"information from Ketcher's uniforms continental army " Topic

My copy of Phil Ketcher's uniforms of the Continental army is missing and I am in the middle of a painting blitz. I have looked at the Osprey book and Leaders but Ketcher's always had something interesting. So if you have this book coukd some good soul look up and share the following information:

3rd continental regiment c.1776
13th continental regiment c. 1776

Many thanks!

Glad to help.

3d Cont. of 1776: deserter wore "cloth colored coat and jacket." Another deserter is described had a "red seamans' jacket," buckskin breeches and a white hat.

13th Cont. of 1776 deserter wore " a brown coat, old hat flapped down, checked shirt, black breeches and white stockings."

There is always the possibility that the individual dressed differently to throw pursuers off.

The other issue with deserter descriptions is that there is usually no indication if it was actually a uniform that they wore, or civilian clothes. In some cases, it could even have been a uniform from another unit – the man may have enlisted in a unit for the bounty wearing an old uniform, then skipped out – often to enlist in another unit for the bounty, only to skip out again.

Deserter descriptions are only useful if a number of deserters from the same regiment are described as wearing the same type of coat.

Dan many many thanks. That is great of you to take the time to answer my question. One of the many reasons I enjoy this board and as of late seldom wander elsewhere.

All of your points on deserter descriptions are correct. I use them when there is little else to make a best guess on how to paint a regiment. I usualy take. Note what were in stores and see if the description are at all close to them.

I have seen a Continental unit painted with purple velvet coats and green trousers based on deserter descriptions.

Supposedly Lee's Legion (can't remember whether it was infantry or cavalry) was in purple coats – was that what you were referring to?

Deserters often stole clothing from local civilians. Happened during the FIW, AWI, 1812, and ACW.

A lot of guys in the 1776 Continental regiments deserted because their promised clothing hadn't arrived and they were forced to wear out what was often the only (civilian) clothes they possessed. Add that to the other comments above, and you have a plethora of reasons for NOT looking at what these guys were wearing as "uniforms".

Quite often deserter descriptions would specify "[colour A] uniform/regimental coat, turned up with [colour B]" to indicate what appeared to be issued uniform; however, sometimes they didn't. As another poster says, you need a group of guys wearing substantially the same thing to draw any conclusion. However, even then you might be off – blue, brown and "stone/cloth" (neutral or undyed) coats or jackets were common civilian garb.

Katcher also mentions another 3rd Regt deserter in a cloth coloured coat and jacket (probably waistcoat). This carries some potential for being a uniform as a lot of Massachusetts-based 1776 regiments received the hundreds (thousands?) of single-breasted off-white coats with coloured collar, cuffs and turnbacks, made in that State in late 1775 – too late to be issued to the Army of Observation that broke up at the end of that year.

Zlatich (Osprey) mentions that the 13th Regt had a buff flag with two officers depicted on it in regimental uniform (he then helpfully doesn't say what it was, but you can safely assume buff facings). Quite a few 1776 units got buff-faced British uniforms captured en route to America for units such as the 22nd Foot. Captured coats were invariably dyed brown so brown coats faced buff would be a good guess for the 13th.