Wearing False Uniforms?

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I'm reading Shenandoah Summer. Patchan recounts an incident in which a small Union reconnaissance patrol went out to scout.

On the way back to camp it met up with another small patrol of "Union" horsemen. As the two groups rode along together, a signal was given and all the fake Union soldiers pulled pistols and shot dead the real Union cavalryman closest to them. The only one not thusly executed was the Lt. leading the reconnaissance, who was taken prisoner. The deceitful Confederates wearing captured Union uniforms were supposedly from Mosby's battalion.

Had the ruse failed and the Confederates been captured in the wrong uniform they have been hung, comparable to spies?

Was deceit like this (deliberately wearing the other side's uniform to trick them) commonly practiced by Mosby or anyone else during the war?

 

[stu613]

I'm reading Shenandoah Summer. Patchan recounts an incident in which a small Union reconnaissance patrol went out to scout.

On the way back to camp it met up with another small patrol of "Union" horsemen. As the two groups rode along together, a signal was given and all the fake Union soldiers pulled pistols and shot dead the real Union cavalryman closest to them. The only one not thusly executed was the Lt. leading the reconnaissance, who was taken prisoner. The deceitful Confederates wearing captured Union uniforms were supposedly from Mosby's battalion.

Had the ruse failed and the Confederates been captured in the wrong uniform they have been hung, comparable to spies?

Was deceit like this (deliberately wearing the other side's uniform to trick them) commonly practiced by Mosby or anyone else during the war?

LOL, I am reading the same book- just finished the battle of Cool Springs.

 

[ErnieMac]

They could have been. The Federal armies used similar tactics, in particular the Jessie Scouts in the Shenandoah Valley. A number of them were captured and hanged by the Confederates.

 

[gjpratt]

SPOILER

Keep reading and you will learn all about Sheridan's Jessie Scouts who regularly patrolled in Confederate garb. They were organized as a counter to Mosby's Rangers.

I beliieve you are correct. If a soldier icaptured in the uniform of the other side he would be treated as a spy and summarily executed. Both sides followed this practice.

 

[Sowbelly and Hardtack]

Here's an interesting article on espionage during the Civil War.

Espionage - Essential Civil War Curriculum

 

[Sowbelly and Hardtack]

Civil War Irregular Operations

A number of the American Battlefield Trust’s staff members, all passionate students of history, jumped at the chance to share their own choices for the most...

www.battlefields.org

 

[Sowbelly and Hardtack]

INTEL - The Scouts

Joomla! - the dynamic portal engine and content management system

www.intelligence.gov

 

[Sowbelly and Hardtack]

Double post, my apologies.

 

[bamaman]

Double post, my apologies.

If you had watched the movie 'The Little Rebel' with Shirley Temple you would know that Southern soldiers wore Union uniforms

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

That's one of the oldest schemes in warfare.

But not always intentional.
One of my favorite examples of uniform confusion occurred during the American Revolution :

The first meeting between the two forces almost turned disastrous when Pickens's men mistook Lee's Legion for Tarleton's British Legion. Lee's soldiers, like those of Tarleton's Legion, wore green uniform coats as a sign of their elite status. Although the coats were not identical, they were similar enough to confuse some of Pickens's men who nearly opened fire on Lee's Legion before they realized their error.

"Light Horse Harry" Lee and Pyle's Massacre - Journal of the American Revolution

On February 25, 1781, the Continental cavalry of Lieutenant Colonel Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee’s Legion and Brigadier Andrew Pickens’s militia encountered several hundred loyalists commanded by Colonel John Pyle at Holt’s Race Paths in North Carolina. Pretending that he was British Lieutenant...

allthingsliberty.com

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

I've heard of two instances when this ruse was used in Kentucky. One was a group of Confederate soldiers who regularly dressed in Union uniforms to approach Federals in the area of Danville, the other group were Confederate guerrillas who ambushed a Union scouting party outside of Bloomfield and after killing everyone, scalped them.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

I feel like a soldier disguising their appearance for reconnaissance, whether wearing the other side's uniform or wearing no uniform at all, is one thing. I'm not disagreeing with the practice of hanging spies, but such spying seems...less wrong.

But wearing the other side's uniform to directly commit assassination or sabotage, or to lead into an ambush feels like a step too far.

 

[Josh The Lighthouse Guy]

the other group were Confederate guerrillas who ambushed a Union scouting party outside of Bloomfield and after killing everyone, scalped them.

Instances if scalping during the American Civil War, not committed by Native Americans, is a question I never thought to ask before but also one I'm not sure if I want answered.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Instances if scalping during the American Civil War, not committed by Native Americans, is a question I never thought to ask before but also one I'm not sure if I want answered.

I think it was @leftyhunter who had a thread that discussed this topic, among other things. As I recall, it was an act more commonly restricted to guerrillas and bushwhackers.

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

As I recall, it was an act more commonly restricted to guerrillas and bushwhackers.

I think the idea was officially used in all theaters by both sides.

Wearing Confederate "apparel" was a common Union tactic with Grierson's Raiders during
the Vicksburg Campaign. It's well documented in the Margie Bearss work about Sherman's post Vicksburg operations.

Sherman's Forgotten Campaign : The Meridian Expedition: Bearss, Margie Riddle: Amazon.com: Books

Sherman's Forgotten Campaign : The Meridian Expedition [Bearss, Margie Riddle] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Sherman's Forgotten Campaign : The Meridian Expedition

www.amazon.com

( And yeah, that would be the wife of legendary Ed Bearss)

Such shenanigans were also displayed in the 1959 ..." John Wayne"... film in the The Horse Soldiers .

BTW, that's an old film worth watching.

 

[leftyhunter]

I think it was @leftyhunter who had a thread that discussed this topic, among other things. As I recall, it was an act more commonly restricted to guerrillas and bushwhackers.

Yes per the Lever Code aka General Order 100 being a guerrilla or Confedrate soldier captured wearing a Union uniform could be executed on the spot . Sometimes they where sometimes not it just depended on who's doing the capturing. If said guerrilla wearing a Union uniform is captured by a Kansas regiment good luck. During the Confederate invasion of Missouri by General " Pappy " Price in September 1864 those members of the " Paw Paw " milita meaning former Confederate Missouri State Guardsmen who then took an oath of loyalty to the Union if captured could be executed on the spot as well.
Leftyhunter

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

I think the idea was officially used in all theaters by both sides.

Just to clarify - I was referring to scalping, and assume you are as well in your reply? And apologies for drifting off topic.

I'm not familiar with regulars on either side that did that (scalping), but again, @leftyhunter would be someone with a definitive answer.

 

[bamaman]

I think the idea was officially used in all theaters by both sides.

Wearing Confederate "apparel" was a common Union tactic with Grierson's Raiders during
the Vicksburg Campaign. It's well documented in the Margie Bearss work about Sherman's post Vicksburg operations.

Sherman's Forgotten Campaign : The Meridian Expedition: Bearss, Margie Riddle: Amazon.com: Books

Sherman's Forgotten Campaign : The Meridian Expedition [Bearss, Margie Riddle] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Sherman's Forgotten Campaign : The Meridian Expedition

www.amazon.com

( And yeah, that would be the wife of legendary Ed Bearss)

Such shenanigans were also displayed in the 1959 ..." John Wayne"... film in the The Horse Soldiers .

BTW, that's an old film worth watching.

I loved The Horse Soldiers. A great movie

 

[7th Mississippi Infantry]

Just to clarify - I was referring to scalping, and assume you are as well in your reply? And apologies for drifting off topic.

I'm not familiar with regulars on either side that did that (scalping), but again, @leftyhunter would be someone with a definitive answer.

No apologies necessary !

I was only talking about each side trying to "dress up " like the other.

Sometimes that idea worked brilliantly, at other times it failed miserably.

 

[TerryB]

SPOILER

Keep reading and you will learn all about Sheridan's Jessie Scouts who regularly patrolled in Confederate garb. They were organized as a counter to Mosby's Rangers.

I beliieve you are correct. If a soldier icaptured in the uniform of the other side he would be treated as a spy and summarily executed. Both sides followed this practice.

Speaking of Jessie Scouts, I researched one named William Lawton, who transferred to Thomas in Chattanooga. He regularly went out in the uniform of a Confederate colonel and once shot an officer who, while rounding up stragglers, demanded Lawton ride with him to Confederate HQ. Lawton was shot by a guerrilla whom he was hunting down (yes in CS uniform). His reports are on microfilm.

Capt. William Lawton