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I was wondering if any of you folks who are into Indiana regiments could possibly tell me what the 44th Indiana was wearing around the time of Ft. Donelson. I know many Indiana units were issued state jackets early in the war but I am interested in the 44th in particular.
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Michael Comer
one of the moderator guys -
Re: Indiana State Jacket Question
Michael--
That's a very good question. Here are a few quotes relating to the 44th in the fall of 1861, from Robert Willey's The Iron 44th, a self-published work that appeared in the late 1970s:
"Uncle Sam sent us a lot of pants and 'wamases' or 'roundabouts' before we left Camp Allen, but he must have thought the 44th was composed of boys as the pants were too small, so only about four-fifths of the boys could find pants they could wear." Letter of W.D. Graves.
"We have arrived at Evansville. . . . Each of the boys has been provided with the following articles, Enfield Rifle, knapsack, haversack, canteen, have lock, overcoat, jacket, 1 pair of pants, two shirts, two pair drawers, one pair shoes." Letter of H.F. King.
"Our new uniforms have come at last. The coat which is dark blue is a loose 'blouse' something like flannel--the pants are a blue cloth and and altogether makes us a very creditable appearance." Unidentified member of the 44th.
"We have got our uniforms at last and the very best kind. . . . We have got the best overcoat made of blue flannel and the same kind of pants." Unidentified member of the 44th.
Unfortunately Bob did not include any notes, but a good portion of his quotes seem to come from newspaper letters.
Bob also included a photo with the caption "In September 1861" showing Private John Gillette of Company H in what appears to be a jacket. I say "appears" because the photo was taken from a newspaper (probably the LaGrange, Indiana paper from the 1920s), so the quality is rather poor.
I hope this helps.
Jeff Patrick
(descendant of Joseph Compton, Co. E, 44th IN)
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