Richmond Depot - History - Jacket Design

Jacket Design

The jackets produced during the war were not grouped into different types until long after the war was over, being set by modern historians. Many, if not all of the jackets were produced from the Richmond depot in a production line, with the details being omittited as time went by to save material due to war time shortages and faster completion rates. One of the parts of this 'production line', consisted of sewing groups, or the ladies of the towns and city, that would come to the facilities, take unfinished uniforms and bolts of cloth, and drop off the completed uniforms. Three types of Richmond Depot jackets were produced:

1. The Richmond Depot Type I was issued late in 1861 or the beginning of 1862. The Richmond Depot Type I, was a jacket with a six piece body and two piece sleeves, with an eight or nine button front, shoulder straps and probably belt loops. There were generally two buttons on the cuffs. The lining was probably a cotton osnaburg. The distinctive point about the first pattern jacket and the feature that distinguished it from the Type II, was that it was trimmed on the collar, shoulder straps and cuffs with either tape or piping-which appears to be usually dark colored, 1/4" inch tape, or 1/8" piping. Today, there are no surviving Type I jackets, but based on photographs, these details can be deduced.
2. In mid-1862, the Type I was phased out for the Type II. Due to scarce supplies, they were made of jeans (a mixture of wool and cotton) or satinette and cassimere. There are several extant examples of Type IIs throughout out the US, including in the Museum of the Confederacy. The Richmond Depot Type II jacket is characterized by a nine-button front, no buttons on the cuffs, top-stitched edges, shoulder straps, belt loops on each hip, an unbleached cotton osnaburg lining and interior pockets. It has a six piece body and two piece sleeves. Generally, it has no trim, although examples with partial trim do exist.
3. The Type II was phased out in mid-1864 for the Richmond Depot Type III. This was the last Richmond Depot jacket issued to the Army of Northern Virginia. Seven of these jackets have survived, and there are a number of identifiable photographs that show them in use. Since these jackets were produced over a considerable period of time, and because they were made from materials available at different times, variations in the coat material and the number of buttons have been noted.

• There are also different variations of these jackets, in both cut and material, as the war progressed. Such as the number of buttons on one jacket, which belonged to George H. T. Greer, General Jubal Early's staff; this example only possesses six of the nine buttons that are normally found on the other jackets. One other, which is believed to belong to Pvt. Henry Redwood, has eight buttons, however, the bottom of the jacket shows evidence of new stitching and other modifications, leading historians to believe that this was intentional on the part of Pvt. Redwood.