Uniforms Civil War shirts.

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
I picked up a older copy of Muzzleloader magazine today because there were a couple article I liked. There was a nice article by Rex Allen Norman: The Humble Shirt. Mr. Norman discussed the style, cut, and color of shirts worn by mountain men ca. 1825 - 1840. I was wondering how much men's shirts had changed between 1840 and 1861? At least to me, it appeared much of what Norman had to say would apply to shirts at the start of the Civil War.

1. Discussed color of the cloth used to make shirts and the style and color of prints. Would the style and color of the prints have changed significantly?
2. How much would have the tailoring techniques had changed?
 
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Honestly, I think that the scratchy U.S.-army issue shirt was pretty much unchanged for the most part from the earlier shirts... Probably part of what made them unpopular. I think civilian shirts from home were often worn and greatly preferred. More "ready to wear" and machine-stitched garments by 1860, of course, greater availability of cotton vs. wool or linen, more buttons, different styles, prints, etc. There are, fortunately, many surviving examples of shirts from the Civil War-era.
 
...on the topic of shirts, most especially the cotton civilian, I've noticed that sutlers don't tend to actually stock or produce many with the white collars. For instance, a civilian red checkered / plaid shirt with white collars and cuffs. However, as I thumb through a lot of Civil War era photos - especially the colorized images, some soldiers in camp seem to have a checkered civilian shirt with white collar. I'm particularly interested in the late war campaigner shirts. Does anyone know if officers tended to wear many of the checkered civilian shirts w/ white collars or would that be rather rare?
 
Aren't those white collars actually paper collars? That may be the reason for the lack of modern repros... I think the originals were semi disposable? That may or may not be practical to replicate. I've never worn paper collars but I imagine it might be less than comfortable. A check shirt with white collar & cuffs in cotton would be pretty snazzy looking.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the latest 1860s shirts were a little more tailored to the body, and that older style shirts were more of the square-cut style. But alot of shirts that were home made were in the square pattern, as it was easy to make, and basically anyone would have known how to sew it. Take all that with a grain of salt, I don't recall from where I heard that...
 
I picked up a older copy of Muzzleloader magazine today because there were a couple article I liked. There was a nice article by Rex Allen Norman: The Humble Shirt. Mr. Norman discussed the style, cut, and color of shirts worn by mountain men ca. 1825 - 1840. I was wondering how much men's shirts had changed between 1840 and 1861? At least to me, it appeared much of what Norman had to say would apply to shirts at the start of the Civil War.

1. Discussed color of the cloth used to make shirts and the style and color of prints. Would the style and color of the prints have changed significantly?
2. How much would have the tailoring techniques had changed?

Early 19th Century shirts were "square" cut (really rectangles) and often made without any kind of front piece, but secured by a single button at the neck.
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the US Army's flannel shirt throughout the 1860s (and to 1872) was of a pattern in use from at least the 1820s evidently. So it is very like the pre-1850s shirts...lacking any kind of "bosom" or plaquet for buttons in front.
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Besides the standard army shirt, above, the US Army had many "contract" flannel shirts made of different colors and styles, similar to the contemporary fashion. Here is a brief article on them:

US variant contract shirts; article

By the 1860s shirts often had plaquets fitted in front... like these CSA prisoners at Camp Douglas...
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Union soldiers often employed citizen's shirts too.

Company Wag: Civillian Shirts article, Union army...

Rebs at Pensacola..

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or clinch Rifles of GA:

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CSA soldier's shirt taken from a fallen reb at the Battle of Nashville, Dec. 1864...

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This is wonderful! I'm hand-sewing a domet flannel federal shirt. It's interesting to assemble, as it's sparking thoughts on how to "improve" the for for the civilian shirt I'll see next. I've got trousers, sack coat and frock coat patterns arriving today! Super exciting.
My query to all: what is a good cuff length. I have mine cut to be about 1" in length, after the seams are finished. I see civilian shirts are more "thought out" in terms of comfort and construction and have a more modernly typical cuff length. If I'm thinking too hard on this, you're welcome to clue me on that, too, haha
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Thanks!! 👍🤘🤙🖖
 
If you want to make your own shirts, here are a couple of great resources - if you can find copies:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1577470486/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0914046276/?tag=civilwartalkc-20

The 1860's were a transition time for shirt styles. The old "squares and rectangles" pattern using triangular gussets and a slit to make the neck opening was still found in the US Army issue shirt, and might be found in homemade shirts as well. Mass-produced civilian shirts had a more tailored body shape, a shaped neck hole and in some cases had a separate back yoke piece like a modern shirt. These shirts generally had a placket front or inset front bosoms.

It's questionable whether shirts with colored or patterned bodies and white fabric cuffs and collars existed or were made in any numbers. Period laundry practices would have made a mess of the white parts very quickly (modern ones still can). It was a popular look for officers and other "gentlemen" but those white collars were probably either disposable paper ones, or separate pieces that buttoned on and could be laundered independently. Sometimes shirts had removable bosoms as well. What is sometimes seen in a "gentleman's" white shirt is a finer fabric used for collar and cuffs, but all parts in white.

Shirts generally were "flat work", requiring no "stretching and fulling" with an iron and could be assembled by seamstresses rather than skilled tailors. (All due respect to seamstresses however since extensive gathering was often required!) Machine stitching was common on mass-produced shirts by the early 1860's; older style shirts were more likely hand sewn. In any case hand finishing was required to fell seams for wear prevention and to finish the ends of the tail.
 
It would seem as if the checkered 'civilian' shirts with white collar / cuffs weren't overly common - even for officers, and, especially for late war campaigning. And, that they may have been paper collars, if anything (for special events, such as photographs). This is exactly what I was looking to learn more about - very interesting indeed. Thank you all for the many points and insight.
 
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