Greatcoat

[Mark Wadsworth]

Originally Posted by ole

Thanks for the info, Shane. Watched "Gods and Generals" yesterday (to help with the need for a nap). And the Union troops were wearing greatcoats. I'm sure it was cold, but would they have been assaulting a position wearing their coats? The rebs weren't wearing coats.
Ole

I for one doubt they would have worn them in to battle. In my winters training in extreme cold weather, I have learned that when going on a heavy movement or an assault that I have worn very little cold weather clothing.
How ever if their CO said for them to wear their coats I bet they did

[johan_steele]

Originally Posted by ole

Thanks for the info, Shane. Watched "Gods and Generals" yesterday (to help with the need for a nap). And the Union troops were wearing greatcoats. I'm sure it was cold, but would they have been assaulting a position wearing their coats? The rebs weren't wearing coats.
Ole

Union troops were certainly wearing their Greatcoats at Stones River as well as Fredricksburg & Nashville. CS mileage certainly varied w/ numerous accounts of CS men at Nashville being w/out even blankets. I have read an account from the Irish Brigade @ Fredricksburg (one of the few Eastern theatre letters I've read) had the soldiers thanking God he had worn his coat as it was quite cold where he sheltered.

I've worn my greatcoat on the field several times for living histories. It really isn't any more difficult than w/out.

[brett4733]

On the subject of Confederates not having greatcoats, I have to think this is another one of those "shortages" that was very much overblown in the Lost Cause Mythology growing from the post-War writings of veterans. Between domestic production, finished goods coming through the blockade, and captured items, I am sure many of the Rebs, especially in Virginia, would have had a greatcoat if it was desired.
I know I've read, in more than a few accounts, where soldiers would have parents or friends send along a coat (as well as heavier under garments, gloves, hats, and the like) from home when the weather cooled off, returning it as the Spring campaigning season opened. Now, in most cases, if I recollect, there was usually not any way of determining the style or pattern, military or civilian.
As I said, there were also sources for "luxuries" like greatcoats other than the folks at home. While the blockade of Southern ports made importation difficult, the sheer amount of goods coming into a place like Wilmington, NC, right up until the final months of the War is startling. I'd have to go through a few dozen boxes to find it, but I remember John Casler mentioning in his memiors his greatcoat being made of the English blue-gray kersey that became quite popular towards the later part of the conflict. Miles and miles of this cloth was coming into Confederate shops, as well as finished garments by the thousands. The quality of the uniforms made from this stuff rivaled ANYTHING being turned out up North.
And, battlefield captures always came in very handy. For items not easily obtained from the quartermaster, a Reb could usually find what he needed on his own hook. Any Yank prisoners would have found themselves the object of a hasty clothing swap with the men conducting them to the rear. A nice hat, new pair of trousers, good shoes, greatcoats, tent-flys, ground-cloths, or blankets would be traded for rumpled, tattered parts of the guard's kit. Also, how often do you read of a soldier's shock at finding the dead (and sometimes even the wounded), stripped of all shreds of equipment almost before the battle smoke cleared?
All-in-all, I would have to think that MOST Confederate soldiers would have been able to get their hands on a greatcoat if it was desired. Now, with that said, there would have been quite a few men who really didn't care to have one. But, they were out there.
As the years go on, and more and more research is done, the idea of the half-naked, half-starved, Ragged Reb is becoming something of a myth. Were there shortages at times? Of course! Did the Southern supply system suffer terminal problems almost from the start? Absolutely! Was every Confederate soldier prepetually hungry and without the basic neccessities of life? Not by a long shot!
Cheers and Fairwinds,
Brett Silver