Long-haired Confederate soldiers

NickajackRanger

Sergeant
Joined
Aug 23, 2015
Location
North Alabama
I know, I know. It's a question that comes up fairly often among amateur historians and reenactors but I must ask.

I would like to know how common it was among the men of the Confederate Army to have long hair as I am a reenactor with hair down to the base of my neck. I've seen photographs of men with hair that is roughly my length in the Confederate Army which I will try to add down below. It wasn't the norm i'm aware and was a good host for lice and various other hassles of army life. This being said I do trim it up before events to make sure it's not past my collar bones. I try to be as historically accurate as possible but I am unwilling to just wack off all of my hair just for that as it is a personal preference in my civilian life.

So, ladies and gentlemen of the forum, how common was it really back then and in my case now is it not entirely out of the question for living history events so long as the length isn't ridiculous and it's kept in check?
 

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I know, I know. It's a question that comes up fairly often among amateur historians and reenactors but I must ask.

I would like to know how common it was among the men of the Confederate Army to have long hair as I am a reenactor with hair down to the base of my neck. I've seen photographs of men with hair that is roughly my length in the Confederate Army which I will try to add down below. It wasn't the norm i'm aware and was a good host for lice and various other hassles of army life. This being said I do trim it up before events to make sure it's not past my collar bones. I try to be as historically accurate as possible but I am unwilling to just wack off all of my hair just for that as it is a personal preference in my civilian life.

So, ladies and gentlemen of the forum, how common was it really back then and in my case now is it not entirely out of the question for living history events so long as the length isn't ridiculous and it's kept in check?[/QUOTE

Howdy Squirrel! Good question. Can't help but wondering if several of the boys got to looking "kind of shaggy" being out in the field with a unit that wasn't blessed with a barber. (Or even a pair of good scissors for that matter.)
 
Hi! Welcome.

I have noticed that the generals of the Union seemed to sport much shorter and tidier hair than did the generals of the South. Seems the regular men had semi-long hair whichever side they were. I think Forrest had a hair style that was common among Southern gentlemen in that day, short but below the ears and sort of fluffy at the bottom. Most of the barbers in the South were black and most of the barbers in the North were European immigrants - in Europe they tended to wear it much shorter - like Sherman.
 
I did a quick search of JPK's two new photo threads and the confederate soldiers' hair was often a bit longer and as Diane mentioned fluffier, than the Union soldiers hair. I was actually watching a reenactment video the other day and was taken aback by the lonf shaggier of the Union colour sergeant. It looked so out of place! I would have expected that from the Confederate army, so maybe he was reenacting as a Union soldier for that event, but was actually Confederate.
Welcome to the forums from Canada!:beaver:
 
I think our best reference is photos of dead or captured Confederate soldiers as they would seem to be a good and random sampling. From what I have seen, the average Confederate foot soldier had fairly short hair and was either clean shaven or wore a fairly close-cropped beard.
 
Many of the Confederates seem to have a little bit longer hair. Not what we today would call long long, but the length you're describing sounds reasonable.

The main difference between recreationist and period hairstyles that I notice is that period men do have a tendency to plaster it down with various substances. Not too many men back then, long hair or short, look like they just washed, conditioned, and fluffed up with a hair dryer this morning.
 
Posted some images of Confederate POWs who had likely been in the field for a while here:
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/photographs-of-confederate-prisoners-of-war.87979/

The majority seem to actually have fairly short hair and some are clean shaven, but there are at least a few in there with hair nearly down to the base of their neck. IIRC, there were regulations on both sides as far as hair and beard go, but once in the field obviously the troops didn't or couldn't always fallow them.
 
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I've had longer hair than that. However, it was more troublesome than it was worth. But then, fine silvery hair does not necessarily translate into kempt. It breaks off and clogs the vacuum cleaner. There is an element of practicality in "long beautifil hair," but in my case, it just didn't work out.
 
Posted some images of Confederate POWs who had likely been in the field for a while here:
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/photographs-of-confederate-prisoners-of-war.87979/

The majority seem to actually have fairly short hair and some are clean shaven, but there are at least a few in there with hair nearly down to the base of their neck. IIRC, there were regulations on both sides as far as hair and beard go, but once in the field obviously the troops didn't or couldn't always fallow them.

Wonderful pictures. Thank you for the insight.
 
Many of the Confederates seem to have a little bit longer hair. Not what we today would call long long, but the length you're describing sounds reasonable.

The main difference between recreationist and period hairstyles that I notice is that period men do have a tendency to plaster it down with various substances. Not too many men back then, long hair or short, look like they just washed, conditioned, and fluffed up with a hair dryer this morning.

Then again, in their portrays in many a ACW movie, the Confederates and their unofficial brethren (AKA Bushwackers and the like) have some extraordinary locks.
 
Hey, Squirrel,
If you happen to be portraying a Southern Partisan Ranger / Guerrilla / Bushwhacker, then I think it is quite appropriate to grow you hair very long, because some of those boys didn't cut their hair. The story goes that they would cut their hair after they won the war. Well, we all know that didn't happen. Looking at their photos, it seemed to be a point of pride with them.

If you are trying to portray a regular army soldier, then you are going to have to heed the advice of others here, because I know next to nothing about the personal grooming of those boys!
 
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