Blankets...

[Greg Carter]

Gentlemen of the Militia,

I am looking to purchase a correct blanket for my militia impression, but I am afraid we haven't covered the subject at length. While I know that a Witney blanket is reasonably accurate, I am seeking alternatives. Can anyone tell me where I might find a better choice of blanket. The cost is not entirely an objective here, but rather finding one is. I would like an Army surplus white blanket or something along that line. Any suggestions?

GMC

[Robert Braun]

Almanac, government blankets were provided and issued. My sources for the Michigan Territory indicate that the issuances from Fort Jackson usually coincided with the drawing of horse equipments.

Now, more to the point... the standard Army blanket from the War of 1812 was off-white with dark blue end-stripes woven into the fabric. In the 1830's and certainly by 1836, the Amry had taken to having a "U.S" sewn into the blanket to denote government ownership... and disrput the practice of some soldiers trading their issued clothing and equipage to the grog dealers and keepers of gambling tables between paydays.

I rather suspect that blankets used by ther militia consisted of a blend of old army issue and recent acquisitions from civilian sources. There is an original blanket from a civilian source on display at the Wisconsin Historical Society from the 1830's. It is a thin blanket without nap, made of apparently a thick wool-flannel material... similar to heavy shirt-weight material. The so-called CSA blanket once offered for sale by the Wisconsin Veteran's Museum ("Pea Ridge blanket') is very similar to this style.

Other blankets like the so-called "Whitney" blanket would also be correct for this time period.