- Joined
- Apr 8, 2018
- Location
- Coffeeville, TX
I'm still relatively new to the forum, but as a reenactor, I've seen far to many fellow reenactors with excessively long hair, (particularly among a certain group with no horses), and while I'm currently guilty of it myself for other reasons than CW but, long hair is NOT correct for a Confederate impression, or a Union one either. To illustrate this I'll share an amusing story from W.H. Andrews, Company M, 1st Georgia Regulars in 1861 shortly after enlisting.
"Sometime in the evening we were ordered to go to the regimental barber and have our hair shingled. All men before the war wore long hair, with no beard or mustache on their faces. It went pretty hard with some boys to give up their glossy locks, but off they had to come. Saw an officer spoil a fellow's hair with his knife because he refused to have it cut off. In way of uniforms we drew blue flannel shirts. And for bedding a blanket for each man."
I'm sure the issue has been addressed, but this is a hilarious first-hand account that the naysayers should here, also if my Captain was still among us and read this, a lot of guys would have had their hair cut in this fashion.
Anyone interested in the source look for "Footprints of A Regiment" by Andrews as it was his journal/Diary, its a good read.
"Sometime in the evening we were ordered to go to the regimental barber and have our hair shingled. All men before the war wore long hair, with no beard or mustache on their faces. It went pretty hard with some boys to give up their glossy locks, but off they had to come. Saw an officer spoil a fellow's hair with his knife because he refused to have it cut off. In way of uniforms we drew blue flannel shirts. And for bedding a blanket for each man."
I'm sure the issue has been addressed, but this is a hilarious first-hand account that the naysayers should here, also if my Captain was still among us and read this, a lot of guys would have had their hair cut in this fashion.
Anyone interested in the source look for "Footprints of A Regiment" by Andrews as it was his journal/Diary, its a good read.