Rebel with striped pants

[Ethan S.]

I added a new one to the collection yesterday, a rather been through it rebel with a unique two pocket jacket and a stripe along the side of his trousers. Something about him says "Deep South".

 

[lupaglupa]

I like the rough jacket.

 

[Northern Light]

Any guesses as to what he is holding?

 

[captaindrew]

Any guesses as to what he is holding?

My guess would be a Bible

 

[RedRover]

In August, 1861 newspapers throughout the South published a call for the people to make up as many jackets of brown or gray mixed homespun jeans as they could for the troops: "lined throughout, with side and vest pockets." Also long in the body, coming four inches below the waistband of the pants and large enough to be worn over the vest or outside shirt.

Charleston Courier, Charleston, SC, 8-19-1861; Augusta Chronicle, Augusta, Ga., 8-21-1861; Tuscaloosa Observer, Tuscaloosa, AL, 8-28-1861, etc. etc.


Variations on the "side and vest pockets" for the jackets abounded...

Stripes on trousers were pretty common for Confederate soldiers too. Union troops mention many of the Confederates in the west in early 1862 wore plain homespun trousers, "made military" by the addition of a black or colored stripe.


From Fort Donelson the prisoners of the Army captured there in February, 1862 were for the most part by then in citizens' clothes, "having no military mark except black stripes on the pants." [Guernsey, Alfred Hudson, Harper's Pictorial History of the Great Rebellion, I, McDonnell Bros., Chicago, 1862, 237.]

 

[Northern Light]

My guess would be a Bible

I thought so, too!

 

[Ethan S.]

Any ideas on the branch of service? It looks to light to be the black of infantry, looks like it could be red for artillery?

 

[Ethan S.]

A user on fb noted that both pockets are hand stitched, and are likely later additions.

 

[chubachus]

Here is a collodion color wheel in case you want to take a stab at finding out what color the stripe is: https://civilwartalk.com/threads/example-of-how-collodion-renders-colors.136742/

From that, maybe a yellow?

 

[Old Soldier]

The old film mediums of those days often showed red as a very dark grey, just lightly lighter than dark blue and some did the same with yellow fabrics too. Yellow metal was just shown as reflected light. An example taken from a photo of Marines. The fringes on the epaulets should be yellow and the cuffs should be red - you could not make out the NCOs rank!!