Wool!

This is coolbert:

Extracts and comments from this very interesting NewsMax article:

Those participants for the major re-enactment of the first major battle of the American Civil War - - attired in what was for-the-time standard uniform, all-wool outer garments, having to endure oppressive heat and humidity way in excess of what was encountered one hundred fifty years ago.

 "Wool-clad Civil War Re-enactors Brace for Heat"

"MANASSAS, Va. (AP) — For all the attention to authenticity, organizers for a major re-enactment marking the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Bull Run can't replicate one important detail: the weather."

"Forecasts this weekend in Manassas call for temperatures to reach triple digits, with the heat index perhaps exceeding 115 degrees. Back in 1861, when the North and South clashed in the Civil War's first major land battle, recorded temperatures were in the 80s."

"But authentic wool uniforms are a point of pride and are not to be sacrificed in the name of staying cool. So what's a re-enactor to do?"

This is surprising? On the battlefield [1861], over two hundred types of uniform were worn by the various combatants. During that era, the uniform you wore and the flag as carried by the unit standard bearer was an important factor for recognition, preventing battlefield "friendly fire" being a possibility. Also a source of pride for each unit as well, the various state militias and regular army units in competition as to whose uniform was more "smarter"!

"At Manassas, uniforms are especially important. More than 200 uniforms were worn in the battle, which relied heavily on militia units from the various states, each of which had its own distinctive uniform. The patchwork of colors contributed to confusion on the battlefield, as soldiers struggled to determine who was friend and who was foe."

And most of those men, re-enactors, are indeed middle-aged men, the heat being a severe and actually dangerous problem for them! Can cause death!

"the heat can pose a problem, especially for a re-enactor population that is largely middle aged even though soldiers themselves were typically young men."

It should be well understood that people of that era from one hundred fifty years ago too were just more "tougher" than a modern contemporary. Accustomed to out-of-door work and strenuous, hard, back-breaking labor. Pound-for-pound the man of that time [150 years ago] was twice as strong as his counter-part from today. Wearing an all-wool uniform was a not a problem for those troops on the First Manassas battlefield? Indeed, for those troops having to sleep out in the open and on the ground an all-wool uniform at night was a godsend?

coolbert.