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Army Uniform Change

Army Uniform Change image
Parent Issue
Day
10
Month
April
Year
1903
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

American Soldiers Will Be the Boys in Green. To Don Olive Drab After July 1. The New Color Was Adopted Because of Its Invisible Quality - The Officers Are to Wear Congress Gaiters and Shoe Straps on Their Trousers. Hats to Have Higher Crowns. On July 1 the boys in blue, who have stood for the honor and dignity of the United States almost from the time the government was formed, are to be succeeded by the boys in green, says the Kansas City Times. Orders recently issued by the uniform commission of the war department, which prescribed a new uniform for officers and men, will on that day go into effect. The chief change will be the adoption of olive drab as the uniform color, but in other respects there will be a difference. Walter F. Sagar, the representative of a shoe manufacturing house of Washington, recently went to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to take the measurements of the officers there for shoes. He also visited the post at Fort Riley, Kan., on a similar mission. One of the provisions of the order prescribes a regulation shoe for the army officers. The selection of olive drab for the service uniforms was made because that color is considered the one best calculated to render troops invisible when in contest with an enemy. Blue will be retained for the dress uniforms. The new service coat is to be tight at the waist and loose at the chest, the regulations providing that it shall be at least five inches in excess of the chest measurement. The trousers are to be loose to the knee, tight below the knee and laced from the knee to the shoetops. Heretofore there has been no prescribed shoe for officers, and each had made his own selection. In the future congress gaiters or "side spring shoes," as they are officially designated in the order, the kind worn by officers of the British army, are to be used. These shoes are of one piece, slightly resembling boots and have box spurs fastened in the heels. The new hats for the officers will have a higher and broader crown than those now worn. The new dress uniforms of the officers will include two innovations. The lettering "U. S." is to be taken from the collars and pins representing the coat of arms of the United States substituted. The suggestion of this change at first met with opposition because of the fact that the letters gave no chance for doubt regarding the nation for which the uniform stood, while the great majority of people, even of the United States, are unacquainted with the coat of arms. But the other change in the dress uniform will be even more striking. The trousers worn by the officers are to be equipped with straps slipped over the shoes, in keeping with the conception of Uncle Sam which the cartoonists have given the public. Officers in future must forego the practice of pulling up the trousers at the knee when seating themselves, and the danger of bagging will be increased. "The suggestion that green be adopted as the color for service uniforms was made by an officer shortly after the close of the civil war, I think," said Mr. Sagar. "The opposition to his plan was very pronounced, chiefly because of the large amount of sentiment which attached to the army blue and which grew so very strong during the war. Now, however, it is recognized that the change will be a wise one. It was recommended, I think, by General Corbin, General Young and General Wood after their trip abroad. Uniforms of this color were worn by the British in their war with the Boers."