Civil War PATCHES ! (3 Viewers)

[UKReb]

Tullock I bow to your superior knowledge of 20 years of researching Confederate apparel. As I said previously I have no idea whether they wore patched uniforms but was purely curious re your statement.

My comments were based on a number of books and articles that I have read over the years, for example and one you most probably are familiar with is Uniforms of the Civil War by Robin Smith and Ron Field that makes at least three references to Confederate soldiers being reduced to unnecessary suffering in rags and bare feet and even having to revert to wearing captured Federal clothing.
I was also aware that North Carolina at the end of the war had stores containing 90,000 plus uniforms that were unable to be distributed to the army.

However, I look forward to your book being published as it appears that the ones I have on my shelf that refer to such Rebs adorned in rags and being shoeless should now be disregarded.
Welcome to the forum always good to have another ACW man onboard
Reb

 

[tullock]

UKREB....I have a copy of Ron Field's book (as well as all his multi-volume Osprey series) on CS uniforms and informative they are too.It's a pity he tends to dwell on State issues though in his main (Brassey's)work though,leaving only a few pages for the much more numerous cenral government issues.Since his book was published in 1996 research into this subject has come on in leaps and bounds,greatly aided by the internet.
In the late 1980s,Leslie Jensen,archivist at the Museum of the Confederacy,published his ground-breaking volumes on Central Government quartermaster issues for the renowned 'Military and Collector and Historian Society'.These articles really were a punch in the nose for the ' rags and barefoot' brigade,then wallowing in their certainty on this matter.Here is an example of Leslie's findings....
'Issues to the Army of Northern Virginia in the last 6 months of 1864.(when its strength varied between 70-75,000 men.
CENTRAL GOVERMENT ISSUES ONLY..
104,199 Jackets
140,570 Trousers
167,862 Pairs of shoes etc etc
NORTH CAROLINA ISSUES ONLY
26,795 Jackets
28,808 Trousers
37,657 Pairs of shoes
My own research into this period shows additional supplies forwarded to Lee's men from South Carolina,Georgia,Alabama and Louisiana included 29,567 jackets,44,590 trousers and more than 30,000 pairs of shoes.

Totals....150,000 jackets,214,000 pants and 235,000 pairs of shoes!(For just one army in a 6 month period).

The combined figures above show without doubt that Lee's troops recieved vast amounts of clothing.Way over their authorised issuances and more than enough to stave off patches,rags and bare feet.
Now,no doubt,at certain times in the war,some CS troops would have lacked clothing and shoes,but these instances were rare.Quartermaster records and photographic evidence from crucial engagements in the war show,without a shadow of a doubt,that on the whole Confederate troops were as well dressed as any army in history.A detailed study of the photos of the long rows of dead at the Rose woods at Gettysburg clearly show well clad and shod troops.The bulk of theses troops,from Georgia and South Carolina,are clad in Government issue Richmond depot 2 jackets and pants.The jackets are of jeanscloth and have both brass and wooden buttons.Although in varying shades they are still uniforms.Those not wearing government clothing are clad in various State issue uniforms.Several of the photos show the feet of all these troops.All are well shod and there are no holes in any of the shoes.Go on the LOC site and take a look for yourself.
Thanks

 

[Kurt]

Variants!

To me removing the patches isn't much of a solution. We need variants of 'standing firing' figures, and I think 3 is reasonable. For these 2 extra 'standing firing' figures I'll gladly sacrifice the 'kneeling ready' and 'drinking water-type' figures. I say this for the Civil War, Napoleonic and Revolutionary War series. The 2nd batch of Civil War figures took a big leap in the right direction with 3 different marching figures, not counting the officer, flagbearer or running forward rifleman & advancing Confederate. But, to me anyway, the 'standing 'firing' figure is the most important figure and most in need of multiples/variants.

 

[Canadian Samurai]

Taking away the patches from K&C figures would remove the very artistic quality that most differentiates them from their competitors, and makes them, by far, the greatest toy soldiers ever made in the history of man (sic). Surely one would not dare to tell an artist how to paint? At least that is what I have been told many times.