CLOTHING ALLOWANCE

The U.S. Army that entered the fight with Mexico was almost inconceivably small by modern standards. When hostilities commenced in May 1846, the regular Army had 6,562 soldiers, including 637 officers and 5,925 enlisted personnel. During the course of the Mexican War, an additional 1,016 officers and 35,009 enlisted soldiers joined the regular Army. Another 73,532 men served in volunteers units, though not all of them reached active theaters of operations. Providing U.S. Army uniforms required by this sudden influx of men, both regular and volunteer soldiers, proved difficult.⁶⁷

Following the dismantling of the Purchasing Department in 1842, the U.S. Quartermaster Department assumed responsibility for all aspects of uniform supply. The focus of this activity was the clothing depot at the Schuylkill Arsenal located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Schuylkill Arsenal had been supervising the design and manufacture of uniforms for enlisted men in all branches of service for since the War of 1812.⁶⁸ Under this system, cloth was purchased from manufacturers and cut into pieces by government cutters at the Arsenal using standard patterns. These pattern pieces were then farmed out to contract seamstresses and tailors who finished the uniforms and returned them to the depot for a final inspection by the military before acceptance. By the end of the Mexican War, the number of seamstresses and tailors under contract had expanded tenfold and the Schuylkill Arsenal was delivering over 85,000 clothing items to the U.S. Army each month.⁶⁹

For the most part, this increased production and procurement helped to keep the regular U.S. Army soldiers well clothed. Unfortunately, Mexican War volunteer units didn’t fare as well. Under legislation enacted on June 18, 1846 by the U.S. Congress, volunteer soldiers were to furnish their own clothing in return for a commutation allowance. Despite attempts to carry through Congress a resolution authorizing the issue of uniforms to volunteers, it was not until January 26, 1848 that the measure was adopted.⁷⁰ As a result, when the Mormon Battalion was mustered into military service, the men were not issued military uniforms but instead received an allowance of $42.00, or $3.50 per month for the twelve-month duration of their enlistment period, toward the purchase of personal clothing. This amount of money was in addition to the $7.00 per month, or a total of $84.00 for the one year enlistment obligation, each private solder received as his pay.⁷¹ Like Mormon Battalion volunteers, many Mexican War volunteers used all or part of their allowance for other purposes, sometimes buying cheap clothing and spending the remainder of their money elsewhere. The Mormon soldiers sent a portion of their clothing allowance, a total of $5,860, back to Iowa with Elder Parley P. Pratt.⁷²

For many of the Battalion volunteers, clothing items were needed essentials for the anticipated long march to California. Having been expelled from their comfortable homes in Nauvoo, Illinois, the Latter-day Saints were compelled to make do under difficult circumstances. Temporary Mormon settlements were strung out across southern Iowa and the inhabitants were living in squalled, disease ridden conditions. As a result of their forced exodus from the United States, the newly recruited soldiers of the Mormon Battalion were obliged to purchase additional clothing and footwear with their allowance. In addition to their desire to provide funds to ease the burden of their families and the Church, the volunteers were very much aware of their future need. There would be little opportunity for resupply as the Battalion made its way through vast unmapped and unsettled portions of the Chihuahua, Sonora, and Mojave Deserts. Like many Mexican War volunteers, the men of the Mormon Battalion used all or part of their allowance to purchase extra trousers, boots and shirts.

Battalion soldiers would have turned down fancy and frivolous clothing items in favor of practical attire constructed of strong, durable fabrics. Although fly front trousers were available in the 1840's, even on the frontier, Mormon men preferred the older, front-fall style as it was considered to be more modest. Good quality boots were purchased in favor of shoes. Period footwear was manufactured as “straight lasts,” or identical shoes without a left or right foot pattern. Shirts, vests and coats were made from cloth of natural fibers, which included wool, cotton, and linen.

Despite their preparations, before the Mormon Battalion reached California, the men were forced to use whatever material they had on hand, such as canvas, buckskin, and rawhide, to make additional clothing. Water for bathing and shaving was scarce and the men grew beards and wore their hair long. Exposure and privation gave the Battalion a look of hardened, veteran soldiers.