Kepicx
Kepicx
Kepicx
CONFEDERATE KEPI
By John McDonald
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Photographs of
French officers
taken by Roger
Fenton in the
Crimea circa
1854. Library
of Congress.
The visor
was generally square
in shape
and oversized and
was referred
to as Bec
De Canard
(duck bill). This kepi had no chinstrap
(jugulaire). Subsequent designs reduced
the size of the cap and introduced chinstraps and buttons. The kepi became
well known outside France during the
Crimean War and was subsequently
adopted in various forms by a number
of other armies especially the United
States.
As the United States emerged from
the war with Mexico the wheel hat and
shako were still the prominent form of
head gear in the army. The evolution to
the use of the kepi in the many pre Civil
War militia units would be our countrys normal mirroring of European
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ment of the Union soldier that obviously obtained the kepi during the
war. Maybe the soldiers name could
provide a clue to which Confederate
general owned the hat or better yet
how and where it was obtained? The
search of the soldiers data base at Fold3
revealed that the name J.W. Hilderbran
inscribed in the crown of the kepi was
James William Hilderbran(d) a 19 year
old private with company A, 139th Pa
Inf. The 139th was your typical hard
fought regiment in the Army of the
Potomac. Organized in August 1862
its first real military action was chasing
Robert E. Lees army out of Pennsylvania. From there on it was in one battle
after another all the way to Appomattox and the possibilities of where young
James found or took the kepi are limitless. The next logical place for clues
would be in Jamess personal life after
the war. The internet provided pretty
detailed information on James life. He
was a typical Union soldier, 56, fair
skinned with sandy hair. His trade was
carpentry and farming. A surviving
letter reveals an articulate young man
who had a deep belief in religion and
the Union cause. After the war he married and had four children. Pretty good
information, but no clues on the kepi.
His obituary proved more interesting.
James William Hildebran, a lifelong
resident of the vicinity of Greenville and
a veteran of the Civil War died at his
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SOURCES
Civil War Soldiers Studies.com
Ancestry.com
Fold 3.com
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