History does not definitely record the origin of the naval uniforms, _ but Mr. Locker, an early commissioner of the English Greenwich Hospital, is the authority for the statement that as early as 1603 King James ordered his principal masters of ships to be always bravely attired in liveries of scarlet cloth embellished with velvet, silk lace, buttons, and gold embroidery.
The first official mention of uniforms in the British Navy seems to be in the Jacobite’s Journal in 1748, which says: “An order is said to be issued requiring all of his Majesty’s officers from the Admirals down to the Midshipmen to wear a uniformity of clothing.” This notice doubtless resulted from the action of a group of officers who met every Sunday night at Webb’s Coffee House at Scotland Yard for the purpose of watching over their rights and privileges. In 1746 they determined that a dress uniform was useful and necessary for commissioned officers and appointed a committee to wait upon the Duke of Bedford and the Admiralty, and if the proposal was approved by them to introduce it to His Majesty.
Mr. Locker further says that he had it from the lips of Mr. Forbes, Admiral of the Fleet in 1746, that he was summoned to attend the Duke of Bedford, and was introduced to an apartment filled with various dresses and his opinion was asked as to the most appropriate.
The Admiral said, “Red and blue as they are our national colors.”
“No,” replied the Duke, “the King has determined otherwise, for having seen my Duchess riding in the park a few days ago in a habit of blue faced with white, it took his Majesty’s fancy and he has appointed it for the uniform of the Royal Navy.”
From this it will be seen that the blue of the uniform originally was copied from the riding habit of the Duchess of Bedford.
Now as to the origin of some parts of the uniform. The facing and long lapels of army and navy uniforms are said to be originated from the custom of buttoning back the lapels and fastening back the skirts of the long waist frock coat to allow a free use of the musket and side arms, thus revealing a lining of different color from the rest of the garment. Epaulets came from the French “Pallettes” of Henry IV’s time, which were circular plates of metal worn to protect the shoulders. For the hat we are indebted to the Crusaders who brought the first hats of wool to Europe in the early part of the reign of the Emperor Henry V. Hats became popular in England during the War of the Roses. All men of high and low degree wore hats, with exception of apprentices who wore caps. The cocked hat made its appearance in the reign of James II, and could be converted into a variety of shapes. It was known under several names, viz., the Brigadier, Ramifies, Regent, and Frederick.
Coming to the American Navy the first American naval uniform of which any record can be found is provided for by a resolution of the Massachusetts Council in April 1776, which is as follows: “Resolved that the uniform of the officers be green and white and that they furnish themselves accordingly.” As the Continental Navy came along, officers apparently dressed as they pleased, and it is very doubtful that any uniform was prescribed for the men. The Marine Committee of the Continental Congress in September, 1776, issued what was the first official uniform regulation for the Navy. This provided that officers should wear blue coats with red lapels with a standing collar and flat yellow buttons, blue breeches, and a red waistcoat. Regarding this uniform old writers say that while the uniform was adopted by the Marine Committee, it very probably was not commonly worn as few officers could afford a complete outfit. From these writers it appears that many of the portraits of blue and buff heroes, which have come down to our day, owe their glory of color and epaulets to the riotous fancy and sense of fitness of their painters, and that in many cases the uniform in which they were painted was the property of the artist.
The uniform ordered by the Marine Committee appears not to have pleased the captains of the Navy, notably Paul Jones, who is said to have stood for gold lace, gold epaulets, and gold buttons. Among the papers of Paul Jones in the Library of Congress is a document signed by all the captains of the Navy proposing that the uniform should be a blue coat, white lined, trimmed with gold lace and gold buttons, white waistcoats, breeches and stockings, dress swords, gold epaulets on the shoulders; the buttons and the epaulets were to have embroidered thereon the figure of a rattlesnake with the motto, “Do not tread on me.” Whether this uniform was officially adopted or not is not known. Old portraits show both uniforms, and even portraits of Paul Jones show him in both. This desire on the part of the captains, however, led to a pointed resolution passed by Congress in 1781, wherein it was resolved:
That after the first day of January 1782, any officer whatsoever in the service of the United States, who shall wear on his clothes any gold or lace embroidery or vellum, other than such as Congress or the Commander-in-Chief of the Army or Navy shall direct or who shall wear any uniform worn by the British Army or Navy shall be cashiered from the service.
Digressing from the uniform for a moment, it is rather interesting to note the opinion that John Adams, a member of the Marine Committee of the Continental Congress, held of Captain John Paul Jones, especially so when we recall how freely Captain Jones’s idea of the necessary qualifications for a naval officer is quoted today. In his diary on May 13, 1779, we find the following entry by Mr. Adams:
After dinner walked out with Captain Jones and Landais to see Jones’s marines dressed in the English uniform; a number of very active and clever sergeants and corporals are employed to teach them the exercise, and manoeuvres and marches, etc.; after which Jones came on board of our ship. This is the most ambitious and intriguing officer in the American Navy. Jones has art and secrecy, and aspires very high. You see the character of the man in his uniform, and that of his officers and marines variant from the uniforms established by Congress,—golden buttons for himself, two epaulets; marines in red and white instead of green. Eccentricities and irregularities are to be expected from him. They are in his character, they are visible in his eyes. His voice is soft and still and small; his eye has keenness and wildness and softness in it.
At the close of the Revolutionary War the Navy as an organization passed out of existence and the administration of naval affairs was shifted from one office to another until finally it came under the Secretary of War. In June, 1797, he issued regulations governing the uniforms of the naval officers. These regulations rank as the first official orders of this kind issued by the government of the United States. They provided for a blue uniform with buff lapels with gold epaulets for the captain and buttons of yellow metal having a foul anchor and the American eagle on them. The lieutenants, however, were to wear only one epaulet, and that on the right shoulder.
On April 30, 1798, the Navy Department was established and the second Secretary of the Navy, Mr. R. Smith, in 1802 issued regulations providing for uniform dress of officers. In these regulations the gold lace so much desired by some of the officers appeared. The coat was elaborately trimmed in gold lace and had a row of buttons around the cuff. The lieutenant still wore only one epaulet, but it was shifted to the left shoulder where it was worn except when acting as commanding officer, when it was to be shifted over to the right shoulder. These regulations also recognized the commodore; a rank which existed only by courtesy, and allowed the captain acting as commodore to wear a silver star on the strap of his epaulet.
Tradition says that the custom of having buttons around the cuff originated from the whim of an old commodore who had them put on the cuffs of midshipmen to keep them from wiping their noses on the sleeves. As for the uniforms of the men at this time the files of the Navy Department show no regulations, but it is noted that in January, 1813, upon the arrival of Commodore Decatur at New York with the frigates United States and Macedonia, the city gave a dinner to the crew. The crew numbered some 400, and dressed in glazed canvas hats with stiff brims decked with streamers of ribbons, blue jackets buttoned loosely over waistcoats, and blue trousers with bell bottoms. The first regulation covering men’s clothes that can be found appears in the regulations of the Navy issued by Secretary Crowninshield in September, 1817. In these regulations the summer and winter dress of the enlisted men is set forth. The summer dress was to be a white duck jacket, trousers, and vest; and the winter’s dress, blue jacket and trousers, red vest, yellow buttons, and black hat. These regulation also provided that when the men were employed in washing the decks, they were to be barefootted and their trousers rolled up. This regulation is frequently quoted as the reason sailors’ trousers are belled at the bottom, i.e., they were made so to facilitate the bottoms up over the thigh. The real reason for this peculiar cut of trousers is not known, so perhaps this reason may be as good as any other.
In 1820 the regulations were again changed and now the crossed silver anchor of the Navy first appeared on the uniform. Captains of five years’ service were allowed to wear crossed silver anchors on their epaulets. These regulations also ignored the dress of the men, but from the letters of George Jones, a schoolmaster in the frigate Brandywine in 1825, we find the men had white canvas shoes, white trousers, white jumpers with a blue collar set off with white fancy work, hat covered with canvas, and a blue belt with white stars.
The next material change in the uniform came with the order of Secretary John Branch, May 1, 1830. With this change appeared for the first time the use of the oak leaf embroidered with gold to designate rank or corps, the foul anchor on the collar, the stars on the collar, and shoulder straps. Under these regulations the captain had a dark coat lined with white with standing collar embroidered with gold along the upper edges and sides with a rope and leaves of live oak interspersed with acorns. There also appeared on the epaulets the silver eagle couched on the anchor. The vests were white, the breeches white with gilt knee buckles or plain white pantaloons with short boots. Midshipmen had on their collar a foul anchor embroidered in gold under the oak leaf and acorns, and when they became passed midshipmen, the anchor was backed with a five-pointed star of white cloth on the collar. The surgeon’s coat collar was ornamented with an embroidered club of Aesculapius, the purser’s collar with a cornucopia. The surgeon’s collar and cuffs in undress uniform were to be of velvet. A uniform for the chaplain was also prescribed consisting of a black coat, vest, and pantaloons or black breeches, with silk stockings and black shoes.
Uniforms for warrant officers, i.e., boatswains, gunners, carpenters, and sailmakers, which for the first time had appeared in the uniform regulations in 1813, and provided for short black coats with six buttons on the lapel, rolled cuffs, blue pantaloons, white vest, and a round hat with a cockade, were modified by these 1830 regulations to give them a double-breasted coat with the lapel buttoned back with eight buttons, a white vest and white pantaloons. Shoulder straps of gold lace three-fourths of an inch wide were prescribed for officers entitled to wear epaulets, but as they were not particularly described, they seem to have been worn according to individual fancy, some embroidered around the edges, some with oak leaves, some a strip of gold lace. They were generally worn over the strap of the epaulet to hold it in place.
Two years later in 1832, the serpent and staff were removed from the full dress of the medical officer and the cornucopia from that of the pursers, and a branch of live oak substituted. At the same time the surgeon lost the velvet from his collar and cuffs and a strip of one-half inch gold lace was substituted for the assistant surgeon; the reason being, while it does not appear in the records of the Navy Department, that according to old traditions, these officers thought the emblems they had worn smacked too much of shop.
In December, 1834, the medical officers had a Christmas gift passed out to them giving them a new uniform like those of other officers with the standing collar elaborately embroidered in gold with live oak leaves on the upper and front edges and a branch of live oak on each side.
In 1838 gold bands were removed from the caps of officers and worn only by midshipmen, who had before had only a plain band. This being a new thing was sported freely and caused a Boston newspaper to remark that never before had there been seen so much hair and gold lace in the streets of Boston.
The next change in the uniform was issued by Secretary Badger in 1841. Under these orders the uniform became plain again and lost much of the gold lace which had heretofore ornamented it. The captain’s full dress coat was ornamented only with gold buttons, of which there were two rows of nine buttons down the front, four buttons on the top of each cuff, two on the back of the cuff, four over each pocket flap, one on each hip, two in the middle of each front of the skirt and one at the bottom. Officers with lesser rank had a lesser number of buttons, and the star on the midshipman’s collar was changed to gold. Breeches disappeared entirely and all officers were to wear pantaloons of white or blue. Shoulder straps were now definitely prescribed and bands of gold lace were put back on the caps of officers. These regulations set forth how, when and what uniforms were to be worn and closed with the celebrated order about whiskers that caused these whiskers to be dubbed “Badger whiskers,” as the order specified that the hair was to be worn short and that no part of the beard was to be worn long except whiskers which shall descend one inch below the tip of the ear and thus in a line to the corner of the mouth. This accounts for the reason that all old pictures of naval officers in the early forties we see are ornamented with “mutton chop whiskers.” In these regulations of Secretary Badger distinguishing marks for enlisted men were prescribed for the first time in the Navy: boatswains’ mates, gunners’ mates, carpenters’ mates, masters-at-arms, ships’ stewards, and ships’ cooks were to wear an eagle and anchor not more than three inches long of a pattern the same as on the navy button on the right sleeve, white on blue and blue on white. Quartermasters, quarter gunners, captains of forecastles, captains of tops, captains of after guards, armorers, coopers, ships’ cooks, and captains of the hold were to wear the same devices on the left sleeve. For petty officers, seamen, ordinary seamen, landsmen and boys, the uniform was to be a blue woolen frock with white linen or duck collar and cuffs, or a blue cloth jacket and trousers, black hat, black handkerchief and shoes. The collars and breasts of the frock were to be lined or faced with blue cotton cloth stiched in white thread. These regulations of 1841 did not prove very satisfactory, especially that part wherein the captains and commanders had only buttons on the cuffs, while the doctors had three stripes of gold lace. This latter was a distinctive mark of a Spanish colonel, and in Spanish ports it frequently happened that the guard was turned out and full military honor was paid to the doctor while the captain passed by unnoticed. This fact is believed by many old navy writers to have been the underlying cause leading up to the introduction of the distinctive bands of lace on the cuffs of officers of the line and staff of all grades.
In 1844 Secretary Henshaw introduced the double-breasted blue frock coat as an article of the uniform to be worn with shoulder straps. In this same order he also changed the uniform of the chaplain to a black coat trimmed with black velvet and navy buttons. Whoever drafted this order evidently intended to make it easy on the chaplains pocket-book, as the order specifically stated that they need not provide themselves with a new coat until those they now had were worn out. The order further provided that while performing religious services chaplains should wear the black silk gown usually worn by clergymen. This portion of it was very short-lived, as only three months later it was modified to allow the chaplain to wear the black gown, his plain black coat, or his uniform coat when holding serves as his fancy might suggest.
New regulations governing epaulets were issued in January, 1845, and for the first time lieutenant was put on an even keel by allowing him an epaulet for each shoulder. The sword belt was also changed to black glazed leather with leather swings with yellow swivel and a hook, which is practically the same as it is today.
In 1847 the change before mentioned in the uniform of medical officers and pursers took place. The lace on the cuffs was removed and embroidered sprigs of live oak substituted. In addition they were given gold epaulets with worked edge (those of the line officers had bullion), and a solid bright crescent; on the crescent for medical officers were the old English letters “M D” of solid silver and on those of the pursers the letters “P D.” This order further provided that medical officers were to have an embroidered acorn on the shoulder strap, while the pursers were to have an oak leaf. One year later the foul anchor was placed on the shoulder straps of commanders of the line. No further change was made in the uniform until 1852, when Secretary Graham issued elaborate uniform regulations fully illustrated with colored plates.
These regulations of 1852 did away with embroidery and substituted gold lace on the collars and cuffs of all line officers. Buttons which since 1830 had had for a device an eagle perched on the stock of the anchor were now changed so that the eagle rested on the shank of the anchor. Embroidered devices for the front of the caps replaced the gold bands, and gold lace pantaloons familiarly called “railroad trousers” appeared for the first time. Distinguishing marks for the enlisted men were changed so that they wore on the sleeve an eagle and an anchor with a star one inch in diameter one inch above it; otherwise the enlisted man’s uniform remained the same with no change until 1859, when the white duck cuffs and collar were dispensed with. In September of the year 1852, the letters “M D” and “P D” were abolished for the medical officers and the pursers and in lieu thereof the medical officer was to wear on his shoulder straps and cap an olive sprig and the pursers an oak sprig.
Mustaches and imperials had been absolutely prohibited under the regulations, but Secretary Dobbin took a more liberal view and said the beard might be worn at the pleasure of the individual, but when worn to be clipped short and neatly trimmed. Few changes were made in the uniform during the next few years. Lieutenants on duty as executive officers were directed in 1861 to wear a gold embroidered star above the gold lace stripe on the cuffs to indicate the precedence to which they were by law entitled.
Shortly after the beginning of the Civil War new regulations were issued by Secretary Welles. These regulations provided for the rank of admiral and commodore in addition to the other officers. Under these regulations the rank was designated by the gold lace stripes on the sleeves, the cap device, and the shoulder straps; thus the admiral had three three-quarter inch gold stripes and three one-quarter inch stripes on his sleeve, a gold wreath of oak and olive branches enclosing a silver five- pointed star on his cap, a silver foul anchor and two silver stars on his shoulder straps; the commodore, one less stripe of one- quarter inch lace on his sleeves, a silver eagle and anchor in his cap wreath, and but one star on his shoulder straps; a captain three three-quarter inch gold stripes; a commander two and one-half stripes, and so on down to the midshipman who had no stripes. Captains, commanders, and lieutenant commanders wore the same cap device as the commodore; lieutenants the eagle and ensigns the silver foul anchor on the cap, and midshipmen a plain anchor on the shoulder straps. The silver leaf for the commander and the gold leaf for the lieutenant commander also appeared.
These insignia of rank were undoubtedly copied from the Army. In army traditions the following fanciful story explains the symbolism of these various insignia of rank:
The second lieutenant (corresponding to the ensign in the Navy) stands on the level ground looking up to his superiors at varying altitudes above him and starts to climb. His first step up corresponds to the first bar of the fence, giving him his first bar, the lieutenant’s bar (or master’s in the Navy). The second step up to the top of the fence gives him his two bars as captain (lieutenant in the Navy). From the fence he climbs to the oak, the tree of might and strength. It is a long climb and symbolizes the differences that exist between the company officer and the field officer. The gold leaf on the major’s (lieutenant commander in the Navy) shoulder symbolizes this position. The next step is to climb to the tallest tree of the forest, the straight towering silver poplar which has no branches for many feet. At the top of this the lieutenant colonel (commander in the Navy) finds his silver leaves and looking up sees above him the soaring eagles, the insignia of colonel of the Army (captain of the Navy) and above the eagle the stars in the sky, the insignia of the highest rank in both Army and Navy.
These regulations of Secretary Welles remained in force for about eighteen months, when new ones were issued in 1864. Under these new regulations the uniform remained quite plain, as the Secretary was determined to have what he called “republican simplicity.” The full dress consisted of a frock coat, epaulets, cocked hat, sword, and plain pantaloons. Rank was determined by gold lace stripes on the sleeves, ranging from eight one-quarter inch stripes for rear admiral down to one stripe for an ensign. Now also for the first time appears a star on the sleeve for all line officers to designate line offcers from staff officers. These stripes on the sleeves in 1865 were changed to give rear admirals one broad stripe one and one-half inches wide with one stripe of narrow lace above it.
In 1866 rumors began to spread throughout the service that the department intended to dispense with epaulets and cocked hats. This led to a petition, or rather a protest, being sent to the department, and, in forwarding this protest, Rear Admiral Porter stated that while he subscribed to the opinion expressed by the Board of Admirals, nevertheless he must agree with the protest. He had agreed to the proposition to dispense with the epaulets and cocked hats on account of the expense involved by the young officers, but that now he was convinced that they had rather live on a smaller scale than to be deprived of a uniform that adds to their respectability. He said:
Republican simplicity should, no doubt, be standard, but it should be remembered that when Benjamin Franklin appeared at the court of Louis XVI, his simple republican costume consisted of velvet coat and breeches, silk satin vest trimmed with Brussels lace and diamond buckles on his shoes.
Evidently this did not please Secretary Welles for on the back of this protest is found his expressive comment as follows:
Our uniforms, like many other matters, spring from a desire to ape the manners, customs and dress of the courts and members of the aristocracy of Europe. Every woman in our land down to the youngest servant girl is attempting the fashion which originates in foreign courts and which are encouraged there to foster the industry of their country. It is only a few years since epaulets for the younger officers were permitted. The older officers have had them and are sick of them as the younger officers will be when they see them so common. I would suggest that the younger officers be permitted to have them and the older officers not.
No record appears, however, that this suggestion was ever acted upon. When the rank of admiral was introduced into the Navy, Admiral Farragut, for whom this rank was created, was consulted in regard to his uniform and suggested for his sleeve mark a gold embroidered star with a representation of his favorite ship, the Hartford, in silver in the center. His wishes were complied with but, in addition, he was given three stripes of gold lace, which carried the lace well up to his elbow on his full dress coat. These three stripes consisted of two two-inch ones, with one one-inch one between, the same as that worn many years afterwards by Admiral Dewey.
In 1866 there was added to the uniform of the enlisted men the first specialty marks in the history of the Navy. A master-at-arms had a white five-pointed star; a coxswain crossed anchors; quartermaster, a double marine glass; a gunner’s mate, two crossed cannons; a carpenter’s mate, a broad ax; captain of forecastle, two crossed anchors; captain of the top, an open figure-of-eight knot; sailmaker’s mate, a fid placed vertically. From this it will be seen that specialty marks in the Navy originally were a representation of the instrument used in performing their duty. Thus the master-at-arms as the police officer of the ship had the star of authority; the quartermaster used the binoculars; the gunner’s mate used the cannon, the carpenter’s mate the broad ax, and the sailmaker’s mate the fid. This custom of having the specialty mark represent as nearly as possible the tool used in their rating continues down to the present day with one exception, that being the cook; the cook originally had as a specialty mark a ring typifying one of the rings found in the lid on the galley stove. This ring, commonly called by the men the “doughnut,” was subsequently changed to a crescent, which mark the cook wears today. The men were to have on their cap bands of black ribbon the ship’s name in gold letters, while on the collars of the frocks were to be rows of white tape with white stars in the corner: three rows of tape for petty officers, seamen, and first-class firemen; two rows for ordinary seamen and second-class firemen, and one row for landsmen, coal heavers, and boys.
In navy tradition these three stripes are said to commemorate the three victories of Lord Nelson, but from the foregoing it will readily be seen that this is not true. The origin of these stripes in the British Navy is authoritatively accredited as follows:
Along in the fifties the Admiralty appointed a committee to design a uniform for the enlisted man. They found that the enlisted man had been embroidering their collars with all sorts of white designs, some much more fanciful than others, and this committee settled upon the three white stripes as the standard ornamentation of the enlisted man’s collar.
In this connection another old navy tradition accredits the black neckerchief as being a badge of mourning for Lord Nelson. The origin of this black neckerchief is that back in the early days of navies it was a custom of all seagoing men to wear their hair in a braided pigtail down the back of their neck, and to make this pigtail stiff it was customary to slush it well with grease. As this grease would come off on the back of the collar of the coat, the men wore bandanas of all sorts, hues, and colors. As time went along, the habit of wearing the hair in pigtails disappeared, but the custom of wearing the bandanas or neckerchiefs continued, and from this comes the black neckerchief worn by all sailormen.
It was not until 1869 that evening dress clothes were introduced into the navy uniform and the wearing of them was optional. A differentiation between a line and staff officer was also introduced, wherein as all officers of the line wore the five- pointed gold star on their sleeves just above the cuff lace, staff officers were to wear colored cloth underneath the gold lace on their sleeves in such a manner that it would show on either side of the lace and between the gold lace stripes. Doctors had cobalt blue stripes, which some years afterwards were changed to dark maroon velvet; pay officers, white; naval constructors, violet; civil engineers, light blue; professors of mathematics, olive green. In passing, it may be noted that these same colored stripes remained on the sleeves of the staff officers for the next forty years. Their abolishment will be touched on later. The wreaths on the front of the caps, of which each corps had a different design, were abolished by these regulations of 1869, and in their place was substituted the shield and crossed anchors for the front of the caps of all officers. This is the same device that appears on the caps of all officers of today.
After the Civil War the uniform went along with very few changes for a number of years. Officers had been authorized in 1866 to wear sack coats on board ships. Mates, boatswains, and gunners were to wear the star of the line officers on their sleeves. White tape had been removed from the collar of the enlisted man; uniforms were prescribed for professors of mathematics in 1872; white caps and white cap covers were authorized for officers in 1873; the lieutenant commander’s sleeve stripes changed to two and one-half in 1874, and the white tape was put back on the collar of the enlisted man in 1876.
The first real change came in 1877, when the form-fitting service blouse with the fly front worn for the next forty years was adopted. This is the uniform which all officers wore around the Spanish War period and in fact up to the end of the World War. The origin of this coat is said to be that it was first devised and authorized to be worn by officers at the United States Naval Academy during the administration of Rear Admiral Rodgers, and officers leaving the academy for sea service were continually asking permission to wear them.
Three officers of rank meeting at the department in the year 1877, and Rear Admiral Rodgers chancing to come in, he was asked to either have the coat abolished at the academy or introduced to the general service under certain restrictions. The result of the conversation which ensued was a petition to the Secretary of the Navy signed by all four officers for its introduction into the service, which was responded to by order of January 16, 1877.
In 1880 occurred what is believed to be the only attempt since the days of the Continental Congress to fix the uniform by law. The chaplains, who had had uniforms ranging from plain black to gold laced ones and back again, and had a bill introduced in Congress fixing their rank, numbers, etc. One section of this bill relieved the chaplains from all existing regulations in regard to dress and provided a costume neater and more appropriate to their calling. This bill was referred to the department for comment and Secretary Thompson in returning the bill said, “The public interests do not require the changes in the present law which the bill proposes.” This, apparently, put the quietus on the matter as no more was heard of the bill.
By the act of March 3, 1883, the title of master was changed to lieutenant, junior grade, and that of midshipman to ensign, junior grade, though the latter rank was consolidated with the rank of ensign the next year. This caused a slight change in the sleeve stripe.
In the regulations issued by Secretary Chandler in 1883, the naval cadet who had spent four years at the academy was to wear one stripe of one-quarter inch of gold lace wound with one-half inch of dark blue silk at intervals of two inches. This marks the beginning of the broken stripe which thirty or forty years afterwards was to become such a bone of contention with warrant officers. Heretofore boatswains and gunners had worn a star on their collar and carpenters and sailmakers gold embroidered diamonds. Two grades of warrant officers were provided for. Those of over twenty years’ service were to wear the device embroidered in silver, and those under twenty years in gold. Boatswains were to wear crossed foul anchors; gunners, a flaming spherical shell; carpenters, chevron pointed downward; sailmakers, a diamond-shaped lozenge, and mates, a binocular glass; pay clerks were to wear the corps device of pay corps without regard to length of service.
In 1886 new regulations were issued by Secretary Whitney. These had minor changes in the officers’ uniform, but several changes were made for the enlisted men. The now familiar red rating badge appeared for the first time. It consisted of a spread eagle placed above a class chevron with the specialty mark of the wearer placed in the angle of the chevron under the eagle. Masters-at-arms were to have chevrons of three stripes with an arch of three stripes; petty officers, first class, three stripes and a lozenge; petty officers, second class, three stripes; and petty officers, third class, two stripes. The stripes were crimson cloth set edge to edge and not separated as they are now. Fifteen specialty marks were also provided to cover all sorts of ratings. The watch mark was also changed to extend all the way around the arm at the shoulder seam, to be of white tape for the deck force and red tape for the engineer force. Class marks of tape on the cuffs which had been removed in 1879 were restored.
On April 1, 1893, petty officers were reclassified and the rating of chief petty officer was established by executive order. While the rating of chief boatswain’s mate, chief quartermaster, and chief gunner’s mate had been in existence for some ten or fifteen years, these men had been classed as first-class petty officers, and the master- at-arms alone held the rating of chief petty officer, the Navy Regulations saying that, “He (the master-at-arms) shall be the chief petty officer.” This change in the regulations specified that these new chief petty officers were to wear the dress prescribed for a first-class petty officer in the regulations of 1886 and that petty officers of first and second classes should wear the uniform prescribed in these regulations of petty officers in the second and third classes. The difference came in the chevron. The chief petty officers were to wear the chevron prescribed for master-at-arms. These chevrons were worn this way until 1894, when they were changed so that the chevrons would be separated one-quarter of an inch and for the chief petty officers the arch was to consist of one stripe instead of three. The lozenge for first-class petty officers was dropped so that petty officers, first-class, wore chevrons of three stripes, second-class two stripes, and third- class one stripe. Continuous service marks or as they afterwards became familiarly known “hashmarks” were introduced consisting of stripes of scarlet cloth eight inches long and three-eighths of an inch wide to be worn diagonally on the left sleeve.
No marked changes appeared in the uniform regulations now until 1897, when the black braid stripes on the sleeve of service blouses were replaced with gold lace. This change was brought about by Admiral Crowninshield, who in recommending it said:
One of the main objects of the uniform is lost if the rank of the person wearing it can not be readily distinguished. Discipline in the military and naval service depends largely upon respect obtained for the officers in such service and nothing conduces to a more proper observance of such respect than instant recognition of the rank of the officer. For this reason the gold lace worn upon the sleeve of officers’ coats should never have been removed from the naval blouse or service coat (referring to the form-fitting service blouse which had the rank indicated on the sleeve by black braid instead of gold lace). Every coat worn in the several naval uniforms should have upon it the gold stripes which have always been worn in all naval services, our own as well as foreign navies, for one hundred years or more. These stripes are nautical; they are associated with the sea; it was a mistake ever to have introduced the coat as a part of the naval uniform without them; they should be placed upon the blouse or overcoat at once in lieu of the black braid now worn, which indicates nothing as it affords no distinguishing mark whatever.
At the same time the gold embroidered visors on caps of the higher officers were introduced.
After the Spanish war, the uniform went along for some ten years with only very minor changes. The Navy Personnel Bill of 1899 created the rank of chief warrant officer and it became necessary to give them a distinguishing sleeve mark; consequently they were given the half-inch broken stripe and passed midshipmen were given a one-quarter inch gold stripe on the sleeve. About 1907 the aiguilettes were added to the uniform to be worn by aides to the President and to the Secretary of the Navy. Some years afterwards this was extended to include all aides to flag officers. The origin of the aiguilette has two stories, according to Colonel James A. Moss, U. S. Army, in his book The Officer’s Manual. The first is that in the very early days before knights wore armor, they wore coats of thick bull hide or sole leather laced up in the back. As it was impossible for them to button such a coat the act had to be performed by their squires who were required to carry a supply of stout leather thongs pointed with tooth-pick bones taken from the legs of bucks or with some kind of metal points such as our common shoe strings have in this day. The story goes that the squire carried these thongs in a small roll or bundle hanging on his shoulder, and from this has gradually come the idea of an aide or adjutant wearing the aiguilette as the badge of his office.
The most probable story, however, is translated from Larousse’s grand dictionary of the nineteenth century as follows:
The Duke of Alva, a Spanish general, having had cause to complain of the conduct of his body of Flemish troops which had taken flight, ordered that any future misconduct on the part of these troops should be punished by hanging the delinquent without regard to rank or grade. The Flemish replied that to facilitate the execution of this order, they would hereafter wear on their shoulder a rope and a nail which they did, but their conduct became so brilliant and exemplary that this rope was transformed into a braid of passementerie, and became a badge of honor to be worn by the officers of princely household, the pages and corps d'elite, etc., etc.
Prior to and during the World War considerable agitation had grown up in the service for the adoption of a double-breasted coat to replace the form fitting blouse. The officers favoring the double-breasted coat argued that only a comparatively few tailors could properly fit the old blouse, whereas almost any tailor could make a double-breasted blouse. As it was found that the majority of officers in the service favored this double-breasted coat, it was officially adopted in 1918. This coat did away with all collar marks on the service coat, leaving only the sleeve marks for identification.
About this same time a staff officer persuaded the Secretary of the Navy that all officers should be addressed by the military title of captain, commander, etc., rather than by the name of their staff designation. Accordingly, the navy regulations were changed so that all officers would be addressed by line titles. Then the staff officer took another forward step and persuaded the Secretary to sign an order abolishing the various colored cloth stripes on the sleeves of staff officers and substitute for them a small embroidered corps device to be worn in the same place as the line officers wore the star on their sleeves.
Other than these, very few changes have taken place in the uniform regulations since the World War. The coming of aviation into the Navy brought into being a new uniform for the aviators, as it was found that the old blue uniform was entirely unsuitable for such duty. This uniform was very similar to any army officer’s uniform and put leather puttees upon the aviators. Later it developed that officers serving on submarines needed a working uniform and a khaki uniform very similar to the aviators’ uniform was developed for this purpose.
With the men few changes occurred except such as were designed to make the uniform a little more smart and more satisfactory. The principal one of these was that chief petty officers were allowed to wear a chevron of gold lace with the eagle and specialty mark embroidered in silver in place of the old red rating badge. The present tendency of the naval service is not to make any changes in the uniform that are not absolutely essential, as every change, however small, involves considerable expense to the individual who has to change his uniform to conform to some new regulation.
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I WISH TO EMPHASIZE the fact that England failed in our Revolutionary War chiefly because of the inperfect training of her military and official class. They had not studied in advance the problems to be solved, and were neither prepared to overcome resistance, nor to compromise. They acted from instinct, obeying from day to day the pressure which impelled them along the path of least resistance, the greatest resistance being always offered by their own incapacity to master the relations of cause and effect with which they had to deal. The superiority of such administrators as Alexander and Caesar lay in the possession of this quality. I apprehend that our chief danger in the future may be an inheritance of this characteristics. We are naturally a race of gamblers, who trust to chance; and it is this gambling tendency which makes preparation for war unpopular. War is costly and painful to contemplate; therefore the temptation is to ignore the teachings of the past, and erect the theory that mankind will eventually learn to live in peace into a moral dogma. Meanwhile the experience of many thousand years proves that under certain conditions war is inevitable. Those conditions consist in a certain intensity of economic competition.—Brooks