Confederate Army Uniforms and Insignia
The Confederate uniform was gray. In poetry and romance the Confederate uniform is gray. In actual service it was a butternut brown, and on those fellows who faced us at short range was, owing to their long campaign, as dirty, disreputable, and unromantic as can well be imagined. The Confederate Uniform was promulgated by General Order No. 9 in the City of Richmond, Va., June 6th, 1861, and was the pride and glory of the young Confederacy, and is now revered by all survivors, honored and respected by the American people. It was a power for discipline then and will be a power in perpetuating the memory of the Confederate soldier.
During the Civil War the rank of officers and non-commissioned officers of the Confederate army was indicated in the following manner, the insignia being displayed upon the uniform coat, which for officers and enlisted men was double breasted and of a cadet gray color.
Rank of officers was designated by an ornament of gold braid worn on both sleeves of the coat extending around the seam of the cuff and up the outside of the arm to the bend of the elbow. The ornament was composed of four braids for general officers, three for field officers, two for captains and one for lieutenants. Besides this sleeve decoration, the rank of officers was further shown bv devices worn on the collar of the tunic as follows :
General Officers.-A wreath with three stars enclosed, embroidered in gold.
Colonel.- Three gold stars arranged horizontally.
Lieutenant-Colonel.- Two gold stars.
Major.- One gold star.
Captain.- Three gold bars arranged horizontally.
First Lieutenant.- Two gold bars.
Second Lieutenant.- One gold bar.
Rank of non-commissioned officers was indicated by chevrons worn on both sleeves of the coat above the elbow, point downward, of the color of the facing of the arm of the service to which 'the wearer belonged.
Sergeant-Major.- Three bars and an arc in silk.
Quartermaster-Sergeant.- Three bars and a tie in silk.
Ordnance-Sergeant.- Three bars and a star in silk.
First Sergeant.- Three bars and a lozenge in worsted.
Sergeant.- Three bars in worsted.
Corporal.- Two bars in worsted.
The coats of both the officers and of the enlisted men were piped with a facing of the color of the arm of the service to which they belonged, the facings being as follows :
General Officers, Adjutant-General's Department, Quartermaster-General's Department, Commissary-General's Department and Engineers.- Buff.
Medical Department.- Black.
Artillery.- Red.
Cairalry.- Yellow.
Infantry.- Light blue.
The battle of Bull Run was notable in a minor way for the variety of uniforms worn on both sides - a variety greater than was shown in any later engagement. The Federal blue had not yet been issued, and the troops wore either the uniforms of their militia organizations or those furnished by their several States. Besides the Zouave regiments there was one in Highland dress (the 7th New York). The Confederate uniforms exhibited similar variety; some regiments were in citizens' dress, and several of the general officers who had been in the old service - including, Generals Johnston, Beauregard, and Longstreet - still wore the dress of the U.S.Army.
The camps near the principal Northern towns were all of regiments. Those in the South were mostly of a company each. The arms of the Northern troops were generally the long-range rifled muskets. Those of the Southern troops were almost universally the old-fashioned smooth-bore muskets. The Northern troops were always neatly uniformed in blue, their camps seemed well equipped, and there was generally some visible show of military discipline about them. The Confederate uniforms were blue, gray, or brown, and sometimes uniforms were lacking. There was, too, a noticeable contrast in the physical appearance of the men, the Northern and Western men having more flesh and better color. As physical machines, to withstand hardships, a casual observer would have pronounced them superior to their antagonists. But appearances may deceive. Indeed, it became a never-ceasing wonder, to the very end at Appomattox, to see how our lean, ill-equipped ranks would fight, all the harder, it seemed, as the men grew thinner and more ragged and hungry looking.
According to a Northern authority, Lee's veterans in 1863 were "the finest infantry on earth!" These battle-stained Confederates had no glittering uniforms to wear; they marched and fought in any garb they were fortunate enough to secure and were glad to carry with them the blankets which would enable them to snateh some rest at night. Their shoes-perhaps taken in sheer necessity from the dead on the field-worn and dusty as we see them, were unquestionably the envy of many of their less fortunate comrades. Lee could only make his daring invasion of the North in 1863 by severing his connection with any base of supplies; and, unlike Sherman in his march to the sea, he had no friendly force waiting to receive him should he prove able to overcome the powerful army that opposed him. Never anywhere did soldiers give a better account of themselves. The memory of their heroism is the common heritage of all the people of the great Republic.
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