@beuwenthedragon7122 man i guess ill have to test that bc i dont kno anything to stay dry when its 78°+ with 60+ humidity in Missouri you are hot and soaked
During the 1800's grey was considered a more effective camo color then green. Field trials during early 1800's showed. Mind you, it was just a test with the human eye. Not with science. The Germans also wore grey during WW1 en 2.
The Germans didn’t use just a flat grey for their uniforms. They used “Feldgrau” or field grey, which has a more green color to it. So I’m not sure if it’s necessarily applicable.
A medium / medium dark shade of gray is a superb camouflage color when kept back in the shadows. This is because shadows fall in a natural pattern on the neutral color. I am slightly color blind, and I can almost always pick out modern camo patterns in the shadows, because the pattern is not natural to the background. (We color blind folks often notice patterns in place of color). However a gray is impossible to pick out in the darker shade underneath trees, shrubs or underbrush, due to natural shadow patterns.
When US soldiers traded with CS soldiers the US soldiers would often times tell the confederates to trade their tobacco for money so they could “buy a real uniform”.
That’s like the scene in The Good The Bad and The Ugly when they think they’ve come upon a confederate cavalry troop and start hailing Dixie and General Lee to get some help, only to have the unamused Union cavalry men proceed to bat the dust off their blue uniforms as they’re taken prisoner. 😅
@@flyingsquirrell6953 I wasn't even arguing with you lmfao. But if the south was trading tobacco for money from the north, they'd be getting greenbacks from the north. So I guess now I am arguing with you if you wanna sit there and say that's wrong. Because the north had greenbacks and the south had gray backs. Thanks for being a dick tho
They would dye jean wool in logwood. The resulting fabric would be gray but would quickly react with sunlight and turn varying shades of brown. That’s where the butternut uniforms come from.
Also, the butternut, or white walnut, was used as a dye in the upper South and lower Midwest. Some anthropologists refer to the belt between I-70 and I-40 as "butternut country."
The more I learn about government corruption, conspiracy/treason, and the rewriting of history by the victors the more suspect it appears that the Federal North used slavery , that both sides engaged in, as a powerful propaganda tool to promote them as the righteous and demonize the Southern States Confederates as the “evil” side. This especially after the Norths Civil War victory and the likelihood to change objective historical facts into North-Good side, South-Bad side etc. What if the Union Federation was controlled by Elites, Financiers, from UK & European powers, and they wanted to squash any rebellion of any States from suceeding or leaving the Federal Government, DC, etc?? I dont know, but there is much more to this Civil War than the “history books” tell the public I bet. 🧐
Well, you also have confederate units in like butternut, brown, green, every color. But standardized for the confederates? Not really. Kentucky, for example had a lot of soldiers in civilian dress, anything but standardized. But, you are right that having units wearing similar color uniforms can be a bit of a problem. Remember the 33rd VA’s charge at 1st Bull Run?
Might be wrong but i seem to remember a company from Arkansas having to turn their blue jackets, which were lined in white, inside out in order to not be fired upon.
@@ihave_noideawhat’s the name of that company? I know there were confederate units with a butternut style camo but I didn’t know about the blue uniforms of the confederate army.
Yeah the Germans figured that out fast the French did not while the Germans were wearing Gray during World War 1 the French were wearing bright blue without any helmets and then there's the red part it was bright red on the uniform yeah they made for an easy target
You are a fool if you think CSA soldiers fought for their right to own slaves. They fought for the right to say no to an industrial north who knew nothing of the problems in the southern farmlands.
@@CoolSmoovieMost sourthern states claim that they seceded due to slavery. Yes, Confederate soldiers fought for a number of reasons, I mean soldiers in WW1 literally joined just to travel to another country, and some soldiers in Vietnam volunteered for the GI bill. But the war was started and fought over slavery. You also left out that the South needed Slaves to run their agricultural society. Also adding to the point that the war was over slavery.
@@notjimmy6822 I didn’t leave out anything. The South didn’t like that the North was telling them what to do. The North said stop using slaves, the South knew their economy relied on them. So they didn’t want to listen. Believing the war was just over slavers is a foolish modern take. There was a long list of wrongs that drove the south to succeed
@@CoolSmoovie Read the multiple declaration of secession. Most Southern states literally say that the threat to the institution of slavery is why they are seceeding. All of the original states to seceed say this, states that waited to seceed are less likely to state this as the cause. The civil war was over slavery. The foolish modern interpretation is that the civil war was over states rights, unfair taxes and what other BS southern states want to make up to seem more sympathetic to a modern perspective. All the "wrong doings" that caused the South to secede, and go to war are connected to the issue of slavery. Ill end this argument with a direct quote from the first state to secede which kickstarted the civil war, South Carolina, since you have proven you are unable to read historical documents for yourself "But an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution" -South Carolina Declaration of Secession, 1860
Particular shade of grey at start of US Civil War was known as Maryland Blue. It was common to both sides at start of the war, especially with State Guard units as well as Drill Teams which were popular before the outbreak of war.
Camouflage didn't matter when soldiers moved around in linear formations or large groups. As weapons range and accuracy increased, soldiers were taught to aim at human silhouettes, not colours, as these became subdued at the longer distances.
Skirmishers, snipers and bushwhackers were fielded by both sides, especially the confederacy, where camouflage certainly would be useful and large formations were avoided.
@@virileagitur7403Indeed. But they were small in numbers compared to the main forces, and didn't sway the outcome of battles. Useful for harassment and raiding.
@@gratefulguy4130 The napoleonic wars was a different era than the ACW. By the mid 19th century the distinctions between the light and regular infantry (and cavalry) was beginning to fade away. As every infantryman became a skirmisher, and all cavalry 'dragoons'. There's a huge difference between a infantryman in 1815 vs 1860s.
True, but that's because museums are inclined to showcase the purchase and show grey as confederate uniforms, and blue as union. There is a modern bias that affects it. I've seen plenty of storage in the vaults, where the same exact colour is used for both sides, but the southern artifacts tend to be more varied in colours.
The color is more common due to how the wool was dyed. Confederate grey is achieved by boiling poison sumack (akin to poison ivy) in a iron pot to make a sort of tea, then you put your wool in. Butternut is still poison sumack but in a copper pot instead
Scotland huh? Bless you brother.. until we meet again in Paradise,fam.. and youre right. The only problems with that is the north would deliberately send infected cloth (pox etc) or something that would cause problems. They would also send one size lol But this is another reason why if you find something that was from the confederate side,it’s worth 10 times the amount. Do you know your birthright? Do you know where our bloodlines come from or who you actually are? I ask because here in the states we actually have ppl saying they are “black Hebrew Israelites” when we KNOW there was never no such thing. People don’t even mention the racial purity stuff in Genesis lol.. The tribes that had to escape persecution settled a land that’s now known as Europe and then went to settle what’s known today as United States and Canada,even South Africa. We are Gods chosen. Not just the few. 😉
@@DucdeOrlean more confederates wore grey and for longer than federal troops. Most northern soldiers who wore grey were members of state militia, or USMA Cadets (kind of soldiers).
@@dogguy8603 army UCP is the opposite of camouflage, I don’t know why the army thought gray and grayish green was good in Afghanistan. It silhouettes you so bad.
This information is incorrect. Among pre-Civil War state militia units, gray uniforms were as common in the Northern & Western states as blue was in the Southern states. The shades of gray ran the gamut from dust gray to a very dark steel gray just as the shades of blue ran from the sky blue of Union trowsers, Mexican War, Kentucky State Guard uniforms to the dark blue of most mid to late war Union uniforms. However, by late 1862, the Union Blockade had stopped most foreign dye stuffs & gray cloth from getting to the South so the common color of Southern uniforms was "butternut" the dye made from certain tree nut husks & copperas. The Union soldiers even referred to Confederate soldiers as butternuts. This information can be confirmed by reading Arms & Equipment of the Confederacy or many of the ACW books from Osprey Publishing.
I’m with the other comment u clearly didn’t listen cause he literally never once says the grey was only a southern thing. He said that local militias in the US work grey so it was associated with local forces across the country which the south used to play onto the states rights thing
Lol. Tell me you didn't watch the video fully without telling me you didn't watch the video fully. Tried to be a smartass but now you just look like an idiot.
Its simply not correct that the blockade became effective in 1862. The csa imported huge quantities of blue cloth, cartridges, firearms and other military equipment from the UK until late 1864. When Longstreets corp was send west in late 1863, they where all wearing uniforms made from British made blue cloth,.
Also a fun fact: Since the confederacy still considered themselves to hold the original ideals of the founding fathers, they still used the American flag for the army. This proved confusing on the battlefield so they began the long road to picking a national and battle flag.
I always thought it was interesting how by the start of the war, there was a semblance of uniform code, at least in certain pictures and depictions vs. the last few years of the war they became more ragtag from logistical issues
Most Southerners wore what was available of course but they carried it off with a certain panache that was lacking in the boring, boilerplate blue of the yankee soldiers.
At 1st Bullrun aka 1st Manassas it was difficult to tell what side was what due to the mix of uniforms of militia and regulars. Many rebel units had confiscated federal stores to supply themselves with.
There was a small incident as part of the battle where a rebel cavalry unit was able to make a frontal charge on Union infantry. The infantry didn’t realize they were being attacked until it was too late.
At the beginning both sides wore blue and gray mostly in local militia units This created much confusion on the battlefield in 1861 and early 1862 finally both sides adopted their formal colors of blue and gray
I know this is a controversial thing to say, especially on this forum, but after hearing about how the confederates dyed whatever they could find which made that unique butternut color, I am willing to state, butternut is my favorite kind of doughnut.
Regulated grey fell out of service rather quickly. While it continued to be produced and supplied throughout the war, it was replaced gradually with more browns. South Carolina did have a few units which kept standard issue Grey Frock coats (some even still had the blue trim and cuff) as long as 1863 thanks to being able to import from Charleston which wasn’t seized until very late in the war. That was also the reason EAC (English Army Cloth) and private contract sky blues were so common in the East.
To continue the institution of slavery and right to secede from the Union (the latter of which is still not fully settled from a constitutional perspective).
@@matthew8153that's a myth. There were many reasons they wore red, and that wasn't one of them. You can clearly see blood in a red uniform, the blood is an entirely different shade of red and is impossible to miss. However, red actually makes a surprisingly good camouflage in woodland foliage. Though this was probably not a reason the color was initially adopted, it definitely came in handy.
The first unit I joined was 8th VA "Butternut" He had hospital living history tent set up for amputation. Even though it was store bought meat with a big bone being sawed through it was quite intense! Thanks for sharing and bringing back memories form 34+y ago when I was filling in.(fife player until I turned 16) then I had .577cal Enfield musket Thank you for video, accurate.
You mentioned in passing that state militias wore gray. Initially the Confederate Army consisted mostly of State militia troops who wore gray and the Union forces were primarily Regular Army units in blue. However, at the First Battle of Bull Run, this hadn't been formalized on either side. Some New York militia troops fought with the Union, but wore gray and were fired on by other Union troops during this very confusing battle. Similarly, a few Confederate troops wore blue, also causing confusion. After the battle, the colors were sorted out with each side picking the majority colors of Gray for the South and Blue for the North. Eventually, some Southern units wore Butternut, which was just the color of undyed homemade wool or cotton.
the Gray uniforms were made from Logwood Dye or Sumac Jean Wool, with Logwood dye being the most common Logwood after a month of sun exposure turned into a Tan/Brown color which is how people got the term”Butternut” July 1863 you start seeing the amount of English Army Cloth sky rocket in the Eastern Theater but you don’t see it in mass till the Fall of 63 Western Theater stuck to Logwood/Sumac Dyed Jean wool for the entire war The “Homespun” uniforms disappeared after the summer of 1862 when the Depot system took over and had everyone pretty much uniformed
At Bull Run, many of the Southern militias wore the same blue as the Northern regiments. Standardized uniform practices were somewhat thrown out the window in the Civil War.
Gray is simply the best, I would also use gray. Gray also combines lots of colours (not that fitting in that regard to the CSA). I think it symbolises unity more, than any other colour. It also happens to be my favourite colour. Gray will standout in most environments, which are not urban, however it will not standout exceptionally in any of them. Like a pure white in woodland or woodland-like camo in the snow. Gray is the average. But it is the best at being average.
Part of the reason Antietam was such a bloody and costly battle, was due to both sides using grey and blue uniforms. So mistakes were made in recognizing friend from foe, and both sides took heavy casualties in part due to the similarities in uniforms worn.
Regardless of your moral objections to the subject, it is still a question of the states rights to self determination and how much of that they should be expected to surrender to the federal government. The end result of the civil war was an expansion of Federal Authority and considering that the other major change was the integration of a few million perpetual dissidents I’d be willing to say that the CSA had a point. I don’t think anyone likes how the Fed operates, right or left. The reasons might be different, but both sides don’t really like the Federal Government for their own unique reasons.
States' rights was not a core belief of the Confederacy. The Confederate Constitution was much more restrictive over the question of slavery in its states than the US Constitution was. The Confederate Constitution prevented states from banning slavery on their own while the US Constitution left that question up to the states and itself did not prescribe a particular way of administering slavery in the territories. Likewise, two of the main grievances of seceeding states was that 1) the election of Lincoln signaled a hardline stance against expansion of slavery into the territories (not a state's right to administer slavery within its own borders) and 2) Free state authorities refused to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act (i.e. Slave states wanted to force Free states to use state resources to enforce Federal law, something our country took a dim view to then and all the way up to Printz v. U.S. today).
If Lincoln wanted to end Slavery, he would have accepted the Confederacy’s Compromise, which would have ended Slavery in the South in exchange for The Union pulling their Forces out of the Confederate States. A peaceful Solution to avoid bloodshed. Lincoln responded by Reinforcing Fort Sumpter and Blockading the Harbor, against the advice of his Military and political advisors… Lincoln chose War over the South Seceding, which they had every lawful right to do. Everyone Outside of the United States Learned of this, because we kept tabs on the political goings on during that time. ‘The war to end slavery” is a Post War American Myth, to Justify an unjust war.
I get what you're saying, but just because the CSA didn't adhere to it doesn't mean that 'states rights' wasn't a core belief of the south in general. Total war generally requires, or justifies, at least in the minds of politicians, a degree of totalitarianism. Look at what happened to the Japanese Americans during FDR's administration.
"States' Rights" is really just a softer way to say they wanted to own slaves, it's just to make them look better, and it worked for a very very long time.. The Lost Cause is unfortunately still alive..
Wrong. The war was mostly about the north destroying the southern economy with taxes and tariffs. Slavery was just a propaganda tool that helped recruit 250k black soldiers for the north which in turn just made things worse in the end
I really like the CSA officer uniforms, the golden sleeve braids ( Austrian knot I believe ) and the rank pips/bars/star on the colar, it is more rich than the Union counterpars. However the shoulderstraps with insignia are also cool, especially the Eagle colonels rank. Even today US armed forces the full-colonels rank is with the Eagle. Generals have stars but I like the Eagle more :)
Germans discovered that pink was great color for aircraft camouflage but rarely used it . American AF rejected the idea with one general saying he would be damned if he was going to have his planes colored pink
It was mostly officer who wore gray. Because most of the south's officers were West Point grads or cadets at the time the war started. They just carried them over. Enlisted men wore most anything they could get, mostly butternut in color.
650,000 people died during the Civil War,a civil war is the worst kind of war to wage,brothers and neighbors killing each other.Soldiers and neighbors harbering ill will and hatred for each other long after the war ended.A whole generation gone in less than a decade,a large chunk of the work force gone also,thus this also effects birth-rates too.
Many people claims that grey is good for camo but this was the time when soldiers(beside for skrimishers) fought in lines. The Prussians themselves used "Prussian blue" for their uniform and only later when line formation got outdated they adopted "Field grey".
@@loona_mew Is that why the South violated states rights and expanded the federal government to protect slavery? Such as Fugitive slave law, dredd scott decision etc.
@@notjimmy6822 X-actly. The question being weather a state could freely infringe on the freedom of the Individual under the reasoning of state freedom.
what was on hand ... sounds like the German SA or "Brown Shirts". Apparently, their brown uniforms were surplus of their African troops available after WW1 ... which they picked up at a good price!
Whatever side you look at, both looked snazzy. I like Confederate uniforms a lot too because it really showed a bit of that soldier's personality being no two soldiers looked 100% identical in every regiment.
Fun Fact: It was Russia who saved The Union during the American Civil War as they sent their Navy to San Francisco and New York when England and France were just about to enter the war on the side of the Confederates since London created the Confederates. France was already in Mexico making a spear head movement to resupply the Confederates and to open up a Pacific Theatre and create a port in California. England already amassed 11,000 troops stationed at their Northern Confederacies border now called Canada ready to open a Northern Theatre then to attack The Unions naval blockade. The Union would have been completely destroyed and annexed by those two great powers leaving the Confederates to exist as a puppet state of London. Tsar Alexander wrote a letter to Queen Victoria saying “If you enter in this war it will be a casus belli for all out war with the Russian Empire”. The stage was set for the 1st World War and Russia stopped it.
Lol British navy would have crushed the Russians with ease and did so I guess you ignorant of Crimean war which Russia lost in 1853 to 1856. British Navy the greatest and much larger than any other power. British were anti slavery and in the process of forcing countries to ban slavery and intercepting slave ships. The south hoped that the British would support them only because the British cotton mills needed Southern Cotton but the British found and made other Sources. Irony British would have ended slavery in US by mid 1880’s like they did in rest of Americas. US could not stop a British Blockade.
That’s…an interesting thesis. Utterly exaggerated, of course but there’s a kernel of truth-Russia was pro-Union all along while France was pretty obviously rooting for the rebs. Britain was divided between getting involved to help stunt a potential rival or not fighting for slavery; eventually they took a hands-off approach, turning a blind eye to Confederate ships being built in their ports but otherwise refusing to even acknowledge the rebels.
States rights was a core belief of the confederacy AFTER the Civil War. All but three of the states specifically mentioned slavery as the cause of secession in their Articles of Secession.
And yet Florida didn’t even allow slavery. The real cause for the war was the north forcing legislation through congress to ban exports of cotton and sugar. By only being allowed to sell domestically this was planned to ruin the South’s economy.
Gray was a very American color and used by West Point and other military academies prior to the Civil War. You will find countless paintings depicting American military cadets and officers in gray going back to the 1700's. So just as good a question is why did the Union pick blue? In reality, both colors are traditional for American uniforms. And as many others have commented, the home spun uniforms of various local regiments on both sides were a variety of colors, sometimes leading to tragic confusion.
Yes and no. The war was really between the northern industrialists and southern agriculturists. The south was beginning to be industrialized but was still far away from it compared to the north. The north did not like that and imposed taxes on southern farms. The raising taxes were hitting the profit margins of the rich southern farmers and so labor costs needed to be minimized. Industrialization would likely remove the need for slavery but the pre industrial southern economy depended on it and especially because the taxes from the north. That’s why after the war you saw northern carpet baggers take all the land and the remaining farms had sharecropping which was effectively legal slavery. The poor on both sides died because of the wealthy.
Little known fact: the stars and bars was the very first Official Participation Trophy in US history. Thanks for playing, and thank you for your cervix!
“Political opponents”: Pro-confederate politicians were locked up as they were seditious elements. Also, the Union still had an election which Lincoln nearly lost had it not been for Grant and Sherman scoring victories. “The Press”: Pro-Confederate newspapers were shut down as, again, they were seditious elements much like the politicians. In short, he locked up seditious pro-confederate elements in the Union to prevent any internal sabotage. Was it tyrannical? Yes. Was it necessary? Absolutely. When you’re a wartime leader, the last thing you need is internal seditious elements hindering your country’s war effort.
Fun fact, the grey color was primarily achieved by boiling poison sumack in an iron pot. The butternut color was also poison sumack but boiled in a copper pot
Another interesting fact I learned while touring the museums of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was that later in the war, the shoes (they weren't really boots) of the Southern soldiers were made to fit on either foot. If you looked at the sole of the shoe, it resembled the outline of a spoon. Since everything was hard to come by late in the war, especially for the South, they had to do what they could to keep the army moving
I mean most of the csa’s army consisted of poor farm boys. They didn’t have any money to purchase a uniform so all they had to do was get a light colored jacket and put a little bit of ink in a pot of boiling water and dye it to a grey or brown. And since they were a rebellion uniforms didn’t really matter as long as they weren’t blue. Which they quickly discovered at the first battle of Bull Run.
Yeah, the fieldcraft of the Southern army was FAR better than the US at the start of the war, due to the necessities of life in the South. The CSA was beaten by the same thing that undid Germany in WW2. The superior production lines of the US. The respective armies' premier precision rifle is a microcosm of this, and stands as a stark comparison of each side's supply capabilities. The US had an entire unit of snipers, with their own colors and livery, Berdan's Sharpshooters, using the advanced, breech loading Sharps Rifle. The CSA, on the other hand had no specialized gun maker that could approach the level of precision offered by the Sharps, and instead purchased the octagonal bore Whitworth Rifles from England. It is estimated that of the 250 precision rifles purchased by the CSA, less than half made it into the hands of Southern Marksmen.
@@LarsonPetty South fully understood that they would loose a war of attrition. The problem was that they based every single aspect of the war on “what ifs”. Well what IF the British or French joined our cause? What IF we could break the naval blockade and trade with foreign nations, What IF we won a decisive battle and threatened DC to negotiate a peace treaty, What IF Lincoln lost the election to Mclellin. They had all of these senerios that the US government was easily able to out maneuver. Foreign governments are looking to trade/join the confederacy? Well let’s make the war about ending slavery, Oh the confederates are building up a navy to destroy the blockade? Build ironclads, Oh the Confederates are at Gettysburg? Dig in and hold your ground until they do something catastrophic(spoiler alert it didn’t take too long) Perhaps this bought them time and allowed the war to go on as long as it did but no matter what happened they would never and could never win.
@@Aviator-Chicken Yeah, it's commendable that the CSA was able to hold out as long as they did, especially given the weak production/supply chain issues. My own personal "what if" deals with the fictional scenario that might have seen the CSA topple the USA, had the superior production capability belonged to the South, with it's generally superior woodsmen and trackers. However, that itself throws the equation askew, as the lack of education/employment/resources/readily available necessary goods are what molded the Southern male into such accomplished outdoorsmen. Without the deprivation, there would've been no need to develop such skills. I look back on those years as some of the most shameful in our nation's history. That we could be so cruel to our own countrymen as to perpetrate such awful crimes against those that would've been called brother, just a few short years before. I've always been so grateful that our country was able to pull itself back from the brink of destruction and I was so sure that this could never again occur. Sadly, it feels like we are once again circling the drain, only this time it feels as though very few are fighting the current of the maelstrom, and in fact many are paddling headlong toward the abyss, with many calling for Civil War 2.0. The fact that saddens me the most is that it only took twenty years to dismantle the unity that our countrymen had with each other following 9/11.
@@matthew8153 Strange leap of intuition there, and could hardly be further from the ancient reality. Just an elderly lefty trolling the sneaky rewrite fibbers of history🤗
@@matthew8153"Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition"-confederate vice president alexander h. stephens.
A fellow norwichite. Uniform goes between White, Pale Blue, and Black for dress. More styled towards 1812 uniforms though, due to Alden Partridge studied in that time frame.
Those who comment saying that the whole states rights thing was for slavery only, are totally wrong. I am a southerner, and I know our history well. While we did rely heavily off of slavery and wanted to keep it as a primary cause for the civil war, you have to remember that 1% of the white population had slaves in the south, and that the rest were farmers who were angry at Northern industries essentially ruining their profits and putting taxes on them. The South fought for the most part slavery, but had many other goals too.
I agree. It would be like the government today trying to outlaw tractors, threatening no incentive to get rid of them but rather to just take them from each farmer. 1% of farmers had slaves because they were expensive! They didn’t have slaves because they loved owning people, they had slaves because cotton is labor intensive and it is what their fathers and grandfathers did before them. They did not know anything different, and contrary to modern belief, every farm did not look like a scene from Django. Most were treated with decency and respect, because they were necessary (for the time) and seen as people. And for those thinking I’m pro slavery, think again. The abolition of slavery ultimately led American agriculture to the mechanized era out of necessity.
The typical German fought in the war because it was their duty or they were conscripted, not to establish new oppressive empires in Europe or aid in a genocide, but we still know why Germany started the war Be more accountable to the traitorous Confederate states and the damnrd plantation owners they answered to. The ruin the plagued the South was their own fault
Pretty good summary! The Uniforms of the Confederate Armies changes throughout the war for sure, and were different between theaters. Another important point is the difference between the Commutation and Depot uniforms. Commutation is essentially the “from home” system, whereby if the soldiers community provided articles of clothing to the soldier, he would be reimbursed when uniform issuance took place. Commutation fell apart more or less by July 1862; when most armies used a copy of the Federal Depot system. (Alongside Contract items which existed from the start of the war) The Depot system supplied the armies with relatively regulated uniform items, although each depot might put out different types of jackets. (Examples such as the ‘Tait’ Jacket Patterns vs. the pre war Shell Patterns, in similar cloth; not to be confused with the modern system historians use to identify individual surviving garments, such as the Columbus Depot I, II, or III.) Each Depot could vary wildly from others, and sometimes had overlapping areas of supply. To get back to Grey; Cadet Grey was definitely the most sought after shade, but was rarer as the war went on (fun fact: it’s now illegal to produce that shade of grey due to the hazardous dyeing process, I believe since about 1996) English Kersey, also known as EAC (English Army Cloth) was the most common grey cloth you’d see by about December 62-the end of the war, however the shade could vary from a dark “charcoal” to an almost blue-grey color. Besides grey (just speaking in terms of wool garments) you could see tans, off whites, or the ‘Ice Cream Suit’ (modern term) of pure white/Undyed wool to name a few. A very interesting area of ongoing historical debate & study, in any case
Still can't imagine running around in wool uniforms in the southern high 80s with humidity
Wool wicks away sweat easily, and would keep troops cooler than wearing Cotton, which would simply soak up the sweat.
@beuwenthedragon7122 man i guess ill have to test that bc i dont kno anything to stay dry when its 78°+ with 60+ humidity in Missouri you are hot and soaked
I dont care what you're wearing nothing can keep you dry when its 90+ and 80% humidity in the south
@@Beuwen_The_Dragon I respectfully disagree, I’m from Houston and wore a tweed suit to work.
@@svtinkerit helps if your mode of transportation and workplace have a/c. Some lighter weights of wool does work Wei in the humid heat.
During the 1800's grey was considered a more effective camo color then green. Field trials during early 1800's showed. Mind you, it was just a test with the human eye. Not with science.
The Germans also wore grey during WW1 en 2.
Actually, some air forces uses grey pattern camo for parachuter troops. It works amazingly. Search for SICTA camo.
The Germans didn’t use just a flat grey for their uniforms. They used “Feldgrau” or field grey, which has a more green color to it. So I’m not sure if it’s necessarily applicable.
A medium / medium dark shade of gray is a superb camouflage color when kept back in the shadows. This is because shadows fall in a natural pattern on the neutral color. I am slightly color blind, and I can almost always pick out modern camo patterns in the shadows, because the pattern is not natural to the background. (We color blind folks often notice patterns in place of color). However a gray is impossible to pick out in the darker shade underneath trees, shrubs or underbrush, due to natural shadow patterns.
@@rapidrhinos2254sometimes we do that 😅
Cause it was. Line warfare and alot of smoke from muscets
A common joke at the time was that one army went to war wearing blue, while the other went to wearing what blue looks like when its dirty.
When US soldiers traded with CS soldiers the US soldiers would often times tell the confederates to trade their tobacco for money so they could “buy a real uniform”.
@@flyingsquirrell6953ah yes, greenbacks
@@jackryan4313 I mean the confederate dollar was like the Weimar Deutschmark by 1863 so I don’t see what your point is.
That’s like the scene in The Good The Bad and The Ugly when they think they’ve come upon a confederate cavalry troop and start hailing Dixie and General Lee to get some help, only to have the unamused Union cavalry men proceed to bat the dust off their blue uniforms as they’re taken prisoner. 😅
@@flyingsquirrell6953 I wasn't even arguing with you lmfao. But if the south was trading tobacco for money from the north, they'd be getting greenbacks from the north. So I guess now I am arguing with you if you wanna sit there and say that's wrong. Because the north had greenbacks and the south had gray backs.
Thanks for being a dick tho
They would dye jean wool in logwood. The resulting fabric would be gray but would quickly react with sunlight and turn varying shades of brown.
That’s where the butternut uniforms come from.
Walnut was also used.
Also, the butternut, or white walnut, was used as a dye in the upper South and lower Midwest. Some anthropologists refer to the belt between I-70 and I-40 as "butternut country."
The more I learn about government corruption, conspiracy/treason, and the rewriting of history by the victors the more suspect it appears that the Federal North used slavery , that both sides engaged in, as a powerful propaganda tool to promote them as the righteous and demonize the Southern States Confederates as the “evil” side.
This especially after the Norths Civil War victory and the likelihood to change objective historical facts into North-Good side, South-Bad side etc.
What if the Union Federation was controlled by Elites, Financiers, from UK & European powers, and they wanted to squash any rebellion of any States from suceeding or leaving the Federal Government, DC, etc??
I dont know, but there is much more to this Civil War than the “history books” tell the public I bet. 🧐
Along with logwood, sumac was also used and had the same effect in sunlight.
@@muletown27 Ooh sounds itchymaf from what I heard... for it if you meant poison sumac.
For a significant portion of the early war, units on both sides would be in blue or gray. This caused absolute chaos, so standardization was priotized
Well, you also have confederate units in like butternut, brown, green, every color. But standardized for the confederates? Not really. Kentucky, for example had a lot of soldiers in civilian dress, anything but standardized. But, you are right that having units wearing similar color uniforms can be a bit of a problem. Remember the 33rd VA’s charge at 1st Bull Run?
@xdenricoudx1116 100% agree. I always found the zouves the most interesting uniform variation of the conflict.
Fun fact: at the beginning of the civil war there were regiments of the north in grey,
And there were regiments of the south in blue.
Might be wrong but i seem to remember a company from Arkansas having to turn their blue jackets, which were lined in white, inside out in order to not be fired upon.
@@ihave_noideawhat’s the name of that company? I know there were confederate units with a butternut style camo but I didn’t know about the blue uniforms of the confederate army.
Michigan being a famous example of a state with grey uniforms at the beginning of the war. This did also cause confusion at early battles too.
Iowa regiments wore Grey as well which lead to a friendly fire instance when they were taking a trenchline and an Indiana unit open fired on them
@sdkfz1825 that is very interesting. I lived in southwest Iowa for 10 years and never knew that. I'll definitely have to read more about it
I think grey is a good camo
So does James Dean
actual camo is also a good camo
@@pepsiman435🗿
Yeah the Germans figured that out fast the French did not while the Germans were wearing Gray during World War 1 the French were wearing bright blue without any helmets and then there's the red part it was bright red on the uniform yeah they made for an easy target
@@tbnrwolff3354German helmets at the start of the war didn’t offer much more protection than the caps other forces were
States' rights to own slaves*
You are a fool if you think CSA soldiers fought for their right to own slaves. They fought for the right to say no to an industrial north who knew nothing of the problems in the southern farmlands.
@@CoolSmoovieMost sourthern states claim that they seceded due to slavery. Yes, Confederate soldiers fought for a number of reasons, I mean soldiers in WW1 literally joined just to travel to another country, and some soldiers in Vietnam volunteered for the GI bill. But the war was started and fought over slavery.
You also left out that the South needed Slaves to run their agricultural society. Also adding to the point that the war was over slavery.
West Virginia fought for its right to become a state
@@notjimmy6822 I didn’t leave out anything. The South didn’t like that the North was telling them what to do.
The North said stop using slaves, the South knew their economy relied on them. So they didn’t want to listen.
Believing the war was just over slavers is a foolish modern take. There was a long list of wrongs that drove the south to succeed
@@CoolSmoovie Read the multiple declaration of secession. Most Southern states literally say that the threat to the institution of slavery is why they are seceeding. All of the original states to seceed say this, states that waited to seceed are less likely to state this as the cause.
The civil war was over slavery. The foolish modern interpretation is that the civil war was over states rights, unfair taxes and what other BS southern states want to make up to seem more sympathetic to a modern perspective. All the "wrong doings" that caused the South to secede, and go to war are connected to the issue of slavery. Ill end this argument with a direct quote from the first state to secede which kickstarted the civil war, South Carolina, since you have proven you are unable to read historical documents for yourself
"But an increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery, has led to a disregard of their obligations, and the laws of the General Government have ceased to effect the objects of the Constitution"
-South Carolina Declaration of Secession, 1860
Particular shade of grey at start of US Civil War was known as Maryland Blue. It was common to both sides at start of the war, especially with State Guard units as well as Drill Teams which were popular before the outbreak of war.
Camouflage didn't matter when soldiers moved around in linear formations or large groups. As weapons range and accuracy increased, soldiers were taught to aim at human silhouettes, not colours, as these became subdued at the longer distances.
Skirmishers, snipers and bushwhackers were fielded by both sides, especially the confederacy, where camouflage certainly would be useful and large formations were avoided.
@@virileagitur7403Indeed. But they were small in numbers compared to the main forces, and didn't sway the outcome of battles. Useful for harassment and raiding.
@@raftai665 they definitely effected battles & troop movements a great deal.
Read Napoleon's thoughts on skirmishers.
@@gratefulguy4130 The napoleonic wars was a different era than the ACW. By the mid 19th century the distinctions between the light and regular infantry (and cavalry) was beginning to fade away. As every infantryman became a skirmisher, and all cavalry 'dragoons'.
There's a huge difference between a infantryman in 1815 vs 1860s.
@@gratefulguy4130Yeah and the same Napoleon had light infantry running around in pretty dazzling uniforms.
The butternut brownish grey is by far the most common I've seen on artifact uniforms in museums and collections
True, but that's because museums are inclined to showcase the purchase and show grey as confederate uniforms, and blue as union. There is a modern bias that affects it. I've seen plenty of storage in the vaults, where the same exact colour is used for both sides, but the southern artifacts tend to be more varied in colours.
The color is more common due to how the wool was dyed. Confederate grey is achieved by boiling poison sumack (akin to poison ivy) in a iron pot to make a sort of tea, then you put your wool in. Butternut is still poison sumack but in a copper pot instead
I live in Aberdeen, Scotland. A woollen mill in the 19 century produced cloth for both the Confederate and Union armies.
Scotland huh? Bless you brother.. until we meet again in Paradise,fam.. and youre right. The only problems with that is the north would deliberately send infected cloth (pox etc) or something that would cause problems. They would also send one size lol But this is another reason why if you find something that was from the confederate side,it’s worth 10 times the amount.
Do you know your birthright? Do you know where our bloodlines come from or who you actually are? I ask because here in the states we actually have ppl saying they are “black Hebrew Israelites” when we KNOW there was never no such thing. People don’t even mention the racial purity stuff in Genesis lol.. The tribes that had to escape persecution settled a land that’s now known as Europe and then went to settle what’s known today as United States and Canada,even South Africa. We are Gods chosen. Not just the few. 😉
The first manassas battle saw both sides wearing blue.
"I want a new uniform!
"We have uniforms at home."
Uniform at home:
Actually, rebs didn't just use grey,they use any color due to lacks of supply
And some wore grey lol
Yeah…he touched on that in the last half of the short. Did you not watch it all? Lol
@@elisigmon5505some federal troops wore grey too.
@@DucdeOrlean more confederates wore grey and for longer than federal troops. Most northern soldiers who wore grey were members of state militia, or USMA Cadets (kind of soldiers).
Wow . Just like it literally says in the video.
even British/Canadian militia uniforms were Grey red being used for regular troops
That butternut brown looks sharp.
fun fact, towards the later parts of the war, they ran out of grey and used a cheaper grey dye which overtime turned pink
Surely you jest , sir 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🦗
They were just Pride Confederates
The hell you say. 🌈
they were then fabulous
Source????
It was also good camouflage, but they weren’t thinking about that usually
No it was not. How are you using camo in line formation combat and shooting muskets?
@@communism_is_wrong7167not only that but gray dosent break up the human shape
@@dogguy8603 army UCP is the opposite of camouflage, I don’t know why the army thought gray and grayish green was good in Afghanistan. It silhouettes you so bad.
It's worth noting, British gray is often chosen for three piece suits being handmade in London to this very day
This information is incorrect. Among pre-Civil War state militia units, gray uniforms were as common in the Northern & Western states as blue was in the Southern states. The shades of gray ran the gamut from dust gray to a very dark steel gray just as the shades of blue ran from the sky blue of Union trowsers, Mexican War, Kentucky State Guard uniforms to the dark blue of most mid to late war Union uniforms. However, by late 1862, the Union Blockade had stopped most foreign dye stuffs & gray cloth from getting to the South so the common color of Southern uniforms was "butternut" the dye made from certain tree nut husks & copperas. The Union soldiers even referred to Confederate soldiers as butternuts. This information can be confirmed by reading Arms & Equipment of the Confederacy or many of the ACW books from Osprey Publishing.
You didn't watch or listen to this at all...
I’m with the other comment u clearly didn’t listen cause he literally never once says the grey was only a southern thing. He said that local militias in the US work grey so it was associated with local forces across the country which the south used to play onto the states rights thing
watch the video before you comment you pompous douchebag.
Lol. Tell me you didn't watch the video fully without telling me you didn't watch the video fully. Tried to be a smartass but now you just look like an idiot.
Its simply not correct that the blockade became effective in 1862.
The csa imported huge quantities of blue cloth, cartridges, firearms and other military equipment from the UK until late 1864.
When Longstreets corp was send west in late 1863, they where all wearing uniforms made from British made blue cloth,.
Also a fun fact:
Since the confederacy still considered themselves to hold the original ideals of the founding fathers, they still used the American flag for the army.
This proved confusing on the battlefield so they began the long road to picking a national and battle flag.
I always thought it was interesting how by the start of the war, there was a semblance of uniform code, at least in certain pictures and depictions vs. the last few years of the war they became more ragtag from logistical issues
My perfered Butternut Gray myself.
Interesting video indeed. Honestly I always found the Confederate uniforms, ar least the officers, more elegant than those of the Unions!
the grey uniforms we see in the movies are, the true color was more a less elegant butternut in most cases.
@@ulrichkalber9039 thanks for the info 👍
Most Southerners wore what was available of course but they carried it off with a certain panache that was lacking in the boring, boilerplate blue of the yankee soldiers.
@panthercreek60 thanks for replying as you have stated far better than I would 👍👍
Glad they looked elegant when their traitor asses painted a wall
At 1st Bullrun aka 1st Manassas it was difficult to tell what side was what due to the mix of uniforms of militia and regulars. Many rebel units had confiscated federal stores to supply themselves with.
Aye.
There was a small incident as part of the battle where a rebel cavalry unit was able to make a frontal charge on Union infantry. The infantry didn’t realize they were being attacked until it was too late.
Because it looked awesome.
Thanks for the info. Makes alot of sense.
R.I.P Robert E Lee and thank you for your service.
Yes, thank you for your cervix General lee!
Man did so much to help the Union win by losing at Gettysburg and getting pummeled by Ulysses S Grant!
@@warlordofbritannia I love that you have soooo much knowledge on warfare and history
@@PartizaniEditz192
Lee was no Braxton Bragg, of course.
@@warlordofbritannia both were great generals
At the beginning both sides wore blue and gray mostly in local militia units This created much confusion on the battlefield in 1861 and early 1862 finally both sides adopted their formal colors of blue and gray
It was to hide the dust on the uniforms, and it fool me. ~ Tuco
I heard one of the first civil war skirmishes everyone was in the same color uniform and most casualties were friendly fire.
I know this is a controversial thing to say, especially on this forum, but after hearing about how the confederates dyed whatever they could find which made that unique butternut color, I am willing to state, butternut is my favorite kind of doughnut.
The CSA Defacto colour ended up being “butternut”, because that was the colour of the clothes they could get and the patches they sewed.
Cause Big Daddy Warbucks got money and ol’ Jeff Davis don’t
There was also other colors such as richmond blue, there were many variations of CS uniform in the civil war
Regulated grey fell out of service rather quickly. While it continued to be produced and supplied throughout the war, it was replaced gradually with more browns. South Carolina did have a few units which kept standard issue Grey Frock coats (some even still had the blue trim and cuff) as long as 1863 thanks to being able to import from Charleston which wasn’t seized until very late in the war. That was also the reason EAC (English Army Cloth) and private contract sky blues were so common in the East.
Coincidentally in the seventies
I played football for a team with blue grey colors
Ryan with the voice over work! Great video!
States' right to what exactly?
To continue the institution of slavery and right to secede from the Union (the latter of which is still not fully settled from a constitutional perspective).
To fiddle their sisters like they do today
@@calcaleb7041to be honest, I feel your answer is more correct than the actual answer in the first reply
When it comes to armies of the past and why they dressed a certain way it’s always because it was the most available material or cheapest to produce!😊
With the notable except of the English, they chose red to prevent anyone on the battlefield knowing an officer was bleeding.
Edit: spelling
@@matthew8153funny joke but when the NMA was founded, scarlet was actually the cheapest cloth available to them and thus the tradition was born
@@matthew8153that's a myth. There were many reasons they wore red, and that wasn't one of them. You can clearly see blood in a red uniform, the blood is an entirely different shade of red and is impossible to miss. However, red actually makes a surprisingly good camouflage in woodland foliage. Though this was probably not a reason the color was initially adopted, it definitely came in handy.
The first unit I joined was 8th VA "Butternut" He had hospital living history tent set up for amputation. Even though it was store bought meat with a big bone being sawed through it was quite intense! Thanks for sharing and bringing back memories form 34+y ago when I was filling in.(fife player until I turned 16) then I had .577cal Enfield musket Thank you for video, accurate.
You mentioned in passing that state militias wore gray. Initially the Confederate Army consisted mostly of State militia troops who wore gray and the Union forces were primarily Regular Army units in blue.
However, at the First Battle of Bull Run, this hadn't been formalized on either side. Some New York militia troops fought with the Union, but wore gray and were fired on by other Union troops during this very confusing battle. Similarly, a few Confederate troops wore blue, also causing confusion.
After the battle, the colors were sorted out with each side picking the majority colors of Gray for the South and Blue for the North. Eventually, some Southern units wore Butternut, which was just the color of undyed homemade wool or cotton.
the Gray uniforms were made from Logwood Dye or Sumac Jean Wool, with Logwood dye being the most common
Logwood after a month of sun exposure turned into a Tan/Brown color which is how people got the term”Butternut”
July 1863 you start seeing the amount of English Army Cloth sky rocket in the Eastern Theater but you don’t see it in mass till the Fall of 63
Western Theater stuck to Logwood/Sumac Dyed Jean wool for the entire war
The “Homespun” uniforms disappeared after the summer of 1862 when the Depot system took over and had everyone pretty much uniformed
Love the South 💪
At Bull Run, many of the Southern militias wore the same blue as the Northern regiments. Standardized uniform practices were somewhat thrown out the window in the Civil War.
What color uniform were the confederate sailors wearing?
i heard they were mostly butternut. mostly homemade.
Gray is simply the best, I would also use gray. Gray also combines lots of colours (not that fitting in that regard to the CSA). I think it symbolises unity more, than any other colour. It also happens to be my favourite colour. Gray will standout in most environments, which are not urban, however it will not standout exceptionally in any of them. Like a pure white in woodland or woodland-like camo in the snow. Gray is the average. But it is the best at being average.
States rights "a core belief" the commonly mentioned slavery as the right the intended to keep.
Part of the reason Antietam was such a bloody and costly battle, was due to both sides using grey and blue uniforms. So mistakes were made in recognizing friend from foe, and both sides took heavy casualties in part due to the similarities in uniforms worn.
State's rights... To own slaves.
You uh, forgot that last part. That's a pretty important part.
Yes, all the states in the North allowed owning slaves. New York City even went into revolt because the people didn’t want to fight.
YT people are gonna YT.
@@thecollector6746
I blame public school.
@@matthew8153 "I blame the Right Wing assault on Public Education"
Regardless of your moral objections to the subject, it is still a question of the states rights to self determination and how much of that they should be expected to surrender to the federal government. The end result of the civil war was an expansion of Federal Authority and considering that the other major change was the integration of a few million perpetual dissidents I’d be willing to say that the CSA had a point. I don’t think anyone likes how the Fed operates, right or left. The reasons might be different, but both sides don’t really like the Federal Government for their own unique reasons.
Many of the Confederate soldiers wore whatever was available. Captured union blues were commonly used. Most of these men were poor folks.
Only 1% of white folk owned slaves down south, but im taught that everyone had a slave and brutally abused them.
A little known fact is that units on both sides wore the same uniforms in the first battle of Bull Run
Maybe black and white photos made things look grey?
States' rights was not a core belief of the Confederacy. The Confederate Constitution was much more restrictive over the question of slavery in its states than the US Constitution was. The Confederate Constitution prevented states from banning slavery on their own while the US Constitution left that question up to the states and itself did not prescribe a particular way of administering slavery in the territories.
Likewise, two of the main grievances of seceeding states was that 1) the election of Lincoln signaled a hardline stance against expansion of slavery into the territories (not a state's right to administer slavery within its own borders) and 2) Free state authorities refused to enforce the Fugitive Slave Act (i.e. Slave states wanted to force Free states to use state resources to enforce Federal law, something our country took a dim view to then and all the way up to Printz v. U.S. today).
If Lincoln wanted to end Slavery, he would have accepted the Confederacy’s Compromise, which would have ended Slavery in the South in exchange for The Union pulling their Forces out of the Confederate States. A peaceful Solution to avoid bloodshed.
Lincoln responded by Reinforcing Fort Sumpter and Blockading the Harbor, against the advice of his Military and political advisors…
Lincoln chose War over the South Seceding, which they had every lawful right to do.
Everyone Outside of the United States Learned of this, because we kept tabs on the political goings on during that time.
‘The war to end slavery” is a Post War American Myth, to Justify an unjust war.
I get what you're saying, but just because the CSA didn't adhere to it doesn't mean that 'states rights' wasn't a core belief of the south in general. Total war generally requires, or justifies, at least in the minds of politicians, a degree of totalitarianism. Look at what happened to the Japanese Americans during FDR's administration.
"States' Rights" is really just a softer way to say they wanted to own slaves, it's just to make them look better, and it worked for a very very long time.. The Lost Cause is unfortunately still alive..
Wrong. The war was mostly about the north destroying the southern economy with taxes and tariffs. Slavery was just a propaganda tool that helped recruit 250k black soldiers for the north which in turn just made things worse in the end
It was a confederation with weak federal authority. State governments withdrew their own military units in the confederacy in some cases.
They looked magnificent!
So did Nazis. Scumbags the lot of them.
*like shit.
I really like the CSA officer uniforms, the golden sleeve braids ( Austrian knot I believe ) and the rank pips/bars/star on the colar, it is more rich than the Union counterpars. However the shoulderstraps with insignia are also cool, especially the Eagle colonels rank. Even today US armed forces the full-colonels rank is with the Eagle. Generals have stars but I like the Eagle more :)
Germans discovered that pink was great color for aircraft camouflage but rarely used it . American AF rejected the idea with one general saying he would be damned if he was going to have his planes colored pink
RICH MEN'S WAR, POOR MEN'S FIGHT . RICH MEN wanted slavery, the POOR MEN fought for their land,rights, and their fellow soldiers.
It was mostly officer who wore gray. Because most of the south's officers were West Point grads or cadets at the time the war started. They just carried them over. Enlisted men wore most anything they could get, mostly butternut in color.
650,000 people died during the Civil War,a civil war is the worst kind of war to wage,brothers and neighbors killing each other.Soldiers and neighbors harbering ill will and hatred for each other long after the war ended.A whole generation gone in less than a decade,a large chunk of the work force gone also,thus this also effects birth-rates too.
Many people claims that grey is good for camo but this was the time when soldiers(beside for skrimishers) fought in lines. The Prussians themselves used "Prussian blue" for their uniform and only later when line formation got outdated they adopted "Field grey".
Rather have colors in the fields than in the uniform
Very cool.
"State's rights" to do what?
Self governing
@@loona_mewAnd what issue caused them to want to self govern??? Slavery.
@@notjimmy6822 the federal govermnet becoming too powerful
the feds didnt care about slavery until Lincoln became president
@@loona_mew Is that why the South violated states rights and expanded the federal government to protect slavery? Such as Fugitive slave law, dredd scott decision etc.
@@notjimmy6822 X-actly.
The question being weather a state could freely infringe on the freedom of the Individual under the reasoning of state freedom.
what was on hand ... sounds like the German SA or "Brown Shirts". Apparently, their brown uniforms were surplus of their African troops available after WW1 ... which they picked up at a good price!
Good when it’s smoky or foggy
I could *smell* the “StAtEs RiGhTs To Do WhAt?!” Comments as soon as he said “states rights”
Whatever side you look at, both looked snazzy. I like Confederate uniforms a lot too because it really showed a bit of that soldier's personality being no two soldiers looked 100% identical in every regiment.
Some of the northern states also wore grey at the start of the war which caused much confusion with at one battle were fired on by their own side.
Federals had grey on too at the start of the war too.
Fun Fact: It was Russia who saved The Union during the American Civil War as they sent their Navy to San Francisco and New York when England and France were just about to enter the war on the side of the Confederates since London created the Confederates. France was already in Mexico making a spear head movement to resupply the Confederates and to open up a Pacific Theatre and create a port in California. England already amassed 11,000 troops stationed at their Northern Confederacies border now called Canada ready to open a Northern Theatre then to attack The Unions naval blockade. The Union would have been completely destroyed and annexed by those two great powers leaving the Confederates to exist as a puppet state of London.
Tsar Alexander wrote a letter to Queen Victoria saying “If you enter in this war it will be a casus belli for all out war with the Russian Empire”. The stage was set for the 1st World War and Russia stopped it.
Lol British navy would have crushed the Russians with ease and did so I guess you ignorant of Crimean war which Russia lost in 1853 to 1856.
British Navy the greatest and much larger than any other power.
British were anti slavery and in the process of forcing countries to ban slavery and intercepting slave ships.
The south hoped that the British would support them only because the British cotton mills needed Southern Cotton but the British found and made other Sources.
Irony British would have ended slavery in US by mid 1880’s like they did in rest of Americas. US could not stop a British Blockade.
That’s…an interesting thesis. Utterly exaggerated, of course but there’s a kernel of truth-Russia was pro-Union all along while France was pretty obviously rooting for the rebs. Britain was divided between getting involved to help stunt a potential rival or not fighting for slavery; eventually they took a hands-off approach, turning a blind eye to Confederate ships being built in their ports but otherwise refusing to even acknowledge the rebels.
Based good ol boys 😁
States rights was a core belief of the confederacy AFTER the Civil War. All but three of the states specifically mentioned slavery as the cause of secession in their Articles of Secession.
And yet Florida didn’t even allow slavery. The real cause for the war was the north forcing legislation through congress to ban exports of cotton and sugar. By only being allowed to sell domestically this was planned to ruin the South’s economy.
@@matthew8153Half of Flordias population were slaves in 1845 until 1865.
@@notjimmy6822
Don’t know where you got that false information.
@@matthew8153 Census data. IDK where you got the idea that Flordia abolished slavery lol.
I've always called it "friendly fire"
Gray was a very American color and used by West Point and other military academies prior to the Civil War. You will find countless paintings depicting American military cadets and officers in gray going back to the 1700's. So just as good a question is why did the Union pick blue? In reality, both colors are traditional for American uniforms. And as many others have commented, the home spun uniforms of various local regiments on both sides were a variety of colors, sometimes leading to tragic confusion.
State’s rights to do what, own people?
"People"
Yes and no. The war was really between the northern industrialists and southern agriculturists. The south was beginning to be industrialized but was still far away from it compared to the north. The north did not like that and imposed taxes on southern farms. The raising taxes were hitting the profit margins of the rich southern farmers and so labor costs needed to be minimized. Industrialization would likely remove the need for slavery but the pre industrial southern economy depended on it and especially because the taxes from the north. That’s why after the war you saw northern carpet baggers take all the land and the remaining farms had sharecropping which was effectively legal slavery. The poor on both sides died because of the wealthy.
I wouldn't call em people but yeah
States rights to do what?
That all makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.
Because the counting crows song "Grey is my favorite color, I feel so symbolic😂
Little known fact: the stars and bars was the very first Official Participation Trophy in US history.
Thanks for playing, and thank you for your cervix!
Cervix?
@@major_kukri2430 heh
@@LongJohnLiver I don't get the joke lol
❤ CSA
Some of their uniforms look so good
This and butternut were common
Now answer why Lincoln locked up political opponents and the press?
“Political opponents”: Pro-confederate politicians were locked up as they were seditious elements. Also, the Union still had an election which Lincoln nearly lost had it not been for Grant and Sherman scoring victories.
“The Press”: Pro-Confederate newspapers were shut down as, again, they were seditious elements much like the politicians.
In short, he locked up seditious pro-confederate elements in the Union to prevent any internal sabotage. Was it tyrannical? Yes. Was it necessary? Absolutely.
When you’re a wartime leader, the last thing you need is internal seditious elements hindering your country’s war effort.
states rights to own slaves* fixed it
Fun fact, the grey color was primarily achieved by boiling poison sumack in an iron pot. The butternut color was also poison sumack but boiled in a copper pot
Another interesting fact I learned while touring the museums of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was that later in the war, the shoes (they weren't really boots) of the Southern soldiers were made to fit on either foot. If you looked at the sole of the shoe, it resembled the outline of a spoon.
Since everything was hard to come by late in the war, especially for the South, they had to do what they could to keep the army moving
local forces defending "state rights"
States rights to what exactly
Slavery 🤷♂️
Don't know don't care it's about the uniforms not politics
States rights to grow cotton without being taxed to death at the ports and textile mills controlled by the northern elites and federal government.
Ahh yes another public school indoctrinated fool running their ignorant mouth in the comment section 😂
I mean most of the csa’s army consisted of poor farm boys. They didn’t have any money to purchase a uniform so all they had to do was get a light colored jacket and put a little bit of ink in a pot of boiling water and dye it to a grey or brown.
And since they were a rebellion uniforms didn’t really matter as long as they weren’t blue. Which they quickly discovered at the first battle of Bull Run.
Yeah, the fieldcraft of the Southern army was FAR better than the US at the start of the war, due to the necessities of life in the South. The CSA was beaten by the same thing that undid Germany in WW2. The superior production lines of the US. The respective armies' premier precision rifle is a microcosm of this, and stands as a stark comparison of each side's supply capabilities. The US had an entire unit of snipers, with their own colors and livery, Berdan's Sharpshooters, using the advanced, breech loading Sharps Rifle. The CSA, on the other hand had no specialized gun maker that could approach the level of precision offered by the Sharps, and instead purchased the octagonal bore Whitworth Rifles from England. It is estimated that of the 250 precision rifles purchased by the CSA, less than half made it into the hands of Southern Marksmen.
@@LarsonPetty South fully understood that they would loose a war of attrition. The problem was that they based every single aspect of the war on “what ifs”.
Well what IF the British or French joined our cause? What IF we could break the naval blockade and trade with foreign nations, What IF we won a decisive battle and threatened DC to negotiate a peace treaty, What IF Lincoln lost the election to Mclellin.
They had all of these senerios that the US government was easily able to out maneuver.
Foreign governments are looking to trade/join the confederacy? Well let’s make the war about ending slavery, Oh the confederates are building up a navy to destroy the blockade? Build ironclads, Oh the Confederates are at Gettysburg? Dig in and hold your ground until they do something catastrophic(spoiler alert it didn’t take too long)
Perhaps this bought them time and allowed the war to go on as long as it did but no matter what happened they would never and could never win.
@@Aviator-Chicken Yeah, it's commendable that the CSA was able to hold out as long as they did, especially given the weak production/supply chain issues. My own personal "what if" deals with the fictional scenario that might have seen the CSA topple the USA, had the superior production capability belonged to the South, with it's generally superior woodsmen and trackers. However, that itself throws the equation askew, as the lack of education/employment/resources/readily available necessary goods are what molded the Southern male into such accomplished outdoorsmen. Without the deprivation, there would've been no need to develop such skills.
I look back on those years as some of the most shameful in our nation's history. That we could be so cruel to our own countrymen as to perpetrate such awful crimes against those that would've been called brother, just a few short years before. I've always been so grateful that our country was able to pull itself back from the brink of destruction and I was so sure that this could never again occur. Sadly, it feels like we are once again circling the drain, only this time it feels as though very few are fighting the current of the maelstrom, and in fact many are paddling headlong toward the abyss, with many calling for Civil War 2.0. The fact that saddens me the most is that it only took twenty years to dismantle the unity that our countrymen had with each other following 9/11.
Some units during the first battle of Bull Run even wore blue uniforms like the Union forces which caused confusion.
I thought they wore Grey to express their cold depraved hearts to fight for such a reprehensible cause
The reason they wore grey because if you boil federal blue uniforms they turn grey
For "States Rights" read "Slavery".
Public school?
@@matthew8153 Strange leap of intuition there, and could hardly be further from the ancient reality.
Just an elderly lefty trolling the sneaky rewrite fibbers of history🤗
@@matthew8153 we can't all be brainwashed by mommy and daddy now
@@matthew8153"Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition"-confederate vice president alexander h. stephens.
@@jackieking1522if you're an elderly lefty, at least we won't have to put up with you much longer.
They also wore butternut and a regiment was complete in revolutionary uniform
They still have them in use at Norwich University. My uncle was the CO of it.
A fellow norwichite. Uniform goes between White, Pale Blue, and Black for dress. More styled towards 1812 uniforms though, due to Alden Partridge studied in that time frame.
Those who comment saying that the whole states rights thing was for slavery only, are totally wrong. I am a southerner, and I know our history well. While we did rely heavily off of slavery and wanted to keep it as a primary cause for the civil war, you have to remember that 1% of the white population had slaves in the south, and that the rest were farmers who were angry at Northern industries essentially ruining their profits and putting taxes on them. The South fought for the most part slavery, but had many other goals too.
I agree. It would be like the government today trying to outlaw tractors, threatening no incentive to get rid of them but rather to just take them from each farmer. 1% of farmers had slaves because they were expensive! They didn’t have slaves because they loved owning people, they had slaves because cotton is labor intensive and it is what their fathers and grandfathers did before them. They did not know anything different, and contrary to modern belief, every farm did not look like a scene from Django. Most were treated with decency and respect, because they were necessary (for the time) and seen as people. And for those thinking I’m pro slavery, think again. The abolition of slavery ultimately led American agriculture to the mechanized era out of necessity.
The typical German fought in the war because it was their duty or they were conscripted, not to establish new oppressive empires in Europe or aid in a genocide, but we still know why Germany started the war
Be more accountable to the traitorous Confederate states and the damnrd plantation owners they answered to. The ruin the plagued the South was their own fault
@@Studentofthegun45 Boy you just swallowed up that white supremacist propaganda and asked for more, didn't you?
Hey fun fact. The main cause of the civil war was slavery! And the south lost.
Pretty good summary! The Uniforms of the Confederate Armies changes throughout the war for sure, and were different between theaters. Another important point is the difference between the Commutation and Depot uniforms.
Commutation is essentially the “from home” system, whereby if the soldiers community provided articles of clothing to the soldier, he would be reimbursed when uniform issuance took place. Commutation fell apart more or less by July 1862; when most armies used a copy of the Federal Depot system. (Alongside Contract items which existed from the start of the war)
The Depot system supplied the armies with relatively regulated uniform items, although each depot might put out different types of jackets. (Examples such as the ‘Tait’ Jacket Patterns vs. the pre war Shell Patterns, in similar cloth; not to be confused with the modern system historians use to identify individual surviving garments, such as the Columbus Depot I, II, or III.) Each Depot could vary wildly from others, and sometimes had overlapping areas of supply.
To get back to Grey; Cadet Grey was definitely the most sought after shade, but was rarer as the war went on (fun fact: it’s now illegal to produce that shade of grey due to the hazardous dyeing process, I believe since about 1996) English Kersey, also known as EAC (English Army Cloth) was the most common grey cloth you’d see by about December 62-the end of the war, however the shade could vary from a dark “charcoal” to an almost blue-grey color.
Besides grey (just speaking in terms of wool garments) you could see tans, off whites, or the ‘Ice Cream Suit’ (modern term) of pure white/Undyed wool to name a few.
A very interesting area of ongoing historical debate & study, in any case
The fact that submarines were LITERALLY used in this war. 😳