Why did the 33rd VA have blue uniforms?

[DeoVindice61]

Issued by whom?

State of Virginia.

[HWM_Sharpe]

OK I reenact as the 33rd Co E I can answer all of this. The entire 33rd VA was issued blue frocks due to what they had on hand at the time. They were one of the few units that as an entire regiment had matching uniforms. Basicly if there was a uniform at the depot or the camp that could be issued even at the company level it was done. There were Union troops who wore grey at first manassas. There was also a company in I belive it was the 4 Va Inf. that had Revolutionary war uniforms on. The US army at this time did have a uniform for the regular troops but not one for militias this would mean Militias could wear whatever they wanted. It was without a doubt the most confusing battle of the war. Even worse was the Union officers kept mistaking the Confederate 1st National flag as the US flag which the 33rd used to there advantage in a charge and fired at a artillery battery killing or wounding almost every man and horse in the battery.

[George385]

didnt the Stonewall Brigade consist of the veteran soliders from other wars? I think quite alot of them had previous military experience, did they not?

[DeoVindice61]

Id most likely imagine if they were veterans, must be veterans of Mexican-American war then.

[George385]

Id most likely imagine if they were veterans, must be veterans of Mexican-American war then.

yea, maybe even some of them were west point graduates, probably the officers though.

[DeoVindice61]

Obiviously Stonewall Jackson himself was a teacher at VMI.

As for officers, I dont know their exact previous schooling information.   

[George385]

Obiviously Stonewall Jackson himself was a teacher at VMI.

As for officers, I dont know their exact previous schooling information.

derp derp derp 

neither do i, but i would guess they would have been militarily educated beforehand.

[HWM_Sharpe]

Um quite of few of the troops and officers were Mexican war veterans. Jackson himself was a Mexican war Veteran. Cummings was a veteran as well. Im not sure about the rest but without a doubt there were some.

[Duuring]

Quite a few? And how much is that? 2%? 5%? Even in the officer corps, those with experience were outnumbered by far by those without. The amount of men with combat experience (which is NOT the same as being a veteran) was extremely low in the volunteer armies of both the CSA and USA.

[HWM_Sharpe]

Quite a few? And how much is that? 2%? 5%? Even in the officer corps, those with experience were outnumbered by far by those without. The amount of men with combat experience (which is NOT the same as being a veteran) was extremely low in the volunteer armies of both the CSA and USA.

But in the first brigade they had a much higher amount of vets in comparison to the rest of the then Army of the Valley/Potomac. Um I think that at least colonel on up for the CSA was mostly vets of the Mexican war. I know for a fact that the 1st Lt of the Emerald Guards was a vet of the Crimean war. I mean all you need for an effective fighting force for the CS was competent officers and people who have an idea of what they were doing. It also helps that the Seminole and Apache wars were fought which also helped the confederates. The Unions biggest mistakes were that they had all of there veterans in the US regulars whereas the Confederates put them in with any unit so you had guys who would know what they are doing mixed with guys who don't.

[Duuring]

You're naming a few individuals and then use that to back up a ridicious statement. What you think or believe isn't an argument.

Soldiers from the south in the regular army weren't allowed to leave the army. Only officers could resign their commissions, and many northern officers accepted positions in the volunteer units. But once again, just because you had served in the regular army doesn't mean you had combat or command experience.

[DeoVindice61]

Soldiers from the south werent allowed to leave the Army indeed. But you know, there a little thing called "desertion"

[Duuring]

Ha! There were over 8.000 Dutch soldiers still in French service when the Dutch revolt broke out in 1813, 5.000 of those within the Netherlands. Tell me about desertion. 

[HWM_Sharpe]

You're naming a few individuals and then use that to back up a ridicious statement. What you think or believe isn't an argument.

Soldiers from the south in the regular army weren't allowed to leave the army. Only officers could resign their commissions, and many northern officers accepted positions in the volunteer units. But once again, just because you had served in the regular army doesn't mean you had combat or command experience.

It didn't matter if they were aloud to or not they left to fight for there homes. Its due to the veteran officers and the training that made the stonewall brigade the badasses of the confederate army at 1st Manassas. I never said that the entire confederate army or a large majority were Combat Vets but in the stonewall brigade and the 33rd in particular they were in higher numbers. Hell Jackson's last combat command in the Mexican war was in the artillery and he did fort hopping during the Seminole wars. Cummings was a officer at the end of the Mexican war as well. Like I said before there is no way to account for every member of the Confederate regiments due to lack of records but every company elected experienced people to command them.

[Duuring]

No, every company elected the men they liked the most. Popular men won over experienced men, if they even had any.

Hell, in the Mexican-American war, someone was elected Captain of a southern regiment on account of having shot an abolitionist once.

Oh, by the way, I looked it up - the colonels of the 2nd, 4th and 27th Virginia had never served and had been politicians before the war, and the colonel of the 5th Virginia had served in the Mexican-American war, but never saw action.