Preface 



M 



, ILITARY DRESS HAS been a subject of much interest 

 for more than a century in Great Britain and on the 

 Continent where a large number of attractive militaPi' 

 prints ha\e been pubHshed and many scholarly works as 

 uell. Only in the last few decades has the United States 

 shown a similar interest. Publications such as the 

 Military Collector & Historian and its allied "Military 

 Uniforms in America" have made a serious effort to 

 fill this void, but no comprehensive study based on 

 extant specimens has yet been made. 



This volume is the first in a projected series on Regu- 

 lar Amiy dress based on the collections of the Museum 

 of History and Technology of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution. Specifically it is a descriptive, critical, and 

 documentary catalog of the headgear of the Regular 

 Establishment through 1854. Succeeding ^•olumes will 

 co\er headgear from 1854 to the present and uniforms 

 and footwear. The complete series will embrace the 

 period of the French and Indian War to the present 

 day. It is hoped that these volumes will not only help 

 fill a long neglected gap in our military histoiy but 

 will also reflect, to some extent the changing attitudes 

 of the Army itself and the American people as a whole 

 on matters of dress. Throughout our history the cri- 

 teria of a sharp military appearance, sense of tradition, 

 practicality, and economy have influenced in var^ing 

 degree the form of dress of the military establishment. 



Most students of military dress begin their work with 

 a study of appropriate regulations, orders, etc., but 

 soon run into the unenlightening and frustrating term 

 "according to pattern," particularly in the case of 

 enlisted men's uniforms. Officers' garb is generally de- 

 scribed in greater detail, especially in earlier regulations, 

 since officers purchased their uniforms from private 

 firms that required accurate descriptions. Enlisted men's 

 uniforms were procured or produced by the .\rmy 



with the result that detailed descriptions were not 

 deemed necessary since .samples or pattern pieces were 

 at hand. 



The rich collections of the Smithsonian contain 

 samples of most of the examples of enlisted mens head- 

 gear which have been imperfectly described in regula- 

 tions and orders. While this volume is not intended to 

 be a definitive history of military headgear for the 

 period covered, it is designed to illustrate, describe, and 

 document the specimens in the collections, furnish of- 

 ficial descriptions when available, and pro\idc perti- 

 nent correspondence on specific items, contemporan,- 

 criticism, and reasons for adoption of new models. 



All the specimens discussed in detail are from the 

 national collections, most of them from the comprc- 

 hensi\e War Department Collection, supplemented by 

 the numerous biographical collections of the museum. 

 Unmatched in scope and rarity, the War Department 

 Collection is worthy of a note of its own. In general, the 

 uniform elements of the collection date from 1832 and 

 the headgear collection from .some years earlier. 



The Army established rigid standards for uni- 

 forms, headgear, and equipment early in its history. 

 It furnished pattern pieces for those items which con- 

 tractors were required to follow and which government 

 inspectors used in checking completed work. This fol- 

 lowed essentially the practice of the Ordnance Depart- 

 ment. By 1813 it had become standard practice to 

 maintain a collection of samples in the responsible of- 

 fices of the War Department. Regailations, official cor- 

 respondence, and contracts of the period used the 

 phrase "according to pattern furnished' or "equal to 

 the sealed patterns." Pattern pieces were stamped with 

 an official seal of red wax and were retained after being 

 superseded by newer patterns, along with stocks of older 

 patterns that had been turned in, for u.sc by uniform 



