Kepi: Encyclopedia II - Kepi - Other Armies

Kepi - Other Armies

The practical nature and relative cheapness of the kepi made it a popular military headdress from the mid-nineteenth century on. The Belgian Army had a distinctive form of kepi with a high back to it. This continued to be worn in black and silver by the Belgian Gendarmerie until the 1950s. Many Latin American armies wore kepis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries which were close copies of the French model. The Greek Army of the same period wore dark blue or green (the latter for cavalry) kepis and continued the same style of headress in khaki when field uniforms of that colour were introduced in 1910. Other armies who favoured kepis during the final period of colourful uniforms that ended with World War I, included the Danish, Portugese, Swiss, Dutch and Rumanian armies. Even the Japanese Army adopted French style kepis for senior officers in full dress, as well as for their Gendarmerie units and military bands. Significantly such historic opponents of France as Germany and Britain avoided the use of kepis, with only a few shortlived exceptions. This may have been for practical rather than patriotic reasons, as the distinctive profile of the kepi would be likely to lead to confusion in battle.

Kepi - US Army

In the United States, the kepi is most often associated with the American Civil War era, and into the Indian Wars. The first official version was introduced for the US Army in 1858. It bore scant resemblance to the current neat French pattern and was instead a rather baggy imitation in dark blue without the distinctive sunken top. It gave rise to a number of methods of wearing, most of which looked unmilitary. Officially called a forage cap, it was nicknamed 'bummers cap' by troops, being described as being 'shapeless as a feedbag'. Despite this, it became the most common form of cap worn by US regulars and volunteers during the American Civil War and is characterised in films such as Gettysburg, Gods and Generals and Glory. It was also worn by many Confederate troops in dark blue, various shades of grey and butternut. A famous wartime commander who habitually wore this cap was Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, who wore his plain dark blue round-visored forage cap, a reminder of his days as former superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute, until it was almost falling apart. He was subsequently presented with a new grey forage cap, with gold braid, which he was wearing when he was mortally wounded on the first evening of the victorious battle of Chancellorsville on May 1, 1863.

Also popular with North and South was the chasseur cap, a close copy of the French kepi, with sunken top and squared visor. In the North, it was often called the 'McClellan cap' after Union commander of the Army of the Potomac, G.B. McClellan. Civil War versions were often plain coloured dark blue or grey shade, however some units wore coloured variants, a few illustrative examples being:- US - 14th (Brooklyn) NY - dark blue base, red sides, dark blue top, red circular insert; 12th NY - red base, grey sides, red top, white piping and later - dark blue base, light blue top and sides, white piping; 11th Indiana - all red cap; US Sharpshooters - dark green; Confederate regulations - 1st pattern - infantry - light blue base, grey sides and top; cavalry - yellow base, grey sides and top; artillery - red base, grey sides and top; 2nd pattern - infantry - dark blue base, light blue sides and top; cavalry - dark blue base, yellow sides and top; artillery - dark blue base, red sides and top; Winchester Zouave Cadets (SC) - all red; Kentucky Brigade cavalry - all yellow; Alexandria Rifles (Virginia) dark green. The chasseur cap was standard issue in 1861 for New York infantry regiments which did not have their own special uniform. Post-war, the US Army issued a series of kepi undress caps, characterised by their increasing smartness and decreasing practicality. The last model was issued in 1896. When the US introduced a revised blue dress uniform in 1902, the kepi was discontinued in favour of a conventional visor cap with wide top and steep visor.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Other Armies", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki