Battle Shirt

[tmdreb]

Re: Overshirts and rank

In Morgan Wolfe Merrick's illustrated diary, published as From Desert to Bayou, he drew several artillery crewmen wearing overshirts, one of them wearing red corporal's stripes on the sleeve. So, at least for artillerymen operating in Louisiana, there is documentation for this practice.

[Blum]

Re: Overshirts and rank

«*Would the situation change if the overshirt was sometimes worn under a jacket?*»

I sadly can not post it but I know at least one picture where a CS soldier wearing a trimmed overshirt under a shell jacket.

I don’t know if it is very common however.

[acwillen]

Re: Overshirts and rank

I have HEARD (I cannot back this up so take it with a grain of salt!) That when the 1stMN Inf was first formed, that the enlisted ranks wore red shirts, NCOs Gray and the officers Blue. Other than that piece of campfire talk, I have not seen a photo of NCO stripes on an overshirt. What unit are you portraying?

I knew we had the docs somewhere, I finally picked them up from Fort Snelling last night.

"...[Minnesota Governor Ramsay] obligated himself to friends in Philadelphia for money to furnish the First Regiment with clothes, which consisted of a change of underwear, a red shirt, a pair of blue woolen pants and a black felt hat. That was the dress of the private soldier. The non-commissioned officers were furnished with blue shirts, and had the chevron sewed on the sleeve of their shirts, to designate their rank. At that time a company consisted of 103 men, rank and file; three commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, five sergeants and eight corporals. The commissioned officers had to furnish their own uniforms, rations, etc. The officers were required to have servants actively employed; otherwise they would be prevented from drawing their allowance."

pp7-8, Memoirs of Christopher B. Heffelfinger, by Lucia L. Peavey Heffelfinger
Santa Barbara, CA 1915, Minneapolis, MN, 1922

As I remember, the entire regiment was issued this uniform while at Fort Snelling. One company (A, I believe - the books are at home right now) also received a regulation uniform including frock coats, and Co. K of Winona also had a gray uniform made by the ladies of that town for them. However, they received orders to all wear the red shirt when they started off for the First Battle of Bull Run, and did not all receive regulation uniforms until after that battle. This is all in Last Full Measure and No More Gallant a Deed, whcih I can get details on when I get home, if anyone needs it.

[mnreb]

Battle Shirts

Hi.
Would battleshirts, or overshirts have been made out of cotton? My unit has ran out of the color we need in wool and have thought about cotton, but wanted to be sure that it would still be authentic.
Thanks.
Bill Feucthenberger

[Shockoe Hill Cats]

Re: Battle Shirts

Bill,

Let me start from the beginning; overshirts were sometimes worn as a substitute for proper uniforms and were common and favourable garments of the 19th Century. Documented colours of overshirts haved ranged widely (i.e. Red, Blue, White, Gray, Striped flannel, etc.). It can be noted that many laborers have been associated with overshirts, like sailors or firemen for instance.

Not to be a stickler, but when I think of the word "battleshirt," I think more of overshirts that were specifically trimmed or decorated. Overshirts weren't necessarily decorated as simply or elaborately as battleshirts.

Take this example, in my hometown of Charlottesville, Va. there were two miltias comprised of University of Virginia students known as the Southern Guard and the Sons of Liberty. The uniform of the Sons of Liberty was, "a red flannel shirt, conspicuously trimmed with black velvet and bespangled with brass buttons [...]" (The Magizine of Albemarle County History). As an aside, check out this link on "Piedmont Battleshirts:"

http://www.historicsandusky.org/uniforms.htm

As to your original question, of all the examples I'm posting, none appear to be constructed of cotton. Doesn't mean that cotton overshirts or battleshirts weren't produced. But the majority of my examples don't seem to be. To be most historically correct, I would check out your unit's standards again and see what they originally wore.

Hope this helps,

Jason.

[roundshot]

Re: Battle Shirts

An excellent post, Jason!

[mnreb]

Re: Battle Shirts

Hi again.
Thank you for the feedback and the site. Through my research I had not seen or heard of any being made out of cotton. I had to ask in case anyone else had more information on the subject. Again, thank you very much for the reply.
Sincerly,
Bill Feucthenberger

[aaron1stvirginia]

Battle Shirt

Gents,
I was wandering about the proper, if they're such a thing, way to wear a battle shirt or over shirt. I've seen a picture of two fellows from North Carolina I believe and they had the collars tucked in the shirt and the cuffs rolled in. I've seen a picture or two of plaid shirts with trim around the collar and buttons and cuffs. Would these be apropriate to wear into battle or more of a flannel shirt like Richmond Depot sells? Also I've wandered because I can't recollect seeing how a battle/overshirt is worn as far as tucked or untucked and over the braces. The reason I ask is I want to improve my early war/home guard empressions. I'm fairly new to the authentic way of life and doing the small shows we always had to wear a jacket and never saw a battle shirt when I think they would've been very apropriate to wear.

Thanks in advance for the help,

[Secesh]

Re: Battle Shirt

Hello,
My advice to you, as to the best way, is researc early War period photographs, as the photos can give you a far more accurate photo than anyone here could. I have in my possession an original Early-War tintype of Joshua Whaley, Co. G, 34th Alabama Infantry...he is wearing an overshirt / battleshirt open at the throat, with a white shirt and plaid tie underneath it...He has the shirt tucked into his trowsers. Best regards, Tom

[mightyreb]

Re: Battle Shirt

Hello, I have a friend who made up a number of battle shirts for some us who were intrested at the time & she did quite a bit of searching through known photograghs for just that. she found that most were tucked with no braces holding up the trousers, acouple having shirts underneath the battleshirts. i'll have to rummage through my books to see if they were wearing belts, hope it helps...
steve hutton

[ewtaylor]

Re: Battle Shirt

Aaron,
This is one of those subjects asked about frequently. Here is the last thread on Battleshirts:

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11347&highlight=battle+shirts

maybe it will answer some of your questions or if not you can search the other dozens of threads on the subject by using the "search" function at the top of the page.
see ya at Mill Springs,
everett taylor

[YoungCampaigner]

Battle Shirt

Hello All. I am looking to make or buy myself a battle shirt for my early-war Confederate impression. Can anyone tell me what the most authentic color and material would be for one? Also, where could I buy a hand-sewn one in a size 38 or smaller?

Sincerely,
William Chapman
40th Va. Inf., Co. B
and
Signal Corps of the James
http://www.theyoungcampaigner.com

[Csayankee]

Re: Battle Shirt

Hello Welcome to the forum.

First things first, make sure you sign your full name to each and every post this is a requirement of the board. If you go to the User CP you can create a signature that will appear on every post and you don't have to worry about it.

If you are looking into buying a good made shirt, several of the approved vendors on this site can provide you with one.

As in color and material I know several will make the statement of what does the research say. I know mine made a good vendor is of a wool flannel and blue. There was a great post about a year or so ago on material, color and fabric suppliers. However after performing a search I am scared it is lost in one of the previous crashes. If Matt Caldwell can chime in, he was part of that post.

[Stonewall_Greyfox]

Re: Battle Shirt

Question on clarification...

Are you looking for information on a shirt to be worn for extra warmth, providing an extra layer of clothing...or are you looking for information on an outer/overshirt being worn in place of a jacket?

You mentioned "early-war Confederate", so I'm assuming you mean the later;
Are you trying to portray a specific unit?

Many of these early style "uniforms" had such great variance, it may not be possible to definitively say what is "most-common"...units such as the Liberty Hall Volunteers from Washington College (Washington & Lee University), had their telltale grey-wool flannel overshirts with black trim...while other units such as the 1tth VA Infantry out of Lynchburg/Bedford VA had a great variance in "battle-shirts" within their single regiment both in material and construction.

Medium weight wool flannels work very well for the construction of these "uniform" shirts. You may want to start with one of the Charlie Childs/Country Cloth patterns (such as the Louisiana Shirt), although again...such great variance, the shirt would really be more unit dependant.

Paul

[YoungCampaigner]

Re: Battle Shirt

Thanks for the suggestions.

Yes, I am looking for a shirt to be worn in place of a jacket.

Sincerely,
William Chapman
40th Va. Infantry, Co. B
and
Signal Corps of the James
http://www.theyoungcampaigner.com