Civil War Hats and Caps for Authentic Reenactments
Participating in a Civil War Reenactment has become a very popular pastime and hobby in the last forty-five or fifty years. Most, but not all, of these events are centered on a specific Civil War battle. Reenactments take place year around in the United States. The participants, more commonly called reenactors, collect authentic Union and Confederate uniforms and other gear that the Civil War soldier would have and use. An important part of any uniform is the service issue uniform hats.
Both the Union and Confederate armies, navies and United States Marine Corp issued hats to both officers and enlisted men and were essentially the same in appearance. The main difference would be the gray color for the CSA and blue for the US Army. Insignia, braid, etc. separate the enlisted and officer ranks. The hats would normally have the branch insignia attached as well. Of all these hats, the kepi and forage, or bummer, caps were the most common and worn by officers and enlisted men on both sides. Other issue hats included both enlisted and officers slouch hats and the Hardee dress hat.
