Tinsel Mush?

[Robtweb1]

A correspondent at Fort Randolph in 1861 had this to say about the 13th Tennessee:

"The Thirteenth was one of the many regiments trained under General Pillow.
Correspondent William Howard Russell describes these troops appearances.

'Seven or eight hundred men were formed into a line for inspection. These were
few of the soldiers in any kind of uniform, and such uniforms as I saw were in a
very bad taste and consisted of gaudy facings and stripes on very strange garments.
They were armed with old pattern percussion muskets and their ammunition
pouches were of diverse sorts. Shoes often bad, knapsacks scarce, head-pieces of
every shape -badges worn on the front or sides, tinsel mush in evidence. Every
man had a tin water flask and a blanket.' "

What's tinsel mush?

 

[dvrmte]

A correspondent at Fort Randolph in 1861 had this to say about the 13th Tennessee:

"The Thirteenth was one of the many regiments trained under General Pillow.
Correspondent William Howard Russell describes these troops appearances.

'Seven or eight hundred men were formed into a line for inspection. These were
few of the soldiers in any kind of uniform, and such uniforms as I saw were in a
very bad taste and consisted of gaudy facings and stripes on very strange garments.
They were armed with old pattern percussion muskets and their ammunition
pouches were of diverse sorts. Shoes often bad, knapsacks scarce, head-pieces of
every shape -badges worn on the front or sides, tinsel mush in evidence. Every
man had a tin water flask and a blanket.' "

What's tinsel mush?

Sounds like a motley crew being described.

I think it's a typo, "tinsel, much in evidence."