Cotton Jackets

[Time_Traveller_1864]

I thought I saw a post on here a while ago about southern soldiers especially deeper south using cotton jackets( considering cotton was a major crop in the south, which makes it convient)... maybe I am mistaken but I thought it was here. Sorry if this is in the wrong place, please move it accordingly.


Lt. Jacob A Shaika
1st South Carolina Company A

[adamandnicole]

Re: Cotton Jackets

I too would like some information on cotton jackets. The only one that I'm aware of is in the MOC collection from a Florida military academy, it is pictured in Echoes of Glory. It would make sense that some cotton jean jackets would have been sent from home in the commutation period. Maybe none are still around because of the relatively fragile nature of cotton as opposed to wool and they were used up and discarded.

Any thoughts?

Adam Dickerson

[Horace]

Re: Cotton Jackets

I have wondered this too. If cotton was the number one export of the south, why not use it for uniforms? The answer seems to be social: Since cotton was so abundnant, no one wanted to wear it. There was a stigma attached to it. It was worn by slaves and the very poor, and found it's way into garments intended strictly for manual work, but no one would wear it who could afford something else. This mindset didn't vanish once men went from citizen to military clothing.

There were large numbers of 'penitentary jackets' issued in the Transmississippi and probably elsewhere, and they were cotton. I believe there were cotton/hemp blends as well. The fabric was used as a last resort. It had been woven by convicts in Huntsville, Texas and I think maybe in other prisons too. There are very few images of them, I think because no one would want to have their picture taken in one; and so far, no one knows of a single example of them that has survived. Maybe because they were more fragile, as Jacob said. Maybe also because no one wanted to keep them. From what I gather, when troops were issued these garments they were furious and insulted.

This thread gives some more info:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?465-Trans-Mississippi-Penitentiary-Jackets

[PaulJ]

Re: Cotton Jackets

Hi,
if I could digress slightly onto cotton trousers (they are kind of related!) I spoke to Fred Adolphus a while ago and he said that he was of the opinion that cotton trousers at least are under-represented among southern impressions ('deep south' possibly). He said that he had examined quite a few pairs in museums and in this book:-

"This Infernal War, The Confederate Letters of Sgt. Edwin H. Fay"

Sgt Fay does refer to his wife sending him cotton trousers to wear.

I also found this correspondence from Fred in my notes (referring to a Louisiana soldier who died at Vicksburg):-

"I studied this set of artifacts in the first week of June 1997. The collection consisted a cotton shirt and cotton trousers, in the custody of Mr Frank LaRue of Athens, Texas. The shirt and pants were worn by Private John Jay, Company H, 1st Louisiana Heavy Artillery. Jay died at Vicksburg, Mississippi in a hospital on December 31, 1862. He had enlisted September 11, 1862 in Winn Parish, Louisiana for three years or the war. The clothes were probably made by Jay's wife. Following his demise, his body was sent home in the shirt and pants. The clothes were removed from the body so that he could be laid to rest in a formal suit. The shirt and pants were washed and packed away. The pants are cotton tabby weave, having a brown fill and a light blue warp. Pockets are of the same material. The fly has five white bone buttons. Suspenders were held by two white bone buttons in the front and two white glass buttons in the rear. There is no adjustment belt at the rear seam.
(The shirt was natural, off-white, unbleached, cream color cotton with three porcelain/glass buttons on front and one at each wrist. It has no pockets.)" Fred Adolphus (Nov 2009)

No mention of a jacket I'm afraid but he was wearing a lot of cotton garments when he died.

As has been mentioned above and elsewhere - there are a number of social reasons why cotton may have been less prevalent than you might have thought (or perhaps it was around but people didn't want to brag about it in their letters/ reminisences etc), but also is it not the case that it still gets cold at night and also that wet wool will still keep you warm?

[Possum]

Re: Cotton Jackets

There are several accounts of cotton uniforms being issued. Some of the AoT were issued complete suits of cotton jean before the Chickamauga and Chattanooga campaign. There's also the pair of cotton jean trousers in EoG. I'm also of the belief that there was a LOT of cotton uniforms issued during the war especially from the deep south(cotton states) there was just too much cotton to just sit there and not be used for the war effort.

[Kanawha Riflemen]

Re: Cotton Jackets

Jacob,

I have seen accounts of cotton jackets being issued early in the war to those stationed around Charleston, South Carolina.

John A. Miller
South Mountain State Battlefield
Monterey Pass Battlefield, Washington Twp

[Doughboy]

Re: Cotton Jackets

Could you supply some documentation on cotton uniforms? It seems logical but I would imagine that as a major source of economic leverage in obtaining materiel from Europe at the time would it not be more valuable for that purpose than for uniforms?

[Horace]

Re: Cotton Jackets

This is fun to wrestle with. With the commutaton system you could show up in a pair of work jeans if you weren't the snooty type, and be reimbursed for it by the government. Why wreck a nice pair of pants? Also, with the commutation system, you had to get your next pair of pants from home too. Whatever was easiest and cheapest would be acceptable in the ranks.

The issue seems to be whether you had the means or the social concerns about wearing something better. Where do the two meet? Utility versus social norm. Also, there was an early war trend toward deliberately wearing rough clothing as a sign of patriotism.

There was actually a glut of southern cotton in England when the war broke out, and new markets were opening in India, which caused the cotton as bargaining chip strategy to stall. There were tons and tons of the convict-woven undyed cotton cloth sitting in warehouses that were useless as export goods, but my understanding is that the cloth was only used as a last resort when there was nothing else in quantity left. If they were issued before Chickamauga, that was late '63. And it went over like a lead balloon with the troops who drew them.

The only documentation of these uniforms in any detail seems to be in first hand mentioning of them in letters and diaries.

[floridawar]

Re: Cotton Jackets

I too would like some information on cotton jackets. The only one that I'm aware of is in the MOC collection from a Florida military academy, it is pictured in Echoes of Glory....

Adam Dickerson

Howdy all. THe Florida cadet's jacket is evidently not "cotton". On recent contact with the Museum of the Confederacy I procured a material data sheet on the cotton Florida jacket pictured in Echoes of Glory, (worn by Cadet Charles L. Beard at the Battle of Natural Bridge in 1865) their curatorial staff notes the jacket is in fact made from a "cotton and wool" fabric. I suppose the texture of the fabric is responsible for the confusion (I saw it on display in the late 90s...)

Archie Marshall

[lukegilly13]

Re: Cotton Jackets

Here's ya one!

I will just post the documentation from the website.
"Impeccably Provenanced and Authenticated Confederate Civil War Enlisted Man's Jacket. Accompanied by a Period Ink Tag which is Inscribed. "Rebel Coat Captured by the Union Soldiers at Cumberland Gap". The rarity and importance of this coat cannot be overstated, and it is, without question, one of the most thoroughly documented and authenticated Confederate enlisted uniform coats to have surfaced in the last ten years. The coat is accompanied by a complete "Analysis Report" from noted conservator Fonda Thompson which, along with a highly detailed declension of fabric, thread and method of construction states that "The materials in and construction of this Confederate jacket are consistent with Civil War era uniforms... The Confederate jacket is intact, as originally constructed with no major alterations or repairs." She further states that the jacket "had a period of use but exhibits very little deterioration or damage." The five page report is accompanied by five pages of detailed drawings of the coat.

Also included is a detailed letter of authentication from noted Confederate uniform authority Les Jensen. Mr. Jensen identifies five other known jackets which have strong similarities to this coat, generally accepted to be regular issue Confederate "depot" coats, but as yet unidentified as to their specific point of origin. The jacket is made of a light brown cotton with a six piece body, including two front panels, two side back panels and two back panels with a center seam. There were six buttons on the front, 5/8" of two piece iron construction with iron shanks, overpainted in yellow ochre. Three of the original buttons remains, one of which is detached. The standup collar is1 3/8" high at the front and 1½" at the rear, the jacket being lined with unbleached cotton. The jacket shows notable wear at the edges of the cuffs, with one small area of loss just above the right cuff, also a number of scattered small holes, minor. Overall really wonderful untouched condition and very sound. There is an outside pocket, set at an angle, low on the left breast, the pocket bag being made of the same material that lines the jacket.

The accompanying tag is 2 1/16" x 4 3/8", on light card board stock, and was obviously pinned to the coat at some point. There is some indication the coat might have been captured by members of either the 16th or 44th Ohio, in the actions leading up to the Battle of Ft. Donelson. Obviously, both the Thompson and Jensen letters accompany the coat, along with all other materials related to the coat's provenance. A truly rare opportunity for the Confederate, or advanced Civil War, collector."

Here is the website in case you want to look at detailed images.
http://historical.ha.com/common/view...9&src=pr#PHOTO

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Cotton Jackets

Luke, I've had reservations about the Cumberland Gap jacket being 100% cotton. In the larger pictures it looks like a cream wool and tan cotton plain weave jean, and in some frayed or moth-eaten portions the ends of each fiber behave differently (wool is kind of puffed looking, tan cotton is compact).

[lukegilly13]

Re: Cotton Jackets

Brian,
I can see where you're coming from. I wondered if it was really tan also or if it was originally gray and had fully oxidized (sp?). I've seen this jacket interpreted as a 4 button style jacket but it seemed weird to me that it was a 6-piece body (aren't most of the 4 button jackets 4 piece bodies and 2 piece sleeves?)? I'd love to get more information on it but it's a LONG way to Texas.
I wonder what methods they used to determine it was all cotton?

[roundshot]

Re: Cotton Jackets

I posted this a while back but perhaps it's resurrection is now timely:

This description of the 5th Kentucky and their clothing/arms in 1861 is quite interesting as relates to cotton clothing in general and Eastern KY/Cumberland Gap in particular.

“ . . . On the 1st of November 1861 Brigadier General Humphrey Marshall was sent by the Confederate Government to take command of certain troops at Prestonburg, Ky., then under the command of Colonel John S. Williams. These consisted of a regiment and a battalion on the bank of the Big Sandy . . . The regiment was the 5th Kentucky, the famous ‘Ragamuffin Regiment’ composed almost exclusively of mountain men, and one of the finest corps of soldiers ever enlisted in the army. They were hardy, raw-boned brave mountaineers, trained to hardships and armed with long rifles . . .”

“It was a very severe winter, and Marshall’s men were poorly clad, and many of the soldiers were nearly naked. One regiment had 350 barefooted men and not over 100 blankets for 700 men.General Albert Sidney Johnston . . . sent them one thousand suits of clothes, including hats and shoes. These supplies reached the army at Whitesburg, Ky. . . When the quartermaster distributed the clothes among the soldiers, it was noticed they examined with suspicion the peculiar color and texture of the cloth. General Marshall discovering that it was cotton, and fearing the result of such a discovery by the men, rose to the occasion by a stirring speech . . . and relieved their fears as to the quality of the goods by assuring them they were ‘woven out of the best quality of Southern wool, with which, doubtless, many of the Kentuckians were not acquainted.’ The men took the general’s word for it (with a grain of salt) and walked off to their quarters with their cottonade suits . . . the army was not only badly clothed, but in general badly armed. Many of the men carried only shot guns and squirrel rifles . . .”

From “ Marshall and Garfield in Eastern Kentucky, Battles and Leaders of the CW,” Vol. I, pp. 393-394.