Constructing an Early
War Federal Shelter Tent
By David Turpin
This article is intended to be a
guide to allow re-enactors to construct an early war type IIA
Federal shelter tent. All the information for this article has
been gatherered from Frederick C. Gaede's excellent book "The
Federal Civil War Shelter Tent". This article will detail
step by step how to construct your own tent together with
accompanying diagrams and photographs.
The first shelter tents produced
for use by the Federal army were based on the French Tente d'abri
(tent of shelter) . Now refered to as the type I, these were
based on George McClellan's recommendations following his
observation mission to Europe and the Crimea in 1855/56. The tent
on which this article is based was known as the type IIA and was
produced betweeen March 1862 and May 1864 and was distributed
through the Eastern depots in New York and Philladelpia. These
tents are therefore ideal for an early war impression.
The type IIA was of a three piece
construction, with the seams of the tent running vertical, it
consisted of a narrow centre panel with two wider panels on each
end. The reason that the tent consisted of 3 panels and not 2
panels as was the case in the construction of the later war type
III variants was due to the availability of the material used and
the width that they orignated from the loom. Ideally the type IIA
would have been constructed in cotton duck, however at the time
this material was in limited supply as its use was needed for
sails and the consruction of tents where strength was at a
premium, hospital and wall tents for instance. As a result of
this cotton drill was designated as being suitable for its
consruction, however as this was machined with a textile trade
width of 28 1/2 inches, two widths were not enough to make the
designated width of 66 1/2 inches when sewn together. To get
around this problem a third centre panel was needed to make up
the difference. This problem did not occur when manufacture went
over to cotton duck later in the war when supply was not a
problem, here this material was machined with a textile trade
width of 33 1/2 inch which was enough to cover the desinated
width with 2 panels, these tents have since become known as the
type III.
It is worth mentioning here a
couple of points concerning the type II tents. Initially the
first few contracts produced tents using linen duck, this was
probably a legacy from the type I, copies of the French Tentes
d'abri which used this material. Another is that there was a
secod variant of the type II the type IIB which although of 3
piece construction had a horizontal rather than vertical seams.
These were largely distributed by the Cincinatti depot and
included varients such as button reinforements which again
differed them from the type IIA.
Construction:
The overall designated size of the
shelter tent was a length off 66 1/2 inches with a depth of 63
inches. As already mentioned the type IIA consisted of 3 panels
with vertical seams with the centre panel being between 7 and 10
iches wide. The seams were machine sewn whilst the hems were hand
finished. The top and bottom of the tent were hemned whilst the
sides utilized the selvidge edge of the material and so did not
require any finishing. In each corner of the tent was a piece of
additonal material between 3 and 5 1/2 inches square which was
used as reinforecement, this was sewn into place by hand. Each
shelter tent had nine bone buttons running along the top edge
together with nine hand finshed button holes, these holes were
finished using a proper button hole sticth, a blanket type stitch
was not used. Along each edge of the tent were seven bone buttons
and button holes, making a total of 23 buttons per tent half. The
buttons used were 5/8 inch or 27 thread in size with the button
holes being 3/4 inch in length. In each of the corners an
additonal 2 horizontally aligned round grommet holes were cut,
these were hand worked in button hole style. the 2 holes in the
bottom edge corners of the tent allowed for a loop of hemp or
Manilla cording to be used through which a tent peg was passed
for fixing into the ground, whilst the 2 holes in the top corners
of the tent were to allow the use of tent poles and/or guy ropes.
Shelter Tent Dimensional
Diagrams:
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The diagram to the left depicts the overall
dimensions of the type IIA shelter tent. The two main
panels are of the textile trade width for cotton drill of
28 1/2 inches, with 1/2 inch being lost in the centre
panel seam. The selvage edge is used on both the right
and left edges of the tent. The centre panel is 12 1/2
inches wide with 1 inch being lost on either edge as part
of the centre panel seams. The hem on both the top and
bottom edge of the tent were approx. 1/4 and 3/8 of an
inch
The button hole placement
is 4 inches from each edge with the button hole being 1/2
inch from each edge and directly opposite the
corresponding button. Along the top edge the first button
is placed 1 inch from the edge with the other 8 buttons
being equally spaced at 8 inch intervals with the
measurements being taken from the centre of each button.
Along the edges the first button is place 12 inches from
the top with each of the remaining 6 buttons equally
spaced 8 inches apart, this will leave the bottom button
3 inches from the bottom edge, again these measurements
are taken from the centre of each button. The botton
holes were hand worked with waxed cotton thread utilising
a correct buttom hole stitch.
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Bottom Left
Corner Reinforecement
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Top Left Corner
Reinforcement
|
| The above two
diagrams show the corner reinforcements of the bottom
left and top left corners, the bottom right and top right
would be mirror images of those depicted above. The
reinforcement panels were situated in each of the shelter
tents 4 corners and were between 3 and 5 1/2 inches
square and constructed using the same material as the
tent material, although existing examples show a few
which utilised alternative material. These were hemmed
and hand stitched into place. There was no definitive
specification with regards to the location of the grommet
holes although it was stipulated that the holes on the
top corners, used for the fixing of a guy rope and tent
poles should match up when two tent halves were buttoned
together. It is documented that soldiers would exchange
tent halves until they were able to find matching sets
that themselves and their pard could put to use. The
grommet holes were hand worked with a button hole stitch
using a thicker cord than that used for finishing the
button holes, waxed linen thread being probably the most
common material used. |
Shelter Tent Seams and
Hems:
 Hem Construction and Centre Seam
Construction
|
The Diagrams
on the left shows how the shelter tent and hem and centre
seams should be constructed. The
hem is folded and stitched into place by hand using a
back stitch.
The centre seams are stitched in place
using a simple machine locking stitch. The best machine
for this are old fashioned crank handled machines similar
to those produced by Singer, these are readily available
from antique and brick-a-brack shops. A good quality one
will cost about £30 and is a worth while investment if
you plan on producing your own garments and have the
advantage that stitch lengths can be adjusted to the
appropriate setting.
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Getting Started:
The following items are required
for the construction;
Once purchased the cotton drill is
cut to the appropriate dimensions
Main panels should be 28 1/2
inches by 64 inches this will allow 1/2 inch for both the
top and bottom hems.
Centre panel should be 12
1/2 inches by 64 inches this will allow 1/2 inch for both
the top and bottom hems, and 1 inch for the centre left
and right seams.
Reinforcement squares
should be 5 1/2 inche square to allow for a 1/2 inch hem
around all sides.
Step 1
Fold the seams of he first main
panels and the centre panel, pin together and once satisfied
machine stitch together as shown on the stitch diagram, you will
have two rows of stitching when complete, the stitch length
should be approx. 8 - 10 per inch. Next pin together the
remaining main panel to the centre panel and machine stitch
together in the same manner. It is worth noting here that some of
the existing examples show that the machine stitching was
somewhat erratic, the stitching can be seen to be wander along
the length of the seam, in one case it has wandered off the seam
onto the tent panel before returning to the seam. So do not be
too concerned if your stitched seam is not 100 percent perfect on
its alignment, a little deviation will add to the authenticity.
Step 2
Take the four corner
reinforcements, fold the 4 sides in 1/2 inch from each edge and
iron flat. Form the top and bottom hems of the tent and iron flat.
Align the reinforecements into the corners of the tent ensuring
that they go under the hem seam. Pin both the hem and
reinforcement panels into place and then hand stich both hems
using a back stitch.
Step 3
Hand stitch the corner
reinforcements into place using a back stitch.
Step 4
Mark out and cut the grommet holes
into the corners of the tent as shown in the above diagrams, be
careful that the holes in the main tent panel and the
reinforcement square match up and that there is no slippage of
alignment between the two material surfaces. Next cut a length of
linen thread and wax using the bees wax. The easiest way of doing
this is to hold the thread against the wax between your index
finger and thumb and quickly pull the thread through, the
friction caused by pulling the thread between the surface of the
wax and your thumb will melt the wax onto the surface of the
thread, pull the thread through 7-8 times to achieve this. Once
threaded, hand work the grommet hole using a button hole stitch,
and example of which is detailed below.
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The
Button Hole Stitch
Once the thread has been waxed hold the
thread along the top edge of the material, with the end
pointing in the direction you are going to sew. Make a
loop, with the top of the loop pointing upward. Inserting
the needle through the loop, then into the fabric from
the wrong side and then through the large loop left on
the right side of the material. Tighten your stitch,
keeping the purl on top by see-sawing the thread and
using your fingernail. The additional stitches are
created by arching the thread over the right side opening
of the buttonhole in the direction you are sewing, then
looping down and back around in the opposite direction
your are sewing, through the loop at the top, then
through the material from the wrong side about 1/16th of
an inch from the last stitch, through the large loop on
the right side and then tightening as before. Continue
doing this all the way around the buttonhole until done.
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Step 5
Mark out the positions of
the 23 button holes as detailed in the diagrams above and
hand work the buttons holes in the same manner as the
grommet holes. when complete sew the bone buttons into
position ensuring that a cross stitch is used.
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A
Suitable Bone Button
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Step 6
Take a length of the manilla cord
approx. 6 inches in length and thread through the grommet holes
in the bottom 2 corners of the tent to form the loop that will
except the tent pegs. Tie a simple overhand knot large enough
into each end of the cord to prevent the cord from being pulled
through the grommet holes.
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The picture above
shows the external detail of the top left corner of
the shelter tent
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The picture above
shows the external detail of the bottom right corner
of the shelter tent
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Both
images are from the shelter tent constructed by the
author based on the instructions contained in this
article.
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Conclusion
By following the guidelines above an authentic
early to mid war Federal shelter tent can be constructed at a
reasonable price, the one I have constructed cost under £25. Of
course once you have done that you have the task of encouraging
all you pards to follow suite, or if you are of a particulalry
generous nature you could make them for them!
Happy Sewing
Reference
The Federal Civil War Shelter Tent - Frederick
C. Gaede - ISBN 0-9670731-3-8
Bone Buttons From Golden Age Buttons - www.goldenagebuttons.freeserve.co.uk/index.htm
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