Civil War Period Southern Homespun Sack Coat and Matching Vest

Civil War Period Southern Homespun Sack Coat and Matching Vest – These two articles of clothing are constructed of a matching homespun, checked fabric; the sleeve lining in the coat and lining in the vest are both a gray colored, coarse wool. The coat has a single breast pocket, lined with a gray, jean cloth; the vest has three pockets, two on one side and one on the other, a configuration that disappeared after the Civil War; the vest pockets are also lined with the same gray, jean cloth. Both the coat and vest exhibit a combination of hand sewn and treadle machine stitched elements. Characteristic of the period, the coat has “balloon” elbows, with the ratio of elbow width to cuff, about 2 to 1. The coat has a wide, notched lapel and gathered shoulders, also typical of the mid-19^th century. Additionally, the coat has a waist area that is hemmed with attached skirts, with pockets in the tails; on the back of the coat, at the waist, just above the tails are two postwar, high dome, coat size, Kentucky staff buttons – a style comparable to military frock coats and fatigue jackets of the Civil War period. All buttonholes on the coat and on the vest are hand whipped. The vest has a layover collar and four (there were five and one is now missing) small, cuff size buttons made of horn. The back of the vest is constructed of a plain, coarse weave wool, with two wool, size adjustment straps, joined by a typical 19^th century, polished iron, forked adjustment clasp that has no date or location of manufacture. Overall, both the coat and vest remain in remarkably strong condition; there is some interior fraying at the right armpit of the coat and in the interior at the mid-collar area. There is little to no insect damage to either the vest or coat. The front of the coat has four, postwar, high dome, coat size, Kentucky staff buttons; we believe that the coat is war period and the original, war period wearer, as a veteran, put these buttons on, shortly after the war ended, as the buttons appear to have been on the coat for a very long time. Reviewing images of Confederate soldiers from the mid-war period, many are seen wearing this type of coat; images of General A.P. Hill depict him outfitted in a very similar, wool coat and vest. These distinctly Southern, war period articles of men’s clothing are quite rare and are the only examples we have ever had.

 Confederate Uniforms of the Lower South, Part V: Miscellaneous Clothing from the Region at Large
By Fred Adolphus

Numerous Confederate jackets survive that defy categories, chiefly because they are one-of-a-kind.  Perhaps some represent the sole survivors of small production runs, but since there are no others like them with which to compare, we cannot draw broader conclusions.  Jackets of this type with provenance to the Lower South have been selected for this study.  I have included five such jackets that may have been factory made.

From start to finish, homemade clothing supplemented the Confederate soldier’s wardrobe.  During the first year-and-a-half of the war, the army relied greatly upon what families and volunteer societies made for individual soldiers, volunteer companies and the quartermaster.  As the war progressed, the volunteer societies largely ceased operating, but families continued to make clothing for their loved ones in the service.  Oftentimes, the only clothing that the Southern soldier received was that which his home folk sent him.  Truth be told, the Southern soldier usually preferred the clothes he got from home over those from the quartermaster.  The homemade clothes probably fit better than their army clothes and could be ordered to suit their individual tastes.  Henry Orr of the 12th Texas Cavalry asked his mother to send his brother Robert “a frock or dress coat” and him “a dress or sack [coat] of the loose wrapper style,” in either gray or brown jeans, as well as cotton shirts and over shirts with pockets.  Orr preferred the homemade coats to the short, issue jackets that they drew from the quartermaster. British Lieutenant Colonel James Fremantle, while visiting the Army of Tennessee on May 31, 1863, remarked that Liddell’s Arkansas Brigade was “well clothed, though without any attempt at uniformity in color or cut; but nearly all were dressed either in gray or brown coats and felt hats,” and that “…even if a regiment was clothed in proper uniform by the government, it would become partli-colored again in a week, as the soldiers preferred wearing the coarse homespun jackets and trousers made by their mothers and sisters at home.”  Indeed, the story of Confederate clothing in the Lower South is not complete without including the homemade clothes that the troops wore. Citizen frock and sack coats were well liked, and even though these garments were not military, they were welcomed into the ranks.