Hayes Lowe
Boiled uniforms and 7th vs. 9th Cav. and new question.
Sun Jul 8 17:39:19 2001


My guess is that a boiled blue uniform would resemble a pair of Levi's that has been acid washed, or washed many times. It would still be blue, but with lots of white threads mixed in with the light blue. I don't think boiling would get all that blue dye out of the uniform. And, keep in mind that boiling in lye soap was a common way of cleaning any clothing at that time.

The 9th Alabama Cav. is often referred to as as the 7th Alabama Cav. It was mis-assigned the designation "7th" for a few months, before the Confederate war department realized that it had made a mistake...there was already a 7th Alabama Cav. The true 7th was operating in Alabama in 1865, so you must be remembering the 9th.

The black uniforms bring up another question that I have had. [It also brings us full circle back to the black uniforms of the Prattville Dragoons!] I have recently been given a very nice book titled "Rebels & Yankees; The Fighting Men of the Civil War", which I highly recommend. In this book, in the section on infantry [page 42], there is Confederate sergeant's jacket shown. The sleeve and collar trim is black. The coat itself is a shade of medium-to-dark gray with a little bit of greenish tint. There is no further explanation of this. Any thoughts on what it might be? Maybe a Surgeon's Assistent jacket? Doesn't black indicate the medical corps? The sergeant's strips [3 chevrons with a diamond above] are in gold braid. The buttons appear to me to be eagles with downward pointing wings.