Federal Fashion: Uniform Modification, Self-Expression, and the Union Infantry Officer of the American Civil War

Author

Clayton Davis

Date of Award

2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

Brian Dempsey

Second Advisor

Carolyn Crawford

Third Advisor

Matthew Schoenbachler

Abstract

The military uniforms of the American Civil War, particularly on the Union side, varied tremendously through time and location. There were an endless number of combinations􀂲myriad boots and hats, coats and jackets, insignias, and trousers. That was true for officers, especially commissioned officers, who exercised the greatest aesthetic freedom. Scattered works have broached the topic of officer uniforms, especially those of Confederate officers, though their Union counterparts have gone under the microscope also. Invariably, these works include non-regulation uniforms, either compiled by officers from separate pieces or handmade by one of the hundreds of tailors working across the nation. However, few historians have questioned how and why custom uniforms became so popular among officers during the war. Past scholars have approached the topic of uniforms and clothing from a statistical or practical perspective, focusing on the manufacturing and distribution of uniforms. Other histories portray the soldier􀂶s garb in wholly pragmatic terms􀂲 that is, uniforms and equipment served a particular purpose, and their use fulfilled that purpose. Yet, a Union officer􀂶s clothing historically represented much more. Using recent developments in fashion and textile history, plus principles of group sociology and conventional historical inquiry, this work explores how American industrial progress and a nostalgic longing for the past clashed in the 1860s. This tumultuous period of change and violence led to military officers, as representatives of the state, embracing components of both old and new, using their distinct and subjective clothing choices as an assertion of political individuality.

Recommended Citation

Davis, Clayton, "Federal Fashion: Uniform Modification, Self-Expression, and the Union Infantry Officer of the American Civil War" (2022). Theses. 16.
https://roar.una.edu/theses/16