"The Western Iron Brigade" Topic

At the time of Second Manassas; did all regiments of the Iron Brigade wear the black hats and gaiters???

Yes. The four regiments of the brigade all had the 1858 Dress Hat by May of 1862. The leggings would have been seen in considerable numbers as they had been issued rather recently and most would have not yet worn out. Remember that the 24th Michigan did not join the Iron Brigade until October of 1862.

Yes. They all wore the Hardee hat. Most would wear it without the eagle pin or plume. They used Scott's manual of arms so the hat would be pinned up on the left, to avoid the musket.
The 2nd Wisconsin would have had a large proportion of men wearing dark blue trousers. When the new light blue trousers were issued they took the old trousers from the other regiments. Also Lance Herdegen says he has found evidence that the 2nd received brand new dark blue trousers late into 1862.
All the regiments hated the gaiters, much is written about that. There are photos of color guards wearing gaiters.

Just to add a little more. In the Fall of 1861 and Winter of 1861/62 the 2nd, 6th, 7th Wis and 19th Indiana transitioned over to the dress coat and Hardee (Black) hat. While they did this standardization of dress prior to Gibbon's appointment as brigade general, he definitely made it the norm within the brigade when he took over. As 1862 wore on, some of the regiments drifted to wearing the sack coat, some stayed with the frock, or had a mix.

The hats are also a mixed bag. It isn't clear how long Scott's tactics were formally used so that may account for it or it could be the men were just sort of wanting to express themselves, but you will see some hats are turned up on one side, some the other, some not at all. The hats had trim (the brass) in some cases, not others. There seemed to be no fixed regulation within the brigade on that. Plumes wear out fast (rain does that) so they don't last though I have seen requests from regiments to get replacement plumes at various times in the war.

Regarding the blue pants, the 2nd got those early in the war and was the only regiment (through 2nd Bull Run) that seemed to have them. When the 7th Wis got a shipment of them they passed them onto the 2nd.

On the gaiters, as noted, they all hated them. Of course Gibbon is a stubborn person too. I know the 2nd got theirs on May 16th, 1862. Not sure for the rest of the regiments.

For a great summary of the uniform of the brigade see the late Howie Madaus appendix to "In the Bloody Railroad Cut" book. He was an expert on this area. Also look at the photos in Nolan's book of the companies of the 2nd and 7th out on parade for the cameraman. These were taken in the summer of 1862 opposite Fredericksburg so give a good view of the variations within just a few companies. Note that some have gaiters, some don't. Other photos not published have the same aspect of some wearing them and others not (at least for having the picture taken). Hope that helps!