Following the American Civil War Sesquicentennial with day by day writings of the time, currently 1863.

Post image for Wearing “dog-collars.”–Alexander G. Downing.

Wearing “dog-collars.”–Alexander G. Downing.

November 4, 2011

Diary of Alexander G. Downing; Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry,The American Civil War

Monday, 4th—We had some visitors in camp today from Inland. Nothing of importance. The part of our uniform most talked about and criticised is the leather collar, which each man has to wear. It is a piece of stiff upper leather about two inches wide in the middle, tapering to one inch at the ends, which are fastened with a buckle. We wear it about our necks with the wide part under the chin to make us hold our heads erect. These collars the boys call “dog-collars.”

Previous post:

Next post: