1st Regiment, Rhode Island Detached Militia

In the days following the outbreak of war, Northern states scrambled to assemble small militia groups into regiment-size units, recruit additional volunteers and uniform them all in a cohesive manner. Rhode Island was no exception with the added problem of having no official state uniform for its troops. Ambrose Everett Burnside, former major general in the state’s militia, returned from his job as a N.Y. City banker and stepped up to the task of equipping and organizing the troops.

On April 20, just five days from Lincoln’s call for 75,000 troops for three months service, the First Rhode Island Detached Militia departed for Washington D.C., led by Col. Burnside himself. On July 16 the unit left camp outside the capital with the bulk of the Union Army and five days later met the Confederate forces at Manassas, Va.

With summer approaching, and expectations that the war would be short, uniforms were lightweight, with little attention to durability. Designed by Col. Burnside and inspired by the “hunting shirts” worn by many Continentals during the American Revolution, the blue flannel pullover blouse was simple and easily made by the ladies in Providence. Single breasted for line officers and enlistees, double breasted for staff.

The most distinguishing item of gear was a bright red woolen blanket. Burnside personally superintended the manufacture of the uniform, “He had the thick scarlet blanket of each man converted into a Mexican poncho, by cutting a slit in the centre through which the head could be put, leaving the blanket resting as a cloak on the shoulders”. A waistbelt with cartridge box and cap box, a white canvas haversack for rations and a tin canteen completed the kit.

The Regiment served in Burnside’s Brigade at First Bull Run, taking an early part in the action. For a time it stood up well, but after two or three hours of heat and combat it fell to pieces and was of little value afterwards