Uniform Study: 
Elbert Bland's Trowsers

Born in 1823, Dr. Elbert Bland of Edgefield, South Carolina was a distinguished physician veteran. He had served his country well as a surgeon  in the Mexican War and when the war broke out, he was called upon again to support his state. He signed on as a surgeon with the 1st South Carolina Volunteers in 1861.

Within a few months of his second war, he had seen enough of combat through the eyes of a surgeon and decided to take a commission in 1862 as a Lt. Colonel of the 7th South Carolina.

Lt. Col. Bland took part in every major engagement in the Eastern Theater including the Peninsula Campaign and the Maryland Campaign. Despite a serious wound received in his right leg at Savage Station, Bland returned to the regiment in time for the Siege of Harpers Ferry and te invasion of Maryland. At Sharpsburg, Colonel D. Wyatt Aiken of Abbeville was shot through the lungs and disabled for the rest of the war. Command of the 7th was left to Bland.

During the defense of Fredericksburg, Lt. Col. Bland brilliantly used the terrain at Marye's Heights to his advantage. He was able to position the left wing of the 7th by using the crest of the slop to protect his men while they loaded prone. Bland was viewing the Federal assault when a minnie ball crashed into his field glasses. Bland was knocked out, but rejoined the 7th shortly. 

On his second invasion into the North the 7th was heavily engages at the battle of Gettysburg. On July 2nd, Kershaw saw two Federal brigades on the approach, threatening his right. Kershaw ordered the right thrown back to meet the threat on Wheatfield Road, a move neatly accomplished by Bland and the 7th. During this engagement he was wounded a third time in the left thigh at Gettysburg.

After this, he went home to Edgefield and had almost decided to resign his commission. After two wars and bring wounded three times, who could blame him. However, when learning that the 7th was bring shipped to the Western Theater with Longstreet to protect Chattanooga, he traveled to Tennessee and rejoined his old command. However, at the Battle of Chickamauga he received a mortal wound.

After his death General JB Kershaw wrote: "Lieutenant-Colonel Bland was recognized generally as an officer of rare ability. His power of command; his cool, dauntless courage and self-control in battle; his excellent judgment and disciplinary skill and ability in camp marked him as a man of a high order of military talent. His personal and social characteristics were equally noble and elevated. In him we have lost a champion worthy of our glorious cause. "

Sometime before 1904, the Bland Family donated the Frock and Trowsers he was wearing at Chickamauga as well as the gauntlets he wore and the field glasses that saved his life at Fredericksburg (minnie ball included).

The Trowsers are cut from jean cloth with blue-grey colored yards and a brown cotton warp. They are entirely hand sewn and are fully lined with a light weight cotton. They have bone buttons, a mule ear pocket and an adjustable back belt. 

The Trowsers are in very poor condition, showing signs of moth damage and have several repairs. It is difficult to identify which of the repairs are period, but at least one on the left thigh is likely to date to the war.

The author would like to thank the staff at The South Carolina Confederate Relic Room  for permission to use these photographs in this article. I'd also like to thank John Bigham and Neill Rose for background information on Elbert Bland.

To make a donation to the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room to help conserve the Bland uniform, please click here: DONATE TO SCCRR