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  • #1

    Uniform Terminology

    Alright I'm sure that this has been asked before, but I searched and found nothing, so please bear with me...

    I was curious as to several types of uniform terminology. I've seen them used interchangeably in most places, but I'd like any further clarification as to what was official titles, what's slang and what (if any) is made up.

    I'm talking about the terms Roundabout, Fatigue Blouse, Dress coat, and Dress hat used instead of Shell jacket, Sack coat, frock coat and Hardee hat respectively.

    If anyone could shed some light on this it'd be greatly appreciated.

    -Rob Williams
    -Rob Williams
    Ft. Delaware State Park
    Independent Battery G Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery

    "...as sometime happened, there was a company of cavalry out on drill, to engage in a sham fight with the battery...for while cavalry swept down on the guns at a gallop, with sabers flashing in the air, the cannoneers with guns loaded with blank cartridges, of course, stand rigid...until they are within a few rods of the battery. Then the lanyards are pulled..."     p. 185 Hardtack and coffee
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  • #2
    Re: Uniform Terminology

    Hi Rob,

    I'm going to indulge in a speculation here: That the terminology used on clothing issue documents was the official or preferred army terminology.

    See this document: http://www.142dpvi.org/clothing_document.htm

    The picture is hard to read, but I have the original document, which lists items issued to Pvt Sechler: Dress Coat, Cap, Blouse. By the way, he was not issued brogans and trowsers. He was issued shoes and pants.

    A slight digression. Among other things he was also issued a haversack and "½ tent", for which he was not charged. These two items were company property and should have been accounted for on a different form. I'd have to guess that the appropriate form wasn't available. Mike Shaffner could chime in with more information about this.

    Ron Myzie

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    • #3
      Re: Uniform Terminology

      Roundabout was a common name during the period for what we refer to as a shell jacket.
      Tom "Mingo" Machingo
      Independent Rifles, Weevil's Mess

      Vixi Et Didici

      "I think and highly hope that this war will end this year, and Oh then what a happy time we will have. No need of writing then but we can talk and talk again, and my boy can talk to me and I will never tire of listening to him and he will want to go with me everywhere I go, and I will be certain to let him go if there is any possible chance."
      Marion Hill Fitzpatrick
      Company K, 45th Georgia Infantry
      KIA Petersburg, Virginia

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Uniform Terminology

        Although very similar, I thought that the roundabout had less of collar than a shell jacket.....and didn't have those two belt loop pillows on the back side. But the NY State/Illinois Militia Jacket's are both called a shell jacket.....

        hmmm, maybe there's a difference in the construction panels for the body of the jacket?

        time to do some research...
        RJ Samp
        (Mr. Robert James Samp, Junior)
        Bugle, Bugle, Bugle

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Uniform Terminology

          As far as my research has shown me, "roundabout" was a period term for any short jacket without tails or a skirt. These short jackets were very popular in the 1820s through the 1860s, and the name was probably applied to any short jacket. I hope this helps.

          Best,
          [B][COLOR=#0000CD]Matthew P. Cassady
          [/COLOR][/B]

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Uniform Terminology

            Hallo!

            As with firearms, there is a range of "usage" going on at the time, from the more formal
            "official" Ordnance Department, Quartermaster Department, Regulations, etc., terms down to the everyday terms "civilians turned volunteer soldiers" used in their speech and writings.
            And, just when one thinks it "should be" one way based upon say a career professional officer who shoulkd "know better," they go using the more "civilian" term "sack coat" for "fatigue blouse." Or "rifle" for "rifle-musket" or "rifled-musket." Or "musket" for "rifle."

            But in brief and to over-generalize, sometimes, words become popular in Reenacting Culture such as, say, calling all shoes "brogans" or accoutrements "leathers." Or forage caps, "kepis." Or belt plates, "buckles." Etc., etc.
            Or "By files, left/right. March."

            ;) :)

            Curt
            Curt Schmidt
            In gleichem Schritt und Tritt, Curt Schmidt

            -Hard and sharp as flint...secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster.
            -Haplogroup R1b M343 (Subclade R1b1a2 M269)
            -Pointless Folksy Wisdom Mess, Oblio Lodge #1
            -Vastly Ignorant
            -Often incorrect, technically, historically, factually.

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            • #7
              Re: Uniform Terminology

              For what this is worth--

              I just finished reviewing the NYS Quartermaster General Annual Report in conjunction with a research project for a regimental history.

              The reports show specific issues for:
              Blouses
              Coats
              Jackets

              No reference was made in the official reports to the jackets as "shell" jackets & here is what Mike McAfee from West Point had to say about my usage of the term in conjunction with the NYS jacket--"Incidentally, and just as a matter of reference, these are not properly shell jackets any more than the artillery and cavalry jackets were shell jackets. Shell jackets are not cut to extend far below the waistbelt as these jackets should fall if properly made and sized."

              The last 2 (coat & jacket) were denoted in infantry issues, the blouse fell into a "common items" category in the reports dated 61-66.
              [I][B]Terri Olszowy[/B][/I]

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Uniform Terminology

                In a letter dated 13 Sept., 1862; VMI Cadet, Jacob Kent Langhorne writes home asking for his gray "roundybout" jacket to be sent to him as he has not been issued a new uniform.

                The ful text of the letter can be found at the following link through the VMI archives: http://www.vmi.edu/archives/Manuscri.../ms361002.html

                Paul B. Boulden Jr.

                RAH VA MIL '04
                23rd VA. Vol. Regt.
                Paul B. Boulden Jr.


                RAH VA MIL '04
                (Loblolly Mess)
                [URL="http://23rdva.netfirms.com/welcome.htm"]23rd VA Vol. Regt.[/URL]
                [URL="http://www.virginiaregiment.org/The_Virginia_Regiment/Home.html"]Waggoner's Company of the Virginia Regiment [/URL]

                [URL="http://www.military-historians.org/"]Company of Military Historians[/URL]
                [URL="http://www.moc.org/site/PageServer"]Museum of the Confederacy[/URL]
                [URL="http://www.historicsandusky.org/index.html"]Historic Sandusky [/URL]

                Inscription Capt. Archibold Willet headstone:

                "A span is all that we can boast, An inch or two of time, Man is but vanity and dust, In all his flower and prime."

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