Re-enacting a Confederate Soldier

By John A. Miller

Re-enacting as a Confederate soldier is one of the most interesting and challenging impressions one can do. With so many different uniform options, equipment accouterments, and personal needs out there on the market, it can be very frustrating to the green hand of the hobby. That’s why researching your impression first is very important. No matter what time period one decides to portray it takes time, money and effort to put the general kit together. By working hard, and doing several hours of research, you can achieve your goal of historical authenticity. Civil War re-enacting is one of those hobbies where your rewards are what you put into it to see what you get out of it. The same would apply for any time period. But at the same time, I am tired of seeing the trend of re-enactors that are getting into the hobby buying stuff they do not need, but they bought it because they liked it or they thought it looked cool. This is where the new recruit gets into trouble.

One term that a new recruit will hear is the word Farb. What does that mean? Farb is someone who doesn’t do their research on the authenticness of their impression. For example a person who wears work/cowboy boots instead of brogans, or modern day dress pants instead of period trousers, or you bought something that is not correct for the impression you are portraying. It can be a person who has the wrong style jacket when the unit they are with calls for a certain kind. Someone who doesn’t take all the necessary steps to be as authentic as they should. Believe me, I’ve seen this first hand. There are literally hundreds of sources one can study from photographs, letters and books that describe uniforms. Another avenue of valuable research is the Echoes of Glory, Arms and Equipment of the Confederacy and research your jacket and other uniform needs first.

One of the worst impressions I’ve seen was a teenager that bought a modern day light tan slouch hat, wearing a greenish North Carolina shell jacket with Virginia buttons, Federal sky blue trousers and wearing officer boots with the trousers tucked in. He was re-enacting with a Mississippi company. This is what I call farby. The person had never studied what the Mississippian worn and never invested time into researching his impression. It never hit him that he was being laughed at by others around him. The unit is at fault here as well because they should have been working with the person. Needless to say, the teenager is no longer re-enacting.

When you decide what impression you want and what fits the unit you decide to portray, you need to go out to those sutlers that sell quality goods. For example when I decided to do a first hand impression of one of my ancestors who had served in the artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia. The first thing I did was read about the unit’s history. I then studied photographs of the uniforms and read all of the descriptions that I could find. After my research was done, then I went on my search to the sutlers to find the items I needed.

I would like to explain a few things that the new recruit to the hobby should do in order to help with or improve his impression. The first rule should be this: What you pay for is what you get and the worst part is when you buy an item and you find out later you can’t use it because its not authentic. That’s why I can’t stress this enough, do your research. The best thing for the new comer to do first is to find a unit. Each unit has guidelines or what is known as "Authenticity Standards" of what the enlistee can and cannot wear. For an example: You don’t want to buy a frock coat if the unit you are joining requires a Richmond Depot. And you don’t want to buy a North Carolina shell jacket, if the unit guidelines state you need a Columbus Depot.

I know when you arrive in Gettysburg; you’ll be tempted to buy the so-called "Fresh Fish Package" to save a few bucks. The set includes a sack coat, vest, trousers and a shirt. Before you buy it just remember that many units don’t allow sack coats. It sounds like a great deal, but double check your unit’s guidelines before you buy. Not to mention most sack coats are made incorrectly.

Jackets are the first thing people see when you are dressed in uniform. Remember most Confederate jackets were hand stitched. Buttons are the next thing people see. Make sure you have the proper buttons on the jacket. State seals are good, but many of the jackets had wooden buttons, Block (I, C or A) buttons, and some even had Federal eagle buttons. Coin buttons are very sharp to have on a jacket as well. One of my jackets I wear has copper coin buttons sewn to it.

Another thing you can do to improve your Richmond Depot Type Two Jacket is simply add black or dark blue tape to the collar and cuffs. This will give you an early to mid war appearance. The stitching doesn't have to be prefect. Sometimes soldiers cut off the epaulets giving the Type Two jacket the look of what would become the Richmond Depot Type Three jacket. Find photos of Confederate soldiers and study the photo and ask yourself how can I look like that.

Waistcoats or a military vest as some call it were a non-issue item, but rather a private purchase. So this should be up to the unit you are with to say you need it or not. Shirts are one of your basic needs. There are many different types of material used to make shirts. You have cotton, linen and flannel to name a few. Your unbleached cotton shirts are more for your military impression. Other patterns and colors are more for your civilian type. Many units let you decide on what kind of shirt you want. Wood or bone buttons work great with shirts as well.

Trousers are pretty simple. You have the standard depot or civilian. The buttons are should be made of wood or bone. The type of trousers you have determines how they are closed in the back. Some have two straps that are adjusted by a single buckle, while the others have two holes with a piece of leather or twine to tie the back closed. Most units recommend that you buy the Depot Type trousers, not Federal issue sky-blue wool trousers, unless the Richmond Clothing Depot made the sky-blue trousers. The Confederate Depots often made sky-blue trousers from their own pattern that is totally different than the Federal issue. Another avenue you can go is a civilian style trouser. Remember trousers just like jackets are made from various materials such as jean-cloth, satinette, and also cotton.

Choosing your headgear is the next decision you will need to make. The most common being a kepi or a slouch hat, but again check with your unit’s guidelines before you purchase your headgear. There are forage kepis that are very baggy on top and then you have the standard French style kepi. Again study the photographs. If you buy a slouch hat, remember that you don’t want just a regular style cowboy hat. Be sure that the slouch hat you are buying is a period correct civilian style in the right color and is lined with the correct material. Remember, your headgear is going to be another main feature of your uniform that other re-enactors will see and it will become your trademark.

Another item that is an absolute necessity is the canteen. Most units will allow any type of canteen as long as it is period correct. Meaning no plastic Boy Scout models. Some choices you have is the wooden drum, CSA tin drum or the Federal model 1858 smooth side canteen. Smooth side canteens need to be lined on the outside with jean-cloth material. Wooden drum canteens were often replaced in the Civil War for the Federal canteen, until the depots in the South started to make canteens made of tin. Tin was a cheap material and any tinsmith could produce these canteens in mass quantities.

A haversack is a very handy item to have. In the Confederate Army the plain white cotton-cloth haversack was very commonly worn. Some were painted black something you seen in the Federal army. The straps are usually 40 inches long. The haversack should be worn at your belt line with the top just touching you left elbow. Haversacks are for carrying food. You would carry meat, beans, apples, veggies and other food items. You should also carry your tin plate, fork, spoon and knife combo in your haversack. Carry your tin cup tied to your shoulder strap of your haversack.

Knapsacks are cool to have as well. Carry all of your non-essential items in your knapsack. The knapsack is where you should keep your shelter half or blanket, gum-blanket, two towels, two handkerchiefs, two pair of socks an extra shirt, extra rope and under drawers. Also any small personal items should be carried in your knapsack such as a housewife (sewing kit) and a little bible.

Your footwear is pretty basic. You have your choice between brogans or boots. Brogans are more acceptable for the average infantryman impression. The popular brogan to buy is the Jefferson brogan. There are a few English styles out there and they should work out as well with your impression. Boots are more for artillery, cavalry and officer impressions. It depends on you impression what type of boot you will need. Remember, if you have a pair of boots; make sure your trousers are worn outside of the boot instead of being tucked inside.

Socks are another standard item you must have. There are a few good sutlers that sell period correct cotton socks for the summer months, but beware of those socks made of wool. Many sutlers sell the same style of wool socks that are at Wal-mart in the sporting goods department. One thing you do not want to happen is when your sitting down and decide to cross you legs and a bright white modern day cotton sock to showing.

The equipment you need to complete your impression is basically simple. You need an infantry belt, buckle, cap box, scabbard for your bayonet and a cartridge box. Leather belts are simple, but the buckle can be tricky. Many units prefer the enlistee to buy a roller or a framed buckle rather than purchasing the standard oval CSA or state seal type buckle. One really cool idea that is not often portrayed is English Army items, such as the two-piece snake buckle and English accouterments. Painted cloth items are just another idea one might want to consider.

Your rifle is a major purchase and when you buy it, make sure it is a three-band rifle. The re-enacting officials decided that two band muskets were unsafe to fire in close shoulder to shoulder firing from the rear rank and a ban was placed on them. Some of the choices of muskets you have consist of the Richmond, Enfield, Springfield or Harper’s Ferry models to pick from. Once you have a rifle, you’ll need a bayonet for the gun. The best thing for the new recruit is to buy your rifle and bayonet together, because you need to find a bayonet that fits your rifle barrel the best. You will have to take a half moon file or a sanding wheel on a drill to the socket of your bayonet and file it down until it fits your gun. This is because the rifle barrel is a few thousands of an inch smaller at the top of the barrel and gradually gets a few thousands of an inch bigger as you work your way back to the first band of the gun. Most bayonets do not fit to your gun when you purchase them. That's because when bayonets are made, the company uses a one-size bit to hone out the socket.

Some other important things to remember, if the unit you are joining fought with the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, that army had its own set of standards of what could be issued as far as uniforms. They were what you called a "Uniformed Army". Even their flags had to be the same throughout the Army. If you are joining a unit that fought in the Army of South Western Virginia or the Department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, they had their own standards that would not be accepted in the Army of Northern Virginia. The same goes for the other armies in the Confederacy.

When it comes down to it, you need to do your research in order to improve your impression and your impression is something that you should continually try to improve on. One flaw can be damaging to your impression and your units reputation. Be sure to talk with the unit historian or commander on what you can and cannot have. I’ve talked to many new recruits from other units that spent money and couldn’t wear the item because it wasn’t historically correct for that unit. The fault lies on the unit for not helping the recruit and also the recruit himself for not checking with the unit’s guidelines. Also remember that when you are in this hobby you are representing actual soldiers from that time period and you are educating the public about that time period so you want to be sure your impression is accurate.

There are several good resources out there from the quality sutlers themselves, and believe me they will not give you a sales pitch, but they often have there resources they will be glad to share with you. You also have all of the first hand accounts and photographs and many websites that are devoted to historical accuracy.