Commutation jackets

[westcoastcampaigner]

Re: Commutation jackets

Craig,

Thank you very much for your post, that is some excellent information there and it taught me some wonderful new things!


Josh,

To my knowledge, variegated jean appears only in two surviving original garments, a pair of CS-used trousers now in Mississippi, and a single sleeve on display at the Antietam visitor's center. This sleeve, being a battlefield pickup is of dubious quality when determining the appropriateness of a particular garment at that battle; there's no way to know what type of coat from which it came.

Variegated jean was a common and somewhat popular pre-war civilian material, and I have seen dozens of pictures from the 1855-1860 era with folks wearing the jean, most commonly in the form of trousers. Its widespread use in CS issue garments is not supported by photographs I have seen (though I would be interested to see if anyone has actually done a scientific survey of surviving photographs cataloging the use of this jean.)

The basic conclusion that can be drawn from the limited information available is that the use of variegated jean in CS ranks is extremely over-represented in the hobby today, one pair of trousers and one sleeve should not warrant the ratios we see today. If you really want to stand out in an authentic way and have a garment made from an under-represented material, go with a cassimere.


Best Regards,

Shucks! I've had a pair of varigated jean trousers for the longest time and I never get to wear them. From what you said it looks like I never will. Well maybe...what events can I get away with wearing these things at? Please help and don't let a good pair of trousers go to waste.

Best Regards,

Josh Sawyer
Liberty Rifles (National Light Infantry)
Hardtack Society

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Commutation jackets

Not sure what any of this has to do with the thread on "commuation jackets" but PEC is a guideline (a good one, too). Worst case scenario, have the trousers dyed a solid color. They need not sit unused or go to waste. It's not like they are leopard skin polyester or something. They aren't completely PEC, so there is no use for them at all? Surely we are not saying that...Over-represented is not the same thing as anachronistic.

The reality is we are all trying to improve some part of our own impression. Does this improve yours? Perhaps not, but to my thinking this is not a very big deal on an exception basis if that type of jean cloth is uncommon but documented in both Eastern (Antietam) and Western (Mississippi) theaters of operation. Obviously a few CS soldiers were wearing articles made from that type jean cloth.

The counter point is the dreadful circus like "anything goes in the commutation period" (pre-October 1862, later in the west) or what we also know as the "I saw one (1) in Echoes of Glory" impression, the key word being "one". IE: A stand-out from the crowd sort of fellow was seen at Perryville in 2006 wearing a jacket and trousers (I hesitate to call it a uniform) made entirely of mattress ticking material. The variegated jean trousers do not quite rise to this kind of "anything goes/saw one (1) in EoG" level of eyesore. So there's a qualified recommendation for you...like I said, you can always dye the trousers one solid color if the existing coloration does not suit the standards of your overall impression.