Larry Shields
"Boiled Uniforms"
Sun Jul 8 16:48:17 2001


Jim,

I'm not sure what the "boiled" uniforms worn in the Trans-
Mississippi would have looked like. I guess it would depend
how well dyed they were to begin with, probably looked pretty shabby. I know that the problem of troopers in Forrests command wearing captured union clothing got so bad at one time that Forrest himself issued an order that any captured coats or jackets had to be bleached and dyed or those items would be taken from them. I know that one unit of Alabama cavalry operating in the Carolinas during the final months of the war was wearing captured Union overcoats that had been dyed black. I cant't remember off hand which unit (it was either the 7th or 9th Alabama Cav.)
but that account was in Confederate Veteran Magazine.