Post by Robert Braun on Mar 1, 2002 13:39:54 GMT -5
Recent chat boards and communications have offered a variety of opinions on footwear worn by ACW infantrymen. Several cite useful soldier letters, orders, etc. that support the case for the wear of the Army issue shoe. Some have contended that boots were NEVER worn in this or that regiment, while others say such footwear was transitional, or at best occasional.
First, it is clear that the Thirty-third Wisconsin issued Army shoes to its new recruits at Camp Utley, Racine. It also seems likely that most of the boys wore them, rather than boots. Now boots would have been both a familiar and practical wear for the farmboy or farm hand of the antebellum period. We know that the overwealming majority of recruits in the Thirthy-third listed "farming" as their civilian occupation.
What is the evidence, if any, for the wearing of boots in the Thirty-third Regiment?
Here's what we know...
*Sergeant William Coburn of Co. H wore boots from Racine to the regiment's first camp outside Memphis, Tennessee, mid-November, 1862, based on an image graciously loaned from the William Benson collection.
*Private Arthur J. Robinson, in his “Memorandum and Anecdotes of the Civil War" recorded that at the regiment’s first camp in Memphis, he and his chums pulled on "heavy... boots [from home], and were wearing them instead of the army shoe." Second Sergeant Edward Cook, a 38 year-old farmer from Porter, Wisconsin, observed this activity and admonished the new soldiers in his Scottish accent: "Me boys, let me give ye a piece of advice. Throw away thim boots and put on thim army stogies and ye'll be thankin' the old man before the day is done."
*Research done by Mark Reitz indicated issued boots to Thomas G. Button ("I" Company) on March 17, 1863. This issue occured after the regiment's return to Memphis after the Moscow camp, and a month before the Coldwater Campaign.
*Private Alexander Gray of "H" and Private William Truman of "E" wore boots in mid-November, 1863. Gray wrote his father on November 17: "I got my boots that you sent[. T]hey are asplendit pair[. ...T]hey went on hard at first but they feel real easy now[. W]hen the captain [Nicholas Smith] saw them he wanted to try them on[. H]e offered me $9... [and] sais [sic] that if they are to[o] tight that he will take them[.] I could get ten from him easy enough but I rather think that they will fit me." Likewise, Private Truman set about at mid-month to outfit himself in new martial finery. He drew "a pr. of boots and a cavalry jacket."
*On November 7, 1864 when the regiment was quartered in Jefferson Barracks, the men received four month’s pay. Soldiers like Private Joe Minis, hurried to downtown St. Louis to spend their pay. Minis wrote that he "bought... a pair of boots[,] a shirt[,] and some other things." The store prices, boosted by wartime inflation, shocked Minis: "I tell you the things are high here now... I had to pay seven dollars for the boots but they are pretty good ones."
*Based on research done by Mike Thorson, we find boots in the “Inventory of Effects” for the following deceased soldiers of the Thirty-third Wisconsin: Sergeant Edwin Burnham, Montgomery Wright (died September 4, 1863), James Shields (died October 25, 1863), John E. Davis (died April 28, 1864), John S. Catlin (died May 1, 1864), Simeon Reeves, and John Hill (died October 31, 1864.)
Based on this evidence, army shoes-- along with occasional boots-- were in evidence at various times throughout the Thirty-third's term of service.
Bob Braun.
First, it is clear that the Thirty-third Wisconsin issued Army shoes to its new recruits at Camp Utley, Racine. It also seems likely that most of the boys wore them, rather than boots. Now boots would have been both a familiar and practical wear for the farmboy or farm hand of the antebellum period. We know that the overwealming majority of recruits in the Thirthy-third listed "farming" as their civilian occupation.
What is the evidence, if any, for the wearing of boots in the Thirty-third Regiment?
Here's what we know...
*Sergeant William Coburn of Co. H wore boots from Racine to the regiment's first camp outside Memphis, Tennessee, mid-November, 1862, based on an image graciously loaned from the William Benson collection.
*Private Arthur J. Robinson, in his “Memorandum and Anecdotes of the Civil War" recorded that at the regiment’s first camp in Memphis, he and his chums pulled on "heavy... boots [from home], and were wearing them instead of the army shoe." Second Sergeant Edward Cook, a 38 year-old farmer from Porter, Wisconsin, observed this activity and admonished the new soldiers in his Scottish accent: "Me boys, let me give ye a piece of advice. Throw away thim boots and put on thim army stogies and ye'll be thankin' the old man before the day is done."
*Research done by Mark Reitz indicated issued boots to Thomas G. Button ("I" Company) on March 17, 1863. This issue occured after the regiment's return to Memphis after the Moscow camp, and a month before the Coldwater Campaign.
*Private Alexander Gray of "H" and Private William Truman of "E" wore boots in mid-November, 1863. Gray wrote his father on November 17: "I got my boots that you sent[. T]hey are asplendit pair[. ...T]hey went on hard at first but they feel real easy now[. W]hen the captain [Nicholas Smith] saw them he wanted to try them on[. H]e offered me $9... [and] sais [sic] that if they are to[o] tight that he will take them[.] I could get ten from him easy enough but I rather think that they will fit me." Likewise, Private Truman set about at mid-month to outfit himself in new martial finery. He drew "a pr. of boots and a cavalry jacket."
*On November 7, 1864 when the regiment was quartered in Jefferson Barracks, the men received four month’s pay. Soldiers like Private Joe Minis, hurried to downtown St. Louis to spend their pay. Minis wrote that he "bought... a pair of boots[,] a shirt[,] and some other things." The store prices, boosted by wartime inflation, shocked Minis: "I tell you the things are high here now... I had to pay seven dollars for the boots but they are pretty good ones."
*Based on research done by Mike Thorson, we find boots in the “Inventory of Effects” for the following deceased soldiers of the Thirty-third Wisconsin: Sergeant Edwin Burnham, Montgomery Wright (died September 4, 1863), James Shields (died October 25, 1863), John E. Davis (died April 28, 1864), John S. Catlin (died May 1, 1864), Simeon Reeves, and John Hill (died October 31, 1864.)
Based on this evidence, army shoes-- along with occasional boots-- were in evidence at various times throughout the Thirty-third's term of service.
Bob Braun.