"AWI Pennsylvania rifle regiment huntings shirt color?" Topic

I keep seeing different looks for these guys, and different colors for their hunting shirts. some green, some not dyed, some in regular uniforms, etc.

so, if you were to model this unit, how would you do it? also, which hat is best. the perry plastic kit has them in caps, which is a nice change of pace from all my tricorns.

A mix of colours.

The Perry Miniatures painting guide has them listed as hunting shirts dyed brown with caps alongside blue coated white faced regulars with caps.

Mollo & McGregor has them in Indian dress dyed black and feathered hats.

Digby Smith doesn't mention them explicitly.

We just had a discussion about this in December: TMP link

Of course, there's so little evidence, a definitive conclusion is impossible…

- Ix

I keep seeing different looks for these guys, and different colors for their hunting shirts. some green, some not dyed, some in regular uniforms, etc.

Probably from different times during the war, or more likely just from different units. Here's a brief history to help (hopefully!):

1) The original Pennsylvania Rifle Regiment was formed in June 1775 and paid for by Congress; it consisted of six, then eight, and eventually nine companies, each of 81 all ranks. Initially, it served around Boston, then some men were sent north to Canada. Over the winter of 1775-1776, it was reorganised into the 1st Continental Regiment, and it is just possible that it was gradually re-armed with muskets during this time – or possibly the rifle:musket ratio of European forces was being copied.

2) From late 1776/early 1777, the Pennsylvania troops were re-organised, with the remnants of the 1st Continental Regt of 1776 forming the nucleus of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment (this unit should not be confused with the 1st Pennsylvania BATTALION formed in 1776, which became the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment in 1777). These regiments were unique in that they had seven line companies and one rifle company, which the officers protested against because of the lack of symmetry. The regiments (at one point there were 13) served from 1777 until 1781, whereupon they were re-organised into three battalions which served in the field, although the regiments themselves continued as administrative entities. From time to time, the rifle companies – along with those of the Maryland and Virginia regiments – were "converged" and formed, among other units, Morgan's rifle corps of 1777 and subsequently.

3) In June 1781, Washington asked Pennsylvania to find six companies of 50 all ranks, again paid for by Congress; the unit appears to have served at Yorktown and then been sent home.

UNIFORMS:- The Perry uniform guide is the best we have as things stand, given what little is definite about certain Continental units for certain years (we actually do know what some units wore in some years). Some sources will suggest that green was worn by the 1st Continental Regiment of 1776, whether as hunting shirts or coats (the latter with red facings); however, it is more likely this uniform (and certainly the coat) was only issued towards the very end of the year and was not worn in action.

Another point to remember is that in the first year or so of the war, hunting shirts – be they for riflemen or not – were dyed by company (possibly reflecting pre-war associations), and thereafter they had a single battalion/regiment colour. After the 1777 re-organisation of course, in which one rifle company was assigned to each regiment, a company would have adopted the coat-and-facings or hunting shirt of that regiment at which point any "converged" rifle corps would quite possibly have had a similarly motley appearance to the 1775 companies.

I hope that helps (although possibly not!). If I can find my copy of Katcher, I'll try and list the colour of coat/hunting shirt each regiment had in 1777.

revwar75.com/ob/pa.htm

Everything you could possibly wish to know about PA units in the AWI.

"I hope that helps (although possibly not!). If I can find my copy of Katcher, I'll try and list the colour of coat/hunting shirt each regiment had in 1777."

That would be interesting.

This is what I could find from deserter descriptions.

Thompson's Bttn of Rifles 1775:
Ash colored hunting shirt and trousers

First Continental Regt 1776:
Brown hunting shirt and trousers
White hunting shirt and trousers
Light colored hunting shirt
White cloth jacket, buckskin or red breeches or tow trousers
brown jacket and trousers
(I have also seen this regiment depicted as wearing green hunting shirts or green regimental coats faced red)

Pennsylvania Rifle Regt 1776:
Black hunting shirt and trousers
Lead colored rifleman's uniform
Light hunting shirt and trousers
Green frock and trousers

Ah yes, the ever reliable deserters descriptions.
Every color except blue!

I can give you blue from a Pa. Flying Camp unit Bill. :-)

1st Continental Regiment
* 1775-76 – white hunting shirts and trousers; round hats.
* Late 1776 – green coat and breeches (officers); green fringed H/S and trousers (men).

Pennsylvania State Regt (initially Pa State Regt of Riflemen and Pa State Battalion of Musletry)
* Riflemen – blue coat faced white, white waistcoat edged red, black cap; "lead" coloured H/S.
* Muskets – blue coat faced red; white smallclothes.

Pennsylvania Battalions 1776-1777
* 1st – brown coat faced green, grey waistcoat, buckskin breeches, cocked hats.
* 2nd – blue coat faced red, red waistcoat, leather breeches.
* 3rd – brown coat faced white, buckskin breeches, hat bound white.
* 4th – blue coat faced white, white small clothes, hat bound yellow/red light inf. cap bound black.
* 5th – brown coat faced red, red jacket, buckskin breeches, red/brown/white sergeant epaulette.
* 6th – blue coat "turned up" red, small round hat.

Pennsylvania Regiments 1777-Various
General: I've included predecessor units, as there is evidence that men wore their old uniforms until new ones were issued. Also worth noting that by Sept 1777, the Clothier General reported issuing 3,915 coats, but only 645 hunting shirts; possibly these were only issued to the rifle companies?
* 1st (old 1st Cont Regt) – green coat faced red (1776); blue coat faced white, blue coat faced red, "light or cloth coloured" coat faced red or white (all 1777), brown coat faced buff, black coat faced white (1778), blue coat faced red (1780); disbanded 1783.
* 2nd (old 1st Bn) – brown coat faced green (1777), blue coat with red facings (1777), black leather caps with white binding (1779), blue coat faced red, round hat, silver lace and possibly red waistcoats for officers (1780); ceased to operate 1781.
* 3rd (old 2nd Bn) – blue coat faced red, white overalls and waistcoat (1779); ceased to operate 1781.
(Recorded as having 254 coats: 200 blue faced red, 27 blue faced white (musicians), 23 red (NCOs?), 2 white and blue (drum- & fife-major), and two red for senior sergeants; also quantities of blue cloth breeches and waistcoats.)
* 4th (old 3rd Bn) – no uniform recorded even in the 1780 inspection; disbanded 1781.
* 5th (old 4th Bn) – blue coat faced white, buckskin breeches (1777), blue coat faced red, waistcoat and overalls of sundry colours (1780); disbanded 1781.
* 6th (old 5th Bn) – brown coat faced red (1777), brown coat and round hat (1778), blue coat faced red with small clothes of varying colours (1780); disbanded 1781.
* 7th (old 6th Bn) – blue coat faced red (1777), white small clothes (1778), blue coat faced red (1779 & 1780) white hunting shirts and overalls (1780); disbanded in 1781.
* 8th – blue coats faced red (officially), in reality brown coats or H/S; disbanded 1781.
* 9th – brown and blue coats faced red (1777 & 1778); disbanded 1781.
* 10th – enlisted men in civvies, officers in blue coat faced red (1777); blue coat faced red (1780); disbanded 1781.
* "Old" 11th – green coat faced white (1776); blue coat faced red, white waistcoat, buckskin breeches, caps for light infantry (1777); merged into 10th Regt in 1778.
* "New" 11th (old Hartley's and Patton's Additional Regts) – blue coat faced buff, round hat (1779); blue coat faced red, round hat (1780); disbanded 1781.
* 12th – issued 335 coats and 9 H/S in 1777; disbanded 1778.
* State/13th – blue coat faced red (1777), blue faced white (1778); merged into 2nd Regt in 1778.

Pennsylvania Battalions 1781-1783
* 1st (old 1st and 2nd Regts) – not known, but most likely blue coat faced red.
* 2nd (old 3rd and 5th Regts) – not known, but most likely blue coat faced red.
* 3rd (old 4th and 6th Regts) – linen H/S, overalls and vest (waistcoat).
* Riflemen – not known, possibly H/S.

Hope that is useful – all taken from the two Osprey MAAs on Washington's Army, and Katcher's "Uniforms of the Continental Army"; unit histories from F. Anderson Berg's "Encyclopedia of Continental Army units".