Units of the early time are really fun to paint, as units were quickly raised and sent to the front in a variety of uniforms. I further divide this time period into sub-phases: First Manassas and after. For First Manassas, almost anything goes. Units were often formed from pre-war militia companies, were hastily raised volunteers, or were a combination of the two.
To represent a unit of militia companies, several methods can be used. First, do some research (the Osprey book on state militia is good for this) into what militia company uniforms are known to have existed before the war, and paint the stands of a regiment in different uniforms. An excellent example of this practice would be the 1st Louisiana Special Battalion. This unit had five companies: one company dressed as Zouaves, "Wheat's Tigers"; one company dressed in gray Mexican War style uniforms, "The Old Dominion Guards"; one company dressed in blue; and two companies dressed in grey.
Second, paint each stand of a unit slightly differently; for example, give one stand blue kepis, one stand black facings; paint each stand in a different shade of gray, etc. Third, paint the entire regiment in the state regulation uniform if any such regulation existed. For instance, Mississippi had a fairly elaborate uniform as did Alabama.
To represent a unit of hastily raised volunteers, either paint the unit in a mixture of military and civilian clothing, or give the unit very basic military clothing, for example, plain gray coats with no facings. Some units, such as the 4th Alabama at Manassas, were a mixture of militia companies and volunteers. To represent this unit, I've painted three stands in militia uniforms and two stands in civilian clothing.
The post-Manassas time frame will consist of units dressed largely in regulation gray uniforms with or without facings. Facings can be regulation light blue or some local or state color.
As regiments were numbered in the order they were accepted for government service, the lower the unit designation, the higher the chance of having elaborate uniforms. The pre-war militia companies would be formed into regiments and sent to the front first.
Western armies should have very few elaborate uniforms for two reasons. First, the first regiments formed were sent to Richmond and ended up in what would eventually become the Army of Northern Virginia. Second, westerners tended to be more practical than their eastern counterparts. There were a few exceptions to this, such as the Crescent Regiment from New Orleans.
Officers of this time dressed in either complete, elaborate uniforms or in U.S. regulation uniforms if they hadn't yet bought new uniforms. Some states required U.S. type uniforms for their officers, such as Georgia and South Carolina.
There will be more frock coats for this time period than later.
Equipment tends to be new and mostly complete. Black leather gear is the norm, although white belts and cartridge box slings are not uncommon. Virginia issued 57,912 yards of white canvas to make cartridge box slings and belts.
Most haversacks are plain white cotton, canteens are tin, and blankets are a mixture of civilian and government issue.
Copyright 1995 by the American Civil War Society