Textile Artifacts from H.M. Sloop DeBraak Tyler Rudd Putman

s HMS DeBraak, a sloop of the British Royal avy, culture at the end of the eighteenth century. A foundered off Henlopen, Delaware, on 23 May DeBraak began her life as a single-masted Dutch naval 1798, her crew thought oflittle else but saving their lives. In cutter and served in the Anglo-Dutch War and again t French a matter of minutes, more than half the ship's company per­ in the early I 790s. When war broke out between Great ished, including the captain, Cdr. James Drew. I As she sank, Britain and the French-allied Dutch Batavian Republic in 1795, DeBraak took with her a rich trove of material culture which DeBraak was in Falmouth, England, along with a convoy en lay untouched on the seafloor for the next two centuries. The route to America, and she was eized by the British Admiralty. anaerobic (-poor) environment of the wreck site pre­ Shipwrights and other workers refitted DeBraakand converted served many organic artifacts (those made of plant and animal the ship into a two-masted brig-sloop, in talling new fittings, products) that deteriorate at other archaeological sites. Among del ineating interior spaces, and mounting a new battery ofguns these were fragments of the , clothes, and ribbons worn on the ship's weather deck. By the time she departed England by DeBraak's crew and pieces of the ship's sails. Although with a convoy bound for America in early 1798 under Com­ what survi es is only a fractional sample, documentary ources mander Drew, DeBraak was crewed by eighty-four officers, and artifacts from other sites contextualize this assemblage. seamen, and Marines, and carried fourteen 24-pounder carro­ DeBraak's materials provide a case study of textile use at sea nades and two six-pounder iron cannon.4 After losing contact and compliment the artifacts from other wrecks such as Mary with the convoy in April, DeBraak captured a Spanish ship, Rose (Engli h, 1545), (Swedish, 1628) Kronan (Swedish. the Don Francisco Xavier, and Drew transferred ome of his 1676), Invincible (British, 1758) Machault (French, 1760), crew onto their new prize. As the two shjp came to anchor and General Carleton (British, 1785).2 near Lewe , Delaware, on the afternoon of23 May, DeBraak In pursuit ofa rumored treasure, a private salvage company wa caught in a sudden storm and quickly sank. What crew located DeBraak in 1984 and began an un cientific recovery urvived crambled aboard the Spanish prize and subsequent process which damaged or destroyed countless artifacts and efforts by the Royal avy failed to sal age any more than a resulted in the 10 s of untold information about the material few pieces of the 10 t ship.5 world of the ship and the era. The divers who worked on the The Royal avy crews who attempted to salvage DeBraak wreck in the e year recalled opening wooden chests and in 1798 likely never imagined the hip would be rai ed nearly finding masses of blue textiles which were generally not two centuries later or her contents would be the subject of collected by the salvors.3 A rare ship's stove was unceremo­ intense study and careful con ervation. One cia s of these niously dumped overboard from the salvage vessel and an artifacts is the ship's textiles, objects made from animal and exceptional knit , discussed below, was almost overlooked plant fibers, which include both felts and woven fabrics. during the recovery. Future examinations of the and buckles from the Some scholars and archaeologists refu e to become mired wreck, beyond the scope of this article, will reveal more in the ethical and cultural morass generated by archaeological details about how the ship's crew dressed. But from maintop sites excavated (or looted) in an unscientific manner. Often to weather deck and from head to toe, DeBraak and her crew uch sites are military or nautical in nature because the e were covered in textiles. Among those that survive are felt type of sites feature artifacts and a ociation attractive to fragment , a , garment fragments, , hoe enthusiastic relic hunters. Sometimes, the potential of an ar­ ribbons, and ailcloth.6 tifact assemblage outweighs the disappointment of what has Most of DeBraak's seamen wore common round (un­ already been lost. Since 1992, when the salvors' collection cocked) felt hats. Felting. an ancient technique, results from was turned over to the State of Delaware, the Delaware Divi­ the combination of , friction, heat, and moisture on sion of Historic and Cultural Affairs has been the steward of certain fibers .7 In the eighteenth century, the felting proces DeBraak's hull and some twenty thousand artifacts associated involved five or more stages: bowing (vibration to evenly with the wreck. This material culture tro e includes ceramics, distribute fibers): basoning (applying pressure to achieve a glassware, armaments, accouterments, tools, personal effects, conical shape or "bat"); planking or waJkjng (pressing and and textiles that continue to reveal new details about naval rolling in steam); dyeing; and finishing (singeing, shaping, brushing, , and curing). Hatters employed a variety is a Ph .D. student in the His· of fibers in their work, including beaver, sheep's wool, and tory of American Civili-ation Program at the University of Delaware. coney (rabbit).9

75 The diversity of felts aboard DeBraak, with fragments add decoration. Remarkably imilar to one recovered in the representing over a dozen hats, echoed the range available to 1970 from the ew York City waterfront (now in a private civilians. 10 Coarse examples, fragments of the cheap hat of collection), the DeBraak cap's simple construction and large the ship's seamen, including one large brim fragment, were yam size suggest a profe sional knitter, perhaps working for made entirely of wool fibers of varying sizes (FIG I ).11 Other a Royal avy slops (ready-made sailor ) contractor, fragments feature a finer, tight felt, from hats which would have might have finished it in les than an hour. 16 appeared smooth and slightly reflective. Such felt employed Just as common seamen chose hats to the weather, a mixture of fibers, and DeBraak's examples include various DeBraak's commi sioned and warrant officers, while at sea, combination of sheep's wool, rabbit, hare, and beaver,, 2 By wore simpler versions of the stipulated by official 1798, common sailors had generally abandoned cocked hats regulations. 1 A fragment of one such officer s garment sur­ in favor of round hats made from felt, painted canvas, or vi es in the remains of the sleeve of a dark-colored straw. 13 Officers, on the other hand, continued to wear hats or (FIG 8). The two pieces of finely twill-woven wool with cocked leaves (brim sections), often in the "bicorn are seamed up one side, with a seam allowance less than y.. , as evidenced by two such fragment from DeBraak. A inch and stitching (probably linen, now vanished leaving nearly complete crown with a rounded (rather than angular, or only holes) at 8- 10 stitches per inch. Such a coat might have "square") edge and a fragment of its cocked leaf al 0 include borne gilded s buttons and buttonholes worked in silk silk fibers in the felt (FIG 2- 3). Previously undocumented in twist (a fragment of which survives from DeBraak), but little original hats of this period, silk fibers do not felt independently else, indeed sometime nothing at all marked officers apart and thus mu t be incorporated into fur felt perhap to add a from the crew while far out at ea. 1 One other reminder of reflective sheen. A single felt recipe including wool, coney, DeBraak's officers i a mall ilk tassel that may have once and silk for 'fine quality" hats appeared in an 1819 treati e.14 adorned a sword or piece of furniture in the cabin. While the hat brims of much of DeBraak's crew featured Although and clothing were upplied by a massive raw edges, everal of the finer felt fragments show sign of lop contract system in England, the Royal avy had no decorative ribbon bindings on the brim edges. This practice regulations for common eamen in 1798.19 ome was more common on better quality and military hats, and captains stro e for uniformity among their crew and, on many one brim from DeBraak retains a fragment of plain-woven ship , the common source of slops clothing re ulted in ome ilk ribbon, now a color (FIG 4). level of homogeneity. Many ailor wore some combination In both fair and foul weather, some of DeBraak's ailors of their per onal clothing and garments purcha ed from the chose other types of head wear besides felt hats, a rare example purser's slop stores aboard ship and DeBraak' sailors looked of which survived in the wreck. This brimmed knit cap is con­ much like eamen across the Atlantic world (FIG 9). Most tructed from thick, single-ply, undyed wool yarn knit three wore 100 e trou ers although ome British seamen contin­ titches to the inch, and was slightly felted or bru hed to make ued to wear petticoat at the end of the eighteenth it thicker and warmer (FIG 5-6). The cap features a 5 Y2 inch- century.20 Sailor favored checked hirts, although plain and tall crown and a double-layer 2 y.. inch-wide brim. The knitter striped example were al 0 common, and ome wore plain of thi cap u ed decreasing stitches to shape the crown and or patterned waistcoat . All wore ome type of hort jacket, attached the brim with a "double cast-on" method to secure the most often double-brea ted and con tructed of blue wool. A layers (FIG 7).15 The cap measures 22 inches in circumference olid or patterned tied 100 ely around a ailor's neck on the inside base of the crown and originally featured a knit finished the ensemble. Several fine ilk fragment recovered at the center of the crown to secure the yarn and from DeBraak (one with 80 warps and 96 wefts per inch and

TableA. Weave Warp spin Warps per inch Weft spin Wefts per inch Plain S 24 S 20 Plain S 20 S 16 Plain S 20 Z 16 Plain Z 24 Z 20 Plain Z 20 Z 20 Plain Z 28 S 20 Plain Z 24 S 20 Plain ? 40 ? 40 2/2 Twill Z 56 Z 56 212 Twill Z 40 Z 40 Continues ofpage 85 76 FIG 1. Fragment of a coarse, all-wool felt hat brim with no evidence of binding. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

FIG 3. Mixed fiber felting, like the wool, beaver, hare, and silk fibers seen in this example at 200x magnification, appeared in several DeBraak hat fragments. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Ar­ chaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

FIG 2A & B. The crown (above) and cocked section(below) frag­ ments of this felt hat suggest it was worn by one ofDeBraak's officers. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

FIG 4. Felt hat fragment with silk ribbon binding partially intact. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

77 FIG 5 A & B (left and above). The knit cap from DeBraak. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

FIG 6. Wool fiber from the DeBraak knit cap, 200x magnification. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/ Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

FIG 7. Fragment of the DeBraak knit cap brim demonstrating FIG 8. Twill-woven seamed fragment from DeBraak. Note seam the two layer construction. Courtesy of the Delaware Division allowance (less than U- inch) on upper edges. Courtesy of the of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware Collection, Dover, DE. State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE. 78 FIG 11. Fragments of two textile types that once formed a small bag. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collec­ tion, Dover. DE

--.J FIG. 9. DeBraak 's sailors dressed much like this sailor drawn in 1799 by noted artist and satirist Thomas Row­ landson. © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

FIG 10. One example of the many varieties of coarse wool re­ FIG 17. Example of a largely intact -knit stocking from covered from DeBraak. Note selvedge on lower side. Courtesy DeBraak. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Dela­ Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collection, ware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE. Dover, DE.

79 FIG 12 (top left). Waistcoat fragment with a conical copper alloy button. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/ Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE. FIG 13 (left and bottom left). Front and reverse of upper left section of the waistcoat, showing buttonholes, two different button types, pieced lining, and facing. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collec­ tion, Dover, DE. FIG 15 (top right). Detail of ribbon-trimmed flap or welt on waistcoat fragment. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE. FIG 16 (below). Charles H. Fithian wearing a reproduction of the DeBraak waistcoat. Photo by Blair Pershyn.

80 FIG 18 (top left). Fragments of a frame-knit stocking from DeBraak. Note the point on the insole of the foot section where the knitting changes from a two-knit, one-purl rib to a solid stockinette stitch. eM Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/ Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE. FIG 19 (top right). Most ofDeBraak 's , like this example, featured ties of leather or silk ribbon. Courtesy of the Delaware Divi­ sion of Historical and Cultural A ffairs!Dela ware State Archaeological .5 IN Collection, Dover, DE. FIG 20 (below). Striped and ribbed silk ribbon used as a tie. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs! Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE. FIG 21 (right). Fragment of canvas puddening from one of DeBraak 's anchor rings. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cul­ tural Affairs!Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

81 FIG 22. Sailmaker and loft as shown in David Steel's The Art of Sail-making (London: Printed for David Steel, 1796), frontispiece. Courtesy, the Winterthur Library: Printed Books and Periodicals Collection, Wilmington, DE.

FIG 24 (top of opposite page). Evidence of sewing on De Braak canvas fragments. Clockwise from top left: probably hem with thread impressions; "tabled" hem without roping; probable rolled seam remnant; two fragments with flat seam stitch rows. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

FIG 23. Turned wood needle case (far left), leather sewing palm (left), and two wooden seam rubbers (right) recovered from DeBraak. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural AffairslDelaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

82 1

o... .5 IN

FIG 25. Two canvas fragments demonstrating the spectrum of sailcloth recovered from DeBraak. At left is a thick, heavy fragment with doubled warps and at right a lightweight, all-flax, plain-woven fragment. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

83 FIG 26. Fragment of canvas retaining its original selvedge. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

FIG 27. Two of the fragments recovered in a tied packet of canvas patches, the remains of a sailmaker's sup­ plies. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Collection, Dover, DE.

FIG 28. Partially unrolled fragment of tarred matting. Courtesy of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs/Delaware State Archaeological Col­ lection, Dover, DE.

84 continuedfrom page 76 another with 128 warps and 120 wefts per inch) might be an alternative at end ofthe eighteenth century, as demonstrated fragments of these ubiquitou kerchiefs. by the mix of hand- and frame-knit examples recovered from Contrary to the homogenous appearance sometimes sug­ the General Carleton (1785). including a similarly ribbed gested by documentary record , DeBraak's textile artifacts frame-knit example.26 confirm the ship's crew acquired their garments from a vari­ Like the textiles from the wreck, DeBraak' shoes and ety of source . Woven wool fragments comprise one of the represent a rare assemblage of datable artifacts (FIG largest categories of DeBraak textiles and exhibit surpri ing 19). Many of the shoes were behind the fashionable tandard diversity; among over forty wool fabric fragments, there are for the I 790s, not unexpected for military- and naval-issue at least eleven di tinct type (TABLE A). All of these frag­ items.2 Among the e are many which fit a standard pattern: ments are slightly or heavily fulled (a process which felted outdated in style, flesh-out, sturdy shoe. Sailors deliberately urface fibers to thicken and tighten the cloth), but most are modified the latchets of some of these shoes to accommodate mall pieces, none measuring more than 6 inches at their ties rather than buckle . Interestingly, one such hoe wa , ac­ wide t point (FIG 10). Although all are now oxidized to a cording to ill iam burg master shoemaker D. A. Saguto, "ofa dark brown color, these fragment likely originally aried a muchpoorerqualityofworkman hip" than most other .2 Thi much in color as in wea e and several exhibit sel edges and hoe had minimal wear marks but featured a unique ribbon evidence of construction, including probable seams. One et tie (FIG 20). The ribbon i I Y. inches wide and include three of fragment include the remains of two different textiles, a narrow stripe (two red tripes flanking a central white stripe) heavily fulled plain-woven wool cut on the bias and a twill­ running down its center along with floating red rib e ery Y2 \ oven straight-cut piece and are all that remain of a mall inch along the body. A common seaman might not have cared bag or pocket stitched with silk thread (FIG II). to purcha e fine shoes, but he could afford a hort length of The mo t identifiable garment fragment from DeBraak fancy ribbon to adorn the the avy i sued him. are those of a cotton and linen waistcoat (FIG 12- 16). Thi Other shoes from the DeBraak more clo ely resembled garment icon tructed from a thin cloth, a textile wo en fa hionable standard of 1798 including everal examples with a rai ed diamond pattern often u ed in the eighteenth con tructed of fine calf kin and de igned to accommodate century for " ummer wai tcoat " and other garment . 11 The ribbon tie .19Among the ties of the e hoe are a Y2 inch black unmercerized cotton diaper cloth is the only occurrence of a and a 13 inch off-white ilk grosgrain ribbon. Another hoe cotton material in the DeBraak as emblage, suggesting the featured two tie , each of a twill-woven, I Y. inch-wide. dominance of wool and linen in shipboard and ailor garment off-white silk ribbon. The pre ence of hoes which retain their textile atthi date. 11 Adouble-breasted garment, thi wai tcoat decorati e in the DeBraak as emblage uggest at originally featured faced upper designed to be turned lea t some shoe tie were more for flash than function and the back and two red ribbon-trimmed pocket flap or welt . It complexity ofthe bow indicate they were rarely untied. Such lining consi t of a plain-woven white linen irregularly "cab­ ribbons uggest DeBraak's sailors were making choices about baged." or pieced, from everal smaller ection , a common fa hionability and, at least in small ways, setting them elve practice to con erve fabricY The garment a~ enough u e to apart a individual within a naval hierarchy.30 10 e a few button ; it originally bore unu ual conical copper While many of the textile fragment reco ered from the alloy button which were replaced in at lea t one in tance by wreck were a sociated with garment , other repre ent the a larger flat copper alloy example. utilitarian fabrics ofthe ship. The crew ofDeBraaku ed canvas The DeBraak assemblage includes approximately twenty­ for many purpo e , including for sail , hammocks, awnings, three fragment of knit wool and three partially complete bucket , coar e garments, and "puddening." Puddening re­ wool tocking. all frame-knit (FIG 17- 18). Frame knitting info rced a ship' anchor rings, which were, according to one became a cottage industry after the in ention of the stocking contemporary manual "well parceled with tarred Can as, and frame by William Lee in 1600 and technical inno ations like then wrapped round with twice-laid Stuff[rope]. '31D eBraak's the Derby rib frame introduced by Jebediah trutt in 1758Y anchor ring retain their original linen can va puddening, were knit flat on the e frame and then seamed up without any remaining tarring or roping (FIG 21 ). the back while hand-knitter knit " in the round," producing DeBraak' ail compri ed the large t amount of textiles a eamle s tocking.25 Each of the complete stockings from aboard the ship and her full compliment included thirty distinct DeBraak features a rear seam and is formed to accommodate types totaling over 3 408 yards of sailcloth, not including the the widening calf. rather than consi ting only of a traight extra sails carried on mo t ships.32 Sai Imakers constructed sails tube. They are ribbed with a two-knit one-purl pattern up the a three-dimensional object , with curves and shapes to suit leg and on the top of the foot, an effect allowed by Strutt's the sails purpose and carefully planned leeches, the sloping innovation which added some ela ticity and decoration to the edges of sails, and gores, the angles on which canva was cut, leg section. Like much of the DeBraak textile assemblage, to shape each sail.33 The process was time-consuming: the minor vanatlOn uggest a ariety of ources: knit sizes vary carred fore topsail from HMS Victory preserved after the between 13 and 16 to the inch. Missing from the DeBraak battle of Trafalgar in 1806, took approximately 1.200 man assemblage are hand-knit stockings. However, these remained hours to construct.34 The sail loft of the 1790s was a spacious,

85 t open room, well-lit by window to facilitate both the design, era (FIGs 25-26).46 using chalk points and line marked onto the floor, and the After they had been bent onto the ship. DeBraak's ails construction ofsai Is. In the winter, an iron heating stove might required regular care to maintain their propul ive qualitie . be lowered from the ceiling with a y tern of ropes. Scattered Thi work often fell to a shipboard ailmaker and other crew­ around the sail loft were long benches where sailmakers sat men. DeBraak's sailmaker kept patches of sailcloth for repair to work (FIG 22). work which were reco ered tied into a packet (FIG 27). The Canvas arrived in the sail loft in 38-yard (114 feet) bolts of arne workers may have cut another type of coar ely woven 24-inch-wide materiaP5Where nece ary, ailmakers avoided material as a sort of shipboard matting (FIG 28) .4 Oi tinct exce sive damage to the weave of the cloth by cutting it with from canvas, these fragment are woven in a 211 twill pattern a knife rather than shears.36 Using a triangular needle set with thick paired warp yam ,and include a long narrow roll against a leather palm with a metal eye like a flat thimble, a and numerous other fragment, orne tained with tar and all sailmaker could exert the full of his arm to dri e needle with cut edge. through canva (FIG 23). U ing thi method, he titched DeBraak's artifact contribute valuable data to our "double flat,' overlapped seam with "the be t Engli h-made knowledge of textile at ea and help build a more detailed twine of three threads, spun 360 fathom to the pound' with chronology of change. To take only one example, DeBraak 108- 116 stitches per yard (approximately three stitche per demon trate , along with primary ource , leather , inch). 37 "Sticking" or "stitching up" further trengthened the or jacket. so common on the Mwy Rose of 1545, had been bigge t seam with the addition of a line of doubled-thread abandoned by eafarer long before 1798.4 The DeBraak stitche down the center.3 as emblage complement the myriad garment reco ered Along a sail' edges ailmakers tabled (hemmed) the can­ from the General Carleton and uggests ubtle way in which va . The fir t step in this proce s wa the u e of a earn rubber eafaring textile changed in a relati ely hort period. The e t to press the canva into it new fold (FIG 23). If the edge ran fragments from DeBraak, for in tance, repre ent a fa hion­ diagonally on the canvas. aiLmaker u ed a "cut tabling" and able garment of 1798, di tingui hable from tho e aboard the added a narrow rolled facing piece to pre ent crea ing which General Carleton of fourteen year previou. The DeBraak might stre s the sail. Tabling required some 68-72 stitches textiles are only a mall ample ofthe fabrics originally u ed per yard (approximately two per inch). and re ulted in a hem on the ship. In some ca e , other wrecks help indicate what ranging from I ~ inche to 6 inches wide, depending on the DeBraak' sample overlook . In other in tance , a with the ail and the side.39 The comers of certain sails had over a dozen ship's ails, primary document ugge t what urvive i the layer of canva in folded tabling and patch reinforcement .40 mere t fraction of the original whole. Many of these construction technique are represented by the Aboard DeBraak and on e ery other historical na al and canvas fragment from DeBraak (FIG 24). merchant hip, textiles played a major role. In the mo t literal After tabling, sailmakers attached bolt-ropes to edges to ense, fabric dro e the ship, in the form of massi e sail. But reinforce and give hape to the ail. ext, a pointed pegging it al 0 clothed ailor in both tandardized and per onalized awl wa u ed to open holes in the canva (rather than cutting way . DeBraak' fragments re eal that even eamen on oy­ thread) to work grommets.4l After the addition of a variety age far from home combined lop clothing with personal of rope "clue ," 'cringle." and other attachment point , items while maintaining hipboard textile to the be t of their sailmaker cured and stretched a ail to en ure a proper fit on abilitie . Many of the detail the e fragments reveal would the intended hip. 41 The absence of roping DeBraak's canvas ha e remained unknown had DeBraak' artifacts been ignored fragments i explained by the relati ely small amount of ail­ becau e of their un cientific reco ery. In the end, DeBraak' cloth that urvi e from the hip' full compliment. real treasure lay not in Spani h gold but in humbler artifact For centuries, na al sails were produced in a variety of like the e textile fragment and the many other small things canva grade to facilitate each ail' unique position and that together formed the material world of life at sea at the purpo e. 43 DeBraak's ail included ix grade of can a , end of the eighteenth century. ranging from' umber 2' (41 pound per bolt) to' umber Acknowledgements " (21 pound per bolt).44 Briti h regulation tipulated the Th e author thanks Charles H. Fithian and Linda Eaton warp of canvases umbers 1-6 (the hea ier grades) "shall for valuable guidance throughout this research as well as be wholly wrought and made of double yam, and shall con­ the conservation and library staffat the Winterthur Museum. tain, in every piece or bolt of 24 inches in breadth, at lea t Matthew Brenckle, James L. Kochan, Heather Han ell, and 560 double threads of yam and in every piece of such sail­ icole Belolan offered helpful insights into various aspects cloth, that hall be 30 inches in breadth, at least 700 double ofthis project. threads of yam.' umber 1-4 can asses would have warps and wefts of equally strength which could be long flax, Ital­ otes ian hemp or Braak [Baltic] hemp.45 Many canvas fragments from DeBraakconform to the arietyofweights, double-warp I. Donald Schomene. The HI/III for HMS De Bmak: Legend and Legacy weave style, and flax and hemp fiber of British sails of this (Durham. C: Carolina Academic Press, 1993),38. 2. On these wrecks ee the following: Julie Gardiner el aI., Before the Mast:

86

h Life and Death Aboard the (Portsmouth: The Mary Rose 0/ Scotland. 6 (1951-52): 30-42. A fringed and panem-knit knit cap Trust. Ltd., 2005): Carl OlofCederlung et aI., Vasa I: The Archaeology was recovered from the General Carleton: Babits and Brenclde, "Sailor 0/a SII'edish 0/1628 (: ational Maritime Museum Clothing:' I 9. I am grateful to Heather Hansen for in ightsdrawn from of Sweden, 2006): Lars Einars on, "Artefacts from the Kronan (1676): her work reproducing the DeBraak cap. personal communication. 19 categorie . pre ervation and social structure," in Arte/acts/rom Wrecks: July 2012. Dated assemblages from the Late Middle Ages to the Industrial Revo­ 17. The coat worn by Rear Adm. Horatio elson. RN. atthe Banle ofthe ile Illtion , ed. Mark Redknap (Oxford: Oxbow Books. 1997). 209- 21 : (the arne year DeBraak sank) i one example of such simplicity, Amy Chri tie' outhKen ington.Arte/acts/romHMSlnvincible. 1 44-1 58. Miller. Dressed to Kill (Greenwich. UK: ational Maritime Mu eum. Caraloglle (London: Christie's South Kensington, Ltd .. 19 8); James P. 2007), 113. McGuane. Heart 0/ Oak: A Sailor s Life in elson s ary' ew York: I . Matthew Brenckle." lumming lt on the Quarterdeck: avalOfficers' W. W. orton & Company. 2002): Catherine Sullivan, Legacy o/the ea-going Clothing in the Early ineteenth Century:' MC&H, 64, no. Machault: A Collection 0/1 th-celllllr)" Artifacts (Onawa: Minister of 2 (Summer 2012): 135- 13 . the Environment. 19 6): and Lawrence Babits and Manhew Brenckle. 19. The first regulations for British sailors' clothing were set in I 5 . Ger­ " ailorClothing," in The General Carleton Shipwreck. I 5. ed. Walde­ ald Dickens. The a/the British Sailor (London: Her Maje ty' mar 0 ow ki (Gdait k. Polish Maritime Mu eum. 200 ). 16 - 19 . tationary Office. 1957). 6. 3. DelawareDivi ion ofHistoric and CulturalAffairs taffmembersCharles 20. Thomas Rowlandson's I 99 plates of Royal avyuniform .publishedby Fithian and Claudia Leister recall hearing thi during the recovery of R. Ackermann. show a cook and a cabin boy wearing penicoat breeche . DeBraak. I ational Maritime Mu eum. Greenwich, K. 4. On DeBraak' armaments. ee Charle H. Fithian. "An Archaeological 21 . Florence Montgomery. Textiles in America 1650-18 a ( ew York: W. Analysis of the Armaments from H.M. Brig DeBraak:' MC&H. 46, no. W. orton & Company. 2007), 21 . 4 (Winter 1994): 146-157. 22. Mercerization. invented in I 44. alter the microscopic appearance of 5. Thi paragraph i a summary of information found in chomene. HIIIII conon fibers. lor HMS De Braak. 3-4-. Schomene's book al 0 detail the recovery 23 . crapsoffabric left from cuninggarment pieces was known as ·'cabbage." of and ub equent legal banle over DeBraak. and piecing a garment wa called '·cabbaging." "Cabbage, n.3." OED 6. A u eful di cus ion and depiction of DeBraak's crew's clothing i Online. June 2012 (Oxford University Press): www.oed.com (acces ed David Rickman and Charle H. Fithian. "Royal avy Sailors. H.M. 31 July 2012). The pocket remnants of the \ aistcoat are incomplete. Brig DeBraak. I 9 :. M fA pI. 725 (2000): Charle H. Fithian, "An making it difficult to determine whether they are flaps or false welt . I Archaeological Analy is of the Armaments from H.M. Brig DeBraak:' am grateful to Manhe\ Brenckle, Jame Kochan. and Charles Fithian MC&H, 46. no. 4 (Winter 1994): 176-177. for their input. 7. 'The Manufacture of Wool Felt." ClBA Rel'iell: II. no. 129 ovember 24. Marilyn Palmer. Framework Knilling (Buckinghamshire. K: hire 195 ): 4. Publications, Ltd., 2002). 9- 10. David Comer. "The Tyranny of Fa hion: The Case of the Felt-Haning 25. Heather Hansen, personal communication. 6 December _010. Trade in the Late Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, ,. Textile Histo/}: 26. Babits and Brenckle. "Sailor Clothing," 196. 22. no. 2 (Autumn 1991): 1-9. 27. D. A. Saguto. " Footwear And hoe-Related Artifacts Recovered from 9. Ibid., 155. the Wreck of the HMS DeBraak- 179 • Preliminary Report," (19 7. 10. The a emblage includes thirty- e,en felt fragments be ides those of on file. Delaware Division of Hi torical and Cultural Affairs. Dover). a po ible hoe in ert. A previou tudy ugge ted this laner fragment 4. wa made from brown-wooled heep and alpaca fibers. but I ha\'e been 2 . Ibid .. 6. unable to confirm its usage as an in ert through any other documenta­ 29. [bid .. 9. tion. Report by Anne Peranteau. 2005. on file at the Delaware Division 30. For an interesting discu ion of ribbon as fashion symbol , ee Ann of Historical and Cultural Affairs. Dover. Dela\\oare. mart Martin, Bllying illlo the World 0/ Goods: Early Consllmers in II. Fiberidentification in this article are based on fiber microscopy performed Backcollnt/}· Virginia (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Pre • on small sample at the Winterthur Mu eum by the author in the fall of 200 ). 16 - I 2. 20 I O. For more detail, ee the report and catalog on file at the Delaware 3 I. Darcy Le er. The YOllng Sea Officer s Sheet A nchor I 19 repr.. ew Divi ion of Historical and Cultural Affair. Dover, Delaware. York: Edward weetman. 1955). 6 . 12. Rabbit and beaver fur are difficult to differentiate. Michael Henke of 32. Based on tables for a 16-gun, 300-320-ton sloop in David Steel. The Fridrich Furs. Traverse City. Michigan. graciou Iy provided me with a Art o/Sail-Making (London: Printed for David teel. 1796). 176-177. ample of beaver fur for comparative purpo e . This is an approximate estimate: DeBraak was only 255 ton but after 13. Babit and Brenckle. ,. ailor Clothing," 176. conversion by the Briti h had rigging, rna ting. and ails similar to a 14. I am grateful to Manhe" Brenckle for bnnging this ource to my anen­ 3OO-ton sloop-of-war. Charle Fithian. personal communication. 14 tion. Robert Lloyd. Lloyds Treatise on Hats (London: Printed for the Augu t 2012. Author, I 19). 39. Silk-covered hats were in use by the I 780s, but they 33. teel, Art a/Sail-Making. 3-4. featured a wool felt body with a silk plush overlayer. Mary Elizabeth 34. "The Trafalgar Sail," Port mouth Hi toric Dockyard, http: www. McClellan, Felt. Silk & Straw Handmade Hats: Tools and Processes historicdockyard.co.ukIdockyarditrafalgarsail.php. accessed 4 August (Doyle town: Bucks County Historical ociety, 19 ), 15. 2012. 15. Kirstie Buckland made notes on this cap in 2008, on file at the Delaware 35. Steel, Art a/Sail-Making, 145. Divi ion of Historical and Cultural Affairs. Dover, Delaware. Heather 36. Julie Winch, A Gelllieman o/Color: The Life 0/James Forten (Oxford: Han en provided valuable insights during a tudy session at Winterthur Oxford Univesity Press, 2002), 68. on 6 December 20 I O. 37. Steel, Art o/Sail-Making, 19. 16. George C. eumann and Frank J. Kravic, Collector s//Iustrated Encyclo­ 3 . Ibid., 20. pedia a/the American Revoilltion (Harri burg: Stackpole Books, 1975), 39. Ibid., 20-21. 138. An interesting comparison is the tall, brimmed knit cap purchased 40. John E. Horsley, Tools o/the Maritime Trades (Camden: International by Peter the Great at the Dutch East India Company hipyards in 1697, Marine Publishing Company, 1978), 164. now in the collection of the Hermitage Mu eum in Leningrad. Kirstie 41 . Steel, Art 0/Sail-Making , 21. Buckland, "The Monmouth Cap," Coslllme. 13 (1979): 23-37. Also note 42. Steel. Art 0/Sail-Making, 26, 28; Horsely, Tools, 164-181. the round cap with turned-up brim recovered in pristine condition from 43. The Vasa's sails included several . Sven Bengtsson,"The sails of a late seventeenth century Shetland gravesite: Audrey S. Henshall and the Wasa: Unfolding, identification and preservation," The IllIernational Stuart Maxwell. "Clothing and Other Article from a Late 17th-Century JOllrnalo/ OIl1ical Archaeology and Undenvater Exploration. 4, no. I Grave at Gunnister, Shetland," Proceedings o/the Societyo/Antiqllaries (1971): 33.

87 b 44. Steel's table for a l6-gun, 300-320-ton sloop indicates that such a ship 47. Unfortunately, freeze drying con ervation precluded fiber identification carried no sails in umbers I or 5 canvasse , Steel, Art ofSail-Making. for these fragments. An unusually large textile fragment. folded into 145, 177. several layers measuring 15.5 inche by 19 inche has the appearance 45. Steel, Art of Sail-making, 190. Braak hemp was associated with Saint of a possible blanket, but hares the same weave size and structure as Petersburg, Russia; G. Gregory, A ew and Complete Dictionary ofthe the marring. Distinct conservation treatments may have contributed to Arts and Sciences, Volume III (London?: 1819), .v. "rope." the differing textures. 46. Because of the microscopic similarity of flax and hemp, it was often 48. On the Mary Rose , ee Marian For ter, "Leather Jerkins," in impossible to determine the precise fiber content of DeBraak's canvas Before the Mast, Gardiner, et aI. , 37-48. fragments.

Massachusetts Men in Gray at Fort Monroe, 1861 (Reprised) Michael 1. McAfee

INCE a single illustration i reputedly worth a thousand ingle-breasted, with full trou er , and Fez cap with dark S words this brief article is meant to add significantly to ta el for fatigue, and gray hat turned up on the ide , with Member Ryan B. Weddle's article of the arne title appearing red trim, for 'dre ' .... "1 in the Winter 20 II issue of MC&H. The accompanying ill u tration are from the author' collec­ The gray flannel chasseur uniform issued to the first Ma - tion or the holding of the We t Point Mu eum. Intere tingly. achu ett militia volunteers replaced the motley assortment of the illustrations from the West Point Mu eum were done by civilian and prewar mjlitia uniform in which they an wered the a member of Company "C:' of the 3d. I t Lt. Samuel Emery call to war. This garb is de cribed and explained on page 896 Chamberlain. veteran of both the Mexican and Civil Wars. of Company Founder Frederick P. Todd's American Military Chamberlain is of cour e perhap be t remembered for hi Equipage, 1851-1872, a publication thi author had the fortune Mexican War remini cence publi hed a My Confessioll. ~ to coauthor with Colonel Todd. I al 0 publi hed an article on thi uniform, a worn by the 3d Regiment, Ma achu ett Notes Volunteer Militia, in the September-October 1997 issue of I. John w. Han on. Historical Sketch of the Old Sixth Re~illlellI. Massa­ Military Images magazine, both publication being referred chllsetts Volllnteers ... (Bo ton: Cambridge Pre s. I 66).21. to reader for further information. The regimental hi tory of 2. Samuel E. Chamberlain. My Confession (I ew York: Harper Brothers. the 6th Ma achu ett aptly de cribed the e uniforms a " ... Publi hers. 1956). a ort of Zouave uit con i ting of gray voltigeur jacket .

FIG 2. "Soldier of the 3d Massachusetts standing guard beside one of Fort Monroe's cannon.n From a stereoview by New York City photographer George Stacy, collection of Michael J. McAfee.

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