"How uniform should a Union regiment be?" Topic

How uniform should a Union regiment be? By that I mean would it be possible to mix frock coats, sack coats and greatcoats in the same regiment?

Uniform when it comes to coats. You can mix headgear, especially in the West.

With no evidence, I will say not even uniform in coats.

I am basing this off the 'World at War' TV series. In a clip about the invasion of Iwo Jima, you can see US soldiers getting on board boats for the landing. These are soldiers who are well equipped and well supplied. Except no two soldiers are wearing the same uniform – they are all variations.

Also, ever watched kids from non-government schools who wear uniform -- except for photo day you will see all sorts of variations!

A mixture of frock coats, sack coats and even state jackets would not be unusual. This is usually seen in photographs of companies in which a majority of sack coats are evident. I wouldn't mix in greatcoats unless they were used by the majority, and then only if they were fighting in cold weather. Although every Union soldier was issued a greatcoat, they were generally collected by the quartermaster and put in storage when they were no longer needed, then reissued when the weather turned nippy.

Photographs show that units would be very consistent in what they were issued and wore. Consistency in dress is important for discipline and order.

Mine are very regular, identical figure loses for the rank and file but then they are 'old school'.

No mixing of greatcoats makes sense, thanks all.

It depends on time and place – for newly formed regiments, especially in the East, they were very uniform, while in the West – especially later in the war – there was a lot of variability, certainly for headgear

Late war Union artillery unit

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Confederate infantry

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Union infantry in camp

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I often wondered the same myself. I have a tendency to do my Union regiments in much the same attire.

My rule of thumb has always been to avoid parade ground renderings for any units. On campaign, my Union units are relatively "uniform" in reverse proportion to their morale grade. Green units, presumably fairly newly formed, would be pretty much the same throughout. Elite units would see significant variation in coats, headgear AND in the shades of blue used for their coats. I wouldn't use great coats at all unless you were doing a battle where you knew most everyone had them on. That, of course, hobbles their utility for other actions.

I am an especial fan of using a dusty brown dry brush to "crud-ify" units to show their accumulated filth in the field. This works really well for WWII over feldgrau.

The longer the service, the more beards, too.

I agree with the other posters that uniformity was less prevalent with western Union units. The concept of any kind of uniformity for Sherman's Bummers is a contradiction in terms.

Do an ACW wargame Google search in "images," and see what appeals to you. Lots and lots of people have been over this same ground. Imitation is the sincerest form…

I'm with Martin and Mark.

Someone will no doubt prove me wrong, but I would expect a Union regiment to be one coat type--except possibly officers. Headgear and variety in headgear would vary with theater. The further west, the more Union armies would wear slouch hats. And they'd either all be wearing packs (with the odd blanket roll) or none of them would be. There'd be lots of variation in trousers and footwear and in minor bits of equipment, but how visible that would be would depend on the scale. (Same thing with fade and dirt.) Agree that green troops and sometimes militia would be more uniform than more seasoned units.

Worth remembering that I can think of several instances where Confederated in newly-issued and uniform dark gray were shot by their own side, who thought of dark coats and all pretty much alike as the qualities of Union troops.

I think it would depend upon which stage of the campaign they were in. If they have been on the march for a while I think it would be reasonable to expect the uniformity to be somewhat mixed.

I have some units in great coats just because, but I don't mix them in with other figures. Other than that, I freely mix uniforms and manufacturers.

When viewing period photos you need to remember that having your photo taken was a really, really big deal. And when you see photos of regiments you have to remember that their CO had everyone in their "Sunday Best" attire, not their normal everyday fatigue/combat uniforms.

In fact, it wouldn't suprise me if the Quartermaster issued new uniforms just for the photos(and then collected them afterwards ). After all, the picture would reflect back on the Officer that raised them, so it is natural for them to want to put on a "good show".

And yes, if a unit just had a new uniform issue they would be standardized and in good order. And, as I recall, several of the Confederate regiments at Gettysburg had just received new uniform issues from their home states.

So the answer is, just like it usually is when it comes to the ACW is….It Depends.

It depends on the unit. Regiments in the Iron Brigade went out of their way to wear frock coats and Hardee hats.

Other regiments might start the war in frock coats and later get sack coats or go through a transition where there was a mix.

There really isn't a right or wrong answer.

Most units were in a particular hurry to rid themselves of the accursed Hardee Hats. I remember reading one unit was being railed forward from their assembly camps. The train stopped on a railway bridge so that it could be searched. The troops took the opportunity to cast their Hardees out the windows into the river below. It was fairly raining hats.

I would guess unlike Prussian Landwehr in the Napoleonic wars who wore their civilian coats the Northern army were issued coats and pants making them uniform. Southern army may not have been as uniformly supplied is my impression.

I would recommend looking at paintings by Don Troiani. He puts tons of research into them and I trust his renderings.

One thing I do to "weather" a Union unit is to paint a few of the kepis in a sort of faded rusty red-brown. This reflects that fact that a number of kepis were supplied by profiteers who made them out of shoddy, which tended to lose its dark blue color as soon as it got wet and faded to a nondescript hue (that I just now attempted to describe!)

Dealing with the Federals. Infantry; There were no contracts issued in 1864 or 1865 for frock coats. Enlisted men could select either a frock coat of a second fatigue blouse. Most took the blouse leaving a surplus of frocks. As to head gear there does appear to be a pattern were the fatigue cap was more common in the east (the majority of the troops ), while the campaign hat (Hardee Hat reworked) was seen more often in the west. The east west difference also appears to applied to the way equipment and uniforms were worn. Overcoats were usually turned in to storage in early May and returned in November. Regiments that started out with specialty uniforms might still have bits and pieces from those uniforms still showing uo long after they been officially replaced. During the 7 Days campaign the 71st PVI receive at least 3 uniform issues. As they fell back to the James and passed a supply depot they were made to take new uniforms.
Cavalry; The mounted jacket was the general issue, I have seen a jacket that had had the pillows removed from the back, lining from the sleeves taken out, and the collar cut down to a half collar. It had a letter from the soldier explaining that it had been his first issued jacket. Upon being issued a second jacket (6months later) he had this one altered to be his stable (fatigue) jacket. I also had the chance to view a photo album of CDVs for every man in Company A, 1 NJVC. although every man worn the mounted jacket, it was hard to find two men wearing the same hat or cap.As to Cav wearing sack coats, although not issued there is enough evidence out there that they did.
Officers, most officers would have at least two uniforms the regulation frock and then a fatigue one. The fatigue uniforms varied, some had the short shell or round about type jackets other had a sack coat (usually about the length of a frock coat, but with5 or 6 buttons and pockets). Dusters and rain coats could also be seen. I've read accounts of officer wearing not regulation trousers as part of their fatigue dress. Brown corduroy seems to be popular.
There are a lot of other little details that effect a federal soldier's turn out, but not many that would effect effect painting a mini, things like shoes and belts . I wouldn't even try to paint camp shoes on a 15mm figure.