1863/2013
Mid-War Missouri Brigade Impression
The 2013 reenacting year will see events for the 3rd. Missouri Infantry at Hartville, MO - Lamoni, IA - Marshal, MO - Fort Leonard Wood, MO - Fredricktown, MO - Chickamauga, GA - Gettysburg, PA and others. All of these events are 1863 mid-war Missouri Brigade / Army of the West Impression events (except for the National Event in Gettysburg, PA). This impression will be the guideline for all 2013 events in Missouri and outside the state. All military members are requested if possible to have this uniform for all events in 2013. The mid-war Confederate Missouri Brigade / Army of the West impression is that of the Western Theater Confederate Infantryman. The men of the early war Missouri State Guard are organized into the First Missouri Confederate Brigade in Osceola, MO December 1861. In April 1862 following the March 7-8 battle of Elk Horn Tavern ( Pea Ridge, AK ) the Brigade is transferred east of the Mississippi River. In Sept. of 1862 the Brigade is reorganized and Gen. Cockrell takes command after the death of Gen. Little during the battle of Iuka. The men of Cockrell's Missouri Brigade go on to fight in the battles of Corinth, Port Gibson, Champions Hill, Big Black, and finally the Siege of Vicksburg in May 16-July 3, 1863. In December 1862/January 1863 the Missouri Brigade begins to receive its first issue of the Columbus Depot Shell Jacket along with pants, and caps. Below is documented info on this issue of uniforms to troops.
In January 1863, while encamped near Grenada,
Mississippi, "there was a suit of uniform issued to every man in the Brigade
[sic]. Grey Pants, grey Jackets & grey Caps. The collars & cuffs of the
Jackets are trimmed [sic] with light blue." (Phillip T. Tucker, The
South's Finest: The First Missouri Confederate Brigade from Pea Ridge to
Vicksburg (Shippensburg, PA: White Mane Publishing Co., Inc., 1993)
While in winter quarters near Grenada, Mississippi on December 24, 1862 the
army was reviewed by President Davis, and Generals Johnston,
Price, Loring and others. Colonel R. S. Bevier of the Missouri Brigade gives
this account: "The First [Missouri] Brigade were clothed in their new
uniforms of gray striped by blue, and presented a fine appearance
