This cap is outfitted with a havelock, a
white linen cloth meant to protect its wearer’s neck from the sun. While many early war volunteers donned havelocks— they were widely seen on troops at Bull Run—most soon jettisoned them as impractical and bothersome. This HAVELOCK belonged to the chaplain of the 6th Massachusetts Militia.
The model 1858 “HARDEE” HAT was the regulation dress hat for the U.S. Army. But not all Union soldiers received one, nor did all who received one use it—the hat’s heavy black felt made for hot and uncomfortable wearing during the warmer months. Still, many Union soldiers donned their Hardees with pride, most notably the western volunteers of the famed Iron Brigade, whose men became known as the “Black Hats.”
Soldiers on both sides utilized waterproof
garments—products of the India Rubber Company—to help protect them from inclement weather. A Union soldier took this RUBBERIZED RAIN HAT from the body of a Confederate soldier killed at the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, in October 1862. Sailors on both sides wore these ROUND,
BRIMLESS, HEAVY-CLOTH CAPS while on fatigue duty. Union seaman Charles Sharter, an African American, wore this cap while serving on board the USS Vermont and Tallapoosa, ships of the West Gulf Squadron. Often confused with the kepi, the FORAGE
CAP sported a similar look but with noticeable differences, including its short, downward-pitched visor. Descended from the shako, the tall and rigid cylindrical leather hat donned by members of the antebellum U.S. Army, the more relaxed forage cap was the hat most frequently worn by Union soldiers during the Civil War. This forage cap bears the insignia of the 3rd Rhode Island Light Artillery, Battery A. SOURCES: John D. Billings, Hardtack and Coffee, or The Unwritten Story of Army Life (Boston, 1888); Earl J. Coates, Michael J. McAfee, and Don Troiani, Don Troiani’s Regiments & Uniforms of the Civil War (Mechanicsburg, Pa., 2002); Roy M. Marcot, U.S. Sharpshooters: Berdan’s Civil War Elite (Mechanicsburg, Pa., 2007). Photos courtesy of the Military & Historical Image Bank (www.historicalimagebank.com).
FALL 2011 THE CIVIL WAR MONITOR
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