Civil war clothing was created to avoid confusion in the battlefield.
The uniform was implemented so men on the same team would not kill
each other on the battlefield. Just imagine thousands of men battling
without a uniform, chances are they will not be able to identify
their enemy and may mistake their comrades as the enemy. Also, these
soldiers don’t know every single soldier on their side so it would
be hard for them to tell if a certain soldier is their comrade or
their enemy. Interestingly, the purpose of the civil war uniforms
didn’t start that way as both sides were not prepared to head on
the battlefield with each other.
Prior to
the war, uniforms were handed out to soldiers and would often have
different styles, colors and materials. The style and the material of
the uniform would vary on which state or city the soldier came from
since it’s distributed by their respective state. The north army
wanted to give all their soldiers to use navy blue uniforms but
sometimes they run out of blue clothes thus some had to use grey
uniforms instead. This posed as a big problem since the Confederates
use grey uniforms. As a natural result, soldiers were confused on
the battlefield because of the lack of consistency in the uniforms.
Earlier in
the war, some soldiers accidentally killed their comrades because
they thought that he belongs to the other side. In the natural course
of event, the uniform and their color became standard for every
soldier where the South Confederates wear grey and the North Union
wear navy blue uniforms. This is why when civil war sides are being
discussed you will hear some people using the color blue or grey as a
reference to the two sides of the civil war. The navy blue color is
native to the Union. On the other hand the grey color became native
for the Confederates.
A typical
North Union uniform would be made up of a navy blue or dark blue coat
made of wool. They are also given light blue trousers and a dark
forage cap. They are given brogans for their shoes that go up to the
ankles of the soldiers. To know which state the soldier came from of
what rank he is in, they use different brightly colored buttons,
badges and piping for identification. The uniform became an official
representation of the Union army in 1862.
On the
other hand, the Confederates used light blue trousers and waist
length grey coats. They chose the color grey because it was cheaper
to make. Some of their uniforms use yellow or green trimmings. Costs
and lack of materials for uniforms was a big issue during the war and
the many Confederate soldiers have to suffer for it. Their soldiers
did not have adequate uniforms and shoes. Some soldiers even have to
go to war without shoes. Their official uniform design was
implemented 1863. If you are interested on civil war uniforms forsale, you can go to www.milkcreek.com
