American Uniforms of the American Revolution
American soldiers had no standardized uniform at the start of the war. When first enlitsted men would wear whatever their officers deemed acceptable. For the first few battles, soldiers would come onto the field as a ragtag group, causing chaos. Battles of the colonial period had two lines of men face each other and, when ordered, fired their muskets as one group instead of as individuals. This resulted in a cloud of gunsmoke, obscuring all but the brightest of colors. This is why soldiers required brightly colored, standardized uniforms. Shoes were also a very important part of a soldier's uniform. These provided heat to the wearer during the winter, protecting his feet from frostbite. The Continental army was in vast need of shoes during the opening years of the American Revolution. Therefore, General Washington proposed that hides from slaughtered cows be used to create shoes for the army. The Continetal Congress ignored his proposal, worsening the situation. Eventually, they decided to accept it, but shoe production was extremely slow. By the end of the war, with the Continental Army fully equipped, with the average soldier's uniform consisting of a shirt, a cocked hat, a coat, a crossbelt, gaitered trousers, shoes and a waistcoat. The main color of the Continental Army was blue by the end of the war. But colors varied between different regiments. Also, medics and doctors, occaisonally wore different uniforms than the average soldier, though they usually wore regular everyday clothing.