Benjamin L. Bowen's :
The Exploits of Waul's Texas Legion Table of Contents.
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The exploits of Waul's Texas Legion
Trans-Mississippi Confederate Uniforms
by K.C. MacDonaldThe Mississippi Depots from Winter 1862 through Spring 1863
A report by Major L. Mims (Quartermaster for the Department of Miss. and East. La.) dated 5 February, 1863 notes that his department had three sources for clothing: the depots of Columbus (MS), Jackson (MS), and Enterprise (MS):
Columbus... furnishes about 700 suits of clothing per week; for the present however, we are employing all force there in the making of tents, 250 tents per week are being manufactured. Enterprise... furnishes 25 wagons per month, 400 pairs of shoes and 250 complete sets of clothing. Jackson... furnishes 1,000 suits per week; manufactures 40 blankets per day. The most of the purchasing done for this department is made through these depots. It should be mentioned that Jackson also manufactures 25 tents per day; they are incomplete, however, for the want of rope. Three factories -- the Jackson, Woodville and Choctaw -- work constantly for us , making a sufficiency of woolen goods. They do not make enough cotton goods for the requirements of the department. (OR 38: 616-617)
It should be noted that in early 1863 Jackson production was very strong, certainly on par with any other major Confederate Depot at the time. But what was Jackson producing? Though no one has yet coined the notion of a 'Jackson Depot style jacket,' the case of Waul's Texas Legion provides some valuable clues. Also the equipping of Waul's Texas Legion illustrates well the sluggishness of the early Trans-Mississippi quartermasters. Organized in April 1862 at Houston and Brenham, Texas, this Brigade-sized unit did not become fully equipped with arms and accoutrements until October 1862 at Holly Springs, Mississippi, and did not receive its first uniform issue until November 1862 at Coldwater, Mississippi. The diarist Phillip Amsler (Co. E, 2nd Btn.) noted on October 13th that "we received our arms consisting mostly of old firelock muskets converted to percussion, with bayonets. Also cartridge boxes, bayonet scabbard and belt, [these] being new and in good order with forty rounds of ammunition" (Hasskarl and Hasskarl 1985: 8). On November 9th he wrote that "we received a good uniform last week consisting of good blue cloth pants, a grey woolen jacket well lined, and a grey cap. Quite a comfortable suit. We can also draw shirts and drawers if we want any" (Hasskarl and Hasskarl 1985: 12). Frederick Adolphus (pers. comm.) suggests that the wording of Amsler's letter implies the use of high-grade woolen jeans in this uniform. Blue woolen jeans cloth for trousers was by no means rare (see some examples in Echoes of Glory) and is available today via Charlie Childs/County Cloth or Family Heirloom Weavers (logwood dyed jeans), or in the UK via Richard Beardall/ Sutlers Stores.
As to the cut of the jacket, Adolphus believes they were probably issued via a Mississippi Depot (Jackson being the closest, and certainly a major producer at that time). The question is: what sort of jackets? A fairly definitive indication, I believe, comes from a more-detailed letter written at approximately the same time from Camp Coldwater:
Camp Cold Water near Holly Springs, Mississippi, Sunday, October 26, 1862
...I returned from Holly Springs about sunset, and when I got to the Regt., I found the boys all in Uniform which they had drawn. Their pants were all sky blue; their coats grey round about, with cuffs and collars trimmed with blue. Grey caps for all. This will add much to their appearance in the field... [John K. Earns, surgeon, 41st Tennessee Infantry] (Smith 1994)
What seems to be described is a typical Columbus Depot Jacket (see Jensen 1989; Field 1996). When one adds to this letter the proof that three of the eight surviving Columbus Depot jackets probably saw service in the Vicksburg campaign with Mississippi & Missouri regiments, it appears very likely that the large facility in Jackson was producing jackets in the Columbus Depot style. The three jackets in question are the McDonnell Jacket (Cowan's Battery, Ms Artillery), the Jones Jacket (1st Mo Inf, captured at Champion Hill), and the Jenkins Jacket (Breckinridge Cavalry, Ms). These jackets share most characteristics, but have some small differences: Front of Body Cut Curved; Curved Tail in Back, 6 buttons (Miss I's & US Eagles), blue kersey collar trim, width of blue kersey cuff trim ca. 2 & 1/2 inches, Pockets: 2 Interior and no External [1] OR 1 Interior and 1 External Pocket; single top-stitching (two being machine sewn with dark brown outer thread, one handsewn) (all characteristics from Geoff Walden's Columbus Depot jacket website: www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Quarters/1864/cdjacket). Using these specifications it should be possible to construct an 'appropriate' Columbus Depot jacket for wear in the mid-war Mississippi/Louisiana area with a reliable sutler or 'mess tailor'.
For more concerning Confederate uniforms see :
Lazy Jacks by K.C. MacDonald
See the Index at The Exploits of Waul's Texas Legion Table of Contents.
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