OK, I'm sure many of you who have read about gray as a uniform color. It certainly blended in better with the woods than the blue worn by the Federal soldiers. It didn't take much for a Confederate to lie down, throw some leaves atop of himself and virtually disappear from sight. One 15 year old girl in Gettysburg commented how bad the Confederates looked, until her father pointed to some a nearby fellow who was sitting down tying his shoelaces. She was shocked he was so close and yet escaped her sight. In the blackpowder era, the white sulphourous clouds of smoke also made it difficult to see an opponent dressed in gray. It blended and other colors stood out more and therefore were shot more. The British Army proved it in experiments (but still didn't discard the red for gray). Well, there's another advantage to gray and you can learn it from one Confederate:
Quote:
THere I learned that in moving and occupying the same grounds occupied by others, that cleanliness is no bar to lice. The color of the Confederate uniform had the advantage over the Federal in not showing them when on the outside of the clothing.
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You learned it here first, at The Firing Line.