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Having read the research articles by Curt and due to certain circumstances in our unit, I am looking to find out more information about the company we have chosen for our portrayl during living histories. The issue at hand is in regards to the jackets worn by the unit during the time frame of July 61 - July 62.
The unit we portray is the 9th VA Co E. In the regimental history by Benjamin Trask, they are referred to as "Isle of Wight Blues" or "Rifle Blues". That is the only mention of the company in the book, from that point on they are lumped in and referred to with the regiment.
They spent the first year as an artillery unit in Northern VA around Isle of Wight county and Fort Boykin. The first question our group is trying to figure out how to answer is: Does the blue reference in their name come from location or from uniforms? Is it possible that they had blue uniforms and were maybe a local militia in the pre-war time period.
Also while trying to answer these questions, we have some members who are taking a vacation to that area which hopefully will uncover some answers. But along the line of improving our units accuracy, we want to add a 2nd jacket to our kits so that we can do more early war events such as McDowell and the Recons when applicable. We have been looking over any early war photos we can find and have found a relativly even split between dark colored jackets and light colored jackets. Material we figure is most likely jean cloth after reading both the Jensen article and book that Jim Mayo suggested on another thread. A question that arose while looking over these black and white photos was, how can you tell the actual color of the jacket from the photo? In some pictures of the Washington Artillery, their jackets look like a dark gray but in the EOG it has an original jacket and it says it is a blue - gray color. We know also from accounts at Manassas there were confederate units with "blue" colored uniforms.
Also in reading the Jensen book and article, it mentions that there are few or no existing commutation and RD I jackets to be viewed. So we need to go by the photos. We are wanting to get a jacket that will give us the most versitility in doing early war events (prior to Sharpsburg). We also figure that since the company we portray spent most of the time garrisoned, their uniforms wouldn't have worn out as quick as those who were constantly on the move in the valley or the pennisula. So for our unit to have matching uniforms would not be an unbelievable case.
I was wondering from groups that have or use commutation jackets how they chose the color or pattern for that jacket. Although from the reading I have seen, it seems that the commutation and RD I is very similiar in many ways.
The main issue is trying to accurately portray a unit but yet still be PEC so that we can attend events with guidelines that require an "early war" jacket.
Mods, if this is the wrong folder, please feel free to move to the right one.
The unit we portray is the 9th VA Co E. In the regimental history by Benjamin Trask, they are referred to as "Isle of Wight Blues" or "Rifle Blues". That is the only mention of the company in the book, from that point on they are lumped in and referred to with the regiment.
They spent the first year as an artillery unit in Northern VA around Isle of Wight county and Fort Boykin. The first question our group is trying to figure out how to answer is: Does the blue reference in their name come from location or from uniforms? Is it possible that they had blue uniforms and were maybe a local militia in the pre-war time period.
Also while trying to answer these questions, we have some members who are taking a vacation to that area which hopefully will uncover some answers. But along the line of improving our units accuracy, we want to add a 2nd jacket to our kits so that we can do more early war events such as McDowell and the Recons when applicable. We have been looking over any early war photos we can find and have found a relativly even split between dark colored jackets and light colored jackets. Material we figure is most likely jean cloth after reading both the Jensen article and book that Jim Mayo suggested on another thread. A question that arose while looking over these black and white photos was, how can you tell the actual color of the jacket from the photo? In some pictures of the Washington Artillery, their jackets look like a dark gray but in the EOG it has an original jacket and it says it is a blue - gray color. We know also from accounts at Manassas there were confederate units with "blue" colored uniforms.
Also in reading the Jensen book and article, it mentions that there are few or no existing commutation and RD I jackets to be viewed. So we need to go by the photos. We are wanting to get a jacket that will give us the most versitility in doing early war events (prior to Sharpsburg). We also figure that since the company we portray spent most of the time garrisoned, their uniforms wouldn't have worn out as quick as those who were constantly on the move in the valley or the pennisula. So for our unit to have matching uniforms would not be an unbelievable case.
I was wondering from groups that have or use commutation jackets how they chose the color or pattern for that jacket. Although from the reading I have seen, it seems that the commutation and RD I is very similiar in many ways.
The main issue is trying to accurately portray a unit but yet still be PEC so that we can attend events with guidelines that require an "early war" jacket.
Mods, if this is the wrong folder, please feel free to move to the right one.
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