What would be the most accurate representation of the 8th Cavalry Regiment of Confederate Kentucky uniform?

by mispeledwurdz

I have been doing some genealogy research and found that one of my ancestors was enlisted in this regiment (Company I). The unit served from August 1862 until September 1863, when it was disbanded after capture. The mainly served in the areas in Western Kentucky:

SERVICE-Duty at Russellsville, Bowling Green and Hopkinsville, Ky., District of West Kentucky, and at Clarksville, Tenn., operating against guerrillas, till September, 1863.

Actions at Morganfield, Ky., August 3, 1862.

Madisonville August 25.

Morganfield September 1.

Geiger's Lake September 3.

Near Madisonville September 4.

Ashbysburg September 25.

Henderson County November 1.

Greenville Road November 5.

Garrettsburg November 6.

Rural Hill, Tenn., November 18.

Near Nashville, Tenn., January 28, 1863.

Expedition from Bowling Green, Ky., to Tennessee State Line May 2-6.

Operations against Morgan July 2-26.

Buffington's Island, Ohio, July 19.

Mustered out September 23, 1863.

I have found some information that suggests the general nature of Confederate cavalry uniforms (yellow trim, using pistols over sabres in actual combat, possibly wearing a Slouch hat instead of a Kepi) but I was wondering if the time and place of my ancestor's unit would have affected the type of uniform he would have worn.

More specifically, I am interested in knowing as much as I can about each piece of this specific uniform in an attempt to either re-create or purchase and alter a replica uniform.

Thank you!

Rittermeister

Early Confederate uniforms were, well, far from uniform. There's little to no evidence of any standardized government issues prior to late 1862, when large depots at Columbus, Georgia, Richmond, Virginia, and other locations began producing uniforms en masse. Before this, the commutation system had been in effect; essentially, the Confederacy reimbursed states or individual soldiers for the cost of their "uniforms." During this period, Confederate soldiers wore a hodgepodge of civilian clothing, quasi-military garments produced by family members or local tailors, militia uniforms specific to a given company, and, if the soldier was lucky enough to come from North Carolina or Georgia, state-issued clothing.

Given that Kentuckians in Confederate service were without state support, they would probably have been very raggedly equipped indeed in this early period. One would expect to see old frock coats, overshirts, working men's sack coats, quasi-military shell jackets, and the like. They probably wore ordinary trousers. Footwear and headgear would have been extremely variable, but civilian shoes and slouch hats probably predominated. The material of their coats, jackets, and trousers most likely would have been jean, satinette, or cassimere cloth, these being various wool-cotton blends that the Southern states could domestically produce; wool broadcloth was expensive, rare, and not common.

Toward the end of the regiment's term of service, they very well may have been issued jackets and trousers from either the Columbus Depot or another Deep South depot. In the case of the former, this would have consisted of a short jacket of jean or cassimere, faced with blue cloth (Confederate cavalry generally wore the same uniforms as other soldiers; trim is vastly overdone), trousers, civilian or issue shirts, locally produced shoes of the brogan type, and possibly kepis. But, bear in mind, western Confederates tended to be even less uniform in appearance than their eastern counterparts; civilian items would likely still have been worn to some extent.

A further note: based on surviving records, most Confederate cavalrymen in the west lacked sabers, and many lacked pistols. The only truly universal weapon would have been their muzzle-loading carbines, potentially of the J.P. Murray design, though others carried shotguns and the like.

So, my recommendation is going to depend on the time you wish to depict. If you wish to take it to PM, I can give more detailed recommendations; I'm a reenactor and can probably guide you to decent sources for kit.

http://authentic-campaigner.com/articles/walden/cdjacket.htm#part1

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?8449-What-was-the-Commutation-System