Help with uniform

[GMSorrel]

Hello. Below is a soldier from Georgia. I believe that North Carolina had a uniforms similar to this (black collar, black cuff thing, black epaulettes). Could someone post or point me to pictures of the NC version of this uniform? Thanks!

 

[Legion Para]

Sergeant James Carl Powell, Company G "Caswell Rifles", 22nd NC State Troops.

 

[Legion Para]

Pvt. John H. Powell, Company G "the Caswell Rifles", 22nd NC State Troops.

 

[Legion Para]

This is a must have for North Carolina soldiers. Greg is still working on Volume II.

 

[Legion Para]

Three brothers from the 16th North Carolina State Troops. I forget their names right now.

 

[Legion Para]

This thread might of interest.

http://civilwartalk.com/threads/north-carolina-regulation-enlisted-uniform-early-war.118289/

 

[major bill]

Well actually the Georgia uniform is different from the North Carolina state issued uniforms. Note that the man in the Georgia photo wears dark epaulets on a jacket while the North Carolina photos show 6 button sack coats with branch trim sewn on the shoulders. These uniforms are often called the "first pattern" state uniforms. Note that black trim was used for these infantry uniforms. red trim was used for artillery, yellow for cavalry and buff for General officers. The North Carolina uniforms worn throughout the war are all referred to as "1861 state pattern" uniforms and because this term is used for the 'first pattern" as well as other patterns some confusion results.

 

[GMSorrel]

Thanks guys for the helpful information. Is there a book that deals with Confederate uniforms in general?

 

[major bill]

Yes there are a number of books that deal with Confederate uniforms. The problem being this is a vast subject and listing all the books would takes some time. It might be easier for me to cover books that some what cover the misinforms of North Carolina. The following books and such have North Carolina uniforms in color drawings or color plates:

The Confederate Army 1861-65 (5) Ron Field

American Civil War Armies (1) Confederate Artillery, Cavalry and Infantry Katcher, Philip

Company of Military Historian an Collector Winter 2006

Don Troiani's Regiments & Uniforms of The Civil War

Anne S. K/ Brown collection of prints

Combat Uniforms of The Civil War

The United States Infantry Urwin, Gregory J.W.

Military Modelling Jan 75

Confederate Infantryman 1861-1865 Drury, Ian

The Battlefields of the Civil WarDavis, William C.

There are simply too many books on Confederate uniforms to list but
American Military Equipment 1851-72 Vol II State Forces Todd, Fredrick P.covers North Carolina and the rest of the the American Military Equipment 1851-72 by Todd, Fredrick P. are recommended as a starting point (they are costly and you can look at them at good libraries). There are at least 25b Osprey publishing book on confederate uniforms, but some are better than others. The Company of Military Historians have a large number of color plates on Confederate uniforms. Like I say there are a ton of books on Confederate uniforms and I may have 200 or more in my personal library. What are you interested in?

 

[major bill]

Note this is the first pattern North Carolina uniform with the black infantry trim on the shoulders. Note it is scanned at a very low quality and the original print is very nicely done.

 

[major bill]

The above uniforms were based on the 1861 uniform regulations.

The uniform coat for all enlisted men shall be a sack coat of gray cloth (of North Carolina Manufacture) extending half way down the thigh, and made loose, with falling collar, and an inside pocket on each breast, six coat buttons down the front, commencing at the throat; a stripe of cloth sewed on each shoulder, extending from the base of the collar to the shoulder seam, an inch and a half wide at the base of the collar, and two inches wide at the shoulder; this strip will be black for Infantry, red for Artillery and yellow for Cavalry.

Although the regulations called for a grey felt hat hooked up on the right many troops were issued "French forage caps" which came in both various color cadet pattern or chasseur pattern.

 

[GMSorrel]

Thank you Bill! That's a lot of books. I will apologize and say that I am really needing more info on Georgia units. I realize the post name and question made it seem like I was geared toward NC uniforms. That is my mistake. I have a copy of a photo that is *supposedly* a Georgian that looks a lot like the top photo. In trying to track him down to a particular unit, I knew that many times the NC had black trim as well. The intent was to see if anyone had a NC photo similar to the above (basically to see if I could say for sure he was from GA). From what I see here, the uniforms were not all that similar between the two states. Do you know of any other state (Union or Confederate) that had that black thing near the cuffs (with the three buttons)? That seems to set it off, but I do not believe that GA was the only one that had an early war uniform with these. Thanks!

 

[GMSorrel]

 

[GMSorrel]

The above picture shows the cuff thing more clearly.

 

[Legion Para]

To identify an unknown unit by its uniform facings will be most difficult. Quite a few Northern and Southern units wore gray uniforms in 1861 with dark cuff facings like this.

We might be able to help more if you posted your actual photograph.

Your first photograph shows a member of the 4th Georgia.

Your second photograph shows a member of the 52nd Georgia.

 

[Legion Para]

Unidentified Soldier from Georgia.

 

[Legion Para]

This book might be of help.

 

[Legion Para]

Pictured on the right is the Wisconsin state issue gray jacket with black facings as worn by the 7th Wisconsin Infantry when they went off to war in 1861.

 

[Legion Para]

Some Osprey books are quite good, while others are not. It very much depends on the author. This book might be of limited help.

 

[major bill]

The men in the first and last photo wear different uniforms. The common factor is the dark trim on the cuffs and collar. The first photo is a frock coat or sack coat and the bottom photo is a is a jacket. Both have dark trim on the cuff but the cuffs are different as well. I drew them real quickly.

The first photo show a false turned back pointed cuff with with a horizontal plastron patch (a.k.a. flash) with three buttons above the pointed false turn back cuff. The last photo shows a more typical horizontal plastron patch (a.k.a. flash) with three buttons ((some times refereed to as French Cuffs, but the classic French Turn Back has a strait false turn back).