Archaeological Textile Evidence for Historic Costume Study: Louisiana Tiger Rifles 1861

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to analyze fabric remains from the grave of an American Civil War confederate soldier of the Louisiana Tiger Rifles who was executed by military firing squad in December 1861 near Manassas, Virginia. No confirmed visual examples of this uniform exist.A small layered mass of fabric wasfound in this grave. Fourteen fabric samples in nine layers, none larger than 10.2 cm 2 , were analyzed by compound light microscope, stereomicroscope, and scanning electron microscopefor fiber content, color, and fabric construction. Garment silhouettes were not obtainable through this research nor were details on lower body garments. Upper body garments were identified as a dark silk cravat located in the top layer above a porcelain shirt button. The next layer was a blue wool, twill weave jacket with red, plain weave wool binding on the edge. The only other garment was a cream colored, plain weave wool shirt with interface stiffening in the front placket region. The data were used to help reconstruct the Tiger Rifles uniform for living history demonstrations.

A Framework for Assessing Military Dress Authenticity in Civil War Reenacting

“…Despite the intense interest in developing an authentic impression, reenactors seemed only remotely interested in specifications of reproduction fabrics6. There was some attention to fiber content 6 There has been some research work that documents the fabric construction details of Civil War uniform artifacts, such as Deegan's (1987) microscopic analysis of Louisiana Zouave fabrics; however, this particular aspect of historic apparel authenticity could benefit from further analysis.…”