the Confederates produce (and what color were they)? Were any of them ever sky blue?
-How often would the rebels steal the trousers off federal dead? For South Carolina troops, how often did this opportunity come around?
-Why is this pattern so prevalent in reenacting?

[Vicksburg Dave]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

David,
We have beat that horse to death on this forum. Do a search of the past threads and you will find the answers to all of your questions.

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

I was watching the movie "Glory" again resently and I observed that the confederates in that movie when they were in South Carolina were wearing a lot of sky blue trousers.

Most of those Confederates were mainstream reenactors, and not a lot of research went into their impressions. For whatever reason, mainstream CS reenactors, especially back in the 80's, 90's wore a lot of farby sky blue federal trousers just about everywhere.

[Andrew Kasmar]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

Hi,

Some amount of Confederates wore light blue trousers, but they were mostly a Confederte issue patten rather than Federal trousers that were captured. The Civil War Historian had a good article on this subjuct a few months ago. I would tell you what issue it was, but I have miss placed my copy.

[davidf]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

I did do a search for this topic on trousers, but I could not find it. A link would be appreciated if you know where it is. Also, for that issue of Civil War HIstorian you were referring to, was it the December one? Its the only one I don't have.

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

Hi,

Some amount of Confederates wore light blue trousers, but they were mostly a Confederte issue patten rather than Federal trousers that were captured.

Getting the color right, if anything, would be more of a coincidence for these reenactors who wore farby Federal trousers in the movie.

I guess, enough about the movie .......:D

[Pat.Lewis]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

David,

The other forum has recently been discussing this same topic in a couple of threads. (Is it kosher to link research threads over there? ) This one was the original, and later it diverted into This. Should give you some places to start.

As always, Arliskas's book is now your standard print source for this sort of thing.

[Andrew Kasmar]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

Hi,

It was the December issue of the Civil War Historian.

[reb290]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

I believe this is the link.

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14385&highlight=blue+trousers

[dnaples]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

Fictum,

Give me a call. My unit (mostly Craig Schneider and Neill Rose) has been doing a lot of research on English Army cloth used in the production of Richmond Depot trousers, plus I can even show you an example of a reproduction pair. You can't beat that, considering I'm right across campus from you.

Thanks,

[DougCooper]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

I did do a search for this topic on trousers, but I could not find it. A link would be appreciated if you know where it is. Also, for that issue of Civil War HIstorian you were referring to, was it the December one? Its the only one I don't have.

You are right - when I did a search I got many, many threads that discussed the subject - a sure sign that the horse is well and truly beaten. But if you really want to have fun, try the same thing on other forums

Seriously:

1. British sky blue kersey trousers and raw cloth were imported into the Confederacy from Brownsville TX to North Carolina in unknown numbers and amounts. Photos of originals can be seen in EoG, various museum collections and in some of the research threads on here. Trousers were produced by the Richmond Depot from early 1863 (best guess) to 1865, from imported and domestic sky blue kersey. Longstreet's men were wearing them at Chickamauga, along with English army cloth blue gray kersey jackets - problematic when facing yankees in the same basic color scheme.

2. Sky blue jean trousers were produced by the Columbus Depot and issued in unknown numbers to the Army of Tennessee and perhaps others formations. Lee White has done a lot of research on this, available on this forum.

3. In rare situations, federal issue sky blue kersey trousers were appropriated by CS troops in more than ones and two. Examples include the Richmond, KY captures in Sept 1862, Fredericksburg stripping of the dead in Dec 1862 (a few thousand, maybe), 2nd Manassas campaign captures in late Aug 1862 (federal depot), and Brashere City, Louisiana in July 63.

4. Sky blue was the official color for trousers in the 1861 CS Uniform regulations, probably one of the most ignored documents in the history of military plumage.

5. Wearing of the enemy uniform was officially discouraged via circular and orders, as well as the Articles of War.

6. CS reenactors wearing federal issue trousers as a matter of course (other than in specific scenarios like those above) is to ignore the historical record. It is a practice that is finally beginning to wane. Considering that a good pair of CS or civilian trousers cost no more than federal issue, poverty is no excuse. It is quite amazing to see the lengths at which some folks will go to justify the practice. :wink_smil Usually the word "blue" is used as the excuse, ignoring the fact that there is a world of difference between federal issue patterns and CS and imported patterns and fabrics.

Hope this helps.

[JustRob]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

For future reference, I wouldn't use any movie as a reference source.

Under that standard, a cavalry overcoat should be lined in yellow (I'm talking about you, John Wayne) and fifty-something potbellied men served sentry duty on Lee's Pennsylvania Campaign.

There are simply too many original materials and records to not go directly to the source.

[davidf]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

Oh, I wasn't using the movie a source, I was just referring to it because it inspired my question.
I guess I should have used the search on this site a little more than I did before posting questions like this next time.
Well, at least I got what I was looking for.

[Dale Beasley]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

David,

It is ok to ask questions, but as many have posted, this is a rather an "Old Question". You asked about taking them off the enemy dead. I can tell you for sure that there are body fluids that smell to high heaven, and could just not be washed out, especially if you were on the move. So I would think that this would be rare.

So my point: taking the pants of the enemy dead...maybe...but you aint sleeping near me.

[Andrew Kasmar]

Re: Confederate Trousers - how accurate is it to wear light blue ones?

Hi,

I agree with Mr. Beasley, in that you really would not want to wear pants that you pulled off of a dead soldier. The only way I can see Confederate sodliers wearing Federal trousers, was if they captured supply wagons carrying trousers. I know that General Price's men at West Port did this, infact some where wearing complete Federal uniforms at this Battle.