Picketts Frock Coat

Hanimar

Cadet
Joined
May 23, 2016
Location
Karlsruhe, Germany
Hello,

i´m from Germany and trying to re-build General Picketts frockcoat. As far as I found out it was in cadet grey. Unfortunately my local tailor is only able to get confederate grey which is kind of light/medium grey or richmond grey cloth. Of course there are several internet tailors and shops, but those are far to expensive and there´s the problom with customs.

Can somebody tell me which color is most likely authentic? The confederate grey or the richmond grey?

Thanks in advance.

Greets from Germany

Marc
 
Marc
Cadet Grey is a bluish grey woolen fabric, that was quite popular with early war and officers when it was available. The other fabric designations are moreso a modern label upon the color hue. These titles also tend to differ between vendors for the same fabric.

What is commonly called "Confederate Grey" is a generic medium grey, sometimes also called Medium or Steel Grey.

What some call "Richmond Grey", also sometimes called Charcoal Grey, is a darker grey fabric with a black fibers, that depending on the maker can vary from a dark grey to almost black. These were labeled as "Richmond Grey" due to some surviving examples of enlisted Richmond Depot Type-II jackets of this darker hue material.

If these are the only two choices available that you can obtain, I would most likely go with the lighter grey wool. There are surviving examples of officer frock coats in various shades of light to medium grey. Haven't seen a surviving one specifically of the dark so called Richmond Grey type.
 
A surviving example of one General Pickett's uniform sleeves can be seen here:
http://flickriver.com/photos/unforth/tags/uniforms/
I'm not sure where this remnant is displayed.

About sixteen years ago there was a controversial case regarding Pickett's uniform items being purchased at a below value price. Perhaps if you look into the details of that transaction, you may find some leads that describe specific colors of his coats, jackets ect.

Here's an old discussion about the controversy:
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/george-pickett-descendent-ripped-off.110541/
 
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