"Unique Style Confederate Hat"

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
I received my Winter 2016 copy of Military Collector & Historian magazine today. Drew A. Gruber has an article in the magazine, A Reexamination of the "Unique Style Confederate Hat", Circa 1863-1930. The article is about an unusually hat from the Texas Civil War Museum. This hat is said to have been worn by a Texan at Gettysburg. Drew Gruber compares the hat from the Texas Civil War Museum to hats made by Ssisco Brothers Regalia Manufactures of Baltimore. I was wondering what any other forum members that are also members of the Company of Military Historians & Collectors, think of this article. Also has any forum members seen this Texas Gettysburg Hat at the Texas Civil War Museum? I have seen Drew A. Gruber's name before, but not sure I remember what else he has written.

I am still trying to digest Mr. Gruber's article and wonder about the Texas Civil War hat and post Civil War masonic hats. Is the "Unique Style Confederate Hat" from the Battle of Gettysburg really from that battle a something the ex soldier purchased after the War? This type of thing often occurs when an artifact is given to a museum. I will have to read the article a couple of times more.
 
I was wondering what any other forum members that are also members of the Company of Military Historians & Collectors, think of this article.
I received my copy today as well and only scanned the article.

My first impression was that the hat was some type of fraternal or religious order hat.

I'm sure it may have been worn by a Texan at Gettysburg, but I don't think it's anything remotely "Confederate" or "State Issued".

BTW, I really enjoyed the article on page 336, at the close of World War One, a fellow bought 85,ooo captured German Pickelhaubes from the War Department for the cost of one dollar. What a deal ! :bounce:
 
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I am going to read Ephraim D. Dickerson III's The Modified Fatigue Jacket of 1852-1858: An Overlook Piece of U.S. Army Clothing. The strait sleeve piping on the sleeve cuff instead of the normal chevron sleeve cuff piping is interesting.
 
Yes that is the article of which I talk. I am still not sure what I think about this.
 
At the bottom, in the photo of prisoners, I'm not seeing it. Both hats lack a brim, but other than that, what's the similarity? The prisoner appears to have a solid kepi-type crown, rather than the weird bag-type crown with tassel, and the prisoner's hat also slopes down toward the front, rather than getting higher. I can't tell what the mark is on front, whether it's a star or not. But the only visible similarity I see is that it's brimless, and nothing else matches.

For what it's worth, the prisoner's hat could be a kepi with the brim cut off. Why would anybody do that? No idea. But it would leave a hat similar to his, and unlike the "unique style Confederate hat."
 
That's "unique" alright!

Used to do WWI reenacting. One of our guys was a bit of a dandy. In camp he liked to wear an Edwardian smoking jacket and a monocle. Instead of topping the look off with a Fez, he wore a mothed out WWI campaign hat with the entire brim cut off.

As he was rather tall and slender, the "effect" was that he looked like a perambulating Phillips Head screwdriver!

When in the trenches with his monocle and walking stick he earned the nickname "Lieutenant Peanut". Bwahahah!
 
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... For what it's worth, the prisoner's hat could be a kepi with the brim cut off. Why would anybody do that? No idea. But it would leave a hat similar to his, and unlike the "unique style Confederate hat."

This is not to weigh in on the question in the OP but to simply point out that since the visors were sewn on the stitching might've come loose and lacking a means to repair or reattach it, removing it altogether would be an option. Also, late in the war Confederate manufacturers sometimes resorted to the same ersatz material as did German suppliers in both World Wars when leather began to be in short supply: CARDBOARD! (The Germans called it press-stoff.) Obviously with visors such as these there would be little reason to try to "save" them.
 
IMHO, I think the picture of the prisoner shows that he is wearing a slouch hat pinned up on his left side, loosely pinned on the right and front. There were Mississippians and others who did the tricorn and four sided pin up early in the war.
 
I don`t think that hat was ever military in any way. i`ve been reading about the Civil War for close to 50 years and have never seen anything like it, either in a photo or in person. I cannot picture any of the veteran infanry toiling uphill on Big Round Top wearing such a ridiculous piece of fluff. Plundered from a knapsack? Maybe. Purchased inthe 1890s at a reunion and mislabeled even later? maybe. I`ll go with a 19th century dating, and the discription of "unique" for it, but I don`t think it` "Confederate" other than the lodge ownerwas a Confederate. At one time in his life. Possibly at the same time that he owned that goofy hat. Man, I`d rather be shot at wearing a newspaper sailor hat!
 
The author of the article leaves it to the reader to decide. I think the author was wise in this. based on the research it could possibly be from 1863 but there is no way to verify this. Could a Confederate have some how obtained a hat like this? Perhaps, but how could we ever be sure this was not a post war item that the family confused with a real Gettysburg hat?
 
The author of the article leaves it to the reader to decide. I think the author was wise in this. based on the research it could possibly be from 1863 but there is no way to verify this. Could a Confederate have some how obtained a hat like this? Perhaps, but how could we ever be sure this was not a post war item that the family confused with a real Gettysburg hat?
Agreed, the hat offers zero protection from the sun, at best it could be some sort of camp hat, worst, post war regalia.......
 
I don`t think that hat was ever military in any way. i`ve been reading about the Civil War for close to 50 years and have never seen anything like it, either in a photo or in person. I cannot picture any of the veteran infanry toiling uphill on Big Round Top wearing such a ridiculous piece of fluff. Plundered from a knapsack? Maybe. Purchased inthe 1890s at a reunion and mislabeled even later? maybe. I`ll go with a 19th century dating, and the discription of "unique" for it, but I don`t think it` "Confederate" other than the lodge ownerwas a Confederate. At one time in his life. Possibly at the same time that he owned that goofy hat. Man, I`d rather be shot at wearing a newspaper sailor hat!

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During the War Confederate soldiers suffered from many shortages and this includes headgear. Although period made, there is absolutely no evidence connecting it to a Confederate soldier.
 
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