Bob McLendon
Uniforms
Sun Jul 15 12:48:51 2001


The is a picture of the 1st Alabama Infantry at Pensacola, while manning an artillery battery. May be in Photographic History of the Civil War, but not sure. Most, but not all, of the photograghs you'll see of individual Confederate soldiers were done upon their entry into service, most in 1861-62. Just as we do in modern times, they wanted to send a photo home to the family. Very early war photos will often show high collars on the shell jackets, and many will be darker, often blue, in color. The 1st Alabama Cavalry spent much of their first year in blue uniform, as did some other Alabama units. The most common trim, if any, I've seen on Alabama uniforms was black piping. As the war went on, uniforms became more plain, with the fancy stuff long gone. Also, many of items worn by soldiers were made by wives, mothers, etc., if items couldn't be readily obtained through clothing issue. I've seen many letters home asking for items to be made, particularly shirts, socks, etc. A soldier in the 21st Alabama in 1862 asked his wife to make him a grey frock coat so he could "get out of that deadly blue uniform." I have one picture of a soldier in the 53rd Alabama whose shell jacket was made by his wife from cotton grown on his farm. It is light grey, and has black piping.