Description
The uniforms worn by Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Northwest Discovery date to 1803. Immediately after Lewis and Clark left for the Pacific, the United States Army re-uniformed itself. MOst of the existing records of the uniform changes are located in the military correspondence housed in the National Archives in Washington, DC. The new uniform was first distributed in 1804. Unfortunately, none of the original uniforms of the 1804 issue are known to exist. From originalo letters and tailors’ drafting manuals of the period, the uniforms of 1804 can be pieced together with at least some certainty.
The new artillery coat of 1804 retained much of the shape and style of te infantry and artillery coats that preceeded it. The new infantry coat, however, was shortened to a “coatee: in keeping with the new military styles coming out of the Napoleonic conflict.
Army coats of this period came in three sizes and were field altered, as best they could be, to fit the individual soldier.
