Which men wore blue in the civil war?

Question: Which men wore blue in the civil war!?
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This is a very difficult question to answer because there actually is no 1 correct answer!. Commonly we're taught in school that Union Soldiers wore blue while Confederate soldiers wore grey!. Yet take a look at the Battle of 1st Bull Run (1st Manassas)!. You've got Confederate troops in grey, butternut, and blue and Union troops in blue and grey just to name some of the colors worn on both sides during the battle!. Talk about confusion!. You could find yourself marching with the enemy and never knowing it or firing on friends!. Or worse, not opening fire on the enemy until it was too late!.

On the Union side the problem was there was no standardized uniform for volunteers at the start of the war!. The federal government was unable to supply all the volunteer regiments fast enough to standardize things before the early battles of the war!. The following list is from "The Complete Civil War" and gives the 1861 uniforms for various infantry units by their state:

"*Connecticut 1st-3rd plain blue frock and trousers, gray overcoat

*Illinois 1st grey shirt, blue cap
7th-12th gray coat trimmed blue with short skirts, gray trousers and slouch hats
13th-22nd gray frock and jacket, some blue jackets, gray trousers and slouch hat

*Indiana 7th, 9th light-blue jacket and trousers, slouch hat
8th, 10th gray jacket and trousers, slouch hat

*Iowa 1st gray overshirt, trimmed red or green, gray trousers with matching stripe, slouch hat

*Maine 1st-3rd gray frock coat, trousers and forage cap

*Massachusetts 7th, 9th-11th gray jacket, trousers, and slouch hat
3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th guernsey frock

*Minnesota 1st chequered flannel shirt, black trousers, slouch hat

*New Hampshire 2nd gray tailcoat trimmed red, grey trousers, light blue Whipple hat

*New Jersey 1st-9th dark-blue frock-coat, sky-blue trousers, black Army dress hat

*New York 1st-105th dark-blue jacket, sky-blue trousers, dark blue cap

*Ohio 15th, 17th, 19th, 20th gray jacket and trousers
16th, 18th, 22nd dark-blue jacket, gray trousers

*Pennsylvanie 12th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 62nd, 71st gray jacket, trousers, forage cap

*Rhode Island 1st-2nd dark-blue overshirt, grey trousers, slouch hat

*Vermont 2nd-3rd gray tailcoat trimmed sky-blue, grey trousers and cap trimmed sky-blue

*Wisconsin 1st-2nd gray frock-coat, gray trousers with black stripe, gray cap piped black
3rd dark-gray overshirt, light-gray trousers, gray slouch hat
4th-8th gray jacket trimmed black, gray trousers with black stripe, gray forage cap"

(Guernsey, by the way, may refer to the milk cow which is yellowish-brown and white or it may refer to a type of knitted woolen sweater!.)

Now take a look at that list!. So many volunteer regiments in 1861 wearing gray in the Union army!. What's even more intresting is units from some states wore gray while others wore blue!. And some units wore both as their uniform!. And then there's the the 13th-22nd Illinois Infantry Regiments were some men wore gray jackets while others wore blue!

On the Confederate side the uniform was supposed to be US military academy cadet gray!. But many soldiers wore homespun uniforms that were butternut brown because it was an easier dye to obtain!. And at the start of the war you had soldiers and officers who had been in the US Army who would have worn their old blue army uniforms rather than have to purchase a new one!. Even as the war wore on Confederate soldiers would be likely to wear blue as they'd have to take uniforms off Union soldiers just to be able to get a new jacket or pants!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

In the beginning of the war, almost every color was worn!. The union troops wore either dark blue or a lighter blue called kersey!. There were also zouaves from both sides that wore the colors of fire departments , that were along the french fashion line!. In the battle of Bull Run, one of the turning points of the battle was when an union artillery placement didn't fire on blue clad troops, only to find out that they were a confederate troops!. Of course in that battle the flags were so alike that it seemed that everyone had the same flag!. It was no wonder confusion reigned on both sides!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The Union soldiers' uniforms were blue!. The Confederate soldiers' uniforms are popularly believed to have been grey or butternut, but following the Battle of Antietam a northern soldier on burial detail wrote that he saw no two rebel dead dressed alike!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Depends on the time period, in the beginning both sides wore blue and grey!.

The Confederate officers wore their old US Army officer uniforms for a period in the beginning!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Blue was the color of the Union!. Johnny Reb wore Grey!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

the frenchWww@QuestionHome@Com