"Confederates at Gettysburg uniform question?" Topic

I am looking at a newly purchased Don Troiani American Civil War Infantry book. I am using it as source for my Gettysburg Confederates. I notice that he depicts some infantry of the Virginian regiments at Gettysburg wearing blue collar, cuffs and cap trim. He states in the article that these uniforms were newly issued prior to the battle.

Can anyone tell me where these uniforms come from and how widely they were issued. I thought that the Richmond Depot only produced various plain grey jackets.

Thank you.

I have read references to some ANV units receiving "English" uniforms before the move north. Perhaps these were uniforms manufactured in England as opposed to English cloth used to fabricate uniforms in the CSA.

I do like the look of the grey jackets with blue trim. It reminds me of the old 58mm "Britains" confederates I used to play with as a child.
Maybe they were from some old stock of early milita uniforms but I can't see them lasting until Gettysburg.

Type I Richmond Depot jackets bore piping on collar, cuffs, and shoulder straps. Type II jackets generally were plain with no piping or trim (some examples with partial trim do exist). As the Type II jacket was being produced in 1863, I would imagine these would be the jackets issued prior to Gettysburg.

The Richmond Depot did receive considerable quantities of English cloth per Jensen.

Thankyou for that Extrabio1947.

Completed English/Irish made Peter Tait uniforms (the blue-grey kersey cloth) often arrived with blue or red facings. And often initial assumptions are that those jackets w/ blue facings were intended solely for infantry, and those w/ red were intended for artillery units, research has shown that wasn't always the case. Moreover, Tait uniforms often varied between trim or no trim, and/or piping or no piping. And I believe that new research is showing that Taits were imported earlier than the commonly held belief of solely in the last two years of the war.

As mentioned above, the Richmond Depot was producing their own patterned garments from bulk bales of English cloth that made it through the blockade.

You can be rest assured that Don Troiani knows his material culture, but it's always best to do your own research too.

Yes, there is no one I would trust more on the ACW than Don Troiani.

Tom

My guess is that it is some variation of a Tait also.

A civilian who saw Ewell's corps (I think it was Rodes' division) at Carlyle, thought the Confederates were well turned out. He noted that the men's uniforms were a darker gray than the officers'.

However, Col. Freemantle said the Texas Brigade was very raggedy and many of its men barefoot. Another civilian said that Jenkins' cavalry were wearing all kinds of civilian clothes and most of them carrying plunder of one kind of another.