What to wear and when!
As we begin to move ever closer to taking the field a question we often get asked is what are you going to wear? Well the simple answer is a "Regimental Uniform", but what is that exactly? And how do you know what this uniform would have looked like.
We are fortunate that there are many surviving original documents pertaining to Henry Knox's Regiment of Artillery. We have digital copies of over 220 letters, invoices, returns, receipts and orderly books. Put all these together and they paint a relatively good picture as to the state of dress and equipage of the artillerists in early timeframe we are to focus on, 1775-1776.
We know that Knox's original men were from the remnants of Colonel Gridley's artillery which fought at Bunker Hill. Those original men would have marched to surround Boston after the events of April 19th 1775, these original artillery companies, along with militia and minute companies would have been wearing civilian clothing. Henry Knox took over from Gridley on October 17th 1775 and almost immediately set out on his famous expedition to retrieve the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga. He returned to Cambridge in January of 1776, as we know from history these cannons were emplaced around Boston, most famously upon Dorchester Heights forcing the British to evacuate the city on March 17th 1776. It is on March 18th, the very next day that we see the first mention of a prescribed uniform for the Regiment of Artillery.
Headquarters, Camb. March 18th 1776
"The Uniforms of the Reg. of Artillery to be as follows The coats, blue turn'd up with white linings, the skirts as to hook back the coat to come as low as the upper knee Buttons of the breeches. lapels and cape two inches wide, waist coats and breeches - white, stockings and half gaitors. The field officers, two epaulettes, the captains and captain-lieutenants one on the right shoulder. The leiut's one on the left shoulder."
As of March 18th 1776 we know what Knox wanted his men to look like, but it appears as if this took some time to implement. According to Solomon Nash, as he recorded in his journal the regiment was preparing to relocate, and on March 30th began the march to New York City, arriving there April 10th. It appears that in May the regimental began receiving a large amount of material to make uniforms, from copies of receipts we have, just one example is from May 20th and 21st 1776 the regiment obtained at least 163 1/2 yards of blue broad cloth, 154 1/2 of white swanskin and 31 3/4 yards of red cloth and "serge" as well as a very large amount of "yellow" (brass) buttons.
Of course all these uniforms would not have been made all at once, or issued to everyone overnight. As was common for many early Continental units there would have been a mix of civilian clothing with issued regimental uniforms and small clothes as tailors completed the orders. We know from some deserter advertisements from New York in 1776 that there was a mix of coats, jackets and breeches of buckskin, cloth and Russia drill. It will be the goal of this recreated unit to get to a point where we can be uniformly clothed, but a mix of civilian and regimental clothing will always be accepted as was the case during the actual time period.
Big thanks to Joshua Mason and Henry Cooke for helping behind the scenes make heads and tails of some of the more obscure wording and items on many of these receipts and orders. His expert eye has helped us craft what we think the men of Drury's Company under Knox would have looked like in 1775-1776.
Sources
Stephen Badlam Orderly Book,Badlam, Stephen, 1748-1815; Boston Public Library. American Revolutionary War Manuscripts Collection
Solomon Nash Diary, Janaury 1776-January 1777, New York Historical Society
Deserter Descriptions, The New York Gazette and The Weekly Mercury, New York, May 6, 1776 & June 10, 1776
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