Navy woolen fatigue cap

[major bill]

When we talk of Civil War naval caps most people in their mind see a peak less naval cap. These were by far the most common naval head wear during the Civil War and today we might call these Donald Duck caps. sennit straw hats and winter sennit hats were still in use by the Navy during the Civil War. Some sailors made their own sennit straw hats and these often look more like the common straw hats with less with brims, The exact shape of the home made hats depended on the skill of the sailor. Sailors also sometime wore peaked caps similar to naval officer's peaked caps. But a few images show sailors wearing woolen naval fatigue caps.

The center sailor has his woolen fatigue cap twisted sideways and the folded up peak probably should face forward. The fatigue cap turned up on all three sides and the three sides and peak could be turned down. When the Confederate captured 450 of these (exactly what they captured is still in debate) they referred to them as "seamless' caps. this has led some uniform researches to believe this statement meant that the cap had been made by the Seamless Clothing Manufacturing Company of New York who had made "Whipple hats" for the Army. I believe this theory needs more research. The surviving examples of the woolen naval fatigue caps appear to be possibly hand made. Images of this style of head wear are rare.