"Civil War Uniforms of Blue & Grey - The Evolution" Volume 1

[@JamesPolymer]

For the "Fire Zouaves" at 1:53, the flag he is carrying has an interesting story. Their commander, Col. Elmer Ellsworth, gained nationwide fame before the war by turning the Chicago National Guard Cadets into a touring military drill team, performing complex athletic feats while bedecked in flashy French "Zouave" uniforms. In 1860 he worked at Abraham Lincoln's law firm and assisted in his presidential campaign, becoming close personal friends with him in the process. When the Civil War broke out Ellsworth raised a volunteer unit composed of firefighters from New York City, designated the 11th New York Volunteer Infantry. (At the time fire companies were a cross between civil servants and street gangs, and competition between them often turned violent; such men were considered ideal for putting down a rebellion.) In April of 1861 he brought his men to Washington, D.C. to join the growing Federal army. At the time a hotel in Alexandria, VA had been defiantly flying a Confederate flag just across the river from the Capital; the day after Virginia voted to secede, Ellsworth led the 11th New York in occupying the town. Entering the hotel with seven men, he climbed to the roof and tore down the flag, only to be gunned down while descending the stairs by the building's owner. Ellsworth was the first "celebrity" killed in the war, and the Union mourned him as a martyr (conversely, the South extended that honor to the hotel owner, who was killed by one of Ellsworth's men). The Confederate flag he was carrying at the time, now stained with his blood, is currently displayed at the New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center in Saratoga Springs.

[@VersusARCH]

4:15 I guess 18th Ohio got a fair share of friendly fire in those gray uniforms.

[@LionHeartFilmWorks]

Thanks for watching. Volume 1 - presented here - takes us from just before the war to early 1862. Volume 2 will pick up the story from there.

[@edwardvaldez4467]

You should do the evolution of Us Marine corps uniform or the Us Navy uniform Soon

[@robkunkel8833]

The large cap on the Virginia Military Institute (2:17) has an emblem like the Army Corps of Engineers. Is that what this school was? Land Engineers?

[@robkunkel8833]

“2..75 million soldiers who fought and died wearing these uniforms”??? That number is nuts. Here, in the reply, is the first research that I found.

[@robkunkel8833]

“Approximately 620,000 soldiers died from combat, accident, starvation, and disease during the Civil War. This number comes from an 1889 study of the war performed by William F. Fox and Thomas Leonard Livermore. Both men fought for the Union.”

[@A1Authority]

*HEADS UP CIVIL WAR HISTORIANS!* As of this notification, see what *WIKIPEDIA* has posted as a Confederate Flag!!! It's an SJW nightmare, and you have reason to hound them, big-time! For those of us who hold the lives and the reasons the war was fought as sacred or worthy of respect, this is proof that WIKIPEDIA is a biased, unreliable, history-bending pile of shit. *Rally, men and sisters of the cause!* A wrong needs righting!!!

[@stumpedsuper2014]

I'm going to use these as models for my RDR2 character

[@angelapotato4756]

My great great Uncle “John Anthony Copeland jr.” fought the raid with John brown and my cousin I forgot his name. But sadly they were both hanged :/

[@dmc8921]

No wonder they find so many buttons on the metal detecting shows.

[@moreston4366]

Wheat's Battalion of Louisiana Tigers, specifically company B (the one depicted here) is by far, one of my favourite units in the Civil War to learn about (especially as someone who isn't American), their story is crazy, I recommend everyone to read about them. Made almost entirely of immigrants and poor dock workers from New Orleans, they became one of the most feared Confederate Units out there, even the Confederates themselves feared them, in my best way to describe them, it would be your stereotypical band of pirates, just on land. And even when the Unit disbanded, the men were transferred into an equally as crazy unit, Coppens Zouaves. And Coppens Zouaves are a whole other story, they were probably more feared than the Tigers, they were nicknamed "Jeff Davis' Pet Wolves", when they were first deployed they stole a train.. Twice.. And that train was the train transporting them off. When they stole it, many of the men actually jumped on top of the train causing the first casualties their Unit took. In one of their first Battles, a group of the men went to a little hospital set up for the Union soldiers, and one Soldier who was in so much pain was screaming "Just put me out of my misery!" so ofcourse, one of the Zouaves heard him, and killed him with the but of his rifle infront of everyone, and got away with it. At the 2nd Battle of Bull Run I think was when they resorted to throwing rocks at their enemy after running out of ammunition, then a while later they fought at the Battle of Antietam, and it was their last major battle, as they were reduced from over a hundred men, to just 12 able ready men by the end of the battle due to refusing to give up their position whilst fighting the Iron Brigade. Again, most of these Zouaves were foreign, mostly French and Swiss, their Officers were also French, and commands were given in French, they also included British, German and Americans. So many Foreigners fought in this war, never forget them, as most were forced into it, or were extremely patriotic to a country that did little for them.

[@gulfrelay2249]

Yorkshireman only natural.Zouaves were French troops,first to be armed with rifles and to deploy in open formations i.e.skirmishers ,using terrain like modern infantry.

[@mariocaluda8518]

Yorkshireman 7

[@mariocaluda8518]

Yorkshireman l0

[@michaelstein7510]

Yorkshireman The Fighting Tigers are certainly a fascinating unit. A perfect microcosm of what Louisiana was like at the time. Though we had been an American State for fifty years, we were still far more French than American at that point in most of the state. My Franco-German ancestors seven generations ago came to Louisiana from Alsace in 1832. Everyone spoke French until my grandparents’ generation, when kids were forced to speak English in the classroom or face corporal punishment. Many people don’t realize the mascot of Louisiana State University is named the Fighting Tigers after this Confederate unit, instead of the animal.

[@Rexag]

Yep, LSU mascot is named after them, but everyone thinks it's a Bengal Tiger...LOL Nope..Geaux Tigers LOL

[@ziggymorris8760]

Francis Xavier Schinkel 12th Pennsylvania Cavalry 113th Volunteers April 1861 - July 1863 My great, great grandfather.

[@kirkdelyons]

Well done Bros - but background is way to dark - especially with all those Navy blue uniforms

[@frenchfan3368]

Great job and thanks for mentioning The Battle of Wilson's Creek in MO. So many people overlook the Transmississippi Theatre of War when studying the Civil War. High School and even university textbooks rarely even mention the Battle of Carthage, Missouri (considered by many to the first battle of the Civil War) or even the Battle of Mine Creek, KS (second largest cavalry engagement of the Civil War).

[@alphacrusaders6535]

French Fan Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about it :) [I found out about through the Historical-Fiction novel, “Rifles for Watie”

[@fawkeeenset]

There's more western stuff to come..... Stay tuned for the next volumes... So much more great stuff to see.

[@A1Authority]

*HEADS UP CIVIL WAR HISTORIANS!* As of this notification, see what *WIKIPEDIA* has posted as a Confederate Flag!!! It's an SJW nightmare, and you have reason to hound them, big-time! For those of us who hold the lives and the reasons the war was fought as sacred or worthy of respect, this is proof that WIKIPEDIA is a biased, unreliable, history-bending pile of shit. *Rally, men and sisters of the cause!* A wrong needs righting!!!

[@ScreamingPatriot]

Most of my family fought for the Confederacy. My great great great uncle died in the battle of Bull Run right next to Jackson. The rest survived the rest of the war. Some were wounded but my great great grandfather lived till 1903.

[@Demicleas]

ScreamingPatriot bull run? Didn't we win that battle?

[@deutchensoldaten8959]

Grandmaster demicleas yeah we did a d jackson wasnt killed in bull run

[@williamhammer7097]

Much respect to your grandfather. Mine was also fighting for the confederacy. He was a sharp shooter at Gettysburg and got shot in the leg. They saved his leg but sent him home for the rest of his days until he died in the early 20s

[@billybob9584]

my great great uncle also died at bull run my great great grandfather lived till 1913 died at 93

[@jimmiejohnson4871]

I had family members fighting for the North and the south Only one Died at the Battle of Shiloh in TN. One was a Seargeant in the Union. He deserted because the whole confederate army was marching towards the area where he was at Forgot which Battle but. He was arrested and then Escaped and hid in his sisters house for the rest of the war. At Shiloh the one that died who fought for the confederates had a brother who fought for the Union also at Shiloh.

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Army Quartermasters must have a hard time supplying their uniforms...

[@TheWeatherbuff]

Excellent work, and I hope some kids watch this and learn a little. Having done hard-core CW re-enacting for six years, (in my younger days), I really appreciated this video. Nice job bringing our history to life. Thank you.

[@sarahcoffin3265]

This was amazing !! Thank you for working so hard on these uniforms . It helped immensely with my school project . Its vexing when people get the uniforms wrong .

[@StevenTheAristolianNerd]

2:45, the leather neck color was something more popular with the Marines, and it was worn with dress uniform, and ceremonial reasons only. It prevented the neck from needed motions in battle.

[@projeftcancelled9555]

Great touch in having the African American fellow showing up as the Navy, 10,000 African Americans were in the Navy during the Civil War.

[@MrSirAngrist]

No he couldn't. There is no documented evidence of any black, free or slave, serving in the Confederate military.

[@Tugboat1861]

It’s the war that Brother fought against Brother.

[@BelleroseQC]

5:22 So badass.

[@niederhofertx5989]

Very sharp looking uniforms!

[@Hi-lb8cq]

Wow...I got goose bumps watching this video....such a beautiful video.....love the visuals

[@7bootzy]

The first musical composition sounds like a variation on John Murphy's "Adagio in D Minor" in case anyone's wondering.

[@jerrymail]

My favorite outfits are those of the zouaves, but in 1861 and 1862, there were a lot of varied and interesting outfits on both sides. Very nice and interesting video, thanks a lot ! Hope to see the third part soon :)

[@madgeordie4469]

So some Northern units wore grey and some Southern ones wore blue? That must have been confusing on a battlefield!

[@ScreamingPatriot]

4:41 that’s my home town :) I always loved to reenact their as well

[@michaelsoland3293]

Just look at the genius in designing and training the Sharpshooters, their equipment was different from everybody else

[@lj2645]

God bless both Union and Confederate soldiers that fought and lost their lives in the great struggle that tore our nation apart. We need to remember and respect both sides equally. There was no good vs evil just two American sides that held strong opposing beliefs.

[@che5850]

Logan Jones sure?Hmph???

[@uptownsanz4465]

Well said my friend

[@Mutlap]

Gaming with Che what did you learn in school about the civil war? Anything, no the teachers Union too busy telling you how great North Korea is

[@pcm9482]

thanks for having a texas cavalry man

[@fawkeeenset]

The confederate Reenactor ;)

[@RalphReagan]

The confederate Reenactor my great grandpa was in the 1st Texas Mounted Rifles

[@yourlocalt72]

love or hate america but you must admit that they have badass uniforms

[@zyzor]

Can you do a video on the revolutionary war uniforms for both sides. The uniforms of that era were very diverse and colorful for both the Americans, the loyalists, and the British and hessians

[@yohanspring3076]

The US Army Regular Infantry hat is prefect, I wish I could get a hand on one.

[@rizzlerazzleuno4733]

Thank you for making and posting this. And many thanks to your participants and to the folks that make such good reproduction uniforms.

[@thecatholicbananaduck1232]

Awesome video, I really hope that volume 2 has more representation and diversity for the Confederate side; The Confederacy had so many different styles. Like the Cherokee Braves, Irish regiments, Volunteers from the Kingdom of Naples, and so many more! Really hope to see some of these, Deo Vindice!

[@CertifiedAmen]

the confederate had cool uniforms

[@ScreamingPatriot]

TROLLER4439KMA - I always loved the variety in the uniforms in the CSA. They also used so old Virginian revolutionary uniforms in the first Manassas.

[@wolfsmith2865]

Excellent video. As a collector as USCW artillery projectiles, it's too easy to forget about the men who served and their personal equipment.

[@fawkeeenset]

Wolf Smith you stay tuned in for the rest of the series. Much more to come believe me :)

[@mrivard81]

Damn. Well done. You even had the presence of mind to show them with the accurate type of rifle too... It's a detail that can really go overlooked.

[@mafia2boy33]

I love uniforms! Specally the ones who have a great story to tell!

[@davidcouvillon6670]

John Brown's raiders had "slant breech" Sharps Carbines.

[@fernav71]

Great vid. Thanks. Waiting for Vol 2

[@olivergalbraith4363]

do a video showing the different military uniforms of various countries during the American Civil War i.e. Mexico, France, Great Britain, Austrian Empire etc.

[@johnfrancis7765]

Wow as an English man I'm impressed all look determined and very noble a well presented reflection on the conflict and its protagonists

[@thisislaflaretv5250]

John Francis English people are dope

[@13bravo72]

excellence presentation. very impressive and well researched. makes me want to be a reenactor again. looking forward to the next video. Well done! h.m. Adams, late of Co. F, 48th NY.

[@kb4xley]

This is a must for every reenactor - aspiring or veteran.

[@slomo1562]

My old eyes need more contrast in the background if not more light on the subject matter. Thanks for the video.

[@Ronin-ze2yi]

One of the best Videos on KZbin! Thanks to you, now i understand, why there was so much battlefield confusion happend in the Civil War at the early stage

[@coreybrand2777]

Fantastic video. And the transition music at the start of the Civil War was a great touch!

[@hancock63]

Double set trigger on the sharpshooter's Sharps rifle at 5:48. Nice touch.

[@robertlane6382]

My middle name is that of the commander of the 11th NY(1st Fire Zouaves): Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth. Is that an impression of Cpl. Francis Brownell, who avenged Ellsworth's death and took custody of the rebel flag at Alexandria VA?

[@ronsbeerreviewstools4361]

It appears both sides had Blue & Grey uniforms. Thanks for posting. R I P Pvt. David H. Eaton 1st Mass. volunteers.

[@CORPN]

Awesome video, should do one covering the Tejanos in grey and the Native American Confederates.

[@octodaddy4494]

Nice uniforms! My fav was the 1861 Regular infantry.

[@Hinkel84]

Thats great! Love the grey union uniforms in 1861! :)

[@ScreamingPatriot]

Please add Virginia Cadets to WoR

[@jspee1965]

Extraordinarily well done! BRAVO!

[@benn454]

I understand the desire to avoid controversy, but the last one was a perfect time to have the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia alongside the (actual) Confederate flag. Great video either way. Keep it up.

[@mrmarmellow555]

benn454 I know dat history man but it's not an flag video and he doesn't want to get flaged for Sedision Aye Dogg! 😸👦 ✌

[@VooDooTennessee]

What?

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

I know he is trying to communicate with us...

[@nehrigen]

Well, the battle flag wasn't there for the earliest battles, so it being listed as "1861" it would be more likely to use the national flag (as was shown) than the battle flag (Which wasn't brought about until late in the year).

[@ScreamingPatriot]

Shandwen correct and the only reason the battle flag was created is so the generals can tell who is who. First both sides wore civilian cloths then both wore blue then finally it was blue and grey.

[@legomaker9613]

Awesome job on Volume 1. Keep up the good work.

[@diptastik5651]

That was excellent , thank you . Great background music as well .

[@MrSirAngrist]

Nice inclusion of the flag from the Marshall House with Ellsworth's blood on it. HOWEVER, that Regular from the 6th Infantry needs to polish his brass...all of it. It was a mark of distinction for the regulars outside of the drill and bearing.

[@darthXreven]

this is cool, I didn't realize there were so many different uniforms during the civil war

[@shadowtornado7778]

Really well done keep up the great work

[@walnzell9328]

If Van Zandt county had become powerful enough, I wonder what they're uniforms would've looked like. Van Zandt County in Texas should be seen as the third faction of the Civil War. They declared independence from the CSA and the Union. They defeated a unit of Union cavalry while heavily outnumbered, but then got so drunk that the next day they were all arrested. However, all of them escaped. The Union made warrants for their arrest, but they never carried them out. To this day, their Declaration of Independence has never been repealed, technically making them independent. Long live the Free State of Van Zandt!

[@cropman123]

Very good video!!! It is a fact that early in the war many Union units wore gray and some Confederate units wore blue causing many friendly-fire accidents at the start of the war. I was wondering, is the 1859 John Brown Raider carrying a Spencer carbine? I did not think they were made till late 1860.

[@LionHeartFilmWorks]

He is carrying a Sharp's Carbine and those were made starting in the middle 1850s. Called "Beecher's Bibles" - as guns purchased by northern abolitionists for John Brown's men in Kansas.

[@fawkeeenset]

You can even find one on the 1856 wreck museum of the Arabia.

[@fawkeeenset]

The reason the Confederate flag evovles into the very distinct design of the cross is due to the original appearing as the US flag in the smoke and confusion of the early battles. Especially with the uniforms being a Hodge podge early on.

[@luisparga7830]

cropman123

[@Duececoupe]

Fantastic....just got yourself a new fan and subscriber! 👍👌👏

[@jmeyer3rn]

I’m reading this awesome book called The Alice Network. Great video. Thanks. Love your set btw.

[@breadwineandsong4014]

What a great video! Thanks so much for putting this together.

[@ST-zm3lm]

I wish we still used the 1861 Regular’s Uniform as a ceremonial dress

[@HistoryBoy]

Thank you so much for making this series LionHeart Filmworks!

[@teukurajahitam8225]

How The Americans making her own stories to Unified each others. History never lie.

[@ozangler5642]

A truly magnificent series! Steve.

[@woffus]

Great video. Really useful and informative. Brings it all alive! Well done.

[@coletonhelms7830]

My great great grandfather was a confederate soldier thank y’all

[@peterblood50]

Excellent video. Although I always have a problem with Navy personnel being shown with no shoes. I have the same problem with Napoleonic history. I won't say that sailors of either era didn't go without shoes as the situation may require, but to portray them as shoe-less is just ludicrous. Extremes of hot and cold weather alone would preclude this. A sailor, no matter how inured to the weather as he might be, standing in the rigging off Newfoundland would be no less susceptible to frost bite than anyone else, and no less susceptible to damage running across a splinter strewn deck during combat. Even ordinary gun practice would be much more dangerous to the foot health of a sailor without shoes as compared with those that had them. A ship runs on it's crew and any situation that would needlessly lessen the number of crew available, or the effectiveness of that crew in combat, would be considered a serious problem for the Captain of that ship and immediately (ASAP) be addressed.

[@tylergidley1014]

peter blood I agree with you to an extent but you must realize that during the civil war the US navy blocaded tge southern prts which included Virginia, Georgia, Florida, And Lousiaina all of which had extremely warm climates which could lead to the sailors contracting bacteria and fungus if they sweat too much inside of their shoes. However, durinf the winter months I undoubtedly believe that they would have worn shoes. Have a good day my friend👍

[@JohnnyButtons]

Wow.... thank you for producing this piece of American history!!! #HistoricTown

[@SarisTX]

more please!

[@Grandmaster-uj2zg]

What the music that starts around 3:00 ?

[@daviddealba1988]

Is it true that a few Southern volunteers showed up in American Revolution's vintage clothes, most likely handed down from their grandparents, at the outbreak of the war?

[@GeneralCodyHD]

NICE!

[@stevemeska7784]

Very well done.

[@4tncavalry]

Great video. Where did y'all find the Cadet uniforms? I've been looking for a supplier of those for a few years now.

[@jwhiskey242]

Well done. Didnt see the point of the "John Brown raider" though.

[@fawkeeenset]

J Whiskey the spark that started it. Those men were fighting evil.... They were brave men who deserve honor.

[@fawkeeenset]

If you don't see the point of that than you don't know shit aboit the war.

[@bobflendorg1064]

B. Wheatley: They were left-wing terrorists who attacked a federal arsenal. The terrorist attack was defeated by the United States Marine Corps.

[@meirsolomon5626]

They had to meet a quota.

[@georgewashington6877]

B .Wheatley honor? They hacked up 5 unarmed men with swords at night and john brown shot one in the head...no honor in that bud.

[@Tanakun09]

Awesome video. Love it. Keep up the good work.

[@charleschapman6810]

The federal government supplied regulation uniformsforthe state militia which were available for call-up to federal service. They chose grey as the color for militia units, blue for the regular army. Civil war regiments on both sides were mobilized by calling up the state militia companies and the semi-independent volunteer companies who chose-and paid for, their own. This could cause confusion because some regiments consisted of 10 pew-war militia companies grey, while others were composed of 10 volunteer companies who had equptthemselvesin the regular's blue uniforms.Add some states, like Rhode Islanswhich designed its own militia uniformsandsome of the more ambitious vaunter companies, which chose zouave uniformsandthe two federal sharpshooter regiments green, plus the use by both sides of "branch"colors like the facing colors of European troops-blue for infantry, red for artillery, yellow or orange for cavalry and the results both colorful and confusing until the initial uniformswore out and were replaced by government issue standard designs!

[@georgemakuca4135]

"Are you gonna pull your pistols out or gonna sing Dixie!"

[@blukeblue1235]

Great job. I'm glad you didn't have any Corn Fed Boys as models. And no Farbs.

[@pitbullruss5636]

Badass thank you ..... Latino American we fought on both sides .... brave men on both sides..... no hate please just history !

[@dannyfivefifty]

Outstanding video very informative.Would have like to see 54th Mass>

[@pcm9482]

great video

[@jeanmartox3570]

merci a vous pour votre travail, je m'abonne!!!Bravo!!

[@MusketMan1997]

You forgot The Citadel (South Carolina Military Academy)

[@fightingbear8537]

Very educational!

[@xalthzdornier4805]

Good to see African americans In this video dressed as a sailor cuz almost 11,000 serve during the war

[@yotypicalgamer2727]

Deo Vindice!

[@Consfearacy22]

cheers

[@ewaldseiland8558]

A Quaker as a soldier? Unusual

[@fredthebear277]

Good video

[@christianstrasmann2877]

The 1st USSS had dark green uniforms with non-reflective buttons.

[@abwihamwinkin]

I really appreciate you making this video. Any and all information that helps teach the youth of today about these men’s bravery is always welcome. (Also as a side note, and I hate to be that guy, but the Spencer Carbine wasn’t put to market until 1860. It wouldn’t have made its way to Harper’s Ferry quite yet. But for everything else, bravo!)

[@LionHeartFilmWorks]

He's carrying a Sharps Carbine, not a Spencer. Sharps were around for many years by 1859 and were thew weapon purchased for Brown to use during the raid (and before).

[@LionHeartFilmWorks]

Thanks for the kind words - keep checking back for the next Volume (coming out one week from now).

[@abwihamwinkin]

LionHeart FilmWorks Oh, you are absolutely right. I didn’t notice the non-studded stock. Sorry about the mistake on my part! Like I said, great work on the uniforms!

[@aarongomez5016]

Like it or not this is History of the United States.

[@overcomerscounseling9402]

For those of you who might be curious, the reason why the volunteer militiamen from ohio is in grey is because most state militia units used grey as a standard color for their uniforms, but it varied from state to state. This is also likely why the confederates used grey for their uniform color, as well as most of officers were from the Virginia military institute and from west point.

[@nehrigen]

Overcomers Counseling "most" would be a vast overstatement. There were many, but not anywhere near most. Perhaps a better way of saying it would be that most senior officers were graduates of west point or VMI.

[@galoon]

Another major factor was the fact that grey was an inexpensive colour to produce.

[@ColRAPR]

Outstanding !!

[@jayceecampos6736]

my favorite is the berdan 1st united states sharpshooter 1862

[@davidbritton1802]

VERY. GOOD. AND. INFORMATIVE. VIDEO-!!!!!!! THAMKS-!!!!!! DJB@PA.U.S.A..!!!!