i^VOLTIGEUR OR "ANDREWS" HAT, 1847^ 







NE DISTINCTIVE ITEM OF HEADGEAR WaS designed 



during the War with Mexico. Though it saw limited 

 use and no authenticated specimen is known to exist, 

 it is of interest as it was the prototype for a long line 

 of campaign hats used by the Army until World War 

 II and lately readopted for certain specialized person- 

 nel. At the start of the war Congress had leaned heavily 

 on volunteer units with the Regular Establishment 

 remaining unchanged. Early in 1847, howe\'er, it was 

 found necessary to add nine regiments of infantry and 

 one of dragoons, all regulars. Of the infantry units, 

 eight were of the conventional type, while the ninth 

 was organized as the Regiment of Voltigeurs and Foot 

 Riflemen."' 



Soon after the unit was organized, the Voltigeur 

 commanding officer. Colonel Timothy P. Andrews, 

 requested a felt hat for his command. As produced it 

 was described as ". . . broad-brimmed, soft felt, of 

 a pearl or stone color, capable of being looped up, but 

 with a stiff brim when let down, and with an orifice for 

 ventilation on each side of the crown that might be 

 closed at pleasure ...."" This hat could be folded 

 completely flat, worn as a tricorn, as a bicorn, or could 

 have the broad brim dropped all around to the horizon- 

 tal to provide maximum protection from the sun or 

 rain (fig. 48).^'° Approved by the Secretary of War, 

 500 of the pattern were procured,"" but none reached 

 the troops before the end of the war. In 1851 the 2d 



Regiment of Dragoons in Texas were issued 445 of 



them which had been in storage."" The campaign hat 



adopted in 1872 was based on the "Andrews' model. "° 



NOTES 



^" Callan, Military Laws, op. cit., Act of 11 Feb. 1847, 

 pp. 379-382. Theoretically, half of the unit was to be 

 mounted, each horseman being paired off with a foot sol- 

 dier who was to mount and ride double when speed was 

 needed. In practice, however, none of the Voltigeurs was 

 mounted ; the entire unit fought on foot. The regiment 

 was inactivated after the war and never reconstituted. 

 See John K. Mahon, "History of the Organization of the 

 United States Infantry," The Anny Lineage Book, vol. 2 

 (Washington, 1953), p. 16. 



^'®^ Medical Report upon the Uniform and Clothing 

 of the Soldiers of the U.S. Army, 15 April 1868 (Wash- 

 ington: Surgeon General's Office, 1868). (This is the so- 

 called Woodhull Report, compiled under the direction of 

 Assistant Surgeon Alfred Alexander Woodhull.) The de- 

 scription was determined by Woodhull after discussing the 

 hat with Col. Andrews and others ^vho had seen or \voni 

 it. The woodcuts reproduced ^vere based on this infor- 

 mation and included in the report. 



""Col. Henry Stanton, .Asst. QMG to Maj. Daniel 

 Tompkins, QM, Phila., 10 Apr. 1847, Cloth. Bk. LS, RG 

 92, NA. 



^'^ Jesup to Col. William S. Harney, 2nd Dragoons, 26 

 Feb. 1851, Cloth. Bk. LS, RG 92, NA. 



^" For a full discussion of the adoption of the 1872 

 campaign hat, see James S. Hutchins, "The Army Cam- 

 paign Hat of 1872," Military Collector & Historian (Fall 

 1964), vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 65-73. 



54 



