United States Army Headgear 1855-1902: Catalog of United States Army Uniforms in the Collections of the Smithsonian Institution, II

Abstract

This volume brings the story of the evolution of headgear in the United States Regular Army from just prior to the Civil War to the opening of the modern era. Strongly influenced by French, British, and German styles, the U.S. Army tried and found wanting in numerous ways a number of models, and it was not until the adoption of the “drab” campaign hat in the early 1880s that a truly American pattern evolved. The European influence carried on until the 1902 uniform change, and, in the case of the “overseas” cap and chapeau, even beyond.