Confederate officers' belts

[ES1861]

Gentlemen,

I'm portraying a younger officer of ANV and I need some basic information about officers' belts.

1. I assume most of the officers' belts had a shoulder strap. Would it be farby to use a belt without a shoulder strap?


2. Did the officers' belts always have fancy buckles? I have a nice roller buckle belt which I use for my "simple soldier" impression. I wouldn't like to spend too much money on belts since I have other gear to buy.

Any help appreciated,

Eric

Eric, you must sign your FULL name to all posts here - Mike Chapman

[VMI88]

Re: Confederate officers' belts

Gentlemen,

I'm portraying a younger officer of ANV and I need some basic information about officers' belts.

1. I assume most of the officers' belts had a shoulder strap. Would it be farby to use a belt without a shoulder strap?


2. Did the officers' belts always have fancy buckles? I have a nice roller buckle belt which I use for my "simple soldier" impression. I wouldn't like to spend too much money on belts since I have other gear to buy.

Any help appreciated,

Eric

Eric,

Actually, I think you'll find most Confederate officer's belts did not have the shoulder belt. This is based on informal observation rather than a detailed survey, but I believe you'll find it holds true.

The best person I know to provide information on Confederate officers' belts -- especially in the ANV -- is Butch Myers. He has studied numerous originals and can tell you when they were produced, how they were sold, etc. He helped me select a Virginia officer's belt for my impression about a year ago. Based on my memory, here are a few points he related:

Sword belts were produced in shops and provided to merchants in Richmond for sale to officers. Many times the buckle was provided seperately and only attached once the officer made a selection. I believe that you'll find the wreath and spoon type in either a state or CS pattern was most common.

Belts could be either painted leather or folded leather construction. A junior officer would be more likely than a staff or field grade officer to have painted leather. (In terms of price, Butch charges $140 and $225 respectively, or at least he did a year ago.)

The leather Butch uses is thin compared to what most reproductions use, but this is correct. I really can't speak highly enough of his work -- I'd recommend you at least talk to him before making a decision. His belts aren't the cheapest, but are the best I'm aware of and will hold their resale value.

Hope this helps.

[DougCooper]

Re: Confederate officers' belts

Eric - ditto the excellent advice of Mr Reagan above and I add that Neill Rose is another outstanding source for info on CS belts of all kinds, esp officer sword belts. I would concur that most surviving belts did not have the strap, though some appear to have at one time but were either removed or were not replaced when broken, as the ring for their attachment remains.

Neill makes world class CS officer sword belts and can be reached via this forum as Ironscout.