3 piece cotton duck shelter half?

[GeraldDuval]

I've been doing some research as of late trying to figure something out. From what I have read both on this site and on other reputable sites, the majority of the type II 3 piece shelter halves were made from contton drill, while the majority of the the two piece type III were made from cotton duck sailcloth.

could anyone tell me if there were 3 piece shelter halves made from duck or two piece's made from drill?

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Re: 3 piece cotton duck shelter half?

According to the bible of shelter tents, Fred Gaede's "The Federal Civil War Shelter Tent", out of 32 extent examples in the book, only one type III was made from drill, the rest out of duck. This is a type IIIA, meaning the first of the two panels, with only two tent pin loops (both out of hemp rope), with the McCombs contractor stamp. Their were no examples of the type II or three piece halves made of duck, all were from drill (save two examples made of linen duck which is very light material). Appendix 5, pages 122-127.

[GeraldDuval]

Re: 3 piece cotton duck shelter half?

thanks alot, that was exactly what i needed. I just didn't have the shelter tent bible on hand, and the CRRC was a bit vauge.

[Adjutant]

Re: 3 piece cotton duck shelter half?

Just to add to the discussion, the whole point of the three panel half was the width of standard milled drill at the start of the war. As it typically was 28" wide, three panels were required to make the width of a shelter tent. Duck would not have been used in a three peice half, because duck in 35" widths was relativly common. The reason it was not used in early tents was simply that the Navy had priority on duck for sails. By the middle of the war the Navy's needs had been met, so production of tents switched to two peices. There is, as mentioned, at least one surviving two peice half (type IIIA by Gaede's typology) made of drill. Drill was availible in 35" width, it was just not as common. Being that contract were placed for thousands of tents, a two peice half made of drill is not unreasonable.

The government tent lofts and contracters were not given a two or three peice pattern. They were given the required matierals and the required dimensions and used the construction techniques that took the least amount of time.

Hope this is helpful.