A Man in Uniform: Sartorial Style and the Performance of Manhood during Reconstruction

In October 1866 a small group of black soldiers marched through the streets of Charleston. Dressed “in full Zouave uniform” they strode proudly through the streets of that Southern city and received a banner from “some of their colored female friends.” Through their actions these men signaled the significant changes that emancipation had wrought in the social order and in the organization of public space. Their performance also served to assert their identity as men and as citizens. This paper focuses on the performance of manhood within the quasi-military spaces that were opened to African American men in South Carolina during Reconstruction. Historians have interpreted these organizations, most notably the state militia, as vehicles for political patronage, mechanisms for political mobilization, or as a means of self-defense. Largely absent is an interpretation of the experience of service. Drawing on congressional testimony, governor's correspondence, military records, and contemporary newspaper accounts, this paper attempts to reconstruct the experience of militia service and to understand the importance of that service in defining the meaning of African American masculinity during the period. Of particular interest is the use of sartorial style in the construction and performance of manhood among militia units. Like the men who donned the Zouave uniform of “red cap, blue jacket, red breeches, white legging and low quarter shoes” in October 1866, other militia units also cultivated individual style not only as a means of visually performing the role of a virile martial man, but also of subverting societal norms about the proper role for the newly emancipated slave. The colorful uniforms described in the contemporary record and fancy embellishments, such as the long ostrich plume that adorned the uniform of Edgefield militia captain Ned Tennant, were central to asserting freedom, individuality, status, and a particular definition of masculinity.