Hessian boot by Fugawee Corporation

The colonists were first introduced to the Hessian mercenaries on the 15^th of August 1776 on Statin Island in the colony of New York. Their first battle was coming up. Their first engagement was the battle for Long Island also known as the battle for Brooklyn Heights.

 Over the course of the War for Independence, the British Government Leased 30,067 Hessian Mercenaries for just the American Revolution. It worked so well that they were used by lots of different countries. Sometimes the Hessians were on both sides of war at the same time.

 Fugawee’s Hessian boot is another well made the long-lasting leather boot, Steel shank construction. Stacked leather heel, fully lined here are some of the works we used. 

References to Hessian boots:  Direct copy from their boots, no editing by me.

“If the shoe fits” by Bill Severn pg. 119

Hungarians introduced the hussar boot for military wear.  When it first appeared in London in 1770s on the feet of the Hessian mercenaries hired by George 111 to fighting the American colonies, it was called the Austrian boot.  Later, the English took to calling it the Hessian boot, the name by which it also became known in America.  In France, a version of the same boot was named the Sonvaroff, after a Russian general.  Whatever name was used, the basic style was a knee-high boot, usually of shiny black leather topped with gold or silver braid.  The center rose to a peak at the front that frequently was decorated with a free-swinging silk tassel.  Worn over tight pantaloons, the boots were first ridiculed by conservative gentlemen who didn’t intend to trade their handsome top boots for them, but they were the height of fashion by the century’s end.

“The Mode in Footwear” by R. Turner Wilcox.  Page 120 [most of this is like the description from Bill Severn’s book.]

It was at this time that the hussar boot entered the mode.  It was introduced to the European armies in the seventeenth century by the Hungarian hussars.  When the boot appeared in London in 1770’s on the legs of the Hessian mercenaries hired by George 111 to fight the American colonists, it was first called the Austrian boot, but eventually, it became the Hessian boot to the English and the Americans.  To the French, it was the hussar or Souvaroff, so named after the great Russian general of the period. (1729-1800).

The boot was first looked upon with derision, in comparison with the handsome top boot; but as happens time and time again, the scoffed at newcomer became the very height of fashion by the end of the century.  Hessians were worn over the tight-fitting pantaloons, of shiny black leather, the top finished with gold and silver braid, and a silk tassel jauntily swinging from the up-peaking center front.

{this next bit is a good description of the polish that was used}

In general, bootlegs were polished to a dull finish with a viscid dressing composed of the white of an egg and lamp soot, this English cream much in demand all over Europe.  Bootblacks or, by the French name, “artist polishers” opened small shops for the purpose.  In London, where they were especially necessary because of the ill-paved streets and lack of drainage, there were bootblacks or “boot” stationed at most street corners. Ready to clean the footwear of gentlemen and beaux.

“Fashion in Costume 1200-2000” by Joan Nunn

Jackboots, by 1725 worn only by postillions, coachmen, etc., were succeeded by a close-fitting boot-shaped to the leg and cut away behind the knee, and by jockey tops or half jackboots which ended below the knee with a turn-down top of softer, lighter colored leather; after 1780 they were called top boots. Spatterdashes were still worn by the country, as were gaiters, introduced for the infantry around 1710-20 and worn civilians during the 1770s but considered unfashionable after 1790.  Hessians – short riding boots, calf-length behind and generally curving to a point in the front below the kneecap and decorated with a tassel – appeared after 1790 but are more a feature early 19^th-century dress.  Boots were not worn indoors by men of fashion during this century until after 1780 when they became suitable for all occasions.

Page 110

From 1800 to 1820, high boots were general wear in both town and country.  Some were adapted from military styles and named after military leaders.  After 1830, high or ‘over’ boots were confined to country or sporting wear, but the short boot, worn under trousers, remained in fashion in various forms into the next century. Hessians (1790- 1850) and hussar (1800-20) were both calf-length behind, rising to a point in front just below the knee, low-heeled, and of black leather.  Hessians occasionally had a narrow border contrasting colored leather around the top and were always trimmed with a tassel at the point.  Hussars might have a turn-over top.  Wellingtons from 1817, were like 18-century top boots without the turnover: the name was later to be used for rubber boots in the 20^th-century.

“Costumes of the 17 & 18^th Century” by Phillis Cunnington   page 76

Hessians were short riding boots rising to a point in front to below the knee and generally decorated with a tassel (Introduced in the 1790’s)

“History of Men’s Costume” by Marion Sichel   page 42

Hussar boots, popular towards the end of the century were also called hessian boots, originating from the German Principality of Hess.  These were short riding boots to just below the knees, higher in the front with a tassel decoration.  These were mainly black, with a colored border on the top.

“Shoes” by June Swan

{several pages listed, but I could only find a  true reference in the following}

Page 33

Brummel’s other choice was the hessian, cut with a V-dip at center front with tassel; according to Rees it was ‘brought into this country from Germany in the beginning of this war about 1794 or 5, – though one of the MPs in the painting of Pitt’s Address to the Commons in the previous year also wore them, in black with re top binding.  Rees also referred  to them as ‘th Hessian or

Austrian boot:  lately, they were of a gradual sweep in front and with a peak behind; now(1813) they are square in front without a peak behind.’ The walking attire of John Horseman in 1804 was ‘hessian boots with immense tassels’(and see fig.27).  By 1830 the “Whole Art of Dress” by a Cavalry Officer says that they were ‘only worn with tight pantaloons’, and by 1861 Whyte Melville’s “Good for Nothing “says: There are no hessian boots now’ – though they did survive for military wear.

The Hessians were ousted by the wellington.

Page 39  short mention

The 1858 Dunkley account book has ‘best calf screw clump sole wellingtons at 21 shillings.’ American army boots in 1872 were brass screwed Hessians or bluchers.

Page 43

The predominant footwear, as the British set out to conquer the world, was naturally boots.  “The Whole Art of Dress “1830, reports: ‘the hessian is a boot only worn with tight pantaloons.  The top boot is almost entirely a sporting fashion.  Although they are worn by noblemen and gentlemen in hunting, they are in general use among the lower orders, such as jockeys, grooms, butlers.  The Wellington…the only boot in general wear’. The hessian survived longer in the United States.  The 1858 patent for a brass toe bit is on a machine-sewn hessian with pegged sole, and the photograph, c 1879 of Billy the Kid, shows him in medium high-heeled Hessians with front dip, but no tassel, the straps hanging outside.

It is important that re-soling of leather shoes happens in a timely fashion.  That’s because there is a point of no return and you have a ruined shoe.  A Fugawee shoe only moderately abused but properly taken care of will give you ten or more years of service.

Care maintenance: When you get back home from an event, check your shoes, clean them and use a good dressing to return the oils to the leather that have evaporated.  Use shoe forms to help keep the shape of your shoe while they rest for the next event.

What is happening to your sole?

The method we use is a McKay stitching in our shoes.  At the time, this was the primary method of shoe construction as the welting process, that didn’t come in till 1869.  The thread is pulled into the leather at the skive line.  These are leather soles and will need to be re-soled from time to time.  This will give you longer use of any pair instead of having to replace them when the uppers are fine.

The US Army figured three months in the field was all that a pair of shoes would be useful.  If you’re spending a lot of time on concrete or asphalt, this is hard wear and will tear apart the leather fibers, in other words, this will wear out the soles faster.  This does not happen with modern rubber soles.  The period correct fix is hobnails and or heel plates (I find all hobnails are better on asphalt).  This will give you a grip on the rough ground beside letting your leather sole last longer.

How to tell when you need a re-sole.

Turn the shoe upside down and look at it toe first. You will see on any pair of new leather soled shoes there is an arch acting like a toenail. As you walk the leather wears off, it will flatten out. (Just like thinning the top of toenail to prevent an ingrown nail.)  When it gets to that point, you want to push in/down on the middle of the sole.  If it is giving/getting soft. Then it’s time to have them re-soled.

What to Do!

Get them re-soled it’s what you have to do.

According to Steven at Dons’ shoe repair our local shoe repair shop:

• Frayed thread on bottom… that’s the time to save your sole. You have gone as far as you should to keep the shoe in good repair.
• Smiling seam: yes that is fixable. When a sole has worn down to the stitching, the upper and lower soles separate (Usually happens to the toe so it looks like the shoe is smiling). Time to take them in for repair.
• A hole through the outer sole. (Some shoes have two layers of Sole leather) Maybe this can fixed. Check with the repair shop.
• Holes all the way through….. Too late the shoe is good for potting plants.

The nonperiod fix is to have them 3/4 soled with rubber (that’s the heel and sole). This usually referred to as Sole Saver.  The rubber sole material can be smooth, of the same color as the original leather sole or black to match the uppers.  It is almost undetectable and the footing is so much better less slipping and sliding.

Now just a heel minute or Heel..@#%! Heel.

Because we’re looking at your sole, it is a good time to check out the wear on your heels.

Is it just at the back? Or is there wear on the outside or the inside of the heel? This would show “Pronation” or “Supination”.  If action isn’t taken it could mean that with further wear, the heel cup could slip sideways and accentuate the pronation or supination of the ankle, you may already have.  It will seem like you are walking on your ankles, and that is not far from the truth. We had one client that his heels were almost on the ground.

If you have a Fugawee shoe on and it’s hurting your feet, please call us. We don’t like people walking around in Fugawee’s and their feet hurting.

It may be time for the heels to have a facelift. The same material (Sole Saver) can be used for new heels. Some repair shops carry both colors and others have to order the natural color.

Lots of folks, like to use heel plates and or hobnails.  This can prolong the wear, as we all know that iron takes longer to wear down than leather.  But check those additions too, not as often, but they will after a while show the same wear as the leather.  After all, they had no place but your tootsies to learn that from.

How long should a set of soles last?

The US army figured three months in the field was all the time a pair of shoes was good. If you’re spending time on concrete or asphalt a lot this will wear out the soles faster. The period correct fix is hobnails and or heel plates. (I find all hobnails are better on asphalt.) But check with your commander which they will allow. Hobnail and heel plates can be like ice skates at first on hard surfaces and really mess up wooden dance floors.  You may need a plain pair just for the Balls. But going up a grassy hill you can’t find anything better.

Historically, shoe uppers always had been considered women’s work and this may be all that was done by the home workers but it is possible that the welting and sole stitching was done at home as well.

The largest pair of bootees on record still exists.  They are smooth side out, size 17. Three pairs were specially manufactured for a large Swedish draftee.  The shoes never reached him.  A target of his size was just too tempting and the Confederates killed him before his custom-made shoes got to him. One pair of his shoes remains in a museum at Susquehanna.

Fugawee calls our Northern or Federal shoe a Contract Bootee because, contrary to pre-war practice, Army footwear was built by contractors. Naturally, there were slight variations in the shoes issued to the Northern troops.

We have a letter dated January 1862 from Colonel Crossman, Assistant Quartermaster General describing the purchase of 1,102,700 pairs of boots and booties from contractors all over the North.  Contracts were as large as 120,000 pairs from one manufacturer at Sing Sing, NY (did they have the prison then?) or as small as 300 pairs from another factory in Pennsylvania.  The shoes apparently included work shoes already on hand. They had been manufactured on lasts (the forms on which shoes are built) already in the factories.  You may be sure that contractors produced variations in design and fit.. This is borne out in the Congressional hearings early in 1862. Some of the testimony is hilarious.

One manufacturer, faced with the fact that he had supplied shoes that foot soldiers wore out in three weeks replied, “But those shoes were supposed to go to the Cavalry.” So help me, it is in the Congressional Record of the Washburn Committee..

In early 1862 Crossman reported his purchases to Congressman E.B. Washhburn, Chairman of the House Committee to Inquire into Government Contracts (Page 1569, Record of the 37th Congress, 2nd Session) click to read the letter and apologized for having accepted a small quantity of pegged bootees which had been accepted only because of the urgency of the war.  Regulations called for sewn shoes but cheap work shoes for the immigrant trade and those for the plantation (slave) trade had been pegged together since a labor-saving machine that set nine pegs to the inch came into use.

Which is correct, pegged or sewn?

The army did everything it could to force the contractors to deliver sewn shoes.  While a pair of sewn shoes brought the contractor $1.80 to $2.00 per pair, the Government would pay only $1.25 for pegged shoes. With Cavalry boots the prices were $3.25 for sewn and $2.50 for pegged. The Army accepted only  265 pairs of pegged of cavalry boots out of 183,997 pairs purchased by Colonel Crossman.

In a total of  1,102,700 pairs of shoes and boots purchased by Col. Crossman, only 5.43% were pegged. The Colonel felt that he had to explain that he had bought the inferior pegged shoes only because of the exigencies of the war, even though they cost the Gov’t one third less.

Here is a picture of the sole of an original Civil War issue pegged boot.  The split-apart pegs are diamond-shaped (remember the machine?) and are in two staggered rows that total nine pegs pr inch.  Although it is hard to tell,  this is a left/right shoe.

The shank is riveted in place and the heel has a close-set row of cut nails to extend wear. The boot is machine pegged, nine pegs to the inch.

No, that is not stitching, it is two rows of pegs. They are staggered for strength and to get as many pegs in the row as possible. Note the rivets on the shank and the close-set nails in the heel.

Forty percent of Civil War shoes were made on a pegging machine invented in 1838, It was much like a two needle sewing machine and almost as fast.  The first station was an awl which made a hole, then the second station drove a peg into the hole.

This machine took a block of wood that had been cut across the grain and was of a thickness equal to length of the pegs. The end grain was scored in both directions, making a “card” full of diamond points.  The card was then split by the machine to free the hundreds of pegs.  These fed directly into the next step in the machine which inserted them in the shoes.

One of the big differences between the nine-to-the-inch machine-pegged shoes actually used in the Civil War and the three-or-four-to-the-inch pegging seen  on Sutlers’ Row  is the fact that machine-set pegs were driven all the way through the leather until they were flush with the sole. The points that went into the interior of the shoe were then cut off with special tools before  the insole was glued in. Those pegs were square and straight-sided all through the leather.

Most of today’s reproduction shoes are made with round, polished pegs which are actually made to hold the shanks of modern cowboy boots. The pointed ends of the pegs are driven in only until they encounter the metal form inside the shoe.  When the points of the pegs reach the metal, they are cut off on the outside: This means that the smooth, pointed peg is in a tapered hole. Thus, the shoes have three or four round, polished and tapered pegs instead of nine straight-sided, split-off pegs to the inch.  The shoe is held together mainly with glue. The pegs are mostly cosmetic.

Fugawee made “pegged” shoes until our research showed that the sewn shoes were not only appropriate but had been preferred by the military.

About forty percent of all boots and brogans purchased by the US Army during the Civil War were constructed with the less expensive pegging process.

During the days of the Soviet Bloc,  the East Germans and Poles used some machine-pegged boosts in their armies.  I don’t know where you would find a pegging machine today. Fugawee Jefferson bootees are all sewn as per the basic military regulations during of the Civil War.  Fugawee Jefferson bootees are built on lasts taken directly from an 1865 boot.

1: Own more than one pair of shoes. Being able to allow proper drying time is great. Not always practice.

2: use a rubber sole saver to prevent the water from being absorbed by the sole.

Fugawees straight last Hi-lo

By Art Ayotte

   Fugawee has received several inquiries about the authenticity of the Hi-Low also called Startup, upstart, buskin or half-boot.  They are all names for the same footwear, a boot not too different from the modern-day work boot.  I’m going to poke around and much of what I write will seem to be disjointed……but then all of historical research consists of putting together the bits and pieces left behind.  June Swann is considered by most people to be the ultimate authority of historical footwear.  She has a long and honorable career as author and museum curator.

 June Swann says, in “Shoes” (ISBN 0 7134 0942 8) P.28:

“There were also half boots from the 1750s, cut a little higher than modern ankle boots, which descend from them and worn for shooting and by the military. St James Chronicle, 1763, comments on ‘tradesmen who ape their betters….breeches almost met by a pair of shoes that reached about three and a quarter inches above the ankles.’  They were typical wear for both sides during the American War of Independence  (see Peale’s portrait of Captain John Harleston of Chicago.” 

 I have tried to track down the Harleston portrait without luck. 

Three and a quarter inches above the ankle makes an eight-inch boot.  Remember that the St. James Chronicle was a snob’s gazette and was ridiculing the ‘tradesmen who ape their betters.’ Was this the foundation for the term ‘upstart’?  

A little before this, in 1745 an English painting shows a sportsman using such shoes for hunting on foot.  The term used by the English was ‘buskin’, called after the classical Greek-Roman footwear which was a high, laced sandal.   

Similar high laced shoes appear as far back as the middle ages, about the time that people got tired of wearing wooden shoes full of manure.  The hi-lows were made with tongues and without tongues.  The pair pictured in the Collector’s Encyclopaedia of the American Revolution does not have tongues.  It is called an ‘overshoe’ and is said to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson.   

In the Colonies, the hi-low was a farm boot meant for the barnyard and pig-stye in a day when there were no rubber boots.  Do you wonder that surviving specimens are hard to find? 

It is just such a farmer’s boot that Don Troiani shows on his Lexington Minute Man. 

Someone asked Nancy, ”Where did Troiani get his authentication?”

 If there is one man I would never question on such matters, it is Don Troiani. 

Then there is Al Saguto, long time resident cordwainer at Historical Williamsburg:   He says,  

One detail from the surviving 18th c. boots: where the original lacing survives, it’s always “spiral” laced, that is the length of thong is knotted at one end

[the bottom], and it spirals round and round up the front opening, then is half-hitch looped, and the other end tucked inside the boot…….     DA Saguto

 Al made the first pair of reproduction hi-lows for a customer several years ago and deserves credit for bringing back a safe and comfortable shoe for Colonial re-enactors. He does only bespoke work and has a waiting line but it is worth it.

 See the Troiani painting 

One detail from the surviving 18th c. boots: where the original lacing survives, it’s always “spiral” laced, that is the length of thong is knotted at one end

[the bottom], and it spirals round and round up the front opening, then is half-hitch looped, and the other end tucked inside the boot…….     DA Saguto

 .  They are all names for the same footwear, a boot not too different from the modern-day work boot.  I’m going to poke around and much of what I write will seem to be disjointed……but then all of historical research consists of putting together the bits and pieces left behind.  June Swann is considered by most people to be the ultimate authority of historical footwear.  She has a long and honorable career as author and museum curator.

 June Swann says, in “Shoes” (ISBN 0 7134 0942 8) P.28:

“There were also half boots from the 1750s, cut a little higher than modern ankle boots, which descend from them and worn for shooting and by the military. St James Chronicle, 1763, comments on ‘tradesmen who ape their betters….breeches almost met by a pair of shoes that reached about three and a quarter inches above the ankles.’  They were typical wear for both sides during the American War of Independence  (see Peale’s portrait of Captain John Harleston of Chicago.” 

 I have tried to track down the Harleston portrait without luck.

 Three and a quarter inches above the ankle makes an eight-inch boot.  Remember that the St. James Chronicle was a snob’s gazette and was ridiculing the ‘tradesmen who ape their betters.’ Was this the foundation for the term ‘upstart’? 

 A little before this, in 1745 an English painting shows a sportsman using such shoes for hunting on foot.  The term used by the English was ‘buskin’, called after the classical Greek-Roman footwear which was a high, laced sandal. 

 Similar high laced shoes appear as far back as the middle ages, about the time that people got tired of wearing wooden shoes full of manure.  The hi-lows were made with tongues and without tongues.  The pair pictured in the Collector’s Encyclopaedia of the American Revolution does not have tongues.  It is called an ‘overshoe’ and is said to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson. 

 In the Colonies, the hi-low was a farm boot meant for the barnyard and pig-stye in a day when there were no rubber boots.  Do you wonder that surviving specimens are hard to find?

 It is just such a farmer’s boot that Don Troiani shows on his Lexington Minute Man.

 Someone asked Nancy, ”Where did Troiani get his authentication?”

 If there is one man I would never question on such matters, it is Don Troiani.

Then there is Al Saguto, long time resident cordwainer at Historical Williamsburg:   He says,

 One detail from the surviving 18th c. boots: where the original lacing survives, it’s always “spiral” laced, that is the length of thong is knotted at one end

[the bottom], and it spirals round and round up the front opening, then is half-hitch looped, and the other end tucked inside the boot…….     DA Saguto

 Al made the first pair of reproduction hi-lows for a customer several years ago and deserves credit for bringing back a safe and comfortable shoe for Colonial re-enactors. He does only bespoke work and has a waiting line but it is worth it.

 See the Troiani painting 

One detail from the surviving 18th c. boots: where the original lacing survives, it’s always “spiral” laced, that is the length of thong is knotted at one end

[the bottom], and it spirals round and round up the front opening, then is half-hitch looped, and the other end tucked inside the boot…….     DA Saguto