THE
GEORGIA
REFUGEES
Captain John Cunningham’s Company
Colonel John Dooley’s Regiment
of
Wilkes County, Georgia Militia
Clothing and Accouterment List
Current as of August 5, 2003
“…every person liable to appear and bear
Arms at any Muster, exercise or training hereby appointed, pursuant to the
directions of this Act, shall constantly keep and bring with him, to such
training, exercising or Muster, one good Gun, Bayonet, hanger, sword, or
hatchet, a Cartouch Box, twelve Cartridges, a powder horn and half pound of
Powder, with at least twenty four rounds of Lead, a Worm, pricker and four
flints each, to be produced at Musters and at all other times retained in
every Person’s House…”
excerpted from AN ACT, for the
better ordering and regulating the Militia of this State, adopted by
order of the Georgia House, November 15th, 1778.
The
majority of military action in the Province and State of Georgia during the
Revolution were carried out by the militia.
They were generally not uniformed, wearing their own clothing and
carrying their own weapons. The documentation of the clothing and
accoutrements of these men is slim, but through research and educated guesses
based upon incidental citations, we have assembled the following list.
Steve Brown is the primary researcher for our militia impression, and
has found some great information.
We intend to continually seek new information and incorporate it into our
impressions.
In general, the Wilkes
Countians were lower and lower middle class farmers and tradesmen, along with
a few townsmen. The militia did
not operate with a regular supply line, like the regular army did.
Each militia member’s
impression should be an accurate portrayal of an individual, consistent in
dress, manner, equipment and accoutrements for that person’s class and social
station.
Articles are broken down
into uniform items, weapons, accouterments, and personal items.
Priority should be given to first procuring those items which
create a complete visual impression--weapon, clothing, and shoes--before
spending money on personal items (knapsack stuffers).
As a reminder,
all visible stitching on clothing items should by handsewn, and
all fabrics should be natural fibers (in order of preponderance—linen, wool,
hemp, linsey-woolsey, towcloth, cotton and silk)
All the opinions about the
relative quality of gear from various sutlers is just that: an opinion.
Our sincere thanks to Zack Pace for his input, and to Mark Hubbs of our
unit for his constructive comments and knowledge.
At this time, this listing is geared to the men; our distaff clothing
list will be posted as soon as it is completed.
18th Century
fashion generally dictated that a man, regardless of his station, should
appear publicly dressed in a shirt, breeches, waistcoat, outer coat, and hat.
A man might remove his outer coat when doing heavy physical labor, but
generally would not be seen in public without it.
A man without his coat and waistcoat on, and just his shirt would be
considered immodestly clothed.
Among poor people, as well as the rich, there was a desire to dress
fashionably, and there was a sizable market for used clothing.
Servant runaway descriptions many times refer to men and women wearing
silks and velvets, however, these were most likely ragged hand-me-downs (or
stolen). Cloth being dear, it was
not uncommon for clothing to be neatly pieced and patched.
There is a
wide variety of clothing that can be worn within this framework and still be
appropriate for a militia impression, but there are some things to avoid:
military-style overall trousers, “buckskinner” or longhunter styles of
clothing, Highland garb, or clothing so old, mismatched and worn out that you
would look like a servant (unless, of course, your impression IS OF a
servant.)
Coat–
Officers who raised
their own units would generally have purchased their own military-style coats,
but we have no reference for such wear among
the refugee units.
The men would have worn civilian coats appropriate to their station in life.
This could have included frock coats; jackets (usually from a frock
coat pattern except shorter, simplified and often unlined); or sleeved
waistcoat.
Overshirt
–
In order to protect their
“good” clothing, some (but by no means all) of the men may have worn an
overshirt (workman’s smock, waggoner’s smock), or other such article.
This would be constructed of either unbleached or colored heavy linen
like a hunting shirt, except reaching to the knees and not having a cape or
other such addendum. These were
usually a pullover type shirt to keep from having a belt.
Shirts
– NWTA/BAR pattern
plain (no ruffles) man's shirt.
White shirt-weight linen. A
second shirt can be made in a properly documented period check or stripe, or a
nicer one may be made in fine linen for dress.
Neck Stock
- Civilian stocks
can be of standing pleated cloth, or simply a tied cloth, of just about any
period fabric. Since the size of
the piece is small, fancier silks are possible.
Waistcoat
– Civilian
waistcoats are of many different materials, such as linen, leather, silk; and
button types and patterns. Consistency with the person’s social class would
tend to regulate what should be worn, and whether it matched the other
clothing as a suit or if a hand-me-down.
For those who do not have a separate coat, the sleeved waistcoat is an
alternative. Documented patterns, stripes, and colors are acceptable, as long
as they are consistent with the overall impression.
Breeches
– As with the
waistcoat, the type, material and construction of the breeches would be very
much a matter of social class.
Knee breeches and broadfall trousers would have been available, but overalls
would not be worn except by soldiers.
Documented patterns, stripes, and colors are acceptable, as long as
they are consistent with the overall impression.
Hat
-
One
more thing that heavily depends upon the type of person being portrayed.
Straw, felt, cloth, leather, knit wool, etc., would have been
available, and may have been worn cocked, slouched, or flopped; any documented
type and material are acceptable, as long as they are consistent with your
overall impression.
Hair
- If you have hair
long enough to club it in the 18th Century military style, do so.
Otherwise, a clubbed wig from Godwin would be an alternative.
It should be styled to appear as your own hair, properly clubbed.
Remember to take into account the extra size of your new head when it
comes time to order your hat.
Wigs were generally common, but for those with their own hair, it was
generally short on top, with the sides and back long in order to make a queue.
(What we now laugh at and call a “mullet,” Lord help us.) There is
little evidence for any sort of short modern buzzcut being worn openly, unless
you are doing an impression of someone whose hair had to be all cut off
because he had real bad lice or had been tarred-and-feathered (even then, such
a fellow would probably have gotten a wig to cover his shame for the times he
was around civilized folks).
A possible alternative to a
full wig is based upon an interesting historical sidenote.
Newspapers of the time regularly published runaway servant
descriptions, and several of these include the information that the servant
had a queue of his own hair that he would sometimes wear, and at other times
remove. From the context, this
doesn’t look to have been something uncommon, but I haven’t found a reference
(yet) as to why this was done; I speculate that it was easier to keep the hair
dressed while working, and allowed a queue for fancier occasions.
This does offer a possible alternative to a full wig, and one of our
readers, David Folds, kindly mentions the following: "On a recent trip
to Williamsburg, my wife and I saw the detached queue and how it was made. My
wife is presently making one for me since I cut my hair back some. Instead of
suggesting the use of elastic to your folks, which would make such a piece
historically inaccurate, [Mr. Oglesby blushes that he had indeed
suggested this--his apologies] why not suggest this. This type of queue
was attached by string or cord, colored to blend with the user's hair. The
cord was tied in the front of the head above the hairline so that the piece is
held onto the crown of the head. It actually works very well and does not fall
off, even if you tilt your head over." Sounds like a very workable
solution, and our thanks to Mr. Folds!
Beards and mustaches were
not at all common, especially among good, decent folks.
If you have a nice set of whiskers, they will need to be trimmed down
to no more than a three day length.
This is one of the sacrifices that must be made to present an authentic
appearance. It will grow back.
Stockings
-
$33 from Godwin.
Get at least two pair to start, may be any period correct color and
should rise above the knee. Should
be hand knit (wool), but there are examples of sewn fabric (wool,
linsey-woolsey, or linen).
Clocking, if present, may be somewhat showy, but must done in a documented
pattern.
Shoes
-
These run $90 to $140,
including the buckles. Shoes
should be straight-lasted with moderately rounded toes; for field duty they
should be rough-side out, with iron heel plates or hobnails.
Pegged soles are not appropriate.
Although other civilian styles are available and appropriate, remember
that we will be outdoors and fancy shoes will be ruined.
Left-and-rights should be avoided
unless you have real podiatric problems.
Straight last shoes can be made to fit very well by wet molding to the
foot. (Lightly wet them and wear
until dry, apply blacking after completely dry).
Joe Catalano makes the best, and they are custom made, but you’ll pay a
lot and wait up to a year for a pair.
George Land in Canada is highly recommended, but again has a bit of a
wait. Najecki stocks Bob Land’s
shoes for $90, and they are a step above (you’re a funny guy, Mark!) the
Fugawee 1758 Model and are the same price.
Fugawee’s 1758 or Fort Ligonier model is a good shoe but does sacrifice
thickness of leather, canvas lining, and heel plates to the Bob Land shoes.
The soles are also machine sewn.
However, they stock a wide variety of sizes (including Bonhomme
Richard-sized ones for Mark Hubbs) for immediate delivery.
Godwin shoes are good, costing about $130, but again, there is at least
an 8 week lead time. Townsend shoes are not recommended.
Fowlers
–
The most common civilian gun of the period was the smoothbore
fowler, and probably saw more use than any other type of weapon among American
militias during the war. These
were long-barreled weapons capable of firing shot or ball.
Calibers ran in the 20 to 14 gauge range. Reproductions should be full
stock with a minimum of a 38-inch barrel. 42 to 50 inch barrels were most
common. Several companies offer completed fowlers or parts to build them,
including Caywood and Northstar West.
Trade Guns
–
These were essentially cheap fowlers made for the Indian trade
in North America. Several British
firms produced these in quantity throughout the 18th century.
They had most of the attributes of the fowler except they were
simplified and often had a French-style butt (ooh laa laa). Many of these guns
ended up in the hands of American settlers because they were cheaper than
other guns, or because they were captured in actions against the Indians.
As with the fowlers, barrels should be at least 38 inches long. Caywood
(Wilson Trade Gun) and Northstar West (Early English Trade Gun) make excellent
reproductions of these weapons. The “Northwest Trade Gun” is unacceptable. It
is a reproduction of a later weapon.
Some vendors who sell completed fowlers and tradeguns and kits are:
http://www.caywoodguns.com/index.html
and
http://www.northstarwest.com/
Rifles
-
First, the use of a rifle is discouraged for several reasons,
and will be accepted only on a case-by-case basis.
We are an infantry/artillery company, not a rifle company, and
smoothbores should be our predominant weapon.
The long rifle during this period was more expensive and less versatile than
smoothbore guns. However, they
were used during the Revolution by the militia.
This would have been especially so in settlements on the frontier.
There are very few mass produced reproduction rifles that are
acceptable for use. Parts can be
obtained to build a very authentic period rifle, however.
Proper reproductions should be full stocked with at least a 38-inch
barrel, and calibers should be large, .50 - .62 caliber.
A Refugee member would have to inspect any rifles to ensure that they
meet authenticity requirements before they could be considered for use.
Here is a link
http://www.flintlocks.com/default.asp
to give you an idea of what rifles of our period look like.
This vendor is top of the line, although less expensive rifles can be
had.
As an aside, the proper names for the working parts of the lock
should be adhered to. The curved
metal part that hold the flint is the COCK (not the hammer.)
The upright thingy that it strikes the flint against is the HAMMER (not
the frizzen.) The spring which
holds the pan shut is the FEATHER, or FEATHER SPRING (not the frizzen spring.)
If the gun is a smoothbore or a rifle, generically they are termed
firelocks. Smoothbores are called
a musket, gun, or piece, not a rifle.
(Hard to unlearn for everyone who went through basic training, or
watched Full Metal Jacket—“This is my rifle, this is my gun--this is for
fighting, this is for fun.”)
Weapon
Accessory Items
Powder Horn and Shot Bag/Cartridge Box
–
Many styles
are available for both articles.
Look in Neuman and Kravic’s
Collector's Illustrated Encyclopedia of the American Revolution
for a view of the different styles used.
For militia, a good rule of thumb may be: if you carry a civilian
weapon you should have a horn and shot pouch, if you carry a military gun, an
early style English cartridge box is also an option.
Musket Flints
- If possible,
obtain French buff-colored flints, as these would have been most used,
although black English flint is perfectly acceptable.
Do not use machined German agates.
It is better to have too many than too few, and you should try to have
about 5 or 6 in your bag, a dozen is better.
Musket Flint leathers
- from any sutler,
although any small piece of thin leather will do;
lead pads work, too, and are correct, but tend to deform after a few
firings requiring the frequent retightening of the jaw screw.
Musket Whisk & Pick
- from any sutler,
or you can make your own from horsehair or hog bristle, silver or brass
wire, brass chain, and small diameter brass rod.
Please use care in cutting hairs from horse or pig.
Tompion
-
Maple muzzle plug available
from any sutler or make your own.
Vent cover
- Brass shield
covering the flash hole and side of pan to keep the nice fellow to your right
from having a permanent FFFg tattoo upon his cheek.
From any sutler, plain brass only.
These are required safety equipment at all major events.
Musket Tool
- The common
pricker-hammer-turnscrew Pickering-type can be ordered from any sutler, or
similar tools can be made by a local smith based on pictures in Neumann and
Kravic. The “three-way” British
tool is good for pin-fastened muskets.
Wooden "Flint"
-
For manual of arms or other
training requiring the simulation of firing.
Used to cut down on wear to hammer and flints, and won't make the piece
go boom. Small piece of hardwood
cut to size of flint. These are
available from sutlers, but why do that–just whittle your own.
Hammer stall
- Small leather
cover for the hammer. Also
something used for manual of arms or other training when you might have powder
in the breech or a flint in the jaw and you don't want it to go boom.
These are required at all major events.
Musket Cleaning Kit
- A very good
article from the NWTA Courier at
http://www.nwta.com/couriers/11-96/clean.html has a concise idea of what
is required for the proper daily care of your firelock.
Canteen
–
The stave constructed wood
style is possible, but more common were the carved wooded rumlets, a leather
covered bottle, or a pitched leather bottle.
See Neuman and Kravic for the variety of types.
Bayonet w/scabbard
-
Should be appropriate for
your type of musket. Dixie Gun
Works will fit the bayonet to your musket.
Bayonet Carriage
– Leather frog with
a heavy linen or jute strap.
Haversack
-
These are available from a
number of sources or can easily be made.
Made of natural linen (preferred), white linen or white tow canvas,
with three plain pewter buttons for closure.
Sutler supplied sacks will more than likely have to be taken up (by
resewing-not a big knot on your shoulder), in order for it to hang at the
proper height (under your elbow, not below the belt).
Knife
- pocket knives are
real handy and available from any sutler; giant hunting knives are not
appropriate, but a moderately sized (5-8 inch blade) is not unheard of.
Handles should be wood, bone or antler and blades should be carbon
steel.
Tomahawk/hatchet
- Most appropriate
is round polled with hickory handle.
No spike on the back.
Available from several folks, should be hand forged.
Sword/hanger
– As noted in the
Militia Act, this was also an appropriate edged weapon for members of the
militia. Refer (once more) to
Neumann and Kravic.
PERSONAL ITEMS
Cup
- Get one made
of tin, or of copper with the inside tinned.
Should be not too small (pint works good), and make sure it can be used
to heat things up in. Best bests
are Godwin, Jarnagin, or Carl Giordano; Townsend is not recommended.
Plate/Bowl
- This can be of
wood, tin or pewter, but shouldn’t be too fancy.
Bowls are more practical, but plates are fine.
Try any of the sutlers.
Eating Utensils
-
Made of wood, pewter, iron,
or steel. Spoons are the most
necessary, knives and forks are fine (usually you can get by without either).
Make sure forks are two-tined.
Blanket
- Blankets should be
of 100% wool, of solid color (perhaps with one or two dark bars at the ends),
and with no lettering (i.e. U.S.)
Grey or white is best; avoid olive drab.
You can get blankets from any of the sutlers, or check an Army/Navy
store (make sure they fit the above description).
You can also get a long piece of wool from a period cloth dealer and
wrap up in that. Buy two if
possible. Pat Kline at Family
Heirloom Weavers makes some excellent blankets that are made on a narrow loom
and seamed down the middle.
Several weights to choose from.
$60 - $80
Ground Cloth
- So far,
documentation for something used purposely to sleep on is a bit sketchy, but
an oilcloth does seem like a necessity if you are going to sleep on the
ground. $20 to $30 - Use a piece
of heavy drilling or tightly woven tow material longer than you are when
laying down and wide enough (after piecing down the middle) for you to lay on
and pull over yourself. This can
be painted with milk paint (obtain from Old Fashioned Milk Paint Company-
http://www.milkpaint.com/index.html.)
Make sure that the fabric is well coated, allow to dry thoroughly, them
use a light coat of linseed oil on the surface to seal it.
Alternately, oil-based, flat finished metal oxide type paints can be
used, or just plain linseed oil over dyed cloth.
Red is suggested as a color simply because it was common, but other
earth-toned pigments are also possible.
Eyeglasses
-
One thing that must be
remembered is that most (but not all) eyeglasses were made for folks who were
farsighted and needed help seeing up close, i.e. reading glasses.
Therefore, the frame sizes were generally small, and the interpupilary
distance was geared toward reading.
This is fine if you are farsighted, but those such as your gentle
adjutant who are severely nearsighted will have some troubles.
Colonial Williamsburg has a period frame for $95, which is very similar
to that sold by Townsend. From
personal experience, these look fine from a distance, but up close they are
very apparently modern. Also,
they only come in one size. For
my gigantic head, the centers of my pupils were a half inch outside the rims.
Eyeglasses did not come in just one size, and in just one size of lens,
and in just one interpupilary distance–so caveat emptor.
IF you are nearsighted, these are almost impossible to be useful for
vision. My own intention is to
make my own pair of frames, based upon my (admittedly limited) research of
period frames, and fitted to my previously mentioned gigantic head.
Other details that you should note are that the temples were generally
flat and single or double hinged, and there are no nose pads. Materials could
be horn, silver, gold, or japanned brass.
Not appropriate are the thin spring wire temples and frames
common to the 19th Century American Civil War period, or the sliding temple
frames. The sliders came a bit
after our timeframe, and did not truly become common until the 19th Century.
If you can wear contacts, you are blessed.
Likewise if you have the spare change for laser surgery.
Other Stuff That Militiamen May Have Carried About With Them, But That Are Not
Well and Truly Necessary to Fully Enjoy One Another’s Company
Currency, dice, playing
cards, penny whistle, sewing kit, firemaking kit, quill, ink, lead pencil
(musket ball drawn to a point), writing paper, Bible or prayer book, medicine,
tobacco and pipe or snuff, compass, food not issued as ration, (such as dried
soup, fruit, vegetables, cheese, parched corn), straight razor with brush and
soap, mirror, comb, soap (homemade castille soap is nice to have, although
would have been an extravagance ordinary people would probably have had little
use for–the more common plain lye soap, properly cured, is not the harsh stuff
you may think it to be–it’s kind of like Ivory soap), wash rag, blacking ball,
shoe brush, &c., &c. It goes
without saying that you should research your persona before rushing out and
buying a bunch of stuff. Militia
members traveled lightly, and may have only had a bit of extra clothing and
some toilet items, so don’t try to carry everything ever made.
When buying equipment remember you get what you pay for. Since most correct period made items are created by hand, they do not come cheap.
96 Fabrics
301 E. Main St.
Ninety-Six, SC
(864) 543-3363
Good source of period
cloth and other items, including Fugawee shoes.
Avalon Forge
John White
409 Gun Road
Baltimore, MD 21227
(410)242-8431
Good if limited
assortment of period items.
Burnley and Trowbridge
Co.
108 Druid Drive
Williamsburg, VA 23185
(757) 253-1644
Good suppliers of
period cloth.
Carl Giordano -
Tinsmith
PO Box 74
Wadsworth, OH 44282
Phone: 330-336-7270
Email: tinsnip@msn.com
Best tinware on the
market.
C&D Jarnagin Co.
P.O. Box 1860
Corinth, MS 38835
Ph (601) 287-4977
FAX (601) 287-6033
Good tinware and
accessories, clothing is suspect in some regards.
Fugawee
3127 Corrib Dr. Box 5
Tallahassee, Fl. 32308
(800) 749-0387
http://www.fugawee.com
Good period shoes.
G. Gedney Godwin
The Sutler of Mt.
Misery
Box 100
Valley Forge, PA 19481
(610)783-0670
(610)783-6083
Probably the best
all-around sutler. A bit on the
pricey side.
Goose Bay Workshop
Rt. 1 Box 297- C
990 Greenwood Rd.
Crozet, VA. 22932
(540)456-7111
http://www.goosebayworkshops.com/
Excellent historical
tinware, especially for cooking.
Hamilton Dry Goods
Ron "Tennessee"
Hamilton
2510 Randolph Road
Cookeville, TN 38506
(615) 528-6061
http://www.hamiltondrygoods.com/
Good supplier of
hand-woven stockings; very good wool stockings.
Roy Najecki
1203 Reynolds Rd
Chepachet, RI 02814
(401)647-3631 evenings
Highly researched items
from a British reenactor.
Excellent items, though predominantly British.
Has great shoes, up to size 13, $90
Jas. Townsend & Son.
Inc.
133 N. First St., P.O.
Box 415
Pierceton, IN 46S62
Ph (219) 594-5852
Fax (219) 594-5580
Many good items, some
suspect items. The “Wal-Mart” of
revwar.
Smoke & Fire Co.
DonLynn Meyers
PO Box 166
Grand Rapids, OH 43522
(800) 766-5334
Similar to Townsend.
Historical Seamstress
Kathy C. Folds
Kathy is a wonderful seamstress. She has over 30 years of sewing experience with 8 of those making historical garments. She got her start at Manskars Station. If you are looking for a well made garment at a very reasonable price, she is the one you want.
Todd Post
2400 South Glebe Road, Suite 320
Arlington, VA 22206
Todd Post has been a leader in the progressive Rev War movement and created this store to meet its needs. It is a great scource for many items including Cloth, Canteens and reference material. He continues to add quality items as he finds them.
Timothy S. Ridge
1282 West Creston Rd
Crossville, TN 38571
Makes great knives