You’ve seen the paintings. George Washington stands tall in a crisp blue coat with buff facings, surrounded by rows of soldiers looking like they just stepped out of a dry cleaner. It’s a nice image. It’s also mostly a lie. When we talk about American Revolutionary War uniforms patriots wore during the struggle for independence, we are usually talking about a desperate, evolving mess of linen, wool, and whatever hunting shirts they could scrounge up from the back of a wagon.
Blue wasn't even the "official" color for a long time.
The reality of 1776 was far grittier. Most guys weren't wearing "regimentals." They were wearing "regret-mentals." If you were a farmer from Massachusetts or a frontiersman from Virginia heading to the front lines, you weren't handed a blue coat with shiny brass buttons. You wore what you brought from home.
The Myth of the "Blue Coat" Early On
Early in the war, the Continental Congress was basically broke. Like, "can't afford to feed people" broke. Providing standardized clothing was a pipe dream. In 1775, the Continental Army was a ragtag collection of New England militias and individual units from other colonies. They wore civilian clothes. Think brown wool coats, leather breeches, and felt hats that had seen better days.
Washington actually preferred the hunting shirt. Why? Because it was cheap. It was also terrifying to the British. To a Redcoat, a man in a fringed hunting shirt meant one thing: a marksman from the frontier who could pick you off from 300 yards. Washington wrote to Congress suggesting that these shirts might "distill a secret panic" into the enemy. It was psychological warfare.
But even as the war progressed, color was a problem. Brown was actually the first "official" color chosen by Congress in 1775 because it was easier to get than blue dye. Blue was expensive. Blue was prestigious. But brown was practical. If you see a reenactor in a brown coat with red facings, they are actually being more historically accurate to the mid-war period than most Hollywood set designers.
What a "Standard" Uniform Actually Looked Like
By 1779, Washington finally issued General Orders that tried to standardize the look based on which state a soldier was from. He wanted a blue coat for everyone—blue was the "Continental" color—but the "facings" (the lapels, cuffs, and collars) would tell you where the soldier lived.
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- New England troops (NH, MA, RI, CT) were supposed to have white facings.
- NY and NJ troops had buff facings.
- PA, DE, MD, and VA had red facings.
- The deep South (NC, SC, GA) had blue facings with white buttonholes.
Did this actually happen? Hardly ever.
Supply chains in the 18th century were a nightmare. By the time a shipment of blue wool made it through the British naval blockade, it might be enough for half a regiment. The other half just kept wearing their old, tattered gear. This led to "lottery" distributions where soldiers literally drew straws for new clothes.
The Underwear Situation (Or Lack Thereof)
Let’s talk about the layers. Beneath the coat, a patriot soldier wore a long linen shirt. This was his most important garment. It doubled as a nightgown. It was the only thing between his skin and the rough wool of his coat. Over that went a waistcoat (a vest) and then the outer coat.
Down below, they didn't wear trousers like we do today. They wore breeches that ended at the knee. To protect their legs, they wore "gaiters" or "leggings." If you were lucky, you had wool stockings. If you weren't, you had frostbite. Shoes were the biggest disaster of the war. They were "straights," meaning there was no left or right shoe. You just broke them in until they stopped bleeding.
The French Connection and the "Lottery Coats"
Everything changed when France entered the war. Without the French, the American Revolutionary War uniforms patriots ended up wearing might have remained brown forever. In 1778, two massive shipments of uniforms arrived from France. These are known by historians as the "Lottery Coats."
They were high-quality. They were mostly brown with red facings or blue with red facings. Because they arrived in bulk, they finally gave some units a sense of professionalism. Imagine the morale boost. You’ve been marching in a tattered linen shirt for two years and suddenly you get a heavy wool coat made in a French factory.
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But here is the catch: the sizes were tiny. French soldiers were generally smaller than American frontiersmen. Many Americans had to rip out the seams just to move their arms.
Why the Colors Kept Changing
Dye was the enemy of consistency. Indigo, used for blue, was a major cash crop in South Carolina, but the British occupied the South for a huge chunk of the war. This meant the Americans couldn't get their hands on their own dye.
When you couldn't get indigo, you used "sumac" or "logwood," which produced a muddy purple or a greyish-blue that faded almost immediately in the sun. After a month in the field, a regiment that started out in "blue" looked like they were wearing dirty dishwater. This is why "uniformity" is a bit of a misnomer.
The Specialized Units
Not everyone was a foot soldier. The Continental Dragoons (cavalry) often wore green. Why green? It was a tradition for "light" troops and it offered better camouflage in the woods.
Then you had the Marines. The Continental Marines were authorized to wear green coats with white facings as early as 1776. If you see a guy in green during the Revolution, he’s either a specialized scout, a cavalryman, or a Marine. Or maybe he’s a Loyalist fighting for the British, who also wore a lot of green. It was confusing on the battlefield. Friendly fire was a very real problem when everyone was covered in smoke and wearing whatever they found in a barn.
Misconceptions about Headgear
The "Tricorne" hat is the icon of the Revolution. Everyone wears one in the movies. In reality, it was just a regular wide-brimmed felt hat with the sides cocked up.
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Soldiers cocked their hats for a reason: it kept the brim out of the way when they had a musket on their shoulder. If you have a wide, floppy hat, you can't "shoulder arms" properly. But as the war dragged on, these hats lost their stiffness. They became "floppy." Many soldiers just trimmed the brims off entirely, turning them into skullcaps or "round hats."
By the end of the war, at Yorktown, the American army looked more like a collection of ghosts than a modern military. Some had French coats, some had hunting shirts, and some were essentially in rags.
How to Identify Authentic Patriot Gear Today
If you are looking at museum pieces or high-end recreations, look for these specific details that separate the "costumes" from the "uniforms":
- Button Material: Common soldiers had pewter or bone buttons. Officers had brass or gold-plated ones.
- The "Turnbacks": The bottom corners of the coat were hooked back to allow for easier walking. On patriot uniforms, these were often unlined or lined with cheap linen.
- The Stock: A stiff leather or linen neck collar. It forced the soldier to keep his head up. It was incredibly uncomfortable.
- The Haversack: A linen bag for food. If it’s made of leather, it’s probably wrong for a common patriot soldier. Linen was king.
The Practical Legacy
The evolution of American Revolutionary War uniforms patriots wore reflects the evolution of the country itself. It started as a disorganized, individualistic effort and slowly—painfully—molded into a standardized force.
The preference for blue eventually stuck, largely because it contrasted so sharply with the British "Redcoats." It became a visual symbol of sovereignty. Even when the war ended and the army was mostly disbanded, that image of the "Blue-clad Continental" remained the standard for the US Army for over a century.
Real-World Action Steps for History Enthusiasts
If you want to see what these garments actually looked like without the Hollywood filter, you need to go to the source.
- Visit the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. They have one of the few surviving "hunting shirts" in existence. Seeing the actual fabric helps you realize how thin and fragile these men were against the elements.
- Check out the Don Troiani collection. Troiani is widely considered the gold standard for historical accuracy in Revolutionary War art. His paintings are based on forensic evidence and surviving textile fragments.
- Read the "Military Collector & Historian" journals. These are the deep-dive papers where experts argue over the specific shade of "madder red" used for facings.
- Look for "Primary Source" accounts like the diary of Joseph Plumb Martin. He was a private in the Continental Army and his descriptions of being "half-naked" during the winter of 1777 provide the best reality check for the "uniform" myth.
The clothing wasn't just about fashion or identification. It was a survival tool that usually failed. When you look at a Patriot uniform, don't just see the blue and the buff. See the repairs, the mismatched buttons, and the stains. That's where the real history is.