page_title: Uniforms of the Confederate States Armed Forces
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Uniforms of the Confederate States Armed Forces / Confederate States Navy uniforms / Design
context_page_description: Each branch of the Confederate States armed forces had their own service dress and fatigue uniforms and regulations regarding them during the American Civil War, which lasted from April 12, 1861 until May 1865.
  The uniform initially varied greatly due to a variety of reasons, such as location, limitations on the supply of cloth and other materials, State regulations that were different from the standard regulations, and the cost of materials during the war. Texas units, for example, had access to massive stocks of U.S. blue uniforms, which were acquired after Confederate forces captured a U.S. supply depot in San Antonio in 1861. These were worn as late as 1863. Early on, servicemen sometimes wore combinations of uniform pieces, making do with what they could get from captured United States Army soldiers, or from U.S. and Confederate dead, or just wear civilian clothing. There are some controversies about some of the exact details of a few of the uniforms, since some of the records were lost or destroyed after the Civil War ended.
context_section_description: The first of the Navy uniforms were made in dark blue, but with the Southern style of rank insignia for the officers. The 1862 Confederate regulations ordered the uniform to be steel gray and lined with a dark black silk serge. They were also made in medium gray and cadet gray. They were made of wool, and these uniforms were not fit for the heat of the lower decks of a ship. Non-commissioned officers wore a variety of uniforms, or even regular clothing.
caption: Confederate States Navy Department
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