Alan J. Pitts
Re: 5th AL uniforms
Wed Jul 11 10:44:41 2001


It sounds much like a uniform jacket worn by John Young Gilmore (Mobile) of the 3rd Alabama, which appears the the Museum of the Confederacy's "Catalogue of Uniforms", p. 40.

I must caution you that during the war quartermasters rarely issued particular and distinctive uniforms in order to give a command a particular and distinctive appearance. European armies frequently did this, so that a specific regiment could be distinguished by its uniform. Antebellum militia companies were allowed to determine their own uniforms, and many of these militia companies entered Confederate service in 1861. Certain Zouave units wore a distinctive uniform which was probably purchased by private funds. We hear of 'non-standard' militia uniforms on the battlefield as late as Shiloh when a Louisiana unit was ordered to turn its jackets inside out so that other Confederates would not confuse these men with Yankees. If you and your comrades were attracting "friendly fire", how long would you want to continue wearing a "distinctive" uniform?

Anoother point. The photograph you mention was almost certainly made in a studio. Since most soldiers didn't want to carry long arms along on a visit to town, we know that many photographers provided a weapon such as a sabre or a musket as a prop. I haven't heard it mentioned, but it's also possible that some also had uniform jackets available, just as some elite restaurants provide dinner jackets for patrons lacking proper attire. I don't know that; it's just a suggestion because many jackets appear to be tight or ill-fitting in many of these studio pictures.

I'd also like to make reference to the well-known Edwards images made in 1861 near Pensacola. Virtually all of the men photographed by Edwards belonged to "elite" volunteer militia units, such as the "Perote Guards" and other companies of the First Alabama Regiment. However, their appearance in many of these picture is anything but military: many men in images made in camp look more like homeless people or hobos from the 1930's than anything else. A picture of men belonging to a Mississippi regiment gathered around a fire comes to mind. Readers familiar with the Edwards images know exactly what I have in mind. The idea that Confederates shucked off these clothes and put on 'real' uniforms when the Yankees at Fort Pickens opened fire is laughable.

As far as what Confederates really wore in the field, I'm certainly no authority. However, we cannot discredit the Edwards images from Pensacola. For later periods we have many photographs of Confederate dead and Confederates prisoners of war such as we see in Miller's Photographic History of the Civil War. In high school I used to wait for my ride home in a branch library that had Miller's available. I tried the patience of others and made them wait while looking at pictures of Confederate dead and Confederate prisoners, again and again. I regarded them as profoundly moving, and tried to memorize certain details.

On the other hand, studio images can be very atttactive, but how representative are they? Can't speak for others, but when my wife, the boys and I go to a studio for family pictures, we dress differently that we do in everyday life. I'm not sure why we do this; most of our friends do not recognize us. I suspect much the same is true of studio photgraphs made during the war.