Men of the Military Telegraph Service
By Michael J. McAfee Organized out of wartime necessity in 1861, the Military Telegraph Service was a contract agency of the Quartermaster Department rather than the Signal Corps. It served
Category: Uniforms & History
The Battle Against Uniform Uniforms
By Michael J. McAfee The 10th Regiment of the New York State Militia was originally based in New York City. Its officers however, refused to adhere to an effort by
Military Schoolboys Fostered ‘Virtuous Citizens’
With no television, internet or any other form of electronic mass entertainment, 19th-century Americans turned to activities that tended to make them more enlightened and productive citizens. One such pursuit
The Zouave Mystique and the New York State Militia
By Michael J. McAfee The 1860 East Coast tour of Chicago’s United States Zouave Cadets, led by Elmer E. Ellsworth, proved an immense public success as it passed through some
The Well-Dressed Militiaman: More than a ‘Shirt-collar and a pair of Spurs’
The first interest in determining the accurate appearance of historic uniforms may have occurred in the 1850s.* In that decade, a historian attempted to debunk the notion that militia companies
There were Zouaves in 1865—and Plenty of Them
By Michael J. McAfee Way back in 1970, Dr. Francis A. Lord wrote a book titled Uniforms of the Civil War. We were friends, and I was honored to have
Greatcoats of Many Colors
By Michael J. McAfee When Massachusetts militiamen wearing varying uniforms, even within regiments, left the state, they were provided gray overcoats specially ordered by Gov. John Andrew to give a
Photos, a Lithograph and the Raucous 1st Cavalry
By Michael J. McAfee On the eve of the Civil War, the New York State Militia was beginning to reach an unparalleled degree of regimentation, drill and equipage. State authorities
Gettysburg’s Damned Black-Hats and Other Distinctive Fellers
By Michael J. McAfee By the early summer of 1863, most of the unusually dressed soldiers in the Army of the Potomac had been fairly well shaken out in the
The Often Overlooked and Generally Under-Appreciated Union Staff Officer
By Michael J. McAfee Napoleon purportedly commented that an army travels on its stomach. If that was the case, the commissary officers keep it moving. Likewise, ordnance officers maintain the