Looking for period comments from CS soldiers (ANV) about their clothing

[rmilstead]

Folks,
I am looking for comments made by CS soldiers serving in the ANV on the quality and/or quantity of the clothing they received. I am not interested in 'post war' memoirs but references in letters, diaries, period newspaper articles, etc,,. contemporaneous with the war. Both good (positive) and bad (negative) comments are appropriate for use in some research I am doing for a future project. On any I also need information to create publication reference footnotes (name of who made it with unit information, if possible; where you found it (i.e., publication information for source where the quote appeared (diary entry, or letter to wife or ...); approximate date of the communication (at least, what part of the war); and anything else that helps me locate where you found the information . Yes, footnoting ones sources for an article needs all that kind of stuff and is a PITA.

I know this is a rather open ended request. My intent is to get a sense what the enlisted men thought about the "duds" the Government was issuing to them. I suspect most will be "gripes" (that's what privates usually do) and what they thought changes between when they enlisted and after they became "seasoned." Anyway I suspect that much of the material will be in obscure sources so any good leads you can provide will be helpful. Since I am concentrating on the eastern theater and specifically the ANV, great quotes from the AOT or Trans Mississippi or other theaters are, I am sure, neat but not what I am looking for.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Dick Milstead

The Company of Military Historians
Liberty Rifles

[Polignac]

This maybe you could need, 1000 pages of comments, but it covers all fronts, not the specific ANV one:

This instead deals with supplies to the Army of Northern Virginia in the last months of 1862:

[NMVolunteer]

You could probably get the first one on interlibrary loan, unless you live close enough to the five libraries that have copies.

[rmilstead]

Letterio, Michael,

Thanks to both of you for the references and the point in the right direction. I have been able to locate the Woods book for sale but can't locate the Dugdale one. Does anyone know where that might be available?
Dick Milstead

[Polignac]

Richard,
I think the book is out of print, this is Jeff's email in case you want to contact him for more information:
jeffd1955@yahoo.co.uk

[rmilstead]

Letterio,
Thank you for your assistance. I will try to follow up directly with Jeff.
Dick Milstead

[CJACK3723]

Have you looked at "Letters to Amanda"? Fitzpatrick wrote about clothing quite a bit, mostly stuff sent from from home, but he mentions government clothing too.

General Hospital No. 20 Richmond, Va.
Jan 2nd 1863

"They have hospital underclothes, that is, shirt and drawers for us to wear all the time we stay here.......The first shirt and drawers I got hold of was worse than get out but I did not keep them long before I made a negroe get me a good sett. They are the most singular made shirts I ever read of. The tail is almost as long as I can remember and are split up very little ways on the sides. They have no colar but a button that buttons in the bosom, and no wristbands or buttons at the ends of the sleeves."

He goes on to mention clothing received on Jan 5th 1863 and so on.

- Chris Jackson

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Christopher Jackson

[rmilstead]

Chris,
Thanks for the reference. I will check into the source and if I can find a copy look into it.

From my research, the government shirts and drawers were spartan (at least the ones made at the RCB) certainly compared with what soldier's mothers and other "home folk" made and were, therefore, a reason to gripe about 'government clothing' and ask for replacements from 'home'. They probably didn't last as long as "mom's" did because women who made clothing for their family members put a lot more time into reinforcements and extra stitching. The reason to do that was they didn't want to have to do lots of later repairs or make new ones too often. There was, obviously, also pride in their work.

Government undergarments, in particular, were 'expendable' and at least in theory they were supposed to receive a number of replacements each year. The women who made up the government clothing also were not really incented by the QM Department to put lots of extra time into shirts because they were paid for their work by the piece at a fixed "tariff" rate . The US government producers and contractors did the same. The prewar U.S. Quartermaster stated that an “industrious person by close application can make twelve [soldier’s] shirts per week.” The managers at the RCB probably expected no less. Work it out if you have ever made a repro shirt by hand, that doesn't leave a lot of time for anything but the basics! Actually, the Henry Hollyday shirt made by the RCB is reasonably well made compared to Federal issue shirts even though spartan.

I have records of large amounts of clothing from the Richmond Depot being sent to the Richmond Hospitals to provide to enlisted men when they were released. A least in theory when a soldier was admitted all of his garments were taken to be cleaned or destroyed, if unserviceable, and hospital garb provided. When he left he was issued new items to make up for what he needed. I would generally assume clean undergarments would be at the top of the list for nearly all of them. I have also found records of hospital clothing issues in a number of soldier's service records.

Again, thanks

Dick Milstead
The Company of Military Historians
Liberty Rifles

[rmilstead]

Chris,
Re-reading the quote, I have one other thought. The garment he describes sounds more like a hospital gown not an issue shirt for field service. I do not recall ever having seen a description of what recovering soldier's received when the were admitted but that could be what he was given.

By the way assuming that that 12 shirt per week number is what was expected and approximately 3 shirts per year were what soldiers received (that's the regulation) it would take around 250 women working full time to make enough shirts for an army of 50,000 enlisted men. While shirts issued by the government QM's came from various sources as well as coming from home, that will give you an idea of how many "needles" were needed to assemble the army's shirts alone. In 1862 there were approximately 2000 total pieceworkers assembling all QM enlisted clothing in Richmond and by 1864 that number was perhaps as high as 4000. Combined with that, in an 1863 report the commander of the RCB indicated he was receiving 3000 to 4000 finished garments (all types) per day for shipment to the field so shirts weren't the only thing they were making. While drawers would probably represent about the same time as a shirt, pants and especially jackets would have taken significantly more time to do.

Some authors comment (negatively) on the CS Quartermaster Department's inability to meet the soldier's clothing needs, and there are many reasons for supply problems during the war but thase numbers begin to indicate the scale of the problem they were faced with. Just my editorial comment.

Dick Milstead
The Company of Military Historians
Liberty Rifles

[CJACK3723]

Dick,

Since you mentioned it, the clothing Fitzpatrick was issued on January 5th, occurred after he was discharged from the hospital. I know the Georgia Soldier's Bureau also distributed clothing at hospitals.

I've made shirts and an RDII jacket, I think everyone should make at least one shirt, just to get the experience is worthwhile.

- Chris Jackson

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Christopher Jackson

[rmilstead]

Chris,
Yes actually making clothing such as shirts and even uniform jackets is a great way not only to learn about and understand the clothing soldiers wore, but to feel some level of accomplishment via the process.

What was particularly of interest in the Fitzpatrick quote was what he appears to describe, i.e., a special garment given to him when he was admitted. Sounds something like a night shirt of the period. Could this be a hospital gown? Makes sense. I have never seen any reference to such a thing but in his book "Thoughts on Men's Shirts in America1750 - 1900" Bill Brown has pictures of two period night shirts. Both have sleeves as described, one is collarless but has an open front slit (half way down) the other has a collar and a button placket. Pictures of Federal soldiers in hospitals seem to show similar garments but it is hard to tell for sure what they are.

Anyway a very interesting reference.

Dick Milstead