Plaid blanket

[Utley]

Re: Plaid blanket

Adding a little to what Hank Trent said about shawls..... Major Connelly of the 123rd Illinois mentions in his memoir, Three Years in the Army of the Cumberland that he used a shawl as a blanket at times when living on the march, etc.

Also, a great place to check is mid-19th century store ledgers and records. Should be able to Google some of these. In 18th century living history, those have opened the door to many more items than many folks thought were actually around. This would be the case as well, I suspect, if you searched out store ledgers and inventory lists for your general area during and before the war. It wasn't all "homemade", by any means. Also, mass produced blankets were single panel well back into the 18th century, so it also doesn't have to be a two panel blanket.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Plaid blanket

I have a nearly identical blanket in "Black Watch" plaid, that my grandmother bought at the Pendleton mill in the early 1950's.

[Hank Trent]

Re: Plaid blanket

I can't comment on the plaid, though what Curt Schmidt is saying is the direction to research that. But like Justin A. Meinert said, it looks to me like a shawl, not a blanket, due to the fringe, unless its size is so huge to preclude that.

Were plaid shawls for men that unusual in the period? I have a wool brown-and-red windowpane checked shawl with fringe that I use as a civilian blanket occasionally (so the plaid isn't an issue), and never thought of it as something that would be challenged, but now I don't know.

We have seen accounts of the gentleman's plaid shawl having become a common article of dress in many places in England, and it is now seen not unfrequently in France. It is beginning to be worn by American gentlemen, and is not now a subject of wonder in our streets; it is also for sale in all our large stores, and as it is a most convenient and comfortable article of apparel, it may yet become (not fashionable we would say) consistently common sense, and common to wear them. It appears to us that these shawls can be profitably manufactured in the United States; we would therefore be glad to see a more extended market opened for them. Nov. 13 1852 Scientific American

An example more specific to the war in the south, in 1863 Georgia:

We left in the afternoon for this place. Our friend, Mr. Davis, in attending to our baggage, forgot his overcoat and blanket-shawl at the Trout House, which is a serious loss in this cold weather, and he on his way to camp.

I think that's the context that Lincoln's shawl was worn in, that Justin linked to. Those were well-to-do people, so I don't know that wearing a shawl is the right look for a working-class man unless he was an immigrant who picked up the habit from overseas or there's another shawl-wearing demographic I'm unaware of, but it didn't occur to me that these wouldn't wind up on the second-hand market eventually and trickle down as lightweight blankets.

Then there's still the question of whether a soldier might have got hold of one, when they were down to substituting carpets, hearth rugs and old quilts for regular blankets.

IF the plaid is appropriate to the era (big huge if), that's the context I'd see it in.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@gmail.com

[ScottCross]

Re: Plaid blanket

I have seen quite a few original civilian blankets from the mid 19th century and have never encountered one woven in a military tartan pattern. Also, most civilian blankets of the time period were manufactured on narrow looms, so that the blanket has a center seem where two pieces were sewn together. I don't think the use of your blanket could be considered authentic. There are good alternitives available, this isn't one of them.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Plaid blanket

Hallo!

Yes, the basic military or "Government" tartan was based upon the vegetable dyed "Campbell" sett used by the Earl of Campbell when he formed the "watch." After the Rebellion of 1745 the Disarming Act banned tartan after August of 1747 (with the exception of the military a bit later when William Pitt persuaded George II to allow Highlanders to enter service) which was not repealled until 37 years later, and which did not see a rebirth of tartan among civiians until after the George IV and Victoria "Revival" where many/much was reinvented anew as "clan tartans."
And again reinvented with the post ACW advent of ultra strong and bright, color fast colors afforded by aniline dyestuff.

Anyways, it became Victorian practice that when a new highland regiment was raised, lines of different colors were added to the "Government Sett" such red and white for Seaforth or yellow for Gordon Highlanders.

The problem with tartan setts and particulalry the "expansion" and "invention" or "clan tartans" is that two to three generations had grown up in the Highlands since the wearing of tartan by everyday folk (and not nobility) and much was forgotten. For many years there was a mix of folks trying to find actual documented regional tartans and local tartans, versus weavers and buisnessmen inventing setts to feed the growing demand. One of the early efforts in compiling a referecne book of known samples was done by the Highland Society of London begining in 1816.
One of the first submissions came from "Mrs. MacKenzie of Seaforth of a MacKensie sett which is similar but different, and where the white stripes are edged in black.

There is a Southern connection to tartan. James Oglethorpe recruited some 130 colonies from the Inverness area of Scotland in 1737 to populate and defend south Georgia against the Spanish in Florida, were in tartan plaids and the mounted rangers in tartan trews. And 350 folks from Argyll were recruited by Duncan Campbell of Kilduskland to settle on the Upper Cape Fear River in 1739.
How much "Highland" traditional weaving was still around in 1861 is open to debate.

Curt

[rpierson]

Re: Plaid blanket

Man, unless you are willing to do the research yourself and back that item up as 100% authentic for the period, I wouldn't use it. Obviously most of the guys here are doubtful and you can bet most of your pards will be also. So either dig an dig and dig to find justification for its use or go for something that is obviously correct. If you're going to sport something suspect, you should definitely be able to back it up. For AoT the list of acceptable blankets is pretty long and does include "civilian" styles as long as they are "civilian" from the mid 19th century.

Anyway, save yourself a headache and get a less dubious blanket.

-Randall Pierson

[RNMCSA]

Re: Plaid blanket

Thought this may be relavent to this thread,

A Visit to the Rebel Prisoners [Camp Douglas, Chicago].
“As it was a chilly day, many of the prisoners were out on the sunny side of their quarters, conversing amongst themselves or with visitors. Their dress was a butternut colored jean, which gave a characteristic brown hue to every group. Except in this, and that some of the Companies were clothed in Negro cloth, a coarse dirty gray stuff, they wore no uniforms. They had all kinds of hats and caps and every imaginable sort of blankets, from a fiery red to a patched quilt, tattered and torn into shreds. So far as dress and cleanliness is concerned, they were about as hard looking set of men, as can well be imagined.”
JANESVILLE, WI. DAILY GAZETTE. February 28, 1862.

Arrival of Prisoners of War [Chicago].
“Such a motley assemblage of humanity is seldom witnessed as that when those dressed and undressed prisoners were upon the principal parade ground this morning. Their uniform is the most un-uniform that can be imagined—dark gray, light gray, mixed, mottled and ragged--. Old blankets, pieces of carpeting, hearth rugs, etc. are worn in place of overcoats. The Regiments that have arrived, 20th Mississippi app. 400, 50th Tennessee, app. 1,000, 14th Mississippi, app. 500, and the 7th Texas, 333, for a total of 2,231, and [2,600 more in transit].”
JANESVILLE, WI. WEEKLY GAZETTE AND FREE PRESS. FEBRUARY 28, 1862.

“Soon after entering the Fort, we found that General Pillow had been in Command but, in company with General Floyd, had that morning made a precipitous retreat up the Cumberland River… The number of guns captured were about 146…There were also 10 to 15,000 stands of small arms, the largest part of which were shotguns, [civilian] rifles, and flint lock muskets. The troops were mainly in civilian clothes, their only insignia being black stripes on their pants. Many of the Officers wear the regular gray uniform, while others the Army blue, the only difference from the United States style being the great profusion of gold lace.”
The NEW YORK TIMES. FEBRUARY 22, 1862.

“There is some difference between whipping and being whipped, and after the fight we felt comfortable and the Rebels did not… They were generally clad in “Lindsey Woolsey”, un-uniformed, and by no means prepossessing. Most of their arms were inferior to ours…”
SUNBURY AMERICAN. March 22, 1862.

“Their appearance was grotesques in the extreme. Without uniformity in dress, few of them wore anything that could be called a uniform, unless it was a white or striped blanket, worn in the Indian fashion enveloping the whole person. Large numbers of them, instead of blankets, wore large pieces of carpeting in the form of a blanket. These I learned were the soldiers who [retreated] from Fort Henry in extreme haste and left their coats behind.”
BURLINGTON FREE PRESS. FEBRUARY 28, 1862.

My conclussion and I stress it is my opinion from my own research (I still do not have a blanket). When portraying the Confederate soldier the PEC can be somewhat peculiar. In my opinion a cookie cutter mold with matching blankets of brown with a black stripe or something of the ilk is just not period correct. This does not mean that a particular plaid Tartan with a fringe would be, but I think we should see more variety in the ranks especially with blankets or something being used as such.

[The29thtn]

Re: Plaid blanket

I think you might be misunderstanding me a bit. My comments above were in response to what I took to be a suggestion form a poster, Justin, on this thread. I was simply giving an example of some of what his suggestion turned up as thanks. I am also aware of where the 29th was, and I did not mean to imply they were with Longstreet. I only meant that I commonly am involved with events or living histories that deal with Longstreet's East Tennessee campaign.

I don't see any place I have rejected anyone's comments. I did point out that the pattern was in use before the date Curt gave, but that does not mean that the blanket is automatically authentic. However, I should say that I was wrong about part of what I said. I looked it up and saw that the 72nd never used this pattern, but the 78th was using it as far back as the late 18th century. Again, I state that it does not make the blanket authentic, but the date of the pattern itself works. I'm sorry if I have seemed unclear or anyone feels like I'm uninterested in what they have to say.

[Silas]

Re: Plaid blanket

I've seen this type of discussion before. You're asking other members of the forum to justify an item you possess and want to use. It appears you're going to challenge and reject any answer other than what you want to hear. Instead of attempting to justify some item kewl to you, the focus should be upon chosing items appropriate for the unit you're portraying at a particular time in a particular theater.

You state you're doing an East Tennessee impression and "spend a lot of time doing Longstreet's Knoxville campaign of 63." Although the companies which composed the 29th Tennessee are from East Tennessee, the regiment was with the AoT from its being stationed at Iuka during the Shiloh campaign through the campaigns of Perryville, Murfreesboro, Tullahoma, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, Nashville and Bentonville. Being an AoT regiment makes your work easier for you because there is a ton of information about AoT units at various times and locations of their service.

I don't see where it was with Longstreet during the Knoxville Campaign. The 63d Tennessee is an East Tennessee, AoT unit from Bushrod Johnson's Brigade which was with Longstreet through that campaign. Odds of a plaid blanket carried by a member of the 63d is pretty slim. Bob Johnson gave you some solid advice about this blanket : leave it at home on your couch.

[The29thtn]

Re: Plaid blanket

Hallo!

It looks like the tartan sett of the British Army's Seaforth Highlanders, who were formed under the Childers Reforms of 1881 by combining the 72nd Highlanders and the 78th Highlanders.

IMHO, plaids are one thing and documentable to the period. But when a plaid is a particular tartan, it is not that simple.

Others mileage will vary...

Curt

It is Curt, though it was used by both, I think, the 72nd and 78th before the creation of the Seaforth Highlanders.

[The29thtn]

Re: Plaid blanket

Thanks Justin. That opens things up some. It also gave me the idea to further expand my search terms. Looking for scotch or scottish blankets and shawls turns up even more references. Of course most famously all the reports that Lincoln had a plaid shawl and a "scotch" cap when he came to Washington, but lots more than that. Here is one I'll quote a bit from

http://books.google.com/books?id=pdAn-wjmC-4C&pg=PA155&lpg=PA155&dq=civil+war+scotch+blanket&source=bl&ots=kDPxRrV69c&sig=emI6YzPdIYaMHfFC3wAyzhApUk8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WLAPT7jFB5S4twepwdmHAg&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=civil%20war%20scotch%20blanket&f=false

Hague, Parthenia A., Hurtville, Ala:

Many of the planters in southern Alabama began to grow wool on quite a large scale, as the war went on and no woolen goods could be had. All the woolen materials that could be manufactured at the cotton mills was used to cloth our soldiers, so that all the varied kinds of woolen goods that hitherto had been used with us had now to be of home hand-make.... All kinds of woolen goods --- flannels both colored and white, plaids of bright colors, which we thought equal to the famed Scotch plaids: balmorals, which were then in fashion --- were woven, with grave or gay borders as suited our fancy. Woolen coverlets and blankets were also manufactured...

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Plaid blanket

Hallo!

It looks like the tartan sett of the British Army's Seaforth Highlanders, who were formed under the Childers Reforms of 1881 by combining the 72nd Highlanders and the 78th Highlanders.

IMHO, plaids are one thing and documentable to the period. But when a plaid is a particular tartan, it is not that simple.

Others mileage will vary...

Curt

[Jam3853]

Re: Plaid blanket

Think outside the 21st century box with the term plaid blanket, and replace it with plaid shawl....



The photo attached is Abraham Lincoln's favorite shawl, taken from

http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/small_exhibition.cfm?key=1267&exkey=696&pagekey=710

hopefully this tidbit of information assist you in furthering your research.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Plaid blanket

It looks to me to probably be a Pendleton blanket, it would great on the back of your couch or on your bed. As far as an authentic soldier blanket, even a civilian one, you could do allot better not only in authenticity but also in durability and warmth. Give a look at the approved vendor list.

Re: Plaid blanket

I was basically going to say what Silas just said. If it was a "Sent from Home" blanket the materials would have to be something that their folks back home were able to get their hands on, or materials that were made locally. It would definetly work as a "Sent from home" blanket so your real only question would be, would this be something my folks back home would have been able to make, given the materials and dyes available. It would also need to be the pattern of the tartan for the blanket.