Uniforms of The Confederate States Military Forces - Overview

Overview

The original Confederate uniforms from all branches of the military closely followed the lines of the Union’s uniforms. This was until June 6, 1861, when the Confederate Council issued General Order 9, the new regulations for the Confederate Infantry, Cavalry and Artillery.

The new uniforms were designed by Nicola Marschall, a German-American artist who also designed the original Confederate flag. He was heavily influenced by the mid-1800s uniforms of the Austrian and French Armies.

Although the regular Confederate military had a paper strength of 6,000 personnel, the first 100,000 volunteers from all over the South participated in a variety of dress. Many were from state militia outfits which had their own state-issued uniforms, and in the early battles some Confederate units who wore dark blue uniforms were often mistaken on the field of battle for the enemy. Conversely, many Union units which were originally militia units went to war wearing grey.

It was not until the depot system was established in early 1862 by the Confederate Quartermaster in Richmond, Virginia, that uniforms were mass-produced and supplied to troops. Until that time the "commutation system" was in place which allowed soldiers to have their own uniforms made to the new CSA regulations to be reimbursed by the CS government. Allowance was $21 per six months for uniforms.

Officers always had to buy their own until March 6, 1864, when General Order 28 was released which allowed Confederate officers to purchase uniforms from the same sources as the troops, and at cost price.

Following the Richmond Depot, other depots started up throughout the South to supply their respective regional forces. Major depots were in Columbus, Athens and Atlanta, Georgia for the Army of Tennessee and Houston, Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana for the Trans-Mississippi forces. The use of the depot system meant that army-wide uniformity was impossible, as different depots had unique uniforms (Columbus Depot Jackets for instance, had breast pockets, whilst Richmond Depot Jackets did not). This resulted in a varied set of uniforms worn by different Confederate units.

As the war progressed the image began to shift from the "ragged rebel" look to a well-uniformed Army in the Eastern and Western theaters. In the last 12 months of fighting these Confederate forces were well-uniformed, the best they had ever appeared in terms of consistency, wearing clothing made of imported blue-grey cloth, either manufactured locally or bought read-made under contract from British manufacturers, such as Peter Tait of Limerick, Ireland who became a major supplier of uniforms for the Confederacy.

Unfortunately in the Trans-Mississippi, problems of distribution of the plentiful uniforms made in Houston and Shreveport, meant that the South Western forces missed out.

Confederate headgear was to be the chasseur cap or "kepi", a French military cap. Often broad felt or straw hats or slouch hats were worn instead. The Federal Army style forage cap was also popular. General Stonewall Jackson was famous for wearing the forage cap. Confederate Cavalry troops often wore Hardee hats, much like the Union Cavalry which was a representative of the additional "flair" associated with the Cavalry troops. Two examples of CSA Cavalry officer's famous for wearing these hats are Colonel John S. Mosby and General J.E.B. Stuart.