Historical Hats & Reenacting History

[GHT]

George Washington always seems to be depicted wearing a tricorne military hat in any movie about the independence battles with British. Happy Independence Day, by the way. I'm not sure if that's the correct greeting, but forgive my ignorance if that's not the way to celebrate your independence.
Twenty five years later, Nelson wore a Bicorne hat at the battle of Copenhagen. Does anyone know if one outdated the other or was the tricorne the preferred hat of America in the latter part of the 18th century?

 

[totallyfrozen]

I don't know the answer to your question about the hats, but "happy Independence Day" is the appropriate greeting to Americans on the 4th of July.
...and thank you!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Zombie_61]

...Happy Independence Day, by the way. I'm not sure if that's the correct greeting, but forgive my ignorance if that's not the way to celebrate your independence...

In our area most people say "Happy Fourth of July!" or the abbreviated version "Happy Fourth!", but it would be more accurate to say "Happy Get Drunk, Burn a Bunch of Stuff on the Barbecue, Then Go Out at Dusk and Burn Up a Bunch of Your Money in the Form of Fireworks Day!"

 

[Fed in a Fedora]

The "cocked hat" was a folded brim felt or wool hat. At the time longer hair styles and wigs were common so men were turning the brims of their hats up to show off the hair rather than letting the brims hang and hide their hair/wig

The bicorn and tricorn terms are fairly modern words (mid 1800s) for what was then known as English or French patterns for folding and securing the brims. Many common men from England or people who identified as such wore the longer front angle of the English pattern prior to and at the time of the American Revolution while some of the wealthier men preferred the look of the smaller front angle from the French influenced style which began to shrink over time - finally being pushed against the head. Many officers varied the 2 folds either front or back. For military use, the tall infantry helmet or shako began to replace the tricorn near the start of the 1800s. Officers who stayed with the felt hats increasingly began folding their hats into front or side oriented bicorns and the full tricorn fell out of favor. James Madison being the last president to hold out for this style of hat.

There were several methods of folding and securing these hats and the fashions evolved through time, location and politics. While there were general trends, the two fold and three fold did cross time periods to some extent with the basic trend being the gradual reduction of the front corner and the two fold lingering on with officers and naval use a bit monger. Some units kept some tricorns around for ceremonials use.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Major JOHN Singleton MOSBY, the Gray Ghost of the Confederacy
Commander of a Cavalry Battalion

The coat & hat he was wearing when wounded by the enemy, Dec 1864

Woodcut from 1867

 

[Hurricane Jack]

A reenactor known as the Preacher, at Sundown.

 

[Blackthorn]

Great pics!

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Capt Henry Swango, another one known for fancy plumes on his hat. As he returned home to be with his dying father on his deathbed, his killers knew he would be coming & lay in ambush. Dead at 25 yrs old.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

I like this studio picture for all the props & the backdrop. Sourdough hardtack & coffee. The hat appears to be something like the Boss of the Plains. Taken post Civil War, I think. I have lightened the original just a bit.

 

[Redfokker]

I like this studio picture for all the props & the backdrop. Sourdough hardtack & coffee. The hat appears to be something like the Boss of the Plains. Taken post Civil War, I think. I have lightened the original just a bit.

Very interesting pose. This individual wanted to show his family and friends the conditions and rations in the camps. Cool.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

There were other Cavalry units under the Missouri Partisan Ranger Act other than Quantrill's unit. This is a pic of 6 members of an unidentified unit taken shortly after the war. They could have been members of Sam Hildebrand's or John Thrailkill's units. Those units have not been researched as much to identify all their members.

Front row L-R: Bart Ramsey, Mad Evans, Joel F. Ramsey
Back row L-R: Capt Bill Stevens, Bill Farley, Capt James Jackson

 

[KarlCrow]

Mad Evans

 

[Hurricane Jack]

^^^If it's a typo then it goes back generations maybe even before typewriters. Mad Evans is how it has always been; not Matt. Could have been a nickname, I suppose.

 

[BobHufford]

The guy in the middle on the back row looks "Mad"...

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Allen Hazard Parmer (1848 - 1927) was just 15 yrs old when he joined Quantrill's Cavalry under the Missouri Partisan Ranger Act. He was wounded 5 times & officially surrendered at Bardstown, KY on July 26, 1865 as was required by federal law.

He then went to Business College in St. Louis & records indicate he attended in 1867 - 1868. But it is debatable whether or not he was involved in forming the first version of the James - Younger Gang after the war. In Nov 1870 he became a brother-in-law to Frank & Jesse when he married their sister, Susan Lavenia James. The newly wedded couple soon moved to Texas, where Allen Parmer was later arrested in 1873 & returned to Missouri on charges of robbing an express train. Charges were soon dropped for lack of evidence.

Allen Parmer would return to Texas to become a Cattleman, farmer & contractor on building the railroad. He & Susan would have 4 children before she would precede him in death in 1889.

Looks to be wearing a Quantrill Reunion ribbon

 

[Hurricane Jack]

James Andrew "Dick" Liddil pictured with his common-law wife, Mattie Collins.

Dick Liddil was a member of the last version of the Jesse James gang along with Bob & Charlie Ford. Liddil may have instigated the conspiracy with the Fords, the governor & the sheriff to assassinate Jesse James when he was arrested on suspicion of robbery after spending money like water & shooting off his mouth while drunk. Bob Ford & Liddil had been involved in killing another member of the gang, Woodson "Wood" Hite who was Jesse's cousin that Dec 1881. When Jesse couldn't find Hite he assumed he was dead & set out to settle scores. Jesse first thought the killer was Ed Miller & killed him, & he was hot to find Jim Cummins next. Cummins, known as "Windy Jim" had been friends with Jesse since they were young boys; he most likely would have told Jesse that it was Ford & Liddil. Ford & Liddil both feared Jesse finding out, the conspiracy was hatched & by early April Jesse was dead.

I've always thought how Ian McShane appeared in "Deadwood" looked amazingly like Dick Liddil.

 

[Blackthorn]

You are a great source, Jack!

 

[Hurricane Jack]

You are a great source, Jack!

Thanks Blackthorn for your comment, & for your interest in the subject. I've done living history programs for yrs & am still involved in several groups. I have ancestors that I won't identify on the internet, who were among & around all these people thru the war & after.

My wife always told me that if there is such a thing as reincarnation then she knows where I came from.

 

[Blackthorn]

LOL, I can imagine, Jack! I live in CA so the living history here doesn't center around my ancestry. I was born in Texas, with a lineage going back 150 years on both my dad's and mom's sides. The furthest I can name were two Fitzgerald brothers who lived right on the Red River at the time of the Alamo. They had been there more than 20 years by that time. Although they didn't fight in those battles, they were given the same plots of land as the soldiers because they ran a still and a ferry across the Red, which was considered essential for the war effort.

 

[Blackthorn]

In addition, I had two ancestors who were Confederate soldiers. One was in the 22nd Alabama infantry (after the war he moved to TX) and the other one would never talk about it, so we don't know in what kind of outfit he served. The stories that were handed down to us were about her and how she had to survive without him for so long.