Clothing
General and landing party dress:
The collar, also known as a tar flap, was a holdover from an earlier era when men had long hair that was tied back with tar or grease. The collar protected the uniform from dirt and grime.
Neckerchiefs made of silk were worn as head coverings or used to muffle the sound of guns.
A rope lanyard was worn around the neck or waist to carry a boatswain's whistle or a jackknife (folding blade with clipped point to impede use in fights). The lanyard kept the items from dropping to the deck when sailors worked aloft (areas above the deck).
General dress:
A short wool jacket had small gold-colored buttons; many veteran petty officers' buttons had Navy insignia, per 1841 regulations. These were similar in appearance to the War of 1812 jacket.
A wool blue pullover shirt called a jumper was worn underneath and tucked into trousers.
Trousers were blue wool and adorned with buttons. They were wide-legged or bell-bottomed so they could be pulled up when cleaning or doing work on the deck.
Landing party dress:
This was similar to general dress, except men were outfitted with a belt, cutlass, pistol and cartridge box with ammunition. Depending on the weather, they could take their jackets off and just wear the jumper.
Summer dress: (not pictured)
In the heat, a white jumper made of a cooler canvas/linen material was substituted; often, the sleeves and collar were made of denim in varying shades of blue. Also, a white cover went over the blue top of the general dress cap.
