13th Texas Cavalry Home » About the 13th Texas Cavalry Civil War Reenactment Group » Tips for New Troopers and Civilian Reenactors

Tips For New Troopers and Civilian Reenactors

Outfitting the New Trooper

IMPORTANT: these recommendations are for the 13th Texas only and may not apply to other units. Always check with your own unit for specific recommendations on what their uniform guidelines are.

We are required to maintain two different impressions (Federal and Confederate) so we can participate in reenactments. The uniform requirements are different for each.

For the Confederate uniform, the 13th Texas portrays a Trans-Mississippi Cavalry unit.

The 13th Texas was issued uniforms in Arkansas, they were Jean wool in the early war depot style. By the time they got home, there wasn't much left of these uniforms, though. So, to maintain an appropriate Confederate impression you would dress in early war Jean wool or the typical civilian clothing for what they wore in the 1860s.

They did not wear blue jeans.
They did not have zippers in their pants.
They did not have tennis shoes.
They did have preacher type collars on their shirts.

The actual 13th Texas alo picked up uniform pieces from other soldiers who were wounded or killed. For this reason it is not inappropriate for us to wear a mix of civilian and military uniform clothing (Confederate or Federal).

You can see, almost any period-appropriate attire may be appropriate for use in our Confederate impression.

For the Federal impression the 13th Texas portrays the 2nd Texas Cavalry Regiment. For this impression we typically wear a higher percentage of Federal uniform pieces as the original 2nd Texas was uniformed by the government.

Here is a basic checklist of uniform parts for either impression:

_____ Hat (Kepi, Slouch Hat or Forage Cap)
_____ Shirt (standing "preacher" collar)
_____ Pants (no zipper, button fly, held up by suspenders)
_____ Boots or brogan shoes
_____ Suspenders
_____ Coat, vest or bib front shirt to cover suspenders
_____ Belt with appropriate buckle
_____ Cap box
_____ Cartridge box
_____ Haversack
_____ Canteen

Uniforms are sized differently than regular, modern clothing. For example, the pants should be far larger around your waist, requiring suspenders to keep them up. Not only are the trousers big around the waist, they are worn at and above the navel, or the "natural waist", much higher than today's pants.

Be sure to review the sutlers' websites for more detail on this. Click here for Mercury Sutler's size chart- talk to the sutler before placing your order to ensure you get a properly sized uniform.

Finding Your Uniform

So where do you find appropriate clothing for both of these impressions?

A simple way to get started is to get a starter's package, or fish kit, from a sutler. Fish kits typically offer a bit of a discount over buying each piece separately. To save money, you can pick pieces from both sides of the fight for your fish kit. A good sutler will allow you to mix and match . . . for example, you could get

light blue pants (Federal),
black belt (both),
Texas belt buckle (both),
white unbleached muslin shirt (both),
white suspenders (both)
blue sack coat and kepi (Federal)

This would give you most of your starting uniform for the Federal impression and all you'd need is a few items (hat and coat or bib front shirt) to complete a beginning Confederate uniform. The light blue pants is probably the biggest part of this mix and match strategy; pants are one of the more expensive parts of the uniform and you can wear the blue pants with either impression.

For the confederate jacket, we recommend a Jean wool coat when affordable..... The gray wool jackets wind up getting lost in the closet once the Jean wool are bought, so you might as well go with the better coat right off the bat to save money.

The idea is to choose as many items as possible that you can use with either impression. That minimizes what you have to buy to get started. You can then add to your clothing collection piece by piece over time.

We can't say it enough though - talk with a unit member before purchasing a fish kit to make sure you're getting items that are appropriate for our impressions!

Whether or not you start with a fish kit, there are many other things you'll need. As you'll see by our recommendations, you can save a great deal of money by choosing items that can be used with either impression.

How to Get the Most From Your Reenactment Money

Sutlers show up at most all the events and have most of the supplies you will need, but you can save money by keeping your eye out for some things and choosing items that can be used for both federal and Confederate impressions. A few of the things you will want to look for are:

A pair of black roper basics boots will get you by until you can buy the brogan shoes or cavalry boots you will end up with. We have had good luck finding these boots at Academy Sports stores. A thrift store may have an old pair that will get you by. Warning: brogans are notoriously uncomfortable.
Shirts come in are solid colors, stripes, even paisley. As long as they have the standing (preacher) collars, they are appropriate. An unbleached muslin shirt like the one to the right is a safe bet. Check a costume shop for a pirates shirt (fluffy long sleeves and standing collar). Halloween is a good time to find pirate shirts. Cheap patterns are available for making these shirts as well.
When purchasing a belt get a black one because it can be used for either impression. When purchasing a belt buckle get a Texas Star buckle because it can be used for either impression.
When purchasing a cap pouch, cartridge pouch and haversack get black because they can be used for either impression. Black tarred haversacks (large) are the most commonly used bags.
Likewise, a canteen covered in sky blue wool can be used with either impression. Canteens come in two sizes; you want to get the larger canteen.
Black slouch hats can be worn with either impression. If you get a cord to put on your hat, you should choose a yellow cord. Slouch hats, kepis and forage caps are all appropriate for use in our impressions. You will see a wide variety of other types of hats worn by Confederate reenactors, but you can start with one of the traditional soldier hats to begin with.
You can't walk around with your suspenders over your shirt - in the 1860s that was comparable to walking around in your underwear. Your suspenders need to be covered. You have three choices to cover your suspenders:
The typical solution is to wear a coat. You can choose from sack coats or shell coats - either is appropriate for use with the 13th Texas. You will get a coat with a fish kit. The downside of wearing a coat is that they're made of wool and they're very heavy and hot. You will want to assemble other options for use on hot days.
Another option to cover your suspenders is a vest. Vests are surprisingly expensive when purchased from sutlers. Therefore, you should get a vest that is black or dark gray that will go for either impression and that will allow you to go without a coat when its hot. If you know someone who sews, you can find patterns to create your own vests.
The third option is a shirt designed to be worn over suspenders. One style of this is the bib front shirt. This shirt is worn over the suspenders so you can go into battle without any additional cover. The bib front shirt is most commonly found in red, black or dark blue. Any of these colors can be worn for either impression. Another style is the bushwhacker, or battle shirt. (shown right) This is a western theatre adaptation. It had a lot more utility and was easy to conceal or ditch than heavy jackets.
Here is a photo of two troopers wearing a bushwhacker (battle) shirt and a regular shirt with a vest.

More Uniform Tips:

Get some longie underwear (not required but they will come in handy).
Get some jersey gloves (not required but they to will come in handy).

Weapons and Weapons' Supplies

Pistols: The Remington 1851 Navy and Colt 1860 Army pistols are the most popular. Reproduction versions of these are available at Cabela's. You will need cleaning supplies for your pistol; talk with a member of our unit to see what they use. You can buy the cleaning supplies from Cabela's. Pistols are not required for our troopers.
Open top holsters, or scabbards, are not allowed on the battlefield for safety reasons. Sutlers will have the closed scabbards. Here you can see an open (right) and closed (left) holster.
Musket: check with the major about borrowing the loaner musket until you get yours. The best musket to get would be the two-band Enfield, or a musketoon (carbine).
More Weapons Notes: You can buy powder and caps from the sutlers. For safety reasons it is best to use a brass powder flask to carry your powder to and from reenactments. For Cream of Wheet, however, you can use something as simple as a plastic condiment bottle that you can find at stores ike Wal-Mart for a dollar. You will need to keep this bottle under cover at the campsite as it is not period-authentic, obviously. Buy the cleaning kit for your musket from the sutlers or from Cabela's.
IMPORTANT: No knives are allowed on the battlefield, even if you intend to leave them on your belt or in your boot. As dismounted cavalry we do not carry bayonets. Typically, only officers carry swords.

Camp Supplies

Go by your local harbor freight or Northern Tool and pick up a painter's (white) drop cloth. You can cut it up to cover all sorts of things such as ice coolers for water and food & propane bottles etc. You could even use it as a lean to (for sleeping under)(warning if it rains it leaks).
Keep your eye out for old wooden folding chairs. They are period-appropriate and cheap, they fold flat for transporting and they support your back. You can also use the white cloth & wood folding camp chairs. We spend a lot of time hanging out at the camp site so even if you don't plan to camp out overnight, having chairs is a good idea.
Iron skillets are most commonly used for cooking. (firewood is usually provided).
Watch garage sales and thrift stores for cigar boxes, wood boxes, etc. You can use these containers to "hide" items that aren't period appropriate at the camp site.
Tents: Some of the sutlers who supply tents are: Fall Creek Suttlery… www.fcsutler.com , James Country Mercantile, Panther Primitives, Blockade Runner plus many others. Prices vary along with quality. Most troopers use an "A" frame or Wall tent. Be sure to get a sod cloth for your tent.

The regular schedule for a reenactment is:

(Reveille 7 am, Officers Call 8 am, Drill 9 am-12 pm, Battle 1-2 pm)

When you arrive at the event and are looking for us call:

Major Mark Hanna: (972) 754-3080 Cell or
Private Ron. "Tank." Tankersley (903) 603-5350 Cell or
Look for the Dreadnaught's Flag or the 13th Texas Cavalry group. *** DO NOT be fooled by spies or Imposters ***

REMEMBER: You are expected to bring a case of water to each event.

Outfitting the new Trooper's lady

The following information was provided by our own Linda Tankersley. For more information about civilian reenactment and attire, click here to send her an email.

Ladies wore layers of clothing. The town Ladies were invited to Teas, for a stroll and to Balls. This required fancy dresses and much to do in getting dressed. The Lady would start with a chemise ( which resembled a long slip). She then added her drawers (not to be confused with today’s panties) which had a draw string waist and reached to between her knees and ankles and where crotchless. You can find patterns for both the chemise and drawers in Simplicity Pattern Books under Costumes. Or you can find them through the Suttlers ( a seller of goods who set up at reenactments).

Next you would have a corset, also held together with draw strings and these were pulled very tight to give the ladies a small waist. Then you would add a hoop petticoat. You can find these online on Ebay and they cost about $20. Be careful of shipping and handling charges because they can run as much or more than the petticoat and when you receive the package it will be about a 24”x24” package about ½” thick and will weight next to nothing.

Next you would add an over petticoat and a short chemise. The purpose of the two chemise is to keep your corset clean. Ladies did not bathe daily or in some cases not even weekly and in the winter time they might only bathe once a month so it was much easier to wash a chemise than to soil your corset. Next you would need socks that come up to you knees. You will need a pair of high top leather shoes in black or brown.

Now you are finally ready to don your dress for the day. These dresses were made very fancy. The skirt for a dress will take about 5 yards of fabric so it will lay over your hoop properly. These are fun dress to have to stroll the grounds and wear to the balls but you are not required to come with one to enjoy reenactments. You will need help getting dressed because of all the draw strings. So ask for help. The Ladies of the time had servants who helped them dress and it took a long time for a Lady to get ready for the day.

Generally at each reenactment there will be a Saturday Evening 1860s Ball. The waltz is one of the dances you will see and do. Many women reenactors will get ball gowns to wear at these events.

Pattern numbers to look for:
Simplicity Patterns Costume section
Under garments #9769
Under gartments # 2890
Camp dress #3723
Dresses for Day and evening #2881 and #3727
Plus others

McCall’s Patterns Costume Section
Camp dress 34548
Dresses for Day and evening #5414 and #6097
Plus others

Camp Wear

This is what most start out with. It is a simple cotton print dress with a long full skirt, usually with long sleeves and high neck line. It can be a dress or a skirt and blouse. You will still need to wear a petticoat, high socks and some like to wear the drawers. High top leather shoes. You can dress these up with a matching bonnet. If you are going to camp out you will need a long apron to cover the front of your dress from cooking splatters and dishwater spills.

You can find patterns in McCall’s and Simplicity Pattern Books in the Costume section. They carry patterns for Camp dresses Ball gowns as well as under garments, bonnets and hats. If you sew this is a fun way to get the outfits you want at a reasonably cost. You can catch fabric on sale at JoAnn’s and Hancock’s that will also save on the cost.

If you do not sew you can go online and find things there or visit the Suttler’s at the next reenactment. Also check at your local thrift stores for used blouses, skirts, and shoes. I am still wearing the first pair of shoes I bought at a thrift store for $3 and they are comfortable so I have not looked for others. This is a fun hobby but can get expensive so take your time. If you show up and only have one camp outfit no one will look down on you because that is how we all started and some choose never to have but one dress and that is ok also. We Love you and welcome you just the same.

Here is a good measurement chart for women's reenactment attire.

Camp Supplies

If you plan to camp I’m sure your mate is thinking about a tent for you to sleep and dress in so you will need to start thinking about cooking. You will need to gather up some cast iron cookware. You can use tin pie pans for plate, tin cups to drink from, tin eating tinsels to eat with. You will need a pan to wash dishes in.

Because the public is invited to tour our camp sites we try to make them appear as period as possible so we have to use a little modern day hiding. A toe sack (pick some up at the feed store) or a painters drop cloth ( found cheap at Harbor Freight ) can be used to cover ice chest or plastic totes that you use to transport you things in. Wooden boxes are good to store plastic bottles of cooking oil, zip lock bags, paper towels etc. You can also store things inside your tent with the door closed. I have crocheted some coozies to cover coke cans and plastic water bottles or you can simply pour it into you cup.

Some reenactors choose to stay in near by motels and join the group in the morning for the day. In that case you could choose to bring an ice chest with drinks and sandwich fixings and a cover for the ice chest and a chair or stool to sit on. Chairs need to be wood not bag chairs or plastic chairs. If you want some shade you can put up a fly and the guys can show you how to make one. Or some choose to bring their RV’s and park them close by or in the parking lot of the grounds (no hookup in parking lots so you need to come self contained).

This sounds like at lot to remember but we are all your friends here and we will be glad to help you get settled in. If you have questions feel free to ask because we all were once first timers and will glad to come up with the answers to help you get started.