Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-09-26
WHAT THE SOLDIERS WORE IN THE
OLD COLONIAL DAYS.

Blue and Bun and what the Rihemen
Wore.
] In the colonial days the militia wore
the dress that they had inherited from
England. Three, at least, of those cos
tunes have survived to he present day.
One is that worn by the City Troop, of
Philadelphia. Notifications, it is true,
have been made in the hat from time to
time, but they have been in detail of
form, and not at all in character. The
uniform was and is one of the handsom-
est that was ever worn by soldier.
There is company in Hartford which
still wears scarlet coats and the hat of
the last century. which call to mind the
British Grenadiers and the soldiers of
Frederick the Great. In Richmond,
Va, there is a company that wears an
abominable hat, invented in the time of
the Stuarts, and possessing only the
merit of being historical.
IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES.
In the war of the Revolution uni
forms for the troops were out of the
question. 1t was simply impossible to
procure the cloth from Which to make
The difficulties in the way of Washing
ton and the Continental congress in this
respect have already been fully explained.
AS for Washington, he adopted simple
uniform of blue and buff for general Off
GERS, which may have been suggested as
has been intimated by a high authority,
by the Wings and the Scotch Covenant
Frs, but which were more likely inspired
by the uniform of the Blues, in which
Lord Fairfax Washington's friend, was
IN officer.
1t was a plain, pleasing uniform, not
brilliant, but eminently fitting to the
wearer and the cause of which he was
leader 1t was late in the war when an
enlisted mans uniform was buff and
blue, and then only on paper. The only
clothes that We're obtainable were the
very best for actual service. AS early
as the French and Indian war Washing
ton, as the commanding officer of the
Virginia militia, urged Governor Din
widdie to provide the troops with the
simple and useful dress of the hunter and
hfterward, in the Revolution he urged
that as many ne could should procure
, this comfortable dress, which, as it was
, the costume of the riflemen, struck ter
ror to the heart of the enemy
The rihemen of the last century wore
loose fitting tunics or jackets made of
homespun. While the rest of mankind
wore breeches they wore trousers.
They We're, indeed the first to introduce
that useful garment, but the trousers
did not closely resemble those of our
| own time. Instead of being tight above
, the knee, they gave free play Of the
) muscles of the leg, and We're gathered
close at the ankle by buttons, so that
they We're not like the awkward Tapping,
catch all impediments of today. These
clothes were ornamented with furbe-
lows or rawlings of the materials of
Y which they were made, fashion that
5 has been always popular with frontier
J.. Americans.
THE RIFLEMENs DRESS.
! The American rif1emen wore the dress
r that was in its time the best possible
Y service uniform. 1t was an ample pro-
l lection from the weather. for it might
r be of cotton in summer and of wool in
G winter 1t was not burdensome. 1t
= permitted the unobstructed use of all the
= wearer's powers. 1t did not distract him
: by petty annoyances. The shoes were
9 closed and guarded by the buttoned
{ bottoms of the trousers, so that during a
: long march dust and gravel did not in
n trude to the wounding of the feet and
$ the tanning of the men. The hat was a
$ soft wide brimlned felt, not pressing toe
: much on the head and shading the eyes.
: The accouterment of the rifeman con-
;. sisted of what was useful to him. OF
all the soldiers of his time he alone wore
N body belt. Into this belt he stuck a
% hunting knife, with which he cut his
d fuel, his food, or his pathway through
u the forests His weapon was better thar
= that issued to the troops opposed to him
% % and the British soldier with his Brown
i Bess feared the Yankee rifle Finally
3. his cartridge box and canteen were car
q RED from his shoulders. This was &
n virtue of the period, however, for a hun
If dred years ago no soldiers carried weigh,
y on their waists.
: 1t is probable that the absence of UNI
forms greatly assisted the American
Va army in its struggles with the well claC
.e enemy. The dress of the period wa
p certainly not calculated to aid action
is 1t is almost impossible to imagine any
thing that could make a fighting MAJ
10 more ineffective than the heavy hats
u the full. long skirted coats, the skin
=. tight breeches and the leather stock
AZ with which custom clothed the British
r. soldier Most of the muscles of the bod,
o. were cased in, and were directed to pre-
s. serving the rod like stiffness which wa
n prescribed by the drill master. 1t i
10 easy to understand how, other thing
: being equal, men whose clothes per
- - mitted them to be active and agile coul,
a. easily overcome the buckram men, VIII
IA had to shoot over leather stocks.-HaI
as per's Weekly.
W Pen Made Money.