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- Aug 25, 2012
The most famous Civil War raincoat was that coat being worn by General Jackson when he was shot, however Jackson's raincoat was not only Civil War era raincoat. Jefferson Davis was captured wearing a raincoat or cloak. So did many Civil War era officers have raincoats?
I have seen other references to officers wearing raincoats but I am not sure how common this practice was. If raincoats were fairly common for officers to wear raincoats it would seem at least some enlisted men would have worn raincoats as well.
I am assuming that both officers and men purchased their own raincoats as I have never seen any documentation showing either the Union or the Confederacy quartermasters issuing raincoats. It would seem probable that most of the raincoats were civilian items, or copies of civilian raincoats, pressed in to service by the individual officer or enlisted man. The more common type was made from black rubber type material.
Not all Civil War raincoats would have been of the above style. Francis A. Lord's well-known Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia shows a light blue water-proofed canvas raincoat worn by Lyman Stowe of the 2nd Michigan Infantry.
Stowe's caped raincoat looks like it was made to look like a military overcoat. Because light blue would not probably appealed to many civilians I have to wonder if firms were offering military style raincoats for sale.
I have seen other references to officers wearing raincoats but I am not sure how common this practice was. If raincoats were fairly common for officers to wear raincoats it would seem at least some enlisted men would have worn raincoats as well.
I am assuming that both officers and men purchased their own raincoats as I have never seen any documentation showing either the Union or the Confederacy quartermasters issuing raincoats. It would seem probable that most of the raincoats were civilian items, or copies of civilian raincoats, pressed in to service by the individual officer or enlisted man. The more common type was made from black rubber type material.
Not all Civil War raincoats would have been of the above style. Francis A. Lord's well-known Civil War Collector's Encyclopedia shows a light blue water-proofed canvas raincoat worn by Lyman Stowe of the 2nd Michigan Infantry.
Stowe's caped raincoat looks like it was made to look like a military overcoat. Because light blue would not probably appealed to many civilians I have to wonder if firms were offering military style raincoats for sale.
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