Confederate Gray Hardee Hat?

[Tailor Pete]

I had often viewed gray Hardee style hats as a pure farbism until I began researching North Carolina Uniforms:

HAT.

16. For Commissioned Officers.—For General Officers, and officers of the General Staff, a black felt hat of light material; the body of the hat one and one half inch less in circumference at the crown than at the base, to be looped at the right side, with a large gilt button of the North Carolina pattern, and a gilt ornament in front, representing the Coat of Arms of North Carolina, according to pattern in Quarter Master General's Office.

17. For all other Commissioned Officers.—A gray felt hat of light material; the body of the hat one and one half inch less in circumference at the crown than at the base, looped up, on the right side, with a large gilt button of North Carolina pattern, with gilt ornament in front, as follows, viz:

18. For Officers of Infantry.—A Bugle, with number of Regiment.

19. For Officers of Artillery.—Cross cannons with number of Regiment.

20. For Officers of Cavalry.—Cross Sabres, with number of Regiment. The above ornaments according to pattern in the Quarter Master General's office.

21. For Enlisted Men.—A gray hat of the same pattern as for officers, looped in like manner, with the letter of the Company and number of Regiment of brass in front. The hat band being red for Artillery, yellow for Cavalry and black for Infantry.

22. Officers, when off duty or on fatigue duty may wear the French forage cap, according to pattern in Quarter Master General's office.

23. Enlisted Men.—Gray, according to pattern.

If I'm not mistaken, this sounds like Hardee Hats to me. Any opinions?

 

[7thWisconsin]

It may have been established in the clothing regulations, but is there any evidence of actual issue and wear? I think Confederate uniform regulations were mostly an exercise in wishful thinking.

 

[major bill]

When you read the uniform regulations it basically says black Hardee style hats for general officers an gray Hardee hats for other officers and enlisted men. For fatigue and when off duty they were to wear caps.

This allows newly formed units to get hats or caps or both.

 

[mofederal]

It would be interesting to see if any really exists, and there is a chance they might have. There may be evidence in imagesor in other written materials.

 

[Package4]

Not going to say they were prevalent, but they did exist. Below is a war date example manufactured in Paris and embellished with war date US Engineering insignia, a Hardee hat badge and blue infantry cord. I purchased knowing that these were added at a later date, but all insignia were war date and not Bannerman surplus/restrikes. A true engineering piece would have had a yellow hat cord, so I am in doubt as to this hat being portrayed as such during the war. I also need to do some dusting in that particular display cabinet............

 

[Package4]

I had often viewed gray Hardee style hats as a pure farbism until I began researching North Carolina Uniforms:

HAT.

16. For Commissioned Officers.—For General Officers, and officers of the General Staff, a black felt hat of light material; the body of the hat one and one half inch less in circumference at the crown than at the base, to be looped at the right side, with a large gilt button of the North Carolina pattern, and a gilt ornament in front, representing the Coat of Arms of North Carolina, according to pattern in Quarter Master General's Office.

17. For all other Commissioned Officers.—A gray felt hat of light material; the body of the hat one and one half inch less in circumference at the crown than at the base, looped up, on the right side, with a large gilt button of North Carolina pattern, with gilt ornament in front, as follows, viz:

18. For Officers of Infantry.—A Bugle, with number of Regiment.

19. For Officers of Artillery.—Cross cannons with number of Regiment.

20. For Officers of Cavalry.—Cross Sabres, with number of Regiment. The above ornaments according to pattern in the Quarter Master General's office.

21. For Enlisted Men.—A gray hat of the same pattern as for officers, looped in like manner, with the letter of the Company and number of Regiment of brass in front. The hat band being red for Artillery, yellow for Cavalry and black for Infantry.

22. Officers, when off duty or on fatigue duty may wear the French forage cap, according to pattern in Quarter Master General's office.

23. Enlisted Men.—Gray, according to pattern.

If I'm not mistaken, this sounds like Hardee Hats to me. Any opinions?

I think that was their intent, since they were basically starting from scratch, they did what they knew and that was to follow the regulations that basically preceded secession, with a few tweaks. Reality came into play and the availability of that particular type of headgear. in pattern and color became difficult to procure in those numbers.

Imports from Great Britain solved a good portion and one will find that the majority of British hats were black, but North Carolina also provided black felt blanks and hats to both state troops and the central government. Two samples exist, the Theophilus Frank hat, found along with uniform items in a rural Davidson County, NC home in 1976 and the 32nd hat found on the battlefield of Gettysburg and sold by the Horse Soldier in 1991 after it was deassessed, from the Valley Forge Museum .

Both hats are identical in manufacture, both are black felt with cloth sweatbands and hat bands, with loops for buttoning the side of the hat up to mimic the Hardee. Another surfaced not long ago out of Richmond Va, also black with a sewn loop and NC button on one side, the sweatband was tarred linen, but there is evidence that it might have been replaced.

 

[Bruce Vail]

"Farbism"? What's that?

 

[Bruce Vail]

The hats seem to be have been standard issue for the officers of the 3rd NC State Troops. This photo of Capt. David Williams is probably from 1861 (he was KIA in 1862).

 

[Mark A]

Farb is a fungible term. As used above it is a derogatory term used in the hobby of historical reenacting in reference to participants who are perceived to exhibit indifference to historical authenticity.

In the antique gun collecting the term de-farbed refers to a reproduction weapon that has had all of its markings removed in an attempt to present the weapon as an original. In other words - a fake.

 

[Package4]

Farb is believed to have originated from the term "far be it from the truth", but could also have its gestation during the war, there purportedly exists a letter dated 1 April 1863 from an A.R. Crawford in the 76th Illinois Infantry, Co D, that uses the phrase, "fallacious accoutrements & reprehensible baggage," when he viewed a mock battle performed by children.

I can not find an AR Crawford (Illinois) in either of the two databases that I currently use.

 

[Tailor Pete]

In the context in which I'm using 'farbism,' I'm referring to those items that LOOK appropriate for a reenactment impression, but can't be clearly proven as authentic. The once popular Amish style 'Straw Skimmer' hats immediately come to mind.

 

[Tailor Pete]

With respect to officers' hats, I have seen a scant few photos showing what appear to be gray Hardee style hats, but have as yet identified any such enlisted hats. In the year ending 30, Sept 1862, North Carolina issued in the neighborhood of 9000 hats (specified differently from 'caps') and I find it hard to believe all of them were for officers... of course, no details as to style or color were recorded.

 

[Tailor Pete]

I think that was their intent, since they were basically starting from scratch, they did what they knew and that was to follow the regulations that basically preceded secession, with a few tweaks. Reality came into play and the availability of that particular type of headgear. in pattern and color became difficult to procure in those numbers.

Imports from Great Britain solved a good portion and one will find that the majority of British hats were black, but North Carolina also provided black felt blanks and hats to both state troops and the central government. Two samples exist, the Theophilus Frank hat, found along with uniform items in a rural Davidson County, NC home in 1976 and the 32nd hat found on the battlefield of Gettysburg and sold by the Horse Soldier in 1991 after it was deassessed, from the Valley Forge Museum .

Both hats are identical in manufacture, both are black felt with cloth sweatbands and hat bands, with loops for buttoning the side of the hat up to mimic the Hardee. Another surfaced not long ago out of Richmond Va, also black with a sewn loop and NC button on one side, the sweatband was tarred linen, but there is evidence that it might have been replaced.

Indeed, I too have noticed the black felt hats of the NC troops, which appear to be similar to Hardee hats, though the crowns do look to be a bit different. Of course, there is no way of telling if these hats were in fact 'customized' by their owners. I know modifying the crown of Hardee hats was commonplace among Federal soldiers, so it would be expected that their Confederate counterparts would do the same.

I would post some pics of these hats, but copyright concerns are discouraging me from doing so.

 

[Bruce Vail]

Am I the only one who thinks, from a 21st Century perspective, that these Hardee hats have a somewhat comical aspect?

 

[Tailor Pete]

I believe they were looked upon with comical distain back then too... thats why so many were reshaped by their wearers throughout the war.

 

[major bill]

I believe they were looked upon with comical distain back then too... thats why so many were reshaped by their wearers throughout the war.

I am not so sure of this the Hardee Hat (Model 1858 Dress Hat) was also know as the Jeff Davis Hat and also unofficially called the Kossuth Hat. When Logos Kossuth came to America 1852 he was view as a revolutionary hero and was wined and dined about the nation. The style of hat he wore was viewed as a dashing devil may care hat worn by revolutionaries. May militia companies adopted Hungarian or Austrian uniform items. After the U.S. Army adopted a tall version of this the term Kossuth Hat was a common term for it.

The version the U.S. Army used was not the best field hat. It was a bit heavy and too hot. The Kossuth Hat (often called a Slouch Hat) has remained popular world wide. A good example being the digger hat worn by Austrians. The long use of this style of hat for the next century shows the basic design was not too bad. Had the U.S. Army in 1858 went with a lighter wiet version and had it made in a lighter color it probably would have been a better field hat.

Note in modern "military" terms a Slouch Hat is a brimmed hat that that is pinned up on one side and allowed to hang down on the other side.

 

[18thmississippi]

From what I have found through observations (no firm fact to base it on) but look at what NC issued or regulation items survive. Look at The Who owned it and what unit they were in! I have found that the state troops (regiments 1-10, anything over was volunteers) were the ones who actually received the items. The existing 3rd NC hat 2nd NC hat and a 9th NC hat in the NC archives, all are a tan, grayish material. Then when you look at the state volunteer regiments they are usually wear non reg items! I mean you can even look at uniforms and see it, mainly early War examples and photos but most jr officers of state regs are wearing the single Breast jacket versus the volunteers who you see 2nd or even 3rd Lt's wearing double breast uniforms. That's just my two cents from 15 years of NC uniform research!