Yellow pants?

major bill

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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Aug 25, 2012
One of the more unusually colors for trousers of the Civil War was yellow. There are a couple of examples of yellow trousers being worn early in the Civil War. One of the better know yellow pants were the yellow Zouave or chasseur trousers of the South Carolina Zouave Volunteers of the Hampton Legion.

Why they decided on yellow trousers instead of the normal red or blue Zouave trousers needs to be investigated. A few Zoauve units wore gray Zouave trousers, but red or blue were the colors of choice. So why yellow trousers? Perhaps yellow cloth was easier for the company obtain than red or blue cloth.

So I am asking for other units that wore yellow trousers or yellow jackets during the Civil War. Has anyone a "yellow company" to add to my list?
 
yellow.jpg


As seen in The Confederate Army (1) South Carolina & Mississippi.
 
This is the uniform plate from The Hampton Legion Part 2: Company histories by Ron Field. The uniform plate comes with a page and a half written description. The description does point out that the uniforms in the plate are based on incomplete information and uses a couple of photographs as the main source for uniform details. The booklet uses 27 end notes for their uniform, flags and arms. For those interested if Andrew the black cook/servant wore any uniform is not discussed.


yellow y.png
 
'Yellow Jackets' - Captain Philip H. Echols Company B, 6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. This militia company was disbanded when the regiment was mustered into confederate service 26 Jul 1861. It was in state service from 25 May 1861. Fourteen men were reassigned to Co H.
They wore yellow uniform?
 
'Yellow Jackets' - Captain Philip H. Echols Company B, 6th Arkansas Infantry Regiment. This militia company was disbanded when the regiment was mustered into confederate service 26 Jul 1861. It was in state service from 25 May 1861. Fourteen men were reassigned to Co H.
They wore yellow uniform?

Perhaps they were named such because they "stung" like yellow jacket bees?
 
I thought I would chime in with a picture of the Hampton Legion Co. K - South Carolina Zouaves from 1862 picture made in Columbia, SC. Also, a picture of an original officer jacket from the unit. The jackets appear to be a coarse gray kersey with 1-1/2" Blue Velvet trim. I know in the papers of the time they described the yellow chausseur baggy pants and red fez with blue tassel but have never seen a picture of one of the soldiers in this uniform. The majority of the men in this unit organized by Langdon Cheves McCord were from the original Charleston Zouave Cadets which disbanded in the fall of 1861 due to boredom and lack of action. Half of the unit went to Columbia to form this unit and the other half goined the Gist Guards an artillery unit in Charleston.
Hampton Legion Co K-SC Zouaves 1862.jpg
IMG_4845.JPG
 
Now on to the next image. This zouave has been linked to the South Carolina and Charleston Zouaves but I believe his uniform is too early and flashy for the SC Zouaves of Hampton's Legion Co. K in 1862. There was a Fire Company in Charleston made up primarily of Germans called the Aetna Fire Co. that converted to the Aetna Guards. In February 1861 it was reported they had monkey jackets made up as part of an elaborate uniform with red trim. In looking at this picture, the knapsack with most likely red blanket this would appear to be their uniform. For some that would have tried to link it to the Charleston Zouave Cadets it could be a possibility but all known pictures have them in their Chausseur uniform they received in December 1860.

Charleston Zouave 1861.jpg
 
The following are some pictures that all of you have seen which showcase the Charleston Zouave Cadets in what appears to be a blue gray cassimere or wool uniform with red trim, cuffs and small red chausseur caps with blue gray bands and 1" red stripes down their baggy pants and brown leather jambieres.
Charleston Zouave Cadets.jpg
Zouave Cadets.jpg
charleston zouave cadets.jpg
 
Another picture that came out of Charleston, SC features a young boy in a zouave pea coat from Military Images. The youth of this boy tends to make me think he was at enrolled in an academy or the orphanage in Charleston as I have not come across another unit that shows this style uniform.
IMG_6710.jpeg
 
Finally, here is a uniform coat located in the Gettysburg museum belonging to a boy from Chester, SC that was donated. I am trying to find all of his information but the jacket belonged to him while stationed in Charleston, SC with Co. E or F of the 2nd Heavy Artillery in 1862. He later transferred to an infantry regiment and I believe was killed at Gettysburg.
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I thought I would chime in with a picture of the Hampton Legion Co. K - South Carolina Zouaves from 1862 picture made in Columbia, SC. Also, a picture of an original officer jacket from the unit. The jackets appear to be a coarse gray kersey with 1-1/2" Blue Velvet trim. I know in the papers of the time they described the yellow chausseur baggy pants and red fez with blue tassel but have never seen a picture of one of the soldiers in this uniform. The majority of the men in this unit organized by Langdon Cheves McCord were from the original Charleston Zouave Cadets which disbanded in the fall of 1861 due to boredom and lack of action. Half of the unit went to Columbia to form this unit and the other half goined the Gist Guards an artillery unit in Charleston.View attachment 167197View attachment 167198
The uniform of this unknown soldier is not that worn in South Carolina Zouaves, has recently been identified as being that of the Union "Erie Regiment", also known as McLane’s Regiment after its commander Colonel John W. McLane. This regiment was re-organized as the 83rd PA Infantry in July 1861. This is another member of the regiment wearing the same uniform:
Erie Regiment,.jpg
 
Now on to the next image. This zouave has been linked to the South Carolina and Charleston Zouaves but I believe his uniform is too early and flashy for the SC Zouaves of Hampton's Legion Co. K in 1862.

View attachment 167210
This image of 1861 may not be SCZV, but one of many early war companies, but we can not exclude that they are the South Carolina Zouave Volunteers since they were formed on August 14, 1861, so you can not exclude that, before they receive the prescribed uniform (the one with yellow trousers) described at the end of 1861, they wore a first provisional uniform.
 
That is awesome you were able to find this other picture and eliminate a uniform thought to be the SCZ. The uniform on the cover of the Guns and Ammo Cover from 1984 has been ID'd to the Hampton Legion and obviously appears to be pretty simple in its appearance minus the fancy trim like the Erie Company. This narrows down our possibilities for their uniform which ties in with the uniform description of the SCZ. So let's think about this and look at the images to compare.

I went back and reread the newspaper article about the SC Zouave's first uniforms being measured for the coats with plans to make the yellow pants in Sept. 1861 and McCord's mother going ahead and ordering blankets lined in Columbia and buying ready made gray overcoats. Although I can't exclude the picture with all the scroll work as a SCZ uniform it seems in looking at it closely that the backpack with blanket and white gloves match the Charleston Zouave Cadets formed in the Fall of 1860. It could be their first uniform as they were known to have a winter and summer uniform.

All of the familiar pictures of the Zouave Cadets were made with the prisoners from Bull Run in the summer of 1861 which means it was most likely their 2nd uniform having been on active duty since December 1860 and all of their uniforms look new in the pictures. It could be this fellow with the fancy coat scrolling was the first uniform of the Charleston Cadets from the Fall of 1860. He appears to be foreign in his looks which the majority of the Cadets were German immigrants and the pants appear to be similar with the stripe. I think I am leaning towards this as being more accurate as that original picture of the fancy scrollwork came out of Charleston originally and he definitely looks like a dandy compared to being a picture taken in 1862 if he was part of the SCZ.

The boy with the fez hat could possibly be part of the Aetna Guards with his fez cap as I think this would make more sense than an orphanage or academy letting him wear a big knife!

Any thoughts in this logic?
 
It can be all, unfortunately we are in the hypothesis field if we do not have certain data.

I go to memory, I hope to remember well, Ron Field, in his work on the Hampton Legion wrote that part of the Zouave Cadets equipment was lent to the colleagues of South Carolina Zouave Volunteers who had just organized, and that would explain the reason for similar equipment.
 
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