1st

New=Jersey 1777 Regimental Coat Documentation & Construction Guidelines

1st

New=Jersey Impressions Committee 2/18/2015

The 1777 1st

NJ Regimental Coat As with our regimental flag, the regimental coat for Colonel

Ogden’s 1st New Jersey’s 1777 impression is an informed

but conjectural interpretation. There is nothing definitive

that documents the specific cut or color of the uniform coats

that were issued in 1777 to the historic unit we portray. We

know from clothing returns that coats were issued in

considerable quantities on at least two occasions that yeari,

and we know something about how they were procured.

Other evidence, though, is either inconclusive or not specific

to our unit.

We lack the deserter clothing descriptions from 1777 that

exist for our sister regiments the 2nd

and 3rd

New Jersey

during this period. Nor are there specific instructions or

descriptions of coats for the 1st New Jersey in actual

procurement letters, such as those that document blue and

red coats that were purpose-made and secured for Elias

Dayton’s 3rd

New Jersey regiment that Spring from

Continental supplies forwarded from Massachusetts and

collected at Peekskill, New York.

Therefore, our decisions as to coat pattern, construction and materials are informed by careful

assessment of what is known about American-made or imported coats in 1777 sourced from

New England as well as the Middle states. We also take into account the notorious parsimony of

James Mease, the Continental Clothier-General, regarding economies of design and construction,

and the strong likelihood that with at least two clothing issues in 1777 there was more than one

design variant.

We can make a good case for retaining our recreated unit’s traditional blue coat body with its red

cuffs, collar and lapels. However, the absence of New Jersey script uniform buttons from the

archeological record after 1776 (nor any marked USA before 1778) compels us to specify plain,

flat pewter buttons for our reconstruction.

These Documentation & Construction Guidelines will help members of the 1st New Jersey

Regiment acquire a regimental coat that conforms to the preferred standard established for our

1777 impression by our Impressions Committeeii. They explain the construction and features of

the uniform that are standard for our 1777 impression, along with optional variations.

1st NJ 1777 Coatee Variant by Skyler Pinales

As 1777 is our primary impression year, those who make the investment in coats made to these

specifications will have ample opportunity to use them. This coat is also a plausible choice for

our unit in 1776, and may have other early war applications where blue coats with red facings are

appropriate.

Documentation:

Regimental Coats for New Jersey’s Continental Battalions in 1776

During their first establishments, New Jersey’s three

Continental battalions were supplied with locally-sourced

frocks or uniform coats, often procured at the company level.

At least some companies of the 1st New Jersey started out in

late 1775 with frocks made to a Continental pattern from cloth

stockpiled at Elizabethtown, New Jerseyiii

. Some researchers

have concluded that these were linen hunting frocks, but

regimental historian Larry Schmidt notes that all other New

Jersey clothing returns and references from this time clearly

describe “hunting shirts” and not “hunting frocks” or frocks

whenever that article of clothing is specifically mentioned.

Schmidt also cautions that “the word ‘cloth’ by 18th

century

convention most likely indicates a woolen fabric”iv

.

We know the 1st New Jersey regiment was issued other

clothing during 1776 from Northern Department stores while

it served in the Champlain Valley, but we do not have specifics about its uniform coats. We do

know that Colonel Elias Dayton’s 3rd

New Jersey received drab coats that Spring from the State,

while deserter descriptions for Colonel William Maxwell’s 2nd

New Jersey suggest that blue

coats with red facings were issued in that battalion.

The 1st New Jersey could have been issued coats in 1776 similar to those of the 2

nd regiment, as

these two units served together for much of the Northern campaign. Though we can only

speculate, Colonel William Winds of the 1st New Jersey might even have preferred the blue and

red for his regiment, since those were the colors he wore during his service as an officer in the

New Jersey Provincial Regiment during the French & Indian War. Dayton was a veteran of the

same provincial unit and while his 3rd

New Jersey had drab coats in 1776, the following year the

3rd

regiment was expressly issued blue coats with red facings.

1777 Continental Coats

There are indications of an American trend during the early war

period toward uniform coats with shorter skirts and of simpler

construction than was typical of their British or Continental

counterparts. Among the evidence for coats with these design

elements are two contemporary illustrations of American soldiers,

one of which is shown at right, that were made by a Hesse-Hanau

officer while a prisoner in Burgoyne’s “Convention” army. The

originals have been lost but were reproduced in the 1850s, with

copies retained in the collections of the New York Public Library.

Von Germann depicts uniforms with different coat and facing

colors as well as different cuff patterns (the one worn by the officer

at right appears round in the British fashion while the other is

clearly pointed), but both have single turn backs lined in the same

color as their facings and skirts that are coatee length: cut short at

the base of the hip.

A letter from Congress’s Committee of Secret Correspondence to

its Commissioners in France early in 1777 lends further support to

the idea that shorter coats were preferred at this time for regiments

in Continental service:

[February 17, 1777] “Honorable Gentlemen - We have the honor to enclose you a

resolve of Congress that is of great importance to the public service, which has suffered

considerably the last fall, and during this winter, by the insufficient manner in which

our Soldiers were clothed. Having much delay heretofore in getting cloth made up hath

induced Congress to desire that forty thousand compleat (sic) suits of Soldiers cloaths

(sic) may be sent. – In giving directions for this business Gentlemen, it may be necessary

to inform that both the Coats & Waistcoats must be short skirted, according to the dress

of our Soldiery, and that they should be generally (sic) for men of stouter make then those

of France. Variety of sizes will of course be ordered. The Eastern Ports are generally

entered with so much more safety than the Southern, that we recommend the former for

these goods to be sent to…The Soldiers cloaths (sic) and the Cloth should be so contrived

as to reach North America by the month of September at furthest…40,000 compleat (sic)

Suits Cloaths (sic), green, blue & brown with suitable facings & Cloth of the same colors

with facing proper for 40,000 suits more.”

The Committee of Secret Correspondence may have had unrealistic expectations about the sheer

volume of uniforms and war materiel that France could be induced to provide, but its instructions

Mid-19th Century watercolor illustration

reproduced from circa 1778 Friedrich von

Germann original: NYPL

to the Commissioners are another indication that shorter coats are preferable for our 1777

reconstruction.

Coat Procurement for New Jersey Regiments in 1777

Unlike most of the other states, New Jersey did not appoint its own Clothier-General to supply

its regiments in 1777. The State relied instead on the Continental Army’s Clothier-General,

James Mease, who was appointed to that office on January 10th

, 1777. Mease’s tenure as

Clothier-General was marked by inefficiency – George Washington came to think of him as

incompetent – and there were many accusations of corruption.

During 1777, the Clothier-General sourced much of the cloth and finished uniforms for

Washington’s main army, including the Jersey Brigade, from the Eastern States. He relied on

purchasers such as the firm of Samuel Allyne Otis & Benjamin Andrews in Boston, who were

appointed Continental Deputy-Clothiers in November 1777.

There were at least two clothing procurements for the New Jersey troops in 1777. According to

A Comparative Listing of Clothing Returns for the New Jersey Regiments of 1777 compiled by

John Rees, one of these clothing issues was made on September 15, 1777, with a larger amount

of clothing received prior to that time (possibly in May or June). Before September 15th

, 1777,

the 1st NJ received 408 coats, 469 waistcoats, 240 breeches, 220 overalls, and 251 hats, among

other articles. On September 15th

, it received 51 coats, 8 waistcoats, 56 breeches, 42 overalls and

66 hats. Only the second of these clothing issues conforms to the anticipated timeframe for

delivery of coats requested in the Committee of Secret Correspondence’s February, 1777 letter to

its Commissioners in France. Even with these two disbursements, as of October 15th

, 1777, the

regiment was still deficient 50 coats, 64 waistcoats, 100 breeches and 56 hats. Soldiers may also

have worn articles of civilian clothing that were not issued by Mease, either their own clothes or

provided in small amounts from requisitions in their home state.

Coat Quality and Economy of Manufacture

Complaints soon mounted concerning the quality of the clothing and equipment provided by

Clothier-General Mease to the Continental Army. Washington wrote;

“There are great complaints of the size of the Shoes, which are generally too small,

the same complaint lies against most of your Cloathing, which do not do half the

service that they would, if they were larger. It may look like œconomy but it is of a

false kind, as the Clothes do not wear out fairly, but tear to pieces.”v

William Maxwell, now a Brigadier General commanding the Jersey Brigade, complained bitterly

to his Governor William Livingston on October 4th

, 1777 - intriguingly on the very day of the

Battle of Germantown - about the negative consequences that this procurement arrangement had

for the New Jersey regiments under his command;

“…We have gone very early into the field, and have had no other dependence but on

the clothier-general and we got them in bits and scraps, as the miser gives his son

some part of his patrimony before death. It was dealt out with so scanty a hand, we

never knew the good of it; besides, we never got our proper quantity, and some of what

we did get was rotten. If our state would provide a complete suit at first, then the other

supply might be sufficient. We are in great need at present of shoes, stockings, breeches,

shirts, good jackets and some caps, for the want of which many valuable men are rendered

useless.”

Together these letters support a 1777 1st New Jersey coat reconstruction with certain economies

of construction, in addition to being short skirted, such as partial linings and non-functional coat

pockets, cuffs and lapels. Because coats for New Jersey’s regiments were not procured directly

by their home state in 1777, and because there is no archeological evidence for New Jersey script

buttons after 1776, our 1777 coat reconstruction specifies plain, flat pewter buttons and includes

other design elements that reflect a simpler, more economical construction. The reconstructed

coat does not have to be shoddy, however, and with two known coat disbursements in 1777 we

have the option to have at least two variants proportionally represented in the unit.

Coat Color for the 1st New Jersey in 1777

We do not know for certain the colors of the coats issued to the 1st New Jersey Regiment in

1777. We can, however, make some informed evidence-based deductions that support a

reconstructed coat made of blue wool faced with red.

We have the case of Ensign Martin Hurley of the 1st New Jersey, who was wounded and

captured at the Battle of Germantown on October 4th

, 1777. It was soon revealed that he was a

deserter from the British 44th

Regiment of Foot. Hurley was quickly court martialed and was

executed four days after the battle. During the court martial, Private Matthew Fitzgerald of the

40th

Regiment testified that he saw Ensign Hurley during the attack with a drawn sword and

“dressed in a blue coat faced with red”vi

. While officers may very well have worn uniform coats

of a different cut and color than enlisted men, this is one indication that blue coats with red

facings may have been worn in our unit at this time.

Another account of a 1st New Jersey soldier in a blue coat with red facings comes from mid-

1778. According to Larry Schmidt’s research, Richard Jesper of Captain John Flahaven’s

Company, was captured in June, 1778 wearing a coat of this description.

Efforts do appear to have been made, at least initially, to supply Continental units in 1777 with

their Colonel’s desired uniform colors. General Washington gave the following instructions to

Mease on March, 4,1777;

“As many of the Continental Regiments have already fixed upon a Uniform, and the

Officers have, in Consequence thereof, provided themselves with Regimental suitable

thereto, it would be proper to make yourself acquainted with the Regiments that have

fixed their Uniforms, and in your arrangement of dress, take care to continue them in

the same, otherwise the Stock of Cloathing that the Officers have provided for themselves

will be useless to them..."

Washington’s subsequent letters to Mease and officers in Peekskill during in May and June,

1777 concerning the blue and red uniform coats intended for Dayton’s 3rd

NJ regiment are solid

evidence that an effort was made to provide clothing in these specific colors for that New Jersey

regiment. Even in the absence of more conclusive documentation, blue coats with red facings

remain a defendable choice for our 1st New Jersey 1777 regimental coat reconstruction.

Guidelines:

1st New Jersey 1777 Regimental Coat Reconstruction

The 1777 Continental Line Impression: Clothing &

Equipment Guidelines & Standards for Colonel

Ogden’s 1st New Jersey Regiment provide a basic

description of the preferred regimental coat design

based on the research presented above. These

Documentation & Construction Guidelines will help

members of the 1st New Jersey construct or acquire a

coat that meets the preferred standard, including

details concerning fabric, patterns, buttons and

sewing instructions.

The reconstructed regimental coat at left (made for

Ken Gavin by tailor Dan Center) was the first

constructed to these specifications for our unit.

Images of a second coatee made for Tim Abbott by

tailor Skyler Pinales are used to illustrate the

features and coat instructions, below. The design

features of these two coats contain most of the

optional variants. Together the Center and Pinales 1777

coatees serve as visual examples of the preferred standard.

1777 Coatee by Dan Center

Features common to all 1777 1st New Jersey 1777 Coats

Every 1777 1st New Jersey Regimental Coat has short skirts that are coatee length (to the base of

the hip) or just slightly longer. The body and sleeves are constructed of 100% dark blue wool

broadcloth. The coat is lined only in the skirts and behind the lapels in red serge or bay wool

cloth. The lapels, collar and cuffs are 100% red wool broadcloth. The cuffs are round in the

common British fashion but are non-functional, as is also true of the lapels. Two non-functional

pocket flaps are arranged vertically and positioned just behind the single turnback that exposes

the red coat lining. Plain, flat pewter buttons are corded without buttonholes after being pressed

through the fabric of the coat. There are 9 rows of buttons on the lapels and 2 buttons for the

side vents. Trimmings include two hooks and eyes connect the lapels between the 1st and third

row of coat buttons. The coat is entirely hand sewn and hand-finished with waxed linen thread.

Optional Features for the 1777 Coat

- The collar of the coat may be functional, with 2

functional buttonholes. The Center coatee’s collar is

sewn down, while the Pinales coatee has a functional

collar and buttonholes worked in silk twist. It is also

acceptable to leave a small unworked slit for the

buttonholes of a functional coatee collar

- The cuffs may have either of two different button

arrangements or no buttons at all. There may be 3

large, plain, flat pewter buttons arranged horizontally

along the outside of the cuff, or 3 or 4 small (5/8”)

plain, flat pewter buttons arranged vertically along

the outer seam (two inside the non-functional cuff

and one on the arm). If the second option is chosen,

the cuffs are not slashed and remain non-functional.

The Center coatee uses the large button arrangement,

while the Pinales coatee uses the latter, 4 button

variant.

- The non-functional coat pocket flaps may be lined in

the facing material so that the red lining extends as much as 1/8” beyond the blue pocket

flap sides and outer edge, as seen in the image above from the Pinales coatee. This false

flap has worked buttonholes as an acceptable variant to none at all, and exposes 1/8” of

K&P Madder Red Serge used to line the flap.

Detail of non functional pocket flap from

Skyler Pinales 1777 Coatee

Fabric Options

A coatee usually requires a minimum of 3 yards of fabric for the coat body and sleeves, and a

third as much for ½ lining. The coat should be 100% wool of an appropriate weave and without

modern fibers.

Coat Body and Sleeve Fabric: Only Dark Blue 100% Broadcloth should be used. Superfine

Broadcloth is for Officer’s coats only. Kochan & Phillips Historical Textiles (K&P) Deep

Indigo blue broadcloth (available from Roy Najecki) is both period appropriate and museum

quality: an altogether excellent but expensive option ($65/yard in 2015). The Pinales coatee is

made from this broadcloth. A less costly but suitable alternative favored by some reenactors is

100% Navy Blue wool fabric from bolts originally intended for the NYPD. Lightly marked with

chalk that brushes out, this fabric is 24 oz., 60" wide and available in 2015 from Wm. Booth,

Draper as item number WWB 750 ($26/yd.) The Center Coatee is made from this fabric.

Hainsworth Interiors in the UK also makes Navy Blue broadcloth that is 86.61” wide (220 cm).

Cuff, Lapel and Collar Fabric: As with the coat body and sleeves, 100% red wool broadcloth is

preferred for facings, but several different shades of red are acceptable. K&P Deep Madder,

Madder or Mock Scarlet broadcloth are outstanding

choices. Both the Center and the Pinales coatees use K&P

Madder Red broadcloth for the facings.

Linings: Serge (also known as “Coarse Shaloon”) is a

light, worsted twill cloth and the best choice for

Continental coat linings. Actual Shaloon cloth is too fine

for enlisted men’s coats and should not be used for our

reconstruction. Roy Najecki sells K&P Madder Red or

Mock Scarlet Serge cloth that is 8 oz/sq yd, 0.03" thick, 60"

wide ($52/yard in 2015). The Skyler Pinales coatee, shown

inside out, at right, has K&P Madder Red Serge as the coat

lining.

Bay cloth, with a worsted warp and woolen weft, is an

acceptable alternative lining, though much more common

in the British Army. K&P Madder Red or Mock Scarlet

Bay is 5 oz/sq yd and 52” wide ($44/yard in 2015) and

available from Roy Najecki. The Center coatee has a K&P

Madder Red Bay lining.

Inside out Skyler Pinales Coatee showing

rear skirt lining in K&P Madder Red Serge

Coat Construction

These Documentation & Construction Guidelines benefit from the excellent research and

descriptions provided by Matthew Keagle in his

outstanding research and construction guide; “The

Regimental Coat of the 4th

Connecticut Regiment, 1777 –

1778vii

.” Prepared in 2013 for a Model Company event at

Valley Forge, Keagle’s paper provides many details that

are directly applicable to our 1st New Jersey 1777

Regimental Coat reconstruction. The significant

differences between these two 1777 coats are that the 4th

Connecticut’s is brown with red facings and has pointed

cuffs without cuff buttons, while ours is blue with red

facings and has round cuffs with optional button

configurations.

- Coat Body: The skirts extend 9” below the bottom

of the lapels. They have false side vents with the front side

turned under and sewn in a single fold. The back vent is

sewn without overlapping. Two large plain, flat pewter

buttons without buttonholes are attached at the hips at the

top of the side vents. The skirts are fully lined, as well as

4” wide along the front edge behind the lapels, as shown

in the image at left of the inside front of the Pinales coatee. The lining goes directly over

the false side vents without pleating, and the skirts may include interior pockets. The rest

of the coat body and the sleeves are unlined.

The exterior pockets are non-functional, but the sewn

down flaps may be lined with the same red serge (or

bay) cloth with up to 1/8” extending as trim beyond the

sides and the scalloped front edge. The pocket flaps

have three large plain, flat pewter buttons, with the top

and bottom buttons set 1” down and in from the corners

of the flap and the other button in line and midway in

between. There is no need for buttonholes, though they

are an optional variant. The pocket flap is positioned

with the top in line with the bottom of the lapel and the

top of the side vent, and the bottom ½” from the edge of

the skirts. The Pinales coatee leaves 1/8” of K&P

Madder Red Serge lining exposed beneath the false

Interior front of the Skyler Pinales Coatee

showing lining extent in K&P Madder Red Serge

Skyler Pinales Coat left side

pocket flap and has buttonholes worked in silk twist.

- Facings: The lapels are 2 1/4" wide and are sewn down so that they are non-functional.

The edge is turned under and cast down to the body interior beneath the lining. Each

lapel has nine large flat, plain pewter buttons equally spaced ¾” from the outer edge from

the collar to within 1” of the bottom of the

lapel.

The collar is made from a single layer of cloth,

peaked at the back and the same width as the

lapels. The neck edge of the collar overlaps

that of the coat and both sides are cast over and

sewn. If the collar is made to be functional, the

top button only requires 1 1/8” unworked slit

for a buttonhole, or it may be worked in silk

twist as has been done with the Pinales coatee.

The Center coatee has a non-functional collar.

The cuffs are round and non-functional, the

outer edge cast over the sleeve opening and

both ends sewn down. The cuff may have

either of the button arrangements described in

the Optional Features section, above or no

buttons at all. As mentioned, the Center coatee

has large plain buttons arranged horizontally on

the outside of the cuff, while the Pinales coatee has 4 small plain buttons arranged

vertically up the back of the sleeve.

Conclusion: These Documentation & Construction Guidelines provide members of Colonel

Ogden’s 1st New Jersey alike the opportunity to acquire or construct a regimental coat that meets

the highest standard for our 1777 Continental impression. Those who already have a blue and red

regimental made to an older pattern are free to keep using them as an acceptable alternative to

our preferred standard, but we hope that the information provided here will inspire more of us to

make the investment in these short skirted coats. If you chose the less expensive 100% navy

blue broadcloth option, you can get all the fabric and notions needed for one of these coatees for

less than $250. If you have a tailor hand sew it for you, expect to pay about $280 on top of that.

We hope you will agree it is an investment worth making and look forward to seeing you in line

with your new 1777 coatee!

YMHOS, 1st New Jersey Impressions Committee, Tim Abbott, chair (2/18/2015)

1777 Coatee by Skyler Pinales

Endnotes:

i Rees, John: A Comparative Listing of Clothing Returns For the New Jersey Regiments of 1777; http://revwar75.com/library/rees/NJclothes.htm ii 1777 Continental Line Impression; Clothing & Equipment Guidelines & Standards; Colonel Ogden’s 1

st New=Jersey

Regiment Impressions Committee, Tim Abbott, committee chair, 1/29/2015

iii Rees, John; "The Great Neglect in Provideing Cloathing..."Uniform Colors and Clothing in the New Jersey Brigade

During the Monmouth Campaign of 1778: Part I, in Military Collector & Historian, vol. XLVI, no. 4 (Winter 1994), 163-170

iv Schmidt, Lawrence; “Provided These Can Be Procured:” The Uniform and Equipment of the First New Jersey

Regiment 1775-1783 (©1995 and 2013) v “George Washington to James Meese”, July 18 1777: The writings of George Washington from the original

manuscript sources: Volume 8, University of Virginia. vi Court martial of Martin Hurley, Great Britain, Public Record Office, War Office 71/84, pp 342-345.

vii Keagle, Matthew: “The Regimental Coat of the 4

th Connecticut Regiment, 1777 -1778”, prepared in 2013 for The

Model Company’s March 29, 2014 “Incomparable Patience and Fidelity” encampment at Valley Forge,

Pennsylvania.

1

st NJ Impressions Committee: Tim Abbott, Marie Caron, Ken Gavin, Mike Jesberger, Talya Leodari, Jeni Scarsbrick,

Larry Schmidt, Tom Vogeley

Ken Gavin, 1st New Jersey, demonstrating the proper position of one’s firelock, relative to

one’s new coatee, when lying on the ground as a casualty. Photographs of Ken courtesy of

Meredith Barnes