Union Army Uniforms and Insignia
of the American Civil War 1861-1865

Presented by Dr. Howard G. Lanham

Winslow Homer's Home, Sweet Home

This site is built around the text of the U.S. Army Uniform Regulations of 1861. However, it contains much more. There are over 200 links to images with discussions of Civil War uniforms, insignia and other items. There is also a long bibliography of sources of information and links to other sites on the World Wide Web. This site contains information only on the Union Army. The Links Page includes other sites discussing naval uniforms. The dress of the Confederate Army would made a interesting site as well, but surviving Confederate images and material is much more difficult to acquire and Confederate uniforms are much less standardized than their Northern counterparts. Building a comparable site devoted to Confederate uniforms, insignia, and equipment would be a much more challenging and time consuming endeavor.

Features of the Site

• 1861 Uniform Regulations for the U.S. Army

  
  

  Illustrated with links to Period Drawings, Photographs and Artifacts

  
  Index to Text of the U.S. Army 1861 Uniform Regulations
  Index to Links within Site (Illustrations and Discussions)

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• Illustration List

  
  

  This is a shortcut to view a list of individual discussions within the site.

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• New Material since January 2006

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• Special Discussions of General Topics Related to Civil War Army Organization, Uniforms and Insignia

  • Organization of the Volunteer Force
  • Introduction to the 1861 Uniform Regulations
  • Generalizations regarding the U. S. Army Civil War Uniform
  • Photography in the Civil War (Background)
  • The Use of Distinctive Colors in Civil War Uniforms
  • General Orders Relating to Uniforms 1861-1865
  • Weapons and Tactics (a Minority Viewpoint)
  • The Use of Cavalry and Artillery (Commentary)
  • The History of U.S. Cavalry

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• Special Discussions of Individual Topics Related to Certain Civil War Army Uniforms or Insignia

  The site has many short discussions these are selected longer ones.

  • Button Pattern Indicating Rank on Frock Coats
  • Distinctions between Foot and Light Artillery
  • Officers Short Coats and Jackets
  • Stylistic Features of Civil War Colonel's Shoulder Straps

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• Album of Shoulder Straps

  
  

  Shoulder straps were an important rank insignia and a particular interest of the webmaster.

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• Information on the Shoulder Strap Book written by H. G. Lanham

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• Bibliography Civil War Uniforms and Insignia

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• Is it Civil War? A Quiz

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• Militaria Links Page

Four Star Site Award from Civil War Interactive

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All Rights Reserved. All contents of this site may not be reproduced without permission by Dr. Howard G. Lanham, M.D. I would like to thank the many people who have contributed information to this site.