Field Officers' Uniforms
Colonel Loren Kent
29th Illinois Infantry
Colonel Kent, although a regimental officer, appears to be wearing dark blue trousers. Color is difficult to judge from black and white photographs and Kent's straps also appear dark. General Orders Number 108 of 16 December 1861 changed regimental officers' trousers to sky blue rather than dark blue. Many group photographs of the war years show officers' trousers varied in shade. Some appear light and others dark within the same photograph. The one-eighth inch sky blue welt can be clearly seen running down the trousers. The color of staff officers' trousers was not affected by G.O. No. 108.