United States Army Headgear 1855-1902 - Libreria Militare Ares

NUMBER 30 95"Jesup to Thomas, 8 December 1858, OQMG, LS, Clothing,RG 92, NA.*' Jesup to Commanding Officer, Ft. Laramie, 11 April1859, LS, Clothing, RG 92, NA.°*G.O. No. 13, WD, 30 November 1858, RG 94, NA.'"" Uniform Regulations for the Army of the United States,1861,pp. 13, 14."'Jesup to Thomas, 16 December 1858, OQMG, LS,Clothing; Maj. Henry Wayne, acting QMG, to Thomas, 4January 1858, OQMG, LS, Clothing, both RG 92, NA.In regard to the absence of specimens with the colored welt,it must be remembered that as of 1 January 1859 theArmy's authorized enlisted strength was but 11,859, withmany units understrength. See U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT,Official Army Register for 1859, p. 41."'Jesup to Cooper, 8 December 1858, OQMG, LS, Clothing,RG 92, NA. G.O. No. 23 WD, 30 November 1859, RG94, NA. In February 1859 the QMG contracted for 2500yards of "dark blue cloth for caps." See Contract with G. V.Fox, Agent, 24 February 1859, in Exec. Doc. No. 22 (Houseof Reps.), 36th Congress, 1st Session. One of the first contractsfor forage caps was let to Harris Rothstein, New York,31 October 1861, for 36,000 "forage caps with cottonglazed covers and capes" at $.70. See Exec. Doc. No. 101(House of Reps.), 37th Congress, 2nd Session. Forage capcovers first appeared in cost of clothing lists in 1862, listedat $.18. See G.O. No. 202 WD, 9 December 1862, RG 94,NA."^ G.O. No. 4 WD, 26 February 1861, RG 94, NA.'"* United States Army and Navy Journal, 12 September1863, p. 36."^ Ibid., 14 November 1863, p. 180.'""Ibid., 4 January 1868, p. 315; 28 March 1868, p. 506;8 August 1868, p. 810."' Woodhull Report, p. 5.^"^ Quartermaster Manual, 1865, pp. 11-12.'"" All from the War Department collection. National Museumof History and Technology, Smithsonian Institution.""Jesup to Thomas, 1 December 1858, OQMG, LS, Clothing,RG 92, NA.'" There is another such green cap in the collections of theMilwaukee County Historical Museum that carries blackrubber chin strap buttons with the regulation line eagle impressedon the obverse and "Goodyear's P-T. N.R. Co." onthe reverse. See MADAUS, "Notes on the Uniform of Berdan'sSharpshooters," pp. 56-58. Similar rubber buttons also appearon a pattern "Berdan" coat in the national collections."' The two units were organized progressively by companyfrom September through December 1861. See DYER, ACompendium of the War of the Rebellion, vol. 3, pp. 1716-1717."' Lt. Col. Schuyler Hamilton, Military Secretary to Gen.Scott, to Berdan, 14 June 1861, in U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT,The War of the Rebellion, series 3, vol. 1, p. 270.'"Thos. Scott, Asst. Sec. War, to Berdan, 13 August1861, Sec. War, LS, MiHtary Affairs, RG 107, NA.''''See OQMG, LS Clothing, July-December 1861, RG92, NA, for numerous examples of this. In fact, there areseveral instances where the QMG stated that volunteerunits could be authorized special uniforms "the cost not toexceed that of the Army Uniform." See OQMG to DepotQM, Phila., 6 August 1861, OQMG, LS, Clothing, RG 92,NA.""BRUCE, Lincoln and the Tools of War, pp. 108-113.'"Meigs to Maj. D. H. Vinton, Asst. QM at New York,21 and 23 September 1861, OQMG, LS, Clothing, RG 92,NA. As an example of Berdan's apparent influence, theknapsacks were procured from Tiffany's at $3.75 each plusa 2/2 percent commission for the supplier, while the regulationknapsacks were being bought on contract for an averageof less than $2.00. The leggings, which were not anitem of regulation issue in any form, cost $2.25 a pair."' STEVENS, Berdan's U.S. Sharpshooters, p. 5. See alsophotograph of Sgt. James W. Staples on p. 133. The firstrecord of ordered issue to the 1st and 2nd Regiments of theU.S. Sharpshooters included 1100 ostrich feathers, althoughthe units were not issued hats that normally carried suchfeathers. See Sibley (for Meigs) to Vinton, 12 November1861, OQMG, LS, Clothing, RG 92, NA.""Vinton to Meigs, 25 November 1861 and Berdan toMeigs, 17 December 1861, both in OQMG, Reg. LR, Clothing,RG 92, NA. Whether or not Martin Brothers madethese first caps is unknown, as no contract for such or forthe green uniforms has been found. In August of 1861,George Hoff & Co. of Philadelphia, who made the sealedsample, contracted to make 20,000 forage caps, but the contractclearly states that they were to be of "indigo blue wooldyed cloth." See contracts made by Hoff in Branch E, RegularSupplies, Contracts, Box 98, RG 92, NA.""Perry (for Meigs) to Gen. Rufus Ingalls, Chief QM,Army of the Potomac, 12 January 1864, OQMG, LS, Clothing;Capt. A. G. Robinson (for Meigs) to Crosman, 18February 1864, OQMG, LS, Clothing; both RG 92, NA.'" See HOWELL AND KLOSTER, "United States ArmyHeadgear to 1854," pp. 24, 45."'Ibid., pp. 60-61.'"Jesup to Thomas, Phila., 20 January 1858, OQMG,LS, Clothing, RG 92, NA.'"See G.O. No. 14 WD, 9 December 1858; G.O. No. 23WD, 30 November 1859; G.O. No. 95 WD, 5 November1861; G.O. No. 202 WD, 9 December 1862; all RG 94, NA.""See Exec. Doc. 101, 37th Congress, 2nd Session, House,esp. contract with Harris Rothstein, 31 October 1861."" G.O. No. 202 WD, 9 December 1862, RG 94, NA.'" MILLER, The Photographic History of the Civil War,vol. 3, p. 279. In this connection, however, it must be rememberedthat the cover was a wet weather item and thephotography of the time precluded good pictures on dark,rainy days.'"U.S. WAR DEPARTMENT, ARQMG, 1865, pp. 208-209."" See HOWELL AND KLOSTER, "United States ArmyHeadgear to 1854," p. 60 and fig. 49.''"See DONALD, Divided We Fought, p. 15. The originalsketch is in the collections of the Library of Congress."'For these, see ADAMS, Album of American History,vol. 3, p. 115; CUNLIFFE, Soldiers and Civilians, p. 6; TheAmerican Heritage Picture History of the Civil War, p. 106."• BILLINGS, Hardtack and Coffee, pp. 305-306.'"CoGGiNS, Arms and Equipment of the Civil War, p. 14.Although Coggins quotes directly, he does not give his