Improving my officers impression

[Capt7thWvCoA]

Hello comrades, I am looking for any advice on improving my us officers impression. My current set up is a sack coat with shoulder boards , black issued officers sword belt, m1850 foot officers sword , 1858 remington new model army , black slouch hat ( kepi/forge cap depending on event) sky blue trousers and black brogans. What advice can you veterans give ?

 

[Lampasas Bill]

You'll need a pouch for ammunition unless your remington is just for bluff. But, come to think of it, when I portrayed a 1st Lieutenant I carried a Colt without an ammunition pouch. I simply loaded it before an event, and when it ran dry it was time to take a casualty.

 

[Kirby the great]

Hello comrades, I am looking for any advice on improving my us officers impression. My current set up is a sack coat with shoulder boards , black issued officers sword belt, m1850 foot officers sword , 1858 remington new model army , black slouch hat ( kepi/forge cap depending on event) sky blue trousers and black brogans. What advice can you veterans give ?

Gonna need a haversack, two if you're a lower ranking officer like a captain or lieutenant, one regular tarred haversack and one officers haversack, carry rations in the regular haversack and you carry things like dispatches, paper, a pencil, stuff an officer will need in the field in your officers haversack. You can get an officers haversack at Kyle Windahl's website.

 

[RedRover]

 

[Dan Kohli]

If you're willing to spend the money, Probably getting some sort of private purchase style of canteen might be a nice touch. But I don't think it's not too inaccurate to stay with the government issued canteen for an officers impression.

 

[Capt7thWvCoA]

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The sack coat i use is a enlisted man's sack coat. Is that acceptable to use ?

 

[RedRover]

The sack coat i use is a enlisted man's sack coat. Is that acceptable to use ?

Officers were not allowed Government clothing. They were paid extra to provide their own. But that said, it probably wasn't odd to see an officer with a Government blouse here or there.

Most just bought cheap blue citizen's sack coats, and added military buttons and insignia, etc.

Besides the blue citizen's sacks with military buttons and shoulder-straps which were the most popular, Plain blue military jackets (of the type called today "Schuylkill arsenal jackets") were not uncommon...

 

[PrivateBrooke]

The sack coat i use is an enlisted man's sack coat. Is that acceptable to use ?

Officers were to provide their own clothing, so generally, and by regulation, no it's not acceptable. HOWEVER, I don't think it would have been terribly uncommon, especially with Jr officers. I look at it this way, if I get promoted from say, sergeant to 2nd Lt, I already have a perfectly fine blue coat, similar enough to what I'm going to purchase anyway, that I'm likely to just swap my insignia for shoulder boards and Bob's my uncle. Regulation coats were all over and would have been easy enough to get ahold of.

 

[RetiredCanuck]

General Grant famously wore sack coats. There is no reason a sack coat could not be made by a tailor for an officer on a private purchase right?,
Sutlers offer officer versions, but AFAIK there was no mandatory requirement for better quality material or lining for officer's use.