Campaign Clothing: Field Uniforms of the Indian War Army (Part. 2 1872-1886)

This second volume in the "Field Uniforms of the Indian War Army" series covers the period 1872 to 1886 when the foundation was laid for the modern "Army" uniform. The stockpiles of clothing left over from the Civil War were dwindling away and Congress and the Quartermaster Department had begun to succumb to the begging and pleading of officers and enlisted men on the frontier for new, properly designed uniforms.

Rutledge traces the development of new trousers, jackets and undershirts the ancestor of today's "T-shirt", coats, boots and cold weather gear. Again, the emphasis is on what the regulations called for and what the soldiers actually wore when on campaign. Hollywood never got it right. If any cavalry trooper ever wore a yellow bandana, he bought it himself. White hats were never worn they gave your position away and were too hard to keep clean. Fancy leather gloves were privately purchased, not issued, and the buffalo overcoat for cold weather wear was issued sparingly because they were very expensive.

For every regulation quoted, Rutledge provides at least one, and often more, quotations from Army personnel showing how the issue item was modified, really worn or substituted. Line drawings and period photographs accompany the text.