Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-20
Written for The Evening" star.
THE Old ARMY BLoUsE.
Unfit RIM. Worn by the soldier. Tn IN. War.

tnIfo rms Worn by the soldiers IN tho War.
now FANCY TRArrISos sooS GAVE wu TO
UNCLE sAN's RLUE-rus cosr, BEIr AND
roENoE cAF-oAN o-TFIrs ~ WHICH soMt
STATE 1noors rTEsr AFrraRED IN ruE rIrLn
Tho outbreak OF the great American con-
fic;' :ound the United States in possession %
a regular army 81 about 1900 officers and nca
all told. The aosua, Grurcs as given on January
L. 1861. being LIE commissioned officers ana
ll.907 enlisted men. Exclusive OF thc SAT
corps. ;he limo OF the army compri-ed two
regiments % Dragons two OF cavalry. one q
mounted RI men and ten regiments Of in
tantry. The uniform worn by tins small bnt
effective body OF men had undergone but
little change for many wears past. aat that
little mostly IN tie style o; the headgear. The
color % the Uniform dress coat tlo same
for all grades and all branches o: tho service.
VIZ. dark llGe cloth the different arfns being
distinguished ty the color OF the fno.ngs worn
on the coat and the stripes THAI decorated the
trousers. These facinrs as prescribed by Tire
Army Regulations at the beg inning Of the var
Wcro yellow for the cavalry and engineers.
scarlet fer tic artillery. say blue for the
infantry and crimson Tor the ordnance. Al
officers re 90 wear a frock coat Of DARK blue
cloth. single breasted for captains and lieu
tenants. double breasted for all other grades.
The coat for all enlisted foot mea WAS single
breasted trock coat with nine buttons placed
/ at equal intervals. brass scales being worn on
the shoulders. while for the enlisted men 10
the cavalry and light artillery lark blue
jacket was 10 be worn IN lieu OF the trock coat
All enlisted men wore tho blouse for fstigus
dress. Ii Is described in the regulations a. "A
sack coat OF dark blue flannel. extending halt
way down the thigh. and made loose. four
buttons down the front" The trousers were
of sky blue cloth. those for mounted men
being reinforced" and The overcoat was SKY
bluc. the color of the trousers. the capes OF the
cavalry coming down 10 the coat cuf; tho
capes OF the infantry great coat only came
down TO the elbow. The blouse. trousers aud
great coat are unchanged to ths iav. save that
perhaps better materials arc used and that
greater care is taken with the at OF the gar
mcnt
TIE FORAGE car.
AreSulation dress hat was brought into tho
army under floyd while he WAS Secretary %
War. hut the best known article o: hcadwear
was the forage cap of dark-blue cloth with
rounded vizor, the crown Of the cap pulled
well to the front to display the insignia Of tho
arm of the service crossed sabers for tho
cavalry, crossed cannon for the artillery and .
hunting bugle for the infantry. for which has
since been substituted the crossed muskots).
the regimental number and the company let
ter. Practically speaking the whole war was
fought through on the Union side by men clad
/ in this cap, tho dark-blue blouse. the sky-blns
pantaloons, with. in winter time, the sky
blue overcoa. aided thereto. This was
phatically Uncle Sans uniform. all that ho
ever served out and tho uniform that was
universally by boys during the
greater part of the struggle for national ex-
] lstpnga Il
/ able. and IL made Of the proper materials
4 (Which alas! IL very often was not. woulf
| compare fayorsbly with any European uni
| form, save, perhaps. that worn by certain i'm
perial snd monarchial ''crack" corps. There
| were two belts worn, one 4 shoulder belt sup
porting the cartridge boz. aud q waist belt
supporting the bayonet. They were perhaps
| the shabbiest parts of the equipment A plain
brass disc filed out with lead, bearing the let
| tors L. s. comprised the buckle OF tho waist
belt, and plate OF the same material. with
an eagle samped on IT, was worn on the front
center of the shoulder belt Contrary 90
modern usage the old fashion Of Furnishing
the barrel of the musket In vogue during
| the war, being dropped immediately after its
close.
| MOTLEY HuED MILITIA
But the call to arms Of 1861 also found In the
United States Q number OF militia regiments
and innumersbie volunteer organizations whose
uniforms were Is fanciful and varied as could
well be conceived. being fashioned after the
pattern Of almost every known military typo in
Europe, from the Highland costume of the
famous British infantry 10 the hybrid. circus
like, useless dress of the French souAvs and
the banditti-like clothing Of the Sandman ber-
saglieri France had two years before beaten
Austria, and there Q sort Of French mill
tary craze on MS Just then, and our soldier boys
affected their style. England had Just decided
that gray was the best and most serviccable
color that could be adopted for the uniform Of
her volunteers, and many state troops and local
| companies were clad in that color. But each
| corps dressed according to its own fancy, and
| the frock coat. the swallow-tailed coat. the
| jacket the blouse. appeared in all varieties Of
| shape and color, head dresses In equal vari-
ETY., black belts. white belts ell sorts Of sccou-
| terments could be seen. everything in fact
save the one thing most needful then and now
uniformity. THIS. thanks to hard, practical
| experience, was developed later on in the war,
| but the first months found the boys in . very
motley il gay and gorgeous apparel This
ante-bellum state Of affairs applied equally TO
| the military organizations of the southern
states. and though perhaps the Highlander did
not obtain there 10 any great extent the zou-
ave certainly did
| when the seventy-ninth New York Highlar,-
| ders parnded on June 1, 1861. to depart for
Washington We learn that ''all the officers aid
many OF the men wore the kilts while the rest
OF the men were dressed in handsome state
jackets with red facings, blue fatigue caps
and Cameron tartan pants; these with
the killed officers and men made our appear
snoe quite picturesque" may be readily
/ imagined. But by the time the regiment
marched to the battlefield we are told by Its
| historian that "our knapsacks containing our
uniform jackets and tartan pants were packed
| up and left at camp. IL any of our men wore
other than the regulation dark-blue blouses
| and h.hi-blue pants during the campaign it
was the exception. and they were few" Los
sing tells us that ''the costume OF Duryee's
/ corps was that Of the second regiment Of the
French zouaves, composed of a blue jacket
| trimmed with red and blue shirt trimmed
with the same, full scarlet trousers with leather
| leggings, and scarlet cap with blue tassel,
partly arranged in turban form" The famous
1 seventh New York came TO Washington dressed
/ IN gray; the celebrated sixth Massachusetts
was also dressed in gray when 1t marched
l through Baltimore, while there were some few
| corps dsessed in green. But as have before
stated. the hard, stern reality of actual warfare
soon stripped the lads of all tinscl and gaudy
| colors; they became veritabe Boys in Blue.
and remained SO. And when that mon umont
| Is raised to the private soldier that rs now
being agitatod, and II cannot he done too soon.
by all means let IL represent HIM clad IN the