NF New Confederate uniform book 'Never In Rags'

Non-Fiction
I got the book by Jeff Dugdale.
The book is very interesting and shows how the author has conducted a thorough search of the argument, you get a precise idea of the uniform worn by a regiment in a given period. The book is divided into quarters and at the end of each quarter there is a rich documentation of letters and images.
Personally I have never believed in the legend of the Confederate soldier ragged, I looked for information on the subject for a long time and I am convinced that, except for the long campaigns when obviously there was insufficient spare parts, the Confederate soldier was always well dressed (separate discussion for shoes), Dugdale's book has strengthened my conviction.
 
I agree and have stated as such, but when using absolutes, you tend to end up in a bad place, shoes were a never ending issue for the Confederacy, uniforms, not as much, but more so than their opponent. The OP has stated, absolutely, that there were no barefoot Confederate soldiers at Gettysburg, yet I have given 11 accounts of individuals contemporary to the time of all ilk, military, foreign observers, US Gov officials and citizens of PA, yet he discounts this testimony, but his 100 pages of eyewitness accounts are supreme. Even the commanding general of the Confederate Army was begging for shoes from Richmond! The OP overstates the wear of period cloth and leather. Shoes lasted barely 3 months on active campaign and the Gettysburg campaign was one of the most active of the war. Case in point, when Sherman abandoned his base of supply in 1864 his men emerged in SC & NC looking like scarecrows with many of the men barefoot and wearing nothing below the knees as the kersey pants had disintegrated below the knees. Lee's ANV was not much different, though they were able to supply themselves a little better in the rich confines of MD and PA.

The OP asks for proof and then discounts Lee, Fremantle, who wrote down all he saw as was his purpose, Hoke, JH Douglas, Associate Secretary of the USSC, all of whom wrote contemporarily........

I was excited about a book on Southern cloth, but not so much now, as the author had a conclusion and wrote to it. There is no doubt that the Confederacy was well supplied with uniforms, at times, but they tend to wear much more quickly than the author indicates and as such men were wanting at other times.
I forget the battle at the moment but my Avatar missed a battle because he had no shoes and could not keep up with his unit. He mentioned it in a letter, post war, to his daughter. I would think any given day this could be the case.
 
I forget the battle at the moment but my Avatar missed a battle because he had no shoes and could not keep up with his unit. He mentioned it in a letter, post war, to his daughter. I would think any given day this could be the case.

This was supposedly a big problem during the Maryland Campaign where many were missing from the ranks and even many more of those present were shoeless.
 
My latest book ‘ Never In Rags’,........ It is available in hardback from Military Book Publishing in the UK....... Jeff Dugdale

Do you have a link/URL for your book. I have searched both for your book title as well as Military Book Publishing without success. ..... thank you in advance.
 
Well gentlemen, I want to report that I ordered a copy of Jeff''s first book and it is incredibly interesting and well done. I was not sure quite what to expect but he has done an outstanding job of compiling information per all of the uniform reports for each regiment and company's throughout the year of 1863 in the Virginia theater. He has also highlighted units and their equipage based on when they received goods and what they were issued by the pricing and corroborating accounts of period information. I was particularly interested in my own unit from Greenville, SC, the Butler Guards, Co. B of the 2nd SCV. Besides all of the records in the book for what was distributed to the regiment, which was plentiful, Jeff was able to send me detailed uniform information for them throughout the war based on their receipts he used in compiling the overall information. This has allowed me to construct a more thorough look of them for jean jackets and other materials in the spring and summer and imported British kersey jackets in the winter depending on the year and their location.

I know there are plenty skeptics based on all of the period diary's and histories about the deprived units and lack of shoes etc., but there is plenty of other information in these books to shine light on a quartermaster system that provided a wealth of uniforms and equipment. Some of it wore out quickly, some was thrown out quickly and some never got to where it needed to be at the right time. Regardless, his focus really looks at an area of study that is really interesting and I commend him on a job well done. If you are interested in having access to these kinds of research information it is well worth ordering a book from him. I would also say for those of you who have read some of the books on the English manufacturers and the importation of foreign goods it substantiates a lot of what you see in these reports and where those imported goods wound up. Good job Jeff, keep up the good work.
 
Arsiskas does occasionally post on some other Civil War sites. We could probably get him to weigh in on this site if one of us emailed him. I am not sure how busy he is right now. He has been working on a book on Illinois Civil War uniforms like forever.

Other people who might be of help are Mike McAfee, Les Jensen, Don Troiani, Ron Field, and Phil Katcher among others.
Do you have a way of contacting him? I have Col. John Cromwell's uniform and effects (Colonel 47th IL killed at Jackson, MS May 16, 1863) Didn't know if he would be interested; also have an 1851 shako of the Peoria Blues.
 
In just one year, 1863, the huge amount of clothing listed below was distributed to just four Confederate regiments – 5th South Carolina Cavalry, 36th Virginia Infantry, 47th North Carolina Infantry and 63rd Georgia Infantry.


6223 Jackets and coats
8947 Pairs pants
7576 Pairs shoes and boots
8172 Shirts
7284 Pairs socks
7548 Pairs drawers
5504 Hats and caps

These issues were typical at this point in the War.

Still think Confederates were dressed in rags?

Introduction by leading Civil War Historian William Frassanito


HARDBACK £65.00

Plus P&P


Expired Image Removed
 
Jeff, When you get around to the Army of Tennessee in 1863-64, I have a fair amount of research that I would be willing to share if you would like. What you have done was something that I wanted to see done many years ago. Anyway, if I can be of any assistance let me know, I have a particular interest in CS Knapsacks, Cloth Shoes, and Painted Cloth Accoutrements. Also have some proof that does connect the Columbus Depot Styles Jacket with the Columbus Depot in the Fall of 1862.
 
@tullock:

Please give us an update on your multi volume series 'Never In Rags'.

Some random thoughts:

--I think sales on Volume 1 have been slow.

--I have seen nothing on future volumes being published.

--As I stated in one of my past posts, I didn't believe and still don't believe the publishing of this series to be economically sound. To limited of a market.

--Photographs of documented uniforms that were actually issued might have been beneficial to Volume 1.

--The information you present is not knew to some collectors and scholars. Statistics can be twisted to support any conclusion. While the Confederate Government did a much better job of manufacturing and supplying it's soldiers than many realized, that doesn't mean the Confederate soldier didn't go without and weren't ragged in the field. The countless number of wartime letters and diary entries confirm this.

--As with foodstuffs and munitions, uniforms couldn't always be transported to where the soldiers were and this is particularly true while on active campaigning.

--In later conflicts such as WW I, WW II and Viet Nam, the American front line soldier often went without and were ragged in the field. Uniforms and equipment were reissued to help with the shortages.

--Reviews by Les Jensen, Don Troiani, Fred Adolphus and a private collector who has studied Confederate uniforms for the past fifty years might have been beneficial.
 
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Then you are saying the soldiers, in their several journals, were lying about the barefoot Confederates of Hood's Army Of Tennessee, and their bloody footprints in the snow in December of 1864? I think not.
 
Then you are saying the soldiers, in their several journals, were lying about the barefoot Confederates of Hood's Army Of Tennessee, and their bloody footprints in the snow in December of 1864? I think not.
You should read the whole thread before making such a comment. Did it happen? Yes. Was it a frequent occurrence? No. The average CS soldier was a proud man who, typically, had both a housewife and the knowledge of how to use it.

There are ample period pictures of CS POWs taken just after being captured. I have yet to find a barefoot reb in one of those and precious few of men in rags. There is a difference between reality and Lost Cause myth.
 
You should read the whole thread before making such a comment. Did it happen? Yes. Was it a frequent occurrence? No. The average CS soldier was a proud man who, typically, had both a housewife and the knowledge of how to use it.

There are ample period pictures of CS POWs taken just after being captured. I have yet to find a barefoot reb in one of those and precious few of men in rags. There is a difference between reality and Lost Cause myth.

Shoes wear out quickly on campaign. Both Confederate and Union soldiers at time wore worn out shoes or even went barefoot. This is particularly true because of the poor quality of some Confederate shoes. How often do we hear of poor barefoot Union soldiers? Yet some Union soldiers went barefoot . Much of this ragged, barefoot Confederates is over stated.
 
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