1862 Cincinnati Sanitary Commission Shirt

Cotton shirts were one of the first garments requested by the U.S. Sanitary Commission (USSC) for volunteer sewists on the home front to construct during the American Civil War. These early USSC shirt patterns had specialized features such as tie closures, bed gown lengths, and openings for wound accessibility that discouraged their use outside of hospital settings. By 1862, there were actions being taken by regional soldiers’ aid societies to make these shirts adaptable to the fluid conditions volunteers encountered in the field as they worked to provide comfort for United States soldiers in need. One of these adaptations to the USSC cotton shirt pattern was designed by the Cincinnati Branch of the United States Sanitary Commission, with the first specifications distributed to aid organizations on February 1, 1862. These specifications called for the shirt to feature sleeve cuffs and a placket front that closed with buttons. As a result, these modifications to the cotton USSC shirt pa