Shermans march question

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in north and south magazine it has this in knapsack section "Shermans march to the sea was hard on the uniforms of his troops , and by the end of the campaign many of them were wearing confederate gray, from captured stocks"

Was anything done to distinguish the captured stocks from confederate stock?
If not, wouldnt this be a violation of the Leiber code?


Art 63 of Leiber code
Troops who fight in the uniform of their enemies, without any plain, striking, and uniform mark of distinction of their own, can expect no quarter.
 

I wouldn't think so, no.

For one thing, there wasn't a whole bunch of "capturing" being done on that march. There wasn't even a whole bunch of actual fighting, either.

And at certain times earlier in the war, ragged Confederates had pillaged Union depots for clothes as well. Better than wearing rags.

Either way, as long as the intent was not to deceive, as with Skorzeny's commandos at the Bulge, I can't see it being an issue.
 
What is your interpretation of "can expect no quarter." Dont see any connection to sueing someone personally......seems more related to executing someone.......
in north and south magazine it has this in knapsack section "Shermans march to the sea was hard on the uniforms of his troops , and by the end of the campaign many of them were wearing confederate gray, from captured stocks"

Was anything done to distinguish the captured stocks from confederate stock?
If not, wouldnt this be a violation of the Leiber code?


Art 63 of Leiber code
Troops who fight in the uniform of their enemies, without any plain, striking, and uniform mark of distinction of their own, can expect no quarter.

Did any such incidents happen during Sherman's March when his men were in captured uniforms?

Seems to me, whoever is shooting at you would determine your response and not just the clothes someone was wearing.
 
Did any such incidents happen during Sherman's March when his men were in captured uniforms?

Seems to me, whoever is shooting at you would determine your response and not just the clothes someone was wearing.
Were there incidents? I asked first because it does seem a violation of the law at the time, as the leiber code illustrates.........It does seem to have not been that unusual for those captured in ones own uniform to have been executed as spies.

If there wasn't, theres the possibility that they somehow marked or distinguished the uniforms from the state they were captured in. I also asked that, and if so how, as hadn't seen reference to it.
 
I would have thought that the more serious problem would be in cases where soldiers donned enemy uniforms and were mistakenly fired upon by their own side. There were cases (I can't remember exactly which right now), when particularly ill clad Confederates got hold of Yankee Blue uniforms or wore homespun "uniforms" that resembled the blue.
 
By late war most of Lees army was also wearing blue. Not the same blue as the union. but still blue cloth imported from the UK.
Grant mention in his book that he in late 1863 had a chat with a soldier in blue who was an picketduty. It was one of Longstreets men.

With rather similar uniforms, flags and the smoke and confusion on the battlefield most units likely tried to know that friendly units covered their flanks and then engage whoever show up out in front, walking the wrong way.
 
wore homespun "uniforms" that resembled the blue.
Massive numbers of uniforms made of blue cloth imported from the UK was used.

They where not "homespun" but produced by the exact same system as in the north.
(the arsenal used full time employees to cut the pieces, then local women got the "kit" including everything they needed and did the sowing and then returned the finished jacket. They where paid pr. uniform.)
 
By late war most of Lees army was also wearing blue. Not the same blue as the union. but still blue cloth imported from the UK.
Grant mention in his book that he in late 1863 had a chat with a soldier in blue who was an picketduty. It was one of Longstreets men.
Actually the Virginia soldier in question got a new issue before leaving to go to TN.. CSA regs allowed blue pants over grey tops. The unfaded top fooled Grant. He had not seened anything like that in the West, where butternut and light grey predominated..
It must also be obvious that Grant's uniform, probably faded, had not alarmed the sentry.
 
At Antietam, AP Hill's Corps went into battle against General Burnside's IX Corps wearing federal uniforms that had been captured at Harpers Ferry several days prior.
 
Considering that by the end of the war soldiers from the South were notorious for being in homespun clothes rather than uniforms, the original quote seems a bit odd. Could the author be saying that the Union uniforms had faded to gray? It seems to me that a blue uniform that was faded from use is more likely than a stolen gray Confederate uniform.
 
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A random collection, Confederate prisoners. The wide variety of headgear is impressive. The straw boater is my personal favorite. While not in color, the many grades going from black to light gray gives some indication of the wide variety of uniforms worn by Confederate soldiers. The color images of surviving Confederate uniforms show the same variety as the black & whites. None of the photos is quite as graphic or... well... colorful a Charles Coffin's first hand account of what Confederates at Fort Donelson were wearing.

Charles Coffin arrived at Fort Donelson aboard the steamboat Uncle Sam where Grant had his headquarters.

"I saw the white flag flying on the breastworks. The soldiers & sailors saw i & cheered. General Grant had moved his head-quarters to the steamboat Uncle Same, &, as I happened to be onboard that boat, I saw a great deal that took place."

"A motley, care-worn, haggard, anxious crowd stood at the landing. I sprang ashore, & walked through the ranks. Some were standing, some lying down, taking no notice of what was going on around them. They were prisoners of war... Their clothes were of all colors. Some were gray, some blue, some butternut-colored clothes, a dirty brown. They were very ragged. Some had old quilts for blankets, others faded pieces of carpeting, others strips of new carpeting, which they had taken from stores. Some had caps, others old slouched felt hats, & others nothing but straw hats upon their heads."


Not pictured is the crazy collection of hats worn by the Army of Northern Virginia at one point in time. When Longstreet's corps arrived in Georgia after a long rail ride from Virginia, they detrained in splendid fashion. All along the way, the men had made a sport of snatching hats from well wishers standing on platforms as they passed. The newly arrived men lined up wearing every kind of top hat & lady's hats imaginable.

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