AS the war continued, CS issue uniforms became, for the most part, more plain and simple.
There's a lot to consider, but in the main, the South established depots for the issuance (and occasionally manufacture) of uniforms and equipments for the CS armies. These included the Richmond depot, Columbus Depot, Houston Depot, etc.
Mostly, the uniforms were done as piecework by women and sometimes men, outside the depots, usually in their homes. The Depots had a detail of men and brass templates, etc, who would produce uniform "kits". All the cloth was cut, and the various pices, along with buttons, hooks and thread, were bundled together. The women would come to the arsenal and sign for however many uniforms they felt they could complete that week, and take them home. When the clothing was finished, it was returned to the Depot, inspected, and if passed/accepted, the women were paid.
In 1861-62 the Confederacy produced very nice uniforms, complete with lots of trim, piping, etc. I'll use the Richmond Depot as an example here.
Collectors and researchers refer to the jackets issued through the Richmond Depot as Type I, Type II, or Type III. These are in chronological order and show how clothing became more "efficient" as the war progressed. The Type I jackets had, for the most part, solid collars and cuffs in branch color, usually point, but sometimes straight. Most also had branch colored piping as well down the front of the jacket. It featured shoulder epaulettes, and waist loops for help in supporting the belt and accouterments.
The Type II began to appear in early 1863, right after the Antietam campaign. The solid colored collars and cuffs were gone, as was the front piping. One, or both, waist loops were also eliminated. Branch colors were featured as piping on the shoulder epaulettes, and usually the collar, and sometimes on the cuffs. By late 1863, branch colors had been eliminated from production on all uniforms made for issue.
In mid 1864, the Type III jacket appeared. It was a plain roundabout (or shell jacket, like the others) with no waist loops, epaulettes or branch colors of any type. It was usually produced from English Army cloth, a blue-grey color, somewhat darker than that referred to as "Cadet Grey". These jackets were issued until the end of the war.
By 1864, clothing produced by Peter Tait * Co. of Limerick, Ireland began to appear in large numbers. These were also of the English Army cloth and were usually found with a mid, or Saxon blue, to a darker blue, solid color collar and epaulettes, or with the collar and epaulettes piped. A small number were made with scarlet branch colors instead of blue. However, BOTH types were issued as needed and NOT to just infantry or artillery. You'd get was was issued.
Other depots followed similar practices.
Having said all that, even up to the last few months of the war, it WAS possible to obtain "special production" clothing. These were clothing manufactured to the unit's request. However, the unit wanting/ordering these types of clothing had to pay the difference, up front, between the cost of the issue clothing and what the unit requested. It was then manufactured and shipped out.
One example of this is the Washington Artillery. An existing coat belonging to a member from the "special" 1864 order is on display at Manassas Battlefield Park.
The Washington Artillery order Included trousers and jackets and, it is believed, caps. The clothing was produced in a nice Cadet Grey broadcloth. It featured scarlet piping in the jackets and trouser stripes for NCO's. A cap claimed to be associated with this order is made of the same material, but with a scarlet band around the base.
So the answer, of course, is "it depends". It depends upon the unit, the date, and the theater. As noted above, the Columbus Depot style jackets featured solid plain collars and cuffs in an indigo blue material. These were issued as needed, regardless of the branch the unit belonged to. Again, there's always an exeption. there is a single CD jacket in Massachusetts, produced exactly as the others, but with a red collar and cuffs. Interestingly, it belonged to an infantryman.
Lastly, it should be noted that the various styles of clothing were not confined to being issued to troops only in their areas of operation. Clothing could be, and was, transferred from one depot to another to keep stocks up and help with any shortages for the various issues. Thus, you end up with the potential of CD jackets in the ANV, and Tait & RD II/III styles in western theaters. That this occured is born out by an extant, post-war image showing several former CS soldiers wearing the clothing they had on at Appomattox. Right there with the RD Type II jackets is a Columbus Depot jacket.
So again, it all comes down to researching the unit, the date, and the theater.
V/R