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Billy Yank: The Uniform of the Union Army, 1861-1865 (G. I.
A history of the United States Army during the time it served as the vanguard of western expansion and a description of its uniforms and equipment in the late nineteenth century. Each volume in this ongoing series combines detailed and informative captions with over 100 rare and unusual images. These books are a must for anyone interested in American military uniforms.
80 pages, Paperback
First published February 19, 2006
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April 14, 2023
Today's book, part of a small series published by Pen & Sword, focuses on what the Unionist or Federal Army of the United States looked like in the American Civil War. The Pen & Sword series, dedicated to the G.I. (a term that went on to define the American soldier for a long time) includes various titles, all very interesting and which focus on images rather than text. In this case, however, I must admit that very detailed captions accompany each of the 113 images in the book. The authors are Michael J. McAfee and John Langellier, the latter also wrote other volumes of the series which you will find here: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/John-....
This volume, although small in size, provides an excellent examination of the evolution of US Army uniforms from the eve of the war to its outbreak and during its unfolding. Many are the Militia units that are portrayed, with a collection of photos, in my opinion, very rare and which cannot fail to arouse curiosity in the reader. In fact, some units were then integrated as a company (because the effective numerical strength reached that level of command) in newly formed regiments. It is no mystery that the US army on the eve of the war counted few troops and that it resorted to local militias to fight the first battles, then going to form regiments on a state basis. Therefore, the differences between units appear very interesting and challenge some preconceptions resulting from various films and media that have spread over the years. For example, many northern units (defined as "Blue" and opposed to the "Grey" of the opposing Confederates) took to the field wearing grey uniforms. Of particular interest is also the discretion left to officers in wearing combinations of uniforms (discretion that increased in proportion to grade). Even the generals had the possibility of designing their own uniform (we have an example in the images concerning the soldier of the highest rank at the outbreak of the war, Winfield Scott). Another aspect of particular importance was the European military fashion which influenced that of the United States, both in the armies of the north and in those of the south. We thus have units composed of Scots with the Glengarry (the famous cap made famous by mythical regiments such as the Black Watch) or the Garibaldi Guard of the Hungarian colonel d'Utassy (who later went on to encounter problems resulting in his court-martial) which as the name of the unit says wore a uniform that was inspired by that of the Italian Bersaglieri, seen in action in the recent battles of the Risorgimento. In the same way, French fashion dominated (a fashion which influenced the cut of all unionist and southern uniforms in the adoption of the kepi) especially in the introduction of units known as Zouaves, of which, however, there are few photos in the book and which do not show well their picturesque uniform. It must be said that there are also some examples of cavalrymen and artillerymen although volumes are dedicated to them in their own right in the G.I. series.
What more can we say? The writer of this review is a uniformology enthusiast, one of those who notices even a small detail of a soldier's clothing and appreciates it as it differentiates it from the enemy or from another unit of the same army. There are specialized volumes that deal with this theme and there are many that deal with the American Civil War. But I believe that the value of this volume, coupled with its price, the rarity and beauty of the photos contained, the clever introduction and the detailed captions make it a volume of extreme interest that does not make it disfigure alongside more expensive works.
This volume, although small in size, provides an excellent examination of the evolution of US Army uniforms from the eve of the war to its outbreak and during its unfolding. Many are the Militia units that are portrayed, with a collection of photos, in my opinion, very rare and which cannot fail to arouse curiosity in the reader. In fact, some units were then integrated as a company (because the effective numerical strength reached that level of command) in newly formed regiments. It is no mystery that the US army on the eve of the war counted few troops and that it resorted to local militias to fight the first battles, then going to form regiments on a state basis. Therefore, the differences between units appear very interesting and challenge some preconceptions resulting from various films and media that have spread over the years. For example, many northern units (defined as "Blue" and opposed to the "Grey" of the opposing Confederates) took to the field wearing grey uniforms. Of particular interest is also the discretion left to officers in wearing combinations of uniforms (discretion that increased in proportion to grade). Even the generals had the possibility of designing their own uniform (we have an example in the images concerning the soldier of the highest rank at the outbreak of the war, Winfield Scott). Another aspect of particular importance was the European military fashion which influenced that of the United States, both in the armies of the north and in those of the south. We thus have units composed of Scots with the Glengarry (the famous cap made famous by mythical regiments such as the Black Watch) or the Garibaldi Guard of the Hungarian colonel d'Utassy (who later went on to encounter problems resulting in his court-martial) which as the name of the unit says wore a uniform that was inspired by that of the Italian Bersaglieri, seen in action in the recent battles of the Risorgimento. In the same way, French fashion dominated (a fashion which influenced the cut of all unionist and southern uniforms in the adoption of the kepi) especially in the introduction of units known as Zouaves, of which, however, there are few photos in the book and which do not show well their picturesque uniform. It must be said that there are also some examples of cavalrymen and artillerymen although volumes are dedicated to them in their own right in the G.I. series.
What more can we say? The writer of this review is a uniformology enthusiast, one of those who notices even a small detail of a soldier's clothing and appreciates it as it differentiates it from the enemy or from another unit of the same army. There are specialized volumes that deal with this theme and there are many that deal with the American Civil War. But I believe that the value of this volume, coupled with its price, the rarity and beauty of the photos contained, the clever introduction and the detailed captions make it a volume of extreme interest that does not make it disfigure alongside more expensive works.
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