"1st Minnesota @ Bull Run" Topic

In films, reenactments, dioramas, wargames etc the regiment is usually depicted in their red jackets with black trousers, but upon reading the new Osprey book on Union 90 days volunteers it seems they wore a mix of blue and grey? What's the correct uniform?

The 1st were not 90 day volunteers. They were, in fact, the senior three year regiment. Second, in 1861, uniform standards weren't yet set. The 1st were outfitted from what was available in stores and warehouses in St. Paul. This meant red wool shirts (not jackets) intended for sale to lumber jacks, black pants and black round hats. By 1862, they were in regular issue blue.

So Osprey got it wrong then? The book claim the grey clad part of the regiment caused lots of confusion during the struggle for Ricketts battery. The author also cites The National Intelligencer, claiming they wore "grey cassimere, trimmed black".

Rmaker is completely correct. At Manassas, the 1st Minn took the field in red shirts, black trousers, and hats. Although later uniformed in regulation blue, they tended to keep their black hats throughout their term of enlistment.

So the moral here is to trust TMP and the internet and not books….I've never heard before that the 1st wore gray during 1st Man, poor research by the author perhaps..

The confusion at 1st Manassas was with unit under Stonewall wearing the same clothing.

Check out the notes for the 1st Minnesota at this site:

link

The uniforms supplied by the state consisted of black hats, red shirts, and dark blue or black trousers. The NCOs were provided with blue shirts.

Co. K, the Winona Volunteers, had originally been provided with "gray suits presented by the citizens of Winona" which they continued to wear for a while after the rest of the regiment was provided with clothing.

Thanks everyone for explaining this to me, I hope I get the painting right now.

Last night I spoke to a friend of mine in Minneapolis who is a wealth of information on the 1st Minnesota. He stated that the Winona Volunteers uniform included a gray shell jacket. Company A was formed out of the Pioneer Guard from St. Paul. They modified old regular uniforms found at Fort Ridgley, but these may have been replaced by the "red shirt" uniforms. Officers wore regulation dark blue frock coats.

Thanks Ryan, from this I take some theoretically might have worn gray. But I think red is good enough for me.

I think the reference to grey-uniformed Union troops supporting Rickett's Battery on Henry House Hill is properly to the 2nd Wisconsin, later of the Iron Brigade, who wore grey uniforms and took part in that fighting. The Wisconsin men were fired on by other Union troops, and sent back word to cease fire, that they were friends, even though wearing grey. This confusion may have contributed to the success of the Jackson's charge, when the Stonewall Brigade advanced at the slow march with shouldered arms, and were not recognized as hostile until it was too late.

Thanks for posting. I've run 1st Bull Run a couple of times and will have to go back and look at this unit. I've mostly used the old Haythornthwaite book which has a number of early uniform variations but is known to not always be correct.