Lynchburg Artillery Battle Shirt

This site will guide you in making a replica of the uniform shirt worn by the members of the Lynchburg (VA) Artillery, aka "Latham's Battery," at the First Battle of Manassas. The photo documentation of the shirt dates it to the Spring of 1861, and it was therefore worn at Manassas in July of that year, where the Lynchburg Artillery had four six pounders in the Army of the Potomac. We are choosing this uniform shirt because the 150th Manassas presents the opportunity to wear something extraordinary, and this colorful shirt fits the bill. It will also be appropriate for use at the 150th Fort Sumter reenactment in April, 2011. Although no VA artillery units were present there, battle shirts are documented in the SC Trappier mortar battery, which was present for the bombardment. (The Images of War: 1861-1865, Volume I, "Shadows of the Storm" pages 116 & 117).

The men of Ferguson's (SC) Artillery Co. and Stribling's Battery (VA) have agreed to adopt this shirt for both Fort Sumter and First Manassas, so that the units can present a uniform appearance when combining their forces. We will minimize costs by having the remainder of the uniform consist of readily available sky blue trousers, a red-trimmed gray kepi, black leather belt with either a civilian or militia buckle, white cloth haversack, and boots, brogans or civilian shoes. Since this is an early War impression, articles of clothing and accouterments should be clean and in good repair, leather blackened and brass shined. Since this shirt is wool, and worn as a second layer, it has been approved by the major of artillery of the Palmetto Battalion for use by Number One and Two men at the 150th Fort Sumter event; there will be no need for an additional jacket there if you are serving at the front of your gun.

The photo of the Lynchburg Artillery uniform (see the Photos page for a larger image) is unfortunately of poor quality, and efforts to locate the original image have not been successful. Based on the photo and research on similar shirts worn by units from the same geographic area, some general characteristics of the shirt can be listed. It is an overshirt, a pullover style worn over another shirt. It is made of gray wool, most likely. It is trimmed in a contrasting color, likely red, on the collar, cuffs and the chevron pattern on the breast. There are twelve buttons on the breast, and at least one on each cuff; there would have been buttons on the placket to close the shirt, as well. The twelve buttons may have been used to secure a separate bib, called a plastron, very commonly seen on this so-called "fireman's shirt" style. (see Uniforms of the Civil War, p. 226, by Robin Smith and Ron Field). Period photos show the battle shirts of central Virginia units worn tucked in, but you may choose to wear yours untucked, if more comfortable.

The goal of this project was to develop a shirt which was striking in appearance, reasonable in cost, relatively easy to construct of readily available materials, and a fair fascimile of the original. Note that this is not an exact reproduction, and no pretense of authentic style or materials is made. A reproduction would require an original shirt for study, and/or better photo documentation. It would also require the added expense of having us pay an expert to draft our patterns.

The shirt which we will sew developed as the result of a process which began when a reenactor friend and tailor in VA offered to draft a pattern based on the original photo. He kindly donated his time and talents to develop a size extra large pattern, from which I sewed the shirt pictured below.

It is lined and buttons up the front, and is not that different from a shell jacket or frock coat. While striking in appearance, I felt that it was too unlike the original photo to be used and too difficult for an inexperienced sewer, and so looked for an alternative. Online research failed to find a pattern which was an exact reproduction of the original, so I made some concessions to time and cost. I ordered three patterns from Galla Rock Shirt & Pattern Co.: GRSP- 301, the "Men's Shirt on the Square"; GRSP-302, the "Men's Over Shirt"; and GRSP-303, the "Men's Un-Cuffed Shirt." I first sewed the "Men's Over Shirt" shown below, but found it unsatisfactory in several ways. I disliked the excessive bunching of material where the sleeves fit the armholes, and it fit too tightly across the shoulders.

I then sewed the "Men's Shirt on the Square" modifying it to use the uncuffed sleeve style of the "Men's Un-Cuffed Shirt." Shown here, it is the shirt which we will learn to sew, and wear at Fort Sumter and First Manassas in 2011.

The resulting unlined shirt is of gray and red, 13 ounce wool. It is a pullover style with a fall collar and uncuffed, coat sleeves, and closes with a four button placket. The red trim is of cotton twill tape. Most of the sewing was done on a machine, including the buttonholes. You may be as persnickety about this issue as you wish. If you are planning to pay a seamstress to make your shirt, you can ask that it be handsewn if you want to pay for the extra time that it will take. I have little experience in sewing; this was my first shirt project, and I was more interested in speed and economy than historically correct construction techniques, a decision which led to raised eyebrows from my very historically correct spouse. To each his own.

If I can sew this shirt, so can you. I've already made the mistakes, so you won't have to. The directions which come with the GRSP pattern left much to be desired from a neophyte such as myself. As we go through the construction of the shirt, I will make corrections, clarifications and additions to the GRSP directions. If you want to go your own way and modify the pattern for a better fit, have at it. Remember how the original shirts were made in 1861: the local communities raised money to purchase the materials, and the shirts were sewn by the mothers, sisters, daughters and loved ones of the soldiers. Some were better seamstresses than others, and therefore the individual shirts differed in details of construction. If you want to custom fit the shirt to your body type, that is appropriate. So long as we all use the same fabrics and buttons, we will be doing what the ladies did in 1861.

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