Civilian clothing for Confederate officers

[4thvainfantry]

Ok guys, I've always heard that it you have authenticity questions this was the place to go.I've recently been voted Capt. of my unit so I'm in the market for Confederate Officer clothing. I know that officers were responsible for purchasing their own clothing so I would think with my original unit being from a poorer region of the upper Shennandoah Valley and being comprised mostly of farmers the officers may not have had the flashier uniforms. I've been looking at civilian trousers either in cordoroy, satinette, or even linen and a sack coat. My question is this.....would that be appropriate for the time frame of 1862-63? If so which material would you guys recommend? If not, what would you guys recommend? Thanks in advance for all the help!

[RSchuda]

Re: Civilian clothing for Confederate officers


As far as the Confederate Officer in Civilian clothing, heres a picture taken of a linen civilian sack coat used by a confederate colonel. This was 1864, in the west, but the concept is there.

[Tyler Underwood]

Re: Civilian clothing for Confederate officers

Hi Scott, a few years ago John Pagano wrote up a fantastic article for building a CS officer impression. It is here on the forum. You may have to play around with the wording in the search bar but it is here and are a great resource for getting started.
Best of luck!

[Tyler Underwood]

Re: Civilian clothing for Confederate officers

I went ahead and did a Google search since I decided that I wanted to re-read the articles myself. I also turned up another good article on the Southern Division Website.

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-9871.html

http://www.southerndivision.org/officerimp.html

[floridawar]

Re: Civilian clothing for Confederate officers

Some CS officer's in citizen's pattern sack coats in northern and west Virginia:
check out John S. Mosby's sack coat:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_S._Mosby#/media/File:ColonelJohnSMosby.jpg

or Maj. Thomas Marshall of Ashby's cavalry/7th Va. Cav.:

http://vanityallisvanity.com/2014/10/21/a-godly-confederate-hero-a-yankee-officer-and-a-sword/

Here is an image of Jesse McNiell in a sack coat and cav. boots; second in command of Hanse McNeil's scouts:

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/hanse-mcneill.98693/

cheers,
Archie Marshall

[rmilstead]

Re: Civilian clothing for Confederate officers

Scott,
This is not exactly an answer to the question you asked but it is another idea that you may wish to consider. The following link is to the description of a jacket which was up for auction back in October.

http://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2856M/lots/147

It is a very interesting example which is from the estate of the late Denis Reen who got it from the family. Based upon your handle, 4thvainfantry, you may be particularly interested in it as it was worn by a 2nd Lt. in the 2nd Va also of the Stonewall Brigade. This is a superb example of an officer jacket being "morphed" from a standard enlisted man's RD2. It is also one of the best looking examples I have seen. The jacket, despite the fact that it is made of EAC, can be dated to late 1862 or very early 1863 based upon the service record of the owner. The description of the lot has some very nice pictures as well. John J. Haines was from the Winchester/Berkeley area of Western Va. He was a merchant in Berkeley who joined the 2nd Va as a private in March, 1862 and was promoted (probably voted) to 2nd Lt in April of the same year as part of the reorganization that occurred due to the Conscription Act when existing units had to elect new officers.

With elite units like the regiments of the Stonewall Brigade, an attempt to be dressed in proper military "duds" would have been an expectation by the mid to late 1862 period. Remember "old Jack" still was around. Should you decide to do military instead of civilian then this is an excellent period correct alternative.

Just my $0.02

Dick Milstead
Hardaway's Alabama Battery
The Company of Military Historians

[roundshot]

Re: Civilian clothing for Confederate officers

You may find this past article on my blog of interest as well: http://26nc.org/blog/?m=201403