Forrest Forrest's men and their uniforms

JohnnnyReb

Corporal
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Apr 10, 2013
Location
Warm Springs Virginia
Cavalryman Bedford Forrest outfitted his command several times at the expense of the Federal government. “Every man had a complete Yankee Suit consisting of hats, coats, pants, jackets, and boots,” a Mississippian recollected. This posed an inherent problem which in 1864 caused Forrest to direct: “All men and officers belonging to this command who have blue Yankee overcoats and clothing and who do not have them dyed by [December] 20th the coats especially will be taken from them.”
 
That's funny! Forrest had a brand new suit - of good ol' Confederate grey - sent to him by Washburn after little brother Jesse kidnapped Washburn's uniform. (Washburn was supposed to be in it but he was scurrying down an alley in a nightie...!) Washburn had hunted up Forrest's tailor in Memphis. So, Forrest sent him back his britches and thanked him for the new duds. He didn't have any problem wearing them - descriptions of his at that time showed he was just about as raggedy and faded as his troops!

By this time, just about everything Forrest had was stamped USA. While disobeying a stupid order of Hood's on the Nashville retreat (turned out he was right not to obey) Forrest told Hood he had not requisitioned anything for over two years and everything he had was, er, his - including the mules. After the raid on Paducah, where Forrest took medicines and other supplies from the Federals, he learned from a newspaper he'd missed 100 horses that had been cleverly hidden. He sent Buford back to get them! (He got them.)
 
Uniform jacket of Lt. Col. Frank Montgomery, one of Forrest's officers.
Picture 41.png

http://mdah.state.ms.us/timeline/zone/1864/
 
Not my area of expertise, but I would think dyeing dark blue clothes grey would be a bit difficult :wink:
Did troops in the field have access to dye, vats, etc.?
 
Not my area of expertise, but I would think dyeing dark blue clothes grey would be a bit difficult :wink:
Did troops in the field have access to dye, vats, etc.?

Think you might mean the butternut dye job! Dye was in short supply - about none - because of the blockade, but walnut hulls and acorns and other natural dyes were used. The blue often was not that hard to lighten up, not being too fixed in the first place. Many Union soldiers complained their uniforms faded fast and too light - they were mistaken for the enemy then!
 
Wonder if that uniform Washburn so nicely provided might have been the one he was buried in? Hurst mentions an account of Forrest in a beautiful, gray Lt. Col.'s uniform with gold trim......

I'm pretty sure the uniform Forrest was buried in was not the one Washburn gave him. It was the full dress one he once had a full length photo taken in. (And, boy, would I like to see that one again!) That one had all the chicken guts, sash, spurs, feather in the hat, over the knee boots - the whole enchilada. It was against the law to own a Confederate uniform or even a piece of one - in Tennessee that was strictly enforced - and so Forrest hid it away in a closet. It was in there with a Confederate flag, also an illegal item, which was buried with Forrest. (Another covered his coffin - think that was given to the missus.)
 
I'm going to ask my wife when she gets home. She's quite knowledgeable on fabric dyeing, natural and synthetic. For now, I'm going to guess that what could have been achieved with federal blues would depend on both what was available to dye them with but also what type of dye was used to start with. Anybody know what dyes were used to make federal uniforms ?
 
I've never heard of any articles of clothing or uniform of Forrest's being around now. That's too bad, really. Anybody know of any? Even though Wyeth says Forrest had his uniform in a closet, I suspect he actually had it hidden out somewhere else. Otherwise, it would have gone up in flames with the rest of his stuff in that last house fire. (It wasn't the first time a house he lived in burned up.)

p s
I'm curious about the flag buried with him. I've wondered if it was a Forrest flag, or perhaps a regimental flag.
 
I've never heard of any articles of clothing or uniform of Forrest's being around now. That's too bad, really. Anybody know of any? Even though Wyeth says Forrest had his uniform in a closet, I suspect he actually had it hidden out somewhere else. Otherwise, it would have gone up in flames with the rest of his stuff in that last house fire. (It wasn't the first time a house he lived in burned up.)

p s
I'm curious about the flag buried with him. I've wondered if it was a Forrest flag, or perhaps a regimental flag.

I'm wondering if family doesn't have his personal items. Maybe, like some of his other things, they will come to the surface eventually. (Or they may be in Ft. Worth-- they seem to have everything under the sun!)
 
I'm wondering if family doesn't have his personal items. Maybe, like some of his other things, they will come to the surface eventually. (Or they may be in Ft. Worth-- they seem to have everything under the sun!)

I do believe I read somewhere his wife's family had some things they weren't putting out for some reason. They supposedly have one of Mary Ann - no one has a picture of her, or even a description!
 
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