Brother Jonathan’s Images, No. 12 (John U.

Rees)
(Research File)
“Short skirted, according to the dress of our soldiery.”
An Overview of Continental Army Early-War Regimental Coat Design,
and Comparison With Late-War Attributes
(With contributions by Henry M. Cooke IV, Matthew Keagle, and Dean Nelson)
Contents
1. New England, 1775.
2. Regimental Coats, 1777, and the von Germann Drawings
3. Coats Without Lapels
4. Coat Construction Specifications, 1778, 1779, and 1780.
Addenda:
a. “Uniform coats … made without lining, the lappells without button holes, and
sewed down to the bodies of the coats …”: Regimental Coats for the New Jersey
Brigade, Autumn 1779 (Plus cutting down hats into caps, and docking coats on
campaign.)
b. Post-War Regimental Coats, circa 1785 and 1799

4th Connecticut Regiment, 1777-1778

Note: As described in the title, this paper is, for all intents and purposes, a research collection,
gathered by myself and others who have been generous enough to share their finds. While
Continental Army regimental coats show some design trends at different periods of the war, there
was no standardized coat pattern until 1779. Even after that military clothing manufacture was
open to differing patterns, contractor malfeasance, and field modifications.
__________________

The term “Continental Army uniform coats” may be considered an oxymoron considering the general
non-uniformity of clothing for the period 1775 to 1779 and, indeed, only sporadic uniformity attained in
the years after. Still, a look at what we do know is in order, as there does seem to be certain general
guidelines and perhaps some state proclivities.
New England, 1775. From the inception of the 1775 Massachusetts Grand Army/proto-Continental
Army, European-style wool regimental coats were the hoped-for garment. Gen. George Washington first
suggested hunting shirts as a practical alternative but supplies of suitable linen were insufficient.
_________

George Washington to Continental Congress, July 10, 1775

Camp at Cambridge, July 10, 1775.
… I find the Army in general and particularly the Troops raised in Massachusetts Bay very
difficient in necessary Clothing: Upon Inquiry it appears there is no Probability of Obtaining any
supplies in this Quarter; upon the best consideration of this matter, I am able to form, I am of
Opinion that a number of hunting Shirts, not less than 10,000, would in a great Degree remove
the difficulty in the cheapest and quickest manner. I know nothing so trivial in a speculative
View, that in Practice would have a happy Tendency to unite the men and abolish those
Provincial distinctions which lead to Jealousy and Dissatisfaction. …

George Washington to Continental Congress, September 21, 1775

The Season advances so fast, that I have given Orders to pre pare Barracks and other
Accomodations for the Winter. The great Scarcity of Tow Cloth in this Country, I fear, will
totally disappoint us in our expectations of procuring Hunting Shirts. Govr. Cooke informs me,
few or none to be had in Rhode Island, and Govt. Trumbull gives me little Encouragement to
expect many from Connecticut.
(George Washington to Continental Congress, 10 July 1775, 21 September 1775, John C.
Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources
1745-1799, vol. 3 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1931), 320-325, 505-512.)
_________

At the same time, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress had already set in train the production of
what came to known as “Bounty Coats.” These were short straight-buttoned coats meant to provide
sturdy, warm, uniform clothing for the 1775 Massachusetts troops. All these coats were of a single color,
based on master wool swatches that was sent to each town in Massachusetts and the Maine District.
Historian and tailor Henry Cooke examined one extant swatch and described the color as between Fawn
(Pantone #16-1510) and Tobacco Brown (Pantone #17-1327).

(For more detailed information see, Henry M. Cooke IV, “The Massachusetts Bounty Coat of
1775,” The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXVIII, no. 3 (Autumn 1998), 2-10.
https://www.academia.edu/36402048/Henry_M._Cooke_IV_The_Massachusetts_Bounty_Coat_of_1
775_The_Brigade_Dispatch_vol._XXVIII_no._3_Autumn_1998_2-10
Based on the design of a linen workman’s jacket, circa 1780, in the Collections of the Connecticut
Historical Society. Drawing by Henry M. Cooke IV.; Mr. Cooke includes a drawing of the original
workman’s coat in his article, “The Massachusetts Bounty Coat of 1775,” The Brigade Dispatch,
vol. XXVIII, no. 3 (Autumn 1998), 2-10.
https://www.academia.edu/36402048/Henry_M._Cooke_IV_The_Massachusetts_Bounty_Coat_of_1
775_The_Brigade_Dispatch_vol._XXVIII_no._3_Autumn_1998_2-10
 Pantone #16-1510
Fawn Pantone #17-1327
Tobacco Brown
______________________________________

Clothier General James Mease to General George Washington:

“Philadelphia July 22 1777 … with respect to the clothing I am sure there is little if any
complaint. I have directed them to be made of three different sizes but in general so little
pain is taken by the officers to fit the Men that I have often seen a large hanging like a sack
on a little fellow, whilst you see at [the] same time a lusty fellow squezed into a small one.
When ever the Clothes are distributed with proper attention the men are unexceptionally
fitted.” (George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence)

The von Germann Drawings and Regimental Coats, 1777. We start this section with Matthew
Keagle’s discussion of 1777-1778 Connecticut uniform coats, and general attributes of regimental coats
of that period. (Matthew Keagle, “The Regimental Coat of the 4th Connecticut Regiment, 1777-
1778” https://www.scribd.com/doc/270642133/Matt-Keagle-The-Regimental-Coat-of-the-4th-
Connecticut-Regiment-Guidelines?secret_password=GLx66vu3DQvljLCwPaC6 )

The basic cut of the coat was probably very much like that of a contemporary British regimental,
with full lapels, collar, etc. The length of the coat, though, may have varied. Congress’
instructions to commissioners to France to obtain uniforms urged that they get ones similar to
those in use already. One feature they desired was that the coats be, “short skirted, according to
the dress of our soldiery.” Thus this reconstruction will feature short skirts.
Short skirts are also apparent on the uniform depicted on an American soldier drawn by a
German participant in the Burgoyne expedition in 1777. While the soldier may represent an
enlisted man of the 7th or 12th Massachusetts regiments, it nevertheless depicts a New England
soldier in 1777 or 1778. Massachusetts and Connecticut had considerable ties in the period with
both states purchasing cloth and clothing from one another. Many of the details then for the 4th
Connecticut uniform are taken from this image of a Massachusetts’ soldier.
Among these features is the short length, mentioned earlier. Another interesting feature is the
pointed cuff. While this seems unusual it is interesting to note that a similar cuff appears on a
 coat worn by a Connecticut militia general in 1778. Jabez Huntington was painted by John
Trumbull in 1778 and appears wearing a pseudo-military uniform. He has on a pair of leather
breeches, high boots, and a short white belted waistcoat, very similar to that depicted on the
soldier by von Germann, and also those worn by American soldiers drawn by a French officer at
Yorktown in 1781. His coat extends perhaps to the middle of thigh, and is presumably made of a
grey wool, lined with a white material. While his coat is not faced like a military coat, and its
buttons have a floral pattern, the cuffs are nevertheless pointed like those depicted on both the
officer and soldier in Von Germann’s illustrations. This leads us to adopt the pointed cuff for this
regimental coat as well. Additionally other portraits of Continental officers depict a pointed cuff
as well.
The uniforms provided to the men in 1778 were described by both Brigadier General Jedediah
Huntington and Washington being of poor quality and made of, “very ordinary unsuitable Cloath
& almost all without Lining...” There is little to suggest that the clothing of 1777 was of
exemplary make and we have chosen to half line the coats. They will be lined solely in the skirts
and faced along the front in red serge or bays]. The coats worn in the Von Germann images both
have linings made to match the facings rather than a different colour, such as white, worn by the
British, and later Continentals.
The spirit of economy is represented in these coats and therefore the lapels and cuffs are sewn
down and non-functional. The collar is functional although it will be made of a single layer of
cloth, as was done on a surviving British coat from the period. The buttons will be plain white
metal. The first instance of buttons with some kind of design are USA buttons in November of
1778, on the clothing from Bigelow. Before that no designs are known to have been issued, and
few, if any, regimental buttons are known to exist from Connecticut at all.

Capt. Friedrich von Germann of the Hesse-Hanau Regiment Erbprinz served with Lt. Gen. John
Burgoyne’s forces in the 1777 Saratoga campaign. At some point in his ensuing captivity (perhaps 1778)
von Germann executed a series of drawings portraying soldiers of various regiments involved in the
northern campaign, two of which pictured an enlisted man and officer of Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates’ army.
These are some of the very few contemporary images (in this case, copies of the originals which no
longer exist) of Continental common soldiers and company officers, and, as such, deserve further study.
“An American Soldier”; Artist: Friedrich Konstantin von Germann; Year: circa 1778.
Collection: Braunschweig Municipal Archives, Lower Saxony
 The image above shows a Continental common soldier, likely a private. He wears a regimental coat of
gray with yellow facings, a straight-cut (possibly belted) gray waistcoat, and brown breeches, with blue or
blue-gray stockings. The brim of his round hat is turned up on the left side, and is topped with a pine-
sprig, feather or perhaps a squirrel’s tail. He carries a smoothbore firelock, likely made for military use
judging from the bayonet hanging at his right hip.
The soldier’s coat is interesting as much for the style and length as for the body and facing colors. The
coat is cut relatively short, and agrees with directions from Congress to their Commissioners in France,
dated 17 February 1777, that if they procure any clothing for import the coats should be, “short skirted,
according to the dress of our soldiery.” The pointed cuffs and small turnbacks in the forepart of the skirt
are also of interest. Though hidden this image, interior pockets seem to have been another known attribute
of many, perhaps most, Continental Army coats of the period. A May 1777 advertisement for a runaway
apprentice described his “blue broadcloth coat lined with white shalloon … not lappelled, but otherwise
made in the fashion of the Continental army, the pockets inside the skirts …”

The Pennsylvania Evening Post, 10 May 1777, vol. I, issue 350 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
“An American Officer”; Artist: Friedrich Konstantin von Germann; Year: circa 1778.
Collection: Braunschweig Municipal Archives, Lower Saxony
 Here is Henry Cooke’s take on the coats depicted in the von Germann drawings. (Source: Henry M.
Cooke IV, “’A View from Afar’: American Soldiers as seen by Foreign Observers” “Symposium on
Revolutionary America, presented by the Northwest Territory Alliance,” Glen Ellyn, Illinois, 27
April 2002)

Perhaps two of the best known images of American soldiers from German sources are the two
watercolor or gouache depictions copied from the original drawings by Lt. Friederich von
Germann, a Hessian officer serving in Gen. Burgoyne’s army in the 1777 campaign whose
campaign images of British and Hessian soldiers have been an invaluable tool for those seeking
to know more about their appearance. The New York Public Library versions of these images are
similar to another set found a number of years ago in Germany, and authorities seem to believe
that neither set is the original, but were rendered a number of years later by one “Kail” whose
name appears below some of the drawings. Some of the drawings bear the date “1778”. After his
capture at Saratoga Von Germann would have gone to Boston as part of the Convention Army,
and it is possible that these drawings were done during his time in captivity. The drawings are
rendered in a style common to depictions of military dress in Europe, and was part of the
European officer’s training for gathering intelligence.
The clothing shown in the two drawings is a mixture of civilian smallclothes worn with
military coats. The officer wears a red and white striped waistcoat with skirts and buff or leather
breeches, and is topped off with a white wig or powdered hair and a military cocked hat. The
soldier wears a white square-cut single-breasted waistcoat, brown breeches, and what appears to
be a round hat with a sprig or feather. He wears his own hair relatively short and unpowdered.
Both wear white or light gray stockings with low quarter shoes. Their dress is compatible with
what we know of the clothing of the New England troops that garrisoned Ft. Ticonderoga and Mt.
Independence in 1777, which was a mixture of issue clothing and garments brought from home.
The coats are particularly interesting. They are both short coats, with English style lapels and
collars, vertical pocket flaps and pointed, so-called polish cuffs that seem to been very popular
from 1776 to 1778, especially among officers. The skirts of the foreparts of their coats are cut at
an acute angle to permit them to be hooked back. The officer’s coat is deep brown, faced and
lined with red, with a gold epaulette on the left shoulder. A number of Massachusetts Continental
officers drew gold lace from the supplies of the Massachusetts Board of War in 1777 and 1778.
The coat of the soldier is light gray or drab, faced and lined with yellow. His cuffs consist of a
triangular piece of cloth, similar to the cuffs of British drummers coats in the 1750’s. These coats
are very similar in appearance to the jacket or habite-veste specified by the French Army’s
Reglement of 1776. According to Philip Katcher, French-made contract coats were delivered to
Portsmouth, NH on March 17, 1777 (Philip Katcher, Uniforms of the Continental Army,
(York, Pa.: George Shumway, 1981),19). While we have no description of these coats, we do
know that many of the Massachusetts Continental troops supplied with clothing from Boston in
the spring of 1777 were issued jackets and overalls instead of coats, waistcoats and breeches,
which appear to have been issued to sergeants (Henry Cooke, “The Dress and Equipment of
Col. Thomas Marshall’s Regiment in 1777,” unpublished Ms., 2002; In the spring of 1777
the state clothier issued 26 coats, waistcoats, and breeches, and 266 jackets and overalls to
Marshall’s regiment).
The officer is equipped with a musket and bayonet as well as a bone or ivory hilted hanger on a
white belt, typical of the equipment carried by company officers from Massachusetts at that time.
The soldier carries a musket and a cartridge pouch and bayonet frog suspended on blackened
leather straps. This soldier may have been one of the lucky few who had bayonets to their
muskets, as there seems to have been a chronic shortage in the Northern Department throughout
the 1777 campaign. Both appear to be carrying either a Brown Bess or Committee of Safety
musket. Given the shortage of arms that was partially relieved by the arrival of French muskets in
May of 1777, there was a mixture of arms even within a single regiment.
Maj. Joseph Bloomfield, 3d New Jersey Regiment. Painted by Charles Willson Peale in April 1777, this
is the only early-war New Jersey officer image known to the author. Bloomfield still wears the coat of
the 3d New Jersey Battalion of 1776, with a drab wool body and dark blue facings. The cuffs are sewn
on, while cape and lapels are likely not. The cuffs also button, a feature seen on coats worn by the
Philadelphia Associator battalions, 1776-1777.
Serving as a captain during 1776 in the Mohawk Valley and at Fort Ticonderoga, Joseph Bloomfield
was made a field officer in early 1777, missing the Short Hills battle, but seeing action at Staten Island,
Brandywine (where he was wounded), and during the 1778 Monmouth campaign. He retired from the
service in mid-September 1778. Mark E. Lender and James Kirby Martin, eds., Citizen Soldier; The
Revolutionary Journal of Joseph Bloomfield (Newark: New Jersey Historical Society, 1982), 1 (facing
page), 19.
 Below we have a 1777-78 style regimental coat (working collar/cape, non-working cuffs and lapels)
recreated for Capt. Andrew Fitch’s company, 4th Connecticut Regiment, in this instance worn for the 2014
special event, “Incomparable Patience and Fidelity: Encamping at Valley Forge.” (Documentation of the
coat was done by Matthew Keagle, and presented in his monograph, “The Regimental Coat of the
4th Connecticut Regiment, 1777-1778”https://www.scribd.com/doc/270642133/Matt-Keagle-The-
Regimental-Coat-of-the-4th-Connecticut-Regiment-
Guidelines?secret_password=GLx66vu3DQvljLCwPaC6 )
Coats Without Lapels. Deserter advertisements/descriptions show that some regimental coats were made
with no lapels; six descriptions (four from 1777 and two from 1778) tell of coats with only cape (i.e.,
collar) and cuffs, while an April 1777 ad describes a coat one with cuffs only, and a coat worn by a
soldier in May 1777 had only a cape. (See below.)

Cape and cuffs only

(Joseph Lee Boyle, 'He loves a good deal of rum ...': Military Desertions during the American
Revolution, 1775-1783 (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009), vol. 1 (1775-June
30, 1777), 262, 263-264, 267, 309; vol. 2 (June 30, 1777-1783), 143, 146.)

DESERTED from my company, in the Pennsylvania Eleventh regiment, commanded by Colonel

Richard Humpton, a certain DENNIS CLANCEY … He had on and carried with him, a new suit
of regimentals, consisting of a light infantry cap, blue coat with scarlet cape and cuffs, white
woolen waistcoat, and new buckskin breeches … JOHN COATS, Capt. (The
Pennsylvania Evening Post, April 22, 177; The Pennsylvania Gazette, April 23, 1777; The
Pennsylvania Journal; and the Weekly Advertiser, May 7, 1777; May 21, 1777.)

THIRTY DOLLARS Reward.

DESERTED, this morning … belonging to Captain Bartholomew’s company, of the 5th
Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by Col. Francis Johnston. William Murphey, or sometimes
calls himself M’Murtey, an Irishman … had on when he deserted, his regimental clothes, viz. a
blue coat with white cape and cuffs, white woolen waistcoat, drilling breeches, and fashionable
wool hat … John M’Curdy … had on the above uniforms, but commonly wears a hunting shirt.
…
April 17, 1777. GEORGE NORTH, Lieut. 5th P.R.
(The Pennsylvania Gazette, April 23, 1777; May 7, 1777.)

Princeton, April 23, 1777.DESERTED from my company of the seventh Maryland regiment,
commanded by Col. Henry Shyrock, the following men, viz. …
PATRICK STAUNTON … He had on, when he went away, a blue regimental coat with white
cuffs and collar, white jacket, drilling breeches, Germantown stockings, and new shoes.
WILLIAM MORECRAFT … He had on the same uniform as Staunton.
ROGER SWANY … He had on the same uniform as the two latter. …
ANDREW HYNES, Capt. (The Pennsylvania Evening Post, April 26, 1777.)
SIXTEEN DOLLARS Reward.
DESERTED the 17th instant, from Capt. James Henry’s company, of the 5th Maryland regiment,
commanded by Col. William Richardson, the following persons, viz.
THOMAS COUCHMORE … Had on, a blue knap coat, with white cuffs and cape, with flat
white buttons, blue jacket, leather breeches, and a large cocked hat bound with white tape, and
has s small white button. ROBERT NIXON … Had on a blue cloth cat, with scarlet facings, and
yellow buttons, white kersey jacket, and buckskin breeches. …
JAMES HENRY, Captain. (The Pennsylvania Journal; and the Weekly Advertiser, May
28, 1777; June 11, 1777; June 25, 1777.)

DESERTED From the Ninth Pennsylvania Regiment … FELIX TAYLOR, alia SNYDER …
had on and took with him, a brown uniform coat with red cuffs and cape … August 12. [1778] …
(The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser, August 18, 1778; August 25, 1778;
September 3, 1778.)
 DESERTED the 24th inst. (August) THOMAS WILLIAMS … had on and took with him, a blue
regimental coat with red cuffs and cape … (The Pennsylvania Packet or the General Advertiser,
August 29, 1778; September 5, 1778.)

Cuffs only
(Joseph Lee Boyle, 'He loves a good deal of rum ...': Military Desertions during the American
Revolution, 1775-1783 (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009), vol. 1 (1775-June
30, 1777), 250.)

Philadelphia, April 10, 1777 … DESERTED from the Congress’s own regiment, commanded by
Moses Hazen, Esq; Colonel Commandant … JOHN DURBIN … had on a London brown
regimental coat turned up at the sleeves with white, and trimmed with small metal buttons
…JAMES CUNNINGHAM … his dress the same as Durbin’s …
(Dunlap’s Pennsylvania Packet or, the General Advertiser, April 15, 1777; April 29, 1777.)

Cape only
(Joseph Lee Boyle, 'He loves a good deal of rum ...': Military Desertions during the American
Revolution, 1775-1783 (Baltimore, Md.: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2009), vol. 1 (1775-June
30, 1777), 291.)

MAY 1, 1777 … DESERTED, this morning, from the Barracks of Philadelphia, JAMES
GAINOR, a Soldier, in Colonel HARTLEY’S regiment of Foot Guards … had on, when he went
away, a blue regimental coat, with a white collar …” (The Pennsylvania Gazette, May 14, 1777;
May 24, 1777.)

The 1782 painting “Battle of Paoli,” rendered by Italian artist Xavier della Gatta, with the direction of
Richard St. George Mansergh St. George, who participated in the 1777 action, shows a Pennsylvania
Continental wearing a regimental coat with only cape and cuffs, no lapels. (See below.)
Detail from “The Battle of Paoli” by Xavier della Gatta. This and della Gatta’s “The Battle of
Germantown,” from various details known only to an eyewitness, was executed at the direction of
Richard St. George Mansergh St. George, a British officer present at both actions. The
Pennsylvania soldier’s coat pictured here seems to show pointed cuffs, and is cut short with small
turnbacks as in the von Germann rendering. It is notable that the coat above has only capes and
cuffs, no lapels.
____________________
 Regimental coat reconstructions based on the June 1779 “Estimate of Articles to be imported in the
Department of the Board of War & Defence.” (Delaware Regiment, Cowpens, January 2020)
Coat Construction Revisions, 1778. 1779, and 1780. Early in 1778 General Washington mentioned a
new standardized regimental coat pattern. His first reference is a January 20 letter to Clothier General
James Mease,
Dear Sir: I this day received yours of the 18th. by Lieutt. [Robert] Gamble, 12th Virginia
Regiment] who has brought down 463 Coats ready cut out. I could have wished that had not been
done, as I intended to have had them made up in a new fashion which I think will save Cloth, be
made up quicker and cheaper and yet be more warm and convenient to the Soldier. I desire that
all the remainder of the Virginia Goods may be immediately sent on in the State which you
receive them, as soon as they arrive at Lancaster. I will send you a Coat of the new fashion as
soon as one can be made up, and I think it will bedeemed most convenient and useful to dress the
whole Army in the same manner. The Officer who had the charge of the Convoy of Cloathing
from Boston left them at Fishkill, contrary to Genl. Heath’s express order, he makes some trifling
excuse, that the Waggons would not come any farther. I have sent up an Express with orders to
have it brought immediately forward. I shall give directions to have some agreement made with
the Taylors for their extra pay when working at their trade. Now we are fixed, I am of opinion
that we can have any quantity of Cloathing made up in the Regiments provided all the materials
are sent with them ... P. S. Lieutt. Gamble returns to bring down the remainder of the Goods. He
informs me that he desired you not to cut up the Cloth, as it was intended to be made up different
from the usual method, I cannot therefore tell why it was done.
(George Washington to James Mease, 21 January 1778, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The
Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, vol. 10
(Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1933), 330-331.)
 Four days later the commander-in-chief described the new pattern in some detail to Connecticut
governor Jonathan Trumbull:

Head Quarters, Valley Forge, January 24, 1778.

Sir: I am honoured with yours of the 14th instant and am much obliged for your promised
attention to the compleating of your Regiments, and I hope your exertions will be attended with
the desired success. I am also to thank you for your care in providing Cloathing for your Troops.
If the Coats should not be cut out before this reaches you, instead of the usual Regimental Coat, I
would recommend a garment of the pattern of the Sailors Sea Jacket, this sets close to the body
and by buttoning double over the breast, adds much to the Warmth of the Soldier. There may be a
small cape and cuff of a different colour to distinguish the Corps. I have consulted most of the
Officers of the Army and they all seem to think that this kind of Coat will be much the best, at
least till we can fall upon means of procuring full supplies of compleat Uniforms. As the Overall
is much preferable to Breeches,I would recommend as many of them as possible. We cannot
spare Taylors to go from hence, therefore if you cannot get all the Clothes readily made up, I
think you had better send part of the Cloth here with all kinds of necessary trimmings and the
Regimental Taylors will soon make them up under the inspection of their Officers.
(George Washington to Jonathan Trumbull, 24 January 1778, John C. Fitzpatrick, ed., The
Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources 1745-1799, vol. 10
(Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1933), 344-345.)
The new coat’s touted attributes may point to some of the shortfalls in many of the previously-made
regimental uniforms, which likely were not close-fitting, and had sewn on lapels rather than working ones
that could folded over and buttoned across the chest.
Next we have a June 1779 “Estimate of Articles to be imported in the Department of the Board of War &
Defence.” This document also may shed light on several characteristics of American-made coats (that is, old
coat construction details that needed to be rectified, such as non-working lapels).
Cloathing for Ninety Eight thousand and forty Eight Men of Substantial Cloth of the same quality
with the present uniform of the French established Army –
The Suits to consist of one Coat, one waistcoat and one pair of breeches, sized as the French
Uniforms, except that the skirts of the coat are not to reach farther than half way down the thigh.
The cloaths to be completely [finished?], but with a proper quantity of Cloth laid in at the seams
that they may be altered, if too small for particular soldiers, to be cut in such fashion, and so full
about the Arms, that the soldier may have the free use of his limbs. The greatest proportion to be
of the largest Sizes. The coats to be made to button as low as the waistband, the lapells … to
button over & the coats not sloped away so as to be incapable of covering the belly in cold or
rainy weather, let the fashion of Europe be what it may. To have a piece of Cloth neatly sewed on
each elbow & cross pockets opening on the inside. The white buttons to be of Block tin or other
white strong Metal the yellow ones of Brass, and cast solid with a Strong eye or Shank And USA
in Roman letters on each button. The Serjeants Cloaths to be of a better kind of Cloth as in
Europe. …
All the buttons to be well fixed with strong leather thongs -
The capes [i.e., collars] of the coats to button down with the facings, but made so as to be taken
up [if needed?] with hooks & eyes snug about the neck in Cold & Rainy Weather –
The skirts of the Coats to have hooks & eyes to fasten them together –
The Cloth of all the Coats to be soaked I clean water before made up to prevent their shrinking
afterwards –
(“Estimate of Articles to be imported in the Department of the Board of War & Defence,”
June 1779, The Papers of the Continental Congress 1774-1789, National Archives Microfilm
Publications M247 (Washington, DC, 1958), reel 158, pp. 425-426, 429.)
 A second document provides more detail:

West Point Dec 22 1780

Report of the Committee &c.
The colour of the coat, Waistcoat, breeches, Facings to the coat[,] Linings & buttons to be
agreeable to the General Orders of the 2. Oct. 1779- The length of the coat to be [to] the upper
part of the knee pan, & to be cut high in the neck. As 3 is to 5 so is the skirts to the Waist of the
Coat, or divide the length of the Coat into eight equal parts, take five for the waist & three for the
skirts – The lapel at the top of the breast to be three inches wide, & at the bottom two and three
tenths. The lapels to bear low on the waist and its wing to button within an inch of the shoulder
seam with a small button on the Cape. The Epaulet to be worn directly On top of the shoulder
joint on the same button with the wing of the lapel – A round and close cuff three inches wide
with four closed work’d button holes. The Cape to be made with a peak behind, & its width in
proportion to the lapell.
The pocket flaps to be scollap’d [with] four button holes. The two inner closed work & the two
outer open work’d, & to be set on in a curve line from the bottom of the lapel, to the button on the
hips.
The Coat to be Cut full behind with a fold in each back skirt & two close work’d buttonholes
on each
Ten Open work’d button holes On the breast of each lapell. With ten large buttons at equal
distance.
Four large buttons on each cuff, four on each pocket flap, & four on each fold. – Those on the
cuff & pocket flaps to be placed agreeable to the button holes, & those on the folds One on the
hip, one at the bottom and two in the Centre at an equal distance with those on the lapell
The coat is to button or hook as low as the fourth button on the breast & is to flaunt off to the
bottom with a Genteel & Military Air.
Four hooks and eyes on the breast as low as the coat is allowed to button. The skirts to hook up
with a blue heart on each corner, with such device as the field Officer of each Regiment shall
direct. – The bottom of the Coat to be cut square.
The waistcoat to be single breasted with the proportion & air of the coat, with twelve buttons &
holes on the breast with pocket flaps. – four close’d worked button holes on each, & four buttons
which shall appear below the flaps.
The breeches are to be made with a half fall, four buttons on each knee. The small buttons on
the waistcoat & Breeches to be of the same kind with the large ones on the coat.
The No. of the Regiment is to be in the Centre of the buttons with such devices as the field
Officers shall direct.
The Epaulets to be worn agreeable to His Excellency the Commander in Chief[s] Orders of
June 18, 1780.
A Fashionable Military Cock’d hat, with a Silver button loop & a small button with the No. of
the regiment, to wear a black Stock when on duty & on the parade.
No Edging, Vellum, or lace or indeed any other ornament are to be added to the uniform.
No officer is to be permitted at any time to wear any other Uniform but that of his Regiment.”
(Anon., “West Point Common Place Book,” Historical Society of Delaware; copied by Dean
Nelson, circa 1976; transcribed 2020. Courtesy of Dean Nelson.)

The last remark concerning officers’ clothing is particularly interesting, and addressed an ongoing
problem, as shown in this November 1780 army order:

As nothing adds more to the beauty and appearance of a Corps than exact uniformity of dress; the
General [Washington] recommends it thus early to the Field officers newly arranged to fix upon a
 fashion for the regimental clothing of the officers of their respective corps (if it is not already
done) confining themselves to the ground, facings, linings and buttons already assigned to the
states to which they belong: The General sees with concern the difficulties which the officers
labor under in procuring clothes; it is not therefore his wish that those who are already furnished
should run themselves to the expence of new uniforms if their old are not exactly conformable,
but that they should in future comply strictly with the regimental fashion, and if possible get their
old clothes altered to it. It has a very odd appearance especially to Foreigners to see the same
corps of officers each differing from the other in fashion of the facings sleeves and pockets of
their coats.
(General Orders, 15 November 1780, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washignton, vol. 20
(1937), pp. 349-350.)

Conclusion. After the inception of the 1775 New England army bounty coat and prior to 1780, American-
made regimental coats were not standardized, but various attributes included:

1. Sewn-on facings on many, if not most, coats.

2. Sewn on skirts.
3. Pockets on the inside the coats at the top of the skirts.
4. Short skirts.
5. Lapels “sloped away” at the waist so as to preclude buttoning over of working lapels.
6. Some numbers made without lapels, usually with only cape (collar) and cuffs as facings,
occasionally having only a cape or cuffs.
7. Some, perhaps many, were poorly-made, poorly-fitted, and not easily retailored to the
individual wearer.
8. Pointed (Polish) cuffs seem to have been popular.
9. Vertical pocket flaps used on some, perhaps many, coats.
Delaware Regiment 1781 regimental coats reconstructed using the June 1779 specifications.
Delaware Regiment 1781 regimental coats reconstructed using the June 1779 specifications.
(Photograph at Cowpens battlefield, January 2020)
 (Above and following page) Detail of part of a group of Continental soldiers from Pierre Charles
L'Enfant (1754-1825) painting of West Point and dependencies. View is from the east side of the
Hudson River, at the top is the lower part of Constitution Island. This was done after August 1782,
as service chevrons, worn on the saluting soldier’s left sleeve, were first authorized on the 7th of
that month. Several soldiers in group are wearing knapsacks, and what appears to be a rolled
blanket can be seen on top of three of the packs.
(Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004678934/)
Suggested reading:

Henry M. Cooke IV, “’A View from Afar’: American Soldiers as seen by Foreign Observers”
“Symposium on Revolutionary America, presented by the Northwest Territory Alliance,” Glen
Ellyn, Illinois, 27 April 2002.
Henry M. Cooke IV, “The Massachusetts Bounty Coat of 1775,” The Brigade Dispatch, vol. XXVIII,
no. 3 (Autumn 1998), 2-10.
https://www.academia.edu/36402048/Henry_M._Cooke_IV_The_Massachusetts_Bounty_Coat_of_1
775_The_Brigade_Dispatch_vol._XXVIII_no._3_Autumn_1998_2-10
Matthew Keagle, “The Regimental Coat of the 4th Connecticut Regiment, 1777-1778”
https://www.scribd.com/doc/270642133/Matt-Keagle-The-Regimental-Coat-of-the-4th-Connecticut-
Regiment-Guidelines?secret_password=GLx66vu3DQvljLCwPaC6
James L. Kochan, “The French-nade “Lottery” Uniforms of the Continental Army, 1777-1779:
Their Procurement, Distribution, Cut and Construction”
https://www.scribd.com/doc/272894004/James-L-Kochan-The-French-nade-Lottery-Uniforms-of-
the-Continental-Army-1777-1779-Their-Procurement-Distribution-Cut-and-
Construction?secret_password=ncfzkaywDy7jwyPYpnZ5

John U. Rees, "’The taylors of the regiment’: Insights on Soldiers Making and Mending Clothing,
and Continental Army Clothing Supply, 1776 to 1783”
1. “Have the Clothes made up … employing the Soldiers in that Business …”: Regimental Tailors, 1777–
1778
2. “The coats were good enough for soldiers without lining …”: New Jersey and Pennsylvania Tailors,
1779–1780
3. “Four Chests wth Taylors Tools”: Massachusetts Soldier–Tailors, 1780–1782
Military Collector & Historian, vol. 63, no. 4 (Winter 2011), 254-265.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/131742393/The-taylors-of-the-regiment-Insights-on-Soldiers-Making-
and-Mending-Clothing-and-Continental-Army-Clothing-Supply-1778-to-1783
Rees, "'The Great Neglect in provideing Cloathing': Uniform Colors and Clothing in the New
Jersey Brigade, from Northern New York, 1776, to the Monmouth Campaign, 1778
Part 1.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Overview of Military Operations, 1776-1778
3 "The Jersey Blues": The New Jersey Battalions, 1755-1776
a. New Jersey Buttons
4. "Never...Our Proper Quantity:" The New Jersey Brigade of 1777
Appendices
A. The Proportion of Men from the Second New Jersey of 1776 Who Reenlisted in the 1777 Regiment
B. 1777 Clothing Returns (Wanting and Issued) for the New Jersey Regiments
C. “The Blues offered again to fight …”: Contemporary and Later Use of the Term “Jersey Blues,” “Jersey
Grays,“ and “fifth Jersey regiment.”
D. “Had on when he went away …”: New Jersey Deserter Advertisements, 1775-1777
E. A Quantity of Tow Cloth, for the Purpose of making of Indian or Hunting Shirts …”: Proper
Terminology: Hunting shirt, Rifle Shirt, Rifle Frock …
F. Related Articles by the Author on the New Jersey Brigade and the 1777-1778 Campaigns
https://www.scribd.com/document/408478638/Part-1-The-Great-Neglect-in-Provideing-Cloathing-
Uniform-Colors-and-Clothing-in-the-New-Jersey-Brigade-from-Northern-New-York-1776-to-the-
Monmo
Part 2.
1. "The Regiments Have No Uniforms or Distinguishing Colours:" Uniform Coats of the New Jersey Brigade
during 1778
2. “The following Articles of Cloathing …”: 1778 Nine Months Levies’ Apparel
3. “Only a few light things in the Spring.": Clothing the Jersey Brigade’s Long-Term Soldiers, 1778
Appendix
(Research File) “Short skirted, according to the dress of our soldiery.”: An Overview of Continental Army
Early-War Regimental Coat Design
1. New England, 1775.
2. Regimental Coats, 1777, and the von Germann Drawings
3. Coats Without Lapels
4. Coat Construction Revisions, 1778 and 1779.
https://www.scribd.com/document/435746302/Part-2-The-Great-Neglect-in-provideing-Cloathing-
Uniform-Colors-and-Clothing-in-the-New-Jersey-Brigade-from-Northern-New-York-1776-to-
the-Mon
Military Collector & Historian, two parts: vol. XLVI, no. 4. (Winter 1994), 163-170;
vol. XLVII, no. 1 (Spring 1995), 12-20.
______________

Addenda
A.
“Uniform coats … made without lining, the lappells without button holes, and sewed down to the
bodies of the coats …”
Regimental Coats for the New Jersey Brigade, Autumn 1779
(Plus cutting down hats into caps, and docking coats on campaign.)
Excerpted from:
"’The taylors of the regiment’: Insights on Soldiers Making and Mending Clothing, and
Continental Army Clothing Supply, 1776 to 1783”
1. “Have the Clothes made up … employing the Soldiers in that Business …”: Regimental Tailors, 1777–1778
2. “The coats were good enough for soldiers without lining …”: New Jersey and Pennsylvania Tailors, 1779–
1780
3. “Four Chests wth Taylors Tools”: Massachusetts Soldier–Tailors, 1780–1782
Military Collector & Historian, vol. 63, no. 4 (Winter 2011), 254-265.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/131742393/The-taylors-of-the-regiment-Insights-on-Soldiers-Making-
and-Mending-Clothing-and-Continental-Army-Clothing-Supply-1778-to-1783
___________

On 27 June 1779 Continental Army orders published the “Ordinance for regulating the
Clothing Department for the Armies of the United States,” which included the stipulation that
“There shall be a clothier general, a sub or State–clothier for each State, and a regimental
clothier.”23 Details of the regimental position were, in part, as follows:

THE REGIMENTAL CLOATHIER

The office of regimental cloathier shall always be executed by the regimental pay master.
He is to be furnished by captains or officers commanding companies with returns, specifying
the men's names and the particular wants of each; these he is to digest into a regimental return
which being signed by the officer commanding the regiment, and countersigned by himself with a
receipt upon it of the supplies delivered to the regiment, is to be lodged with the State cloathier …
He is to keep an account with each officer and soldier for every article delivered, taking a receipt
from them, as his voucher for the delivery: He is to credit them for the continental allowance, and
 to charge them for everything they receive, making stoppages in the monthly pay rolls for
whatever they may fall in debt to the public beyond the allowance … And whereas discretionary
changes of the uniforms of regiments have proved inconvenient and expensive: the Commander
in Chief is therefore hereby authorized and directed, according to the circumstances of supplies of
cloathing to fix and prescribe the uniform, as well with regard to the color and facings, as the cut
or fashions of the cloathes to be worn by the troops of the respective States and regiments, which
shall, as far as possible be complied with by all purchasing agents employed by the Congress, as
well as particular States, by the cloathier general, sub or state cloathiers and regimental cloathiers,
and all officers and soldiers in the armies of the United States.24

And in closing,

… when materials can be purchased instead of ready made cloathes, it shall always be prefered,
in order that they may be made up by the taylors of the several regiments, to save expence and
prevent the disadvantages which the soldiers frequently suffer from their unfitness; and instead of
breeches, woolen overalls for the winter and linen for the summer, are to be substituted.25

Later that same year Lt. Jonathan Peck, 2nd Jersey Regiment paymaster and clothier, had his
first experience with the new system. In a deposition against New Jersey State Clothier Enos
Kelsey, Peck wrote from the "Jersey Camp," 11 April 1780:

I testify that at Wyoming in the Month of July last [1779] a regular and accurate return of the
regiment, to which I belong, [was made] specifying the quantity of Clothing necessary for the
same, and the quality and color of the cloth, lining and buttons for the Officers, Non
Commissioned officers and privates, respectively. This return was sent to Enos Kelsey Esq., the
State, or Sub–Clothier, the timely receipt of which he has since acknowledged. I was informed
that similar returns were sent from the other regiments at the same time, and that the most earnest
and pressing [exhortations?] were made. both by the Brigadier, and Commandants of Regts. for
an early and ample supply of clothing. In October I was dispatched from Tioga, with orders to
call upon the Clothier, receive the Clothing of the Regt., and forward it to Easton, that it might be
ready for the troops (who were then almost naked) on their return to that place. On my arrival at
Princeton I was assured by Mr. Kelsey, that he had been to Philadelphia and Boston, and that
there were not materials sufficient, in either or both those places, to clothe the Brigade; and that I
could receive nothing at that time, but linen for four shirts, and cambric for an equal number of
stocks, for each officer: the cambric was of an inferior quality and none allowed for ruffling. A
complaint was made by most, or all of the officers, that their patterns of linen were very much
scanted [shorted], and they had not cambric enough, for the number of stocks to which they were
entitled and for which they received it. The troops in general were exceedingly mortified and
disgusted at these instances of neglect, penury and fraud.
Agreeable to Mr. Kelsey's request, the taylors of the regiment were sent to Princeton, to assist
in making the materials which were then on hand and afterwards to be procured. At first, they
began to work, without either lappels or buttons, but were shortly prevented altogether, for want
of thread. On account of the deficiency of this article, they were, at different times idle for many
days together.
Mr. Kelsey [produced?] about 150, or 200 uniform coats, which he had caused to be made
without lining, the lappells without button holes, and sewed down to the bodies of the coats; and
at the same time a great variety of waistcoats, and breeches, of all colors and shades, and, in
general, of the worst quality; these too were without lining. All these articles, I positively refused
to receive, as altogether unfit for a soldier's use; alledging at the same time, that I acted agreeable
to my instructions from the Commanding Officer of the regiment: Mr. Kelsey offered it as his
 opinion, ”that the coats were good enough for soldiers without lining” and afterwards obtained an
order from the Clothier Genl., which, he said, was sanctioned by the Commander in Chief, to
send these articles to the Brigade – they were lined and sent. About the 8th Jany. they were
delivered to the soldiers, many of whom were by this time, with hunger and cold, reduced to
skeletons; and some of them were so far overcome, that they were unable to try on their clothes.
[The winter of 1779–80 proved the eighteenth century's worst.] Even in this reduced state of their
bodies, most of the waistcoats and breeches were found too small, and many of them, with
Common use, are long since worn out.
Agreeable to my instructions, I directed the taylors to make their coats large and strong: Mr.
Kelsey insisted that they should make a certain number of coats out of a given quantity of cloth,
although the Serjeants, who cut the cloth, declared that it was insufficient for the purpose. By
these means all the coats were scanted, and many of those, that ought to have been of the largest
size, too little for a man of the smallest stature. Besides this, I have undoubted certain
information, that Mr. Kelsey was pleased to make a representation, equally false, and scandalous,
to the Clothier Genl. which reached the ears of the Commander in Chief, that the officers, who
had command of the taylors, were wasting the materials to a very great degree, by directing that
the coats should be made immoderately large, and covered with an unnecessary number of
buttons.
Many of the men have not yet received either waistcoats or breeches, and most of them have
had no hats. With respect to the Officers clothing, I attended Mr. Kelsey on most of his purchases
and can declare, that it was with the greatest aparent reluctance, that he was prevailed with to buy
anything of a superfine, or even tolerable quality...
N.B. Capt. Anderson, Paymr. 3d. Regt., was my constant companion through the whole of this
disagreeable business, and if here, I doubt not, would confirm every sentence of my testimony.26

It is notable that the New Jersey regiments, 4th and 11th Pennsylvania Regiments (see below),
were all on Major General John Sullivan's 1779 punitive expedition against the Iroquois. Enos
Kelsey testified the Jersey troops were "almost naked" when they returned, and 1st New
Hampshire Regiment soldier Nathan Davis noted that "Marching nearly the whole time in the
woods, among thick underbrush, it may well be supposed that we had but little left of our
clothing, on our return to the garrison ..." It seems all the men on the expedition suffered
similarly, as the following letters indicate.27 Washington to Pennsylvania brigadier general
William Irvine, 23 December 1779:

The state of the 4th. and 11th. Regiments of Pennsylvania in respect to Cloathing is represented to
me as being so deplorable, that I must request you to endeavour to accommodate them
immediately with the ready made Cloathing that came from Philada. or at least as much of it as
will cover those who are naked; this will make no odds in the end, and I doubt not but the
Officers of those Regiments will cheerfully lend their Taylors to assist in making up the
Cloathing for the others. There seems an absolute necessity for measures of this kind, as I am
informed that every day takes down more or less of the Men.28

Erkuries Beatty, 4th Pennsylvania Regiment, camp near Morristown, N.J., 25 January 1780:

... when we join'd the Army I found I had to do the Duty of Regiment[al] Clothier to[o], which is
the Cause of all my trouble, for I have lately drew Cloathing for the Regt. & it is almost all to
make up from the Cloth all which I must oversee, which keeps me very Close confined – If you
was just now to step into my Hutt (which is only a very small Room if it ever got finished) I will
tell you just how you would find me... You'll find me sitting on a Chest, in the Center of Six or
Eight Taylors, with my Book Pen & Ink on one side and the Buttons and thread on the other –
 the Taylors yo'll find some A Cutting out, others sewing, outside of the taylors you will see
maybe half Dozen Men naked as Lazarus, begging for Cloathing, and about the Room you will
see nothing but Cloth & Cloathing, on the floor you'll find it about knee deep with Snips of Cloth
& Dirt – If you stay any time you'll hear every Minute knock–knock at the door & I calling walk
in, others going out, which makes a Continual Bussle – presently I begin to swear, sometimes
have to jump up blundering over two or three taylors to whip somebody out of the house –
othertimes Tudor and my Mess Mates they begin to swear, & with our Swearing, and the taylors
singing (as you know they must), and the Men a grumbling ... makes pretty Music for your Ear,
and thats the way from morning to night, & from Weeks End to weeks end, & I am sure I need
not complain for want of Company...29

The Pennsylvania tailors found more work later the same year. Resigned to the failure of a
promised supply of clothing for the Pennsylvania regiments, in mid–October 1780 Brig. Gen.
Anthony Wayne was

therefore induced to call upon the Honourable Council to adopt some move to procure a fresh
supply of Blankets, & winter Clothing, for the Officers & privates belonging to the State of
Pennsa. The weather begins to pinch – hard necessity obliges us to be economists – our Soldiers
uniforms are much worn & out of repair, we have adopted the idea of Curtailing [i.e. shortening]
the Coats to repair the Elbows & other defective parts for which we shall Immediately want
needles and thread, will your Excellency be as Obliging as to Direct them to be procured & sent
to Camp with the other Stores, with all possible Dispatch, & appoint Lieut. Dungin of the 6th Regt
or Mr. Little [as] State Clothier in place of the Gentleman lately dismissed the Service by the
sentence of a Genl. Court Martial.30

Five days later Wayne wrote again,

I must beg leave to reiterate my request [for needles and thread], & desire that they may be sent
on with all possible dispatch, as every day adds to our distress, & renders an Immediate supply of
these articles Indispensably necessary. I believe no Army before this was ever put to such shifts,
in order to have even the appearance of uniformity – when the Charge of the Pennsa Division
devolved on me, after the removal of Genl. St. Clair to the command of the left wing, I thought of
an expedient of reducing the heterogenious of new, old, cock’d & flopped hats & pieces of hats,
to [light] Infantry Caps, in which we succeded very well – by making three decent caps out of one
tolerable & two very ordinary hats, to which we added, as an embellishment, a white plume & a
Comb of flowing red hair. We now shall try the experiment of making three short Coats out of
three old tattered long ones. I must acknowledge they would answer much better for the Spring
than fall; but without something done in this way, we shall be naked in the course of two or three
weeks; – nor will even this expedient answer longer than Christmas.31

On a side note, the aforementioned hats had been transformed into caps three months previous,
in August 1780, and the practice of “Curtailing” coats was not uncommon. Only six months
later the provisional light infantry battalions serving under the Marquis de Lafayette in Virginia
“were ordered to cut their coats short for their greater ease in marches,” the “weather being
exceeding warm.”32

23. General orders, 27 June 1779, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 15 (1936), 332.
24. Ibid., 334–335.
25. Ibid., 335. The 27 June 1779 clothing directive is below given in its entirety:
General Orders
 Head Quarters, New Windsor, Sunday, June 27, 1779.
Parole Halifax. Countersigns Jutland, Kingston.
In Congress, March 23, 1779.
Ordinance for regulating the Clothing Department for the Armies of the United States.
There shall be a clothier general, a sub or State–clothier for each State, and a regimental clothier.
The clothier general is to be subject to the orders of the Board of War and Commander in Chief. He is to furnish
estimates of the supplies wanted for the army; to apply to the Commander in Chief and Board of War for assistance
therein; to make returns of such estimates to them respectively; to receive all supplies imported from abroad, and
purchased in the country by continental agents; to superintend the distribution thereof to the state–cloathiers; to
settle accounts with them at least every six months; to keep regular accounts of all the cloathing he shall receive, as
well as of the distribution thereof among the state cloathiers; and to transmit his accounts twice in every year to the
Board of Treasury, and settle them in the chamber of accounts when required; and generally to take care, on the one
hand, that justice is done to the public, and on the other, that the army receive whatever shall be allowed to them in a
regular, direct, and seasonable manner; and at the same time, so to act between the Continent and each particular
State, that equal and impartial justice may be done on all sides.
THE SUB OR STATE CLOATHIER
A sub or state cloathier is to be appointed by each State respectively, to reside with or near the army, or such
detachment thereof in which the troops of the said State may be, as the Commander in Chief shall direct, the better
to know and supply their wants. The State appointing him is to be answerable for his conduct. In case of neglect or
misbehaviour, he is to be displaced by the Commander in Chief, and his successor to be appointed by the State to
which he belonged. He is to receive from the cloathier general the proportion of cloathing assigned for the troops of
his State, out of the public cloathing imported or purchased by continental agents; and from the State for which he is
appointed, all the cloathing which may, at continental expence, be purchased in such State; of the latter, their quality
and price, he shall transmit exact accounts to the cloathier general, and, when required, submit the several articles to
the inspection of the cloathier general, or any person for that purpose deputed by him; he is to issue all cloathing
supplied as aforesaid to the regimental cloathiers on returns signed by the commanding officers of regiments.
He is to keep exact returns with each regiment, inspect those of the regimental cloathiers, see that the articles
delivered them are duly issued to the troops; and that all the cloathing procured at continental expence, above the
allowance made by Congress, drawn by non–commissioned officers and privates, is charged to them, and credited to
the pay roll; and that the commissioned officers receive what is credited to them and no more. He is to keep exact
accounts with the cloathier general in behalf of the public, charging the United States only with what is allowed to
the officers and men.
Whenever the troops of any State shall have received their proportion of cloathing from the continental stores,
the supplies purchased at continental expence by the State to which they belong, or from both, and there shall remain
a surplus which may be wanted for other troops not fully supplied, the sub– cloathier possessed thereof is to deliver
over the surplus to such other State cloathier as the cloathier general shall direct, taking duplicate invoices and
receipts from the State cloathier to whom they shall be transferred, one set of which he is to deposite with the
cloathier general, and the other to retain as his own voucher: the cloathier general on his part making proper entries
in his accounts, to do justice to all concerned.
When from a deficiency in the public stores, the troops of any State shall not have received their allowance of
cloathing, the State cloathier is without delay to represent their wants, particularly enumerated in a return for that
purpose to the executive authority of the State to which he belongs, requesting a speedy and adequate supply.
And in case a State, at its own expence, shall give and deposit with him any cloathing for the more comfortable
subsistence of it's quota of troops, in addition to the allowance made by Congress, he is strictly to pursue the
directions of such State, as well with respect to the distribution, as the vouchers for the delivery, and the manner and
time of settling his accounts: transmitting once in every six months a copy of such accounts to the cloathier general,
and as often, and whenever required, to the State to which he belongs.

THE REGIMENTAL CLOATHIER

The office of regimental cloathier shall always be executed by the regimental pay master.
He is to be furnished by captains or officers commanding companies with returns, specifying the men's names
and the particular wants of each; these he is to digest into a regimental return which being signed by the officer
commanding the regiment, and countersigned by himself with a receipt upon it of the supplies delivered to the
regiment, is to be lodged with the State cloathier, and become to him a voucher for the delivery in his settlement
with the cloathier general.
 He is to keep an account with each officer and soldier for every article delivered, taking a receipt from them, as
his voucher for the delivery: He is to credit them for the continental allowance, and to charge them for everything
they receive, making stoppages in the monthly pay rolls for whatever they may fall in debt to the public beyond the
allowance.
And to prevent in future unequal distribution of cloathing, either to the officers or soldiers, and the confusion
and complaints which have been heretofore occasioned by irregular applications from commanding officers of
regiments to public agents in different posts, it is hereby strictly enjoined on those agents, the cloathier general and
the sub or State cloathiers to issue no cloathing on any pretence whatsoever, but in the manner before prescribed:
nor shall any article be credited to either of them on settlement of their accounts, which is not so issued and
vouched.
And whereas discretionary changes of the uniforms of regiments have proved inconvenient and expensive: the
Commander in Chief is therefore hereby authorized and directed, according to the circumstances of supplies of
cloathing to fix and prescribe the uniform, as well with regard to the color and facings, as the cut or fashions of the
cloathes to be worn by the troops of the respective States and regiments, which shall, as far as possible be complied
with by all purchasing agents employed by the Congress, as well as particular States, by the cloathier general, sub or
state cloathiers and regimental cloathiers, and all officers and soldiers in the armies of the United States.
And when materials can be purchased instead of ready made cloathes, it shall always be prefered, in order that
they may be made up by the taylors of the several regiments, to save expence and prevent the disadvantages which
the soldiers frequently suffer from their unfitness; and instead of breeches, woolen overalls for the winter and linen
for the summer, are to be substituted.
26. New Jersey State Archives (Trenton), Revolutionary War Manuscripts (Numbered), Military Records,
reel 5807941917, document #5863.
27. Nathan Davis, "History of the Expedition Against the Five Nations, Commanded by General Sullivan,
in 1779," Historical Magazine (April 1868).
28. Washington to William Irvine, 23 December 1779, Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 17
(1937), 304–305.
29. Joseph M. Beatty, “Letters of the Four Beatty Brothers of the Continental Army, 1774–1794,”
Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, vol. XLIV, no. 3 (1920), 209–210. See also, Judi
Benvenuti and Mary Ann Cataldo, Morristown: The War Years 1775–1783 (Philadelphia, Pa.:
Morristown National Historical Park, 1979), 51.
30. Anthony Wayne to Joseph Reed, president of the Pennsylvania Assembly, dated “Camp at Totowa
17th Octr. 1780,” Pennsylvania Archives, vol. VIII, (Philadelphia: Joseph Severns & Co., 1853), 587–588.
31. Wayne to Reed, dated “Totowa, 25th Octr. 1780," ibid., 593.
32. Philip Katcher, Uniforms of the Continental Army (York, Pa.: George Shumway Publisher, 1981),
139. “Journal of Ebenezer Wild,” Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2nd series, vol. VI
(Boston, Ma.: 1981), 137.

B.
 Post-War Regimental Coats, circa 1785 and 1799

American Uniform Coat, circa 1785

West Point Military Museum, WPM #18307
(Photo courtesy of Joel Bohy)

The two coats examined below are included by way of comparison to Continental Army coats,
and merely for the fact they are among the earliest existing American regimentals.
____________
 America Militia Coat, circa 1785
(The following passage is courtesy of Matthew Keagle and West Point Military Museum.)
‘After over 30 years of continuous display, the oldest military uniform coat in the West Point
Museum collection and probably the oldest enlisted military uniform coat in the United States
was recently removed from exhibit, allowing it to be thoroughly studied inside and out. Paul
Ackermann, Museum Conservator, and Jessie Noda, Manhattanville College Intern, conducted
the following examination and documentary photography.

Notes:
-blue wool body, body and skirts lined with white wool serge or twill, sleeves unlined.
-trimmed in scarlet wool, scarlet wool hearts sewn to lower tail corners.
-ten 1 inch pewter buttons with corresponding functional buttonholes on each 2 inch wide, 21
long facing.
-four 1 inch pewter buttons with corresponding false buttonholes attached to each 2 3/4 inch
wide cuff.
-one small button (missing) and corresponding button hole closes the vertical slit on each cuff.
-stand and fall collar is 3 inches high and is tacked down on each front edge, blue wool collar
lining is not the same material as the coat body and may be a later alteration, red collar wool
shows signs of having been folded like a shawl collar before alteration.
-six 1 inch buttons and corresponding false buttonholes adorn tails (three per side).
-side pockets are functional with wool serge or twill flap lining and bag, four false buttonholes
adorn each pocket flap with four corresponding 1 inch buttons mounted blow each pocket.
-interior pocket in left breast with striped lining appears to be a later addition.
-all buttons corded in place with strips of blue wool.
-rear tails and sleeves are pieced together from multiple pieces of fabric.
-significant conservation has been preformed to lining consisting of inserting natural colored
linen with basting stitches.
-no hooks or eyes remain in the chest or tails.
-length from collar to tail is 47 inches, chest measurement is 36 inches, sleeve measurement is 23
inches, facings are 21 inches long and tails are 21 inches long.”

(Photo courtesy of Joel Bohy)

 (Photo courtesy of Joel Bohy)

(Photo courtesy of Michael Diaz, Curator of Uniforms, West Point Military Museum)
(Appended images of coat details courtesy of West Point Military Museum)
 American Militia Cavalry Coat, circa 1799

Henry Felty (Feldy) coatee, lieutenant, Hanover Troop of Horse, 1799

(With thanks to Dave Barno and Matthew Keagle)
_____________

(From: http://statemuseumpa.org/washingtons-army-buttons/ )
“This blue-and-red wool uniform coat, one of the earliest examples of military dress in the State
Museum’s collection, is attributed to Henry Felty of York County, Pa. Felty appears in the muster rolls of
the 8th Battalion, 1st Company of the York County Militia in 1778, and is listed in the 7th Battalion, 2nd
Company in 1779.
When Gen. George Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775, regulations regarding
soldier uniforms did not exist. Generally, enlisted men wore whatever they owned, resulting in many
variations in color and material. An unofficial standard was the linen hunting shirt, which many men at
this time would have owned. In 1779, Congress passed its first set of uniform regulations. Navy blue
became the official coat color of the Continental Army. Red lapels and cuffs identified soldiers who
hailed from the Mid-Atlantic region. White metal buttons signaled that the soldier was part of the
infantry, while yellow metal buttons were worn by members of the cavalry.
This blue-and-red wool uniform coat is attributed to Henry Felty of Heidelberg Township, York
County, Pa. In 1778, Felty, who appears in tax records as a saddler, purchased a “saddler’s bench” and
tools at an estate sale. He appears in the muster rolls of the 8th Battalion, 1st Company of the York
County Militia in 1778, and is listed in the 7th Battalion, 2nd Company in 1779. However, this coat does
not conform to Revolutionary War patterns of the period.
The cut and style of the coat, a coatee with shortened tails, as well as the flat white-metal button design,
appears to point to an infantryman who served in the army after 1795. Felty’s service continued to at least
until 1799, when he was listed as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Hanover Troop of Horse, which is the most
likely time in which he wore this uniform. Felty’s widow, Anna Maria, was awarded his veterans pension
upon his death in 1835. This coat is one of the earliest examples of military dress in the State Museum’s
collection, and was chosen by CAP Curator Katie McGowan as this week’s Pennsylvania Treasure. The
coat will be on display this fall at The State Museum as part of the upcoming Pennsylvania Icons exhibit.