What is a sentinel hat?

[major bill]

Obviously a hat to wear when on sentry duty or watch duty. But what did a soldier mean when he said 'sentinel hat'?

It appear that it was some type of hat a loved one at home might knit for a soldier.

 

[jepridgen]

It sounds like you are referring to what the modern military calls a watch cap. It's just what it sounds like, a warm hat designed to keep your body heat from escaping through your head while you are on guard duty or some other outdoor duty in cold weather.

I don't know if I've personally read an account where a soldier called it that, but that's all it could be. There are numerous extant examples in books including some reproduced for reenactors.

 

[major bill]

"Cousin Lucy wrote me, that Miss M. was knitting something for a soldier, which soldier she strongly suspects was me. I shall certainly appreciate it very highly, as I will also appreciate the sentinel cap which you said Mrs. Wiley had kindly offered to knit for me." Letter Thos. J. Goree wrote to his half-sister in Texas from Virginia.