Faded Coat Of Blue

Study Guide
Fall 2004

Faded Coat of Blue is a novel of the American Civil War. It is set in November 1861. The first battle of Bull Run had been fought the summer before and the first winter of the war was coming.

The protagonist of the story is Abel Jones, a married immigrant from Wales in his early thirties. He and his wife, like many of their fellow Welsh, moved to Pennsylvania. As a young man, Abel had served in the army of the East India Company (also known as John Company) in India. He rose to the rank of sergeant. During his time in India he participated in or saw much savagery in the wars with the Indian natives. In particular, he fought against the Indian rebel troops during the Great Mutiny of the native troops in India that occurred during 1857-1858. Refusing to fight anymore, he was sent home as unfit for combat due to mental illness. Back in Wales he reunited with his childhood sweetheart Mary and the couple moved to the United States for a new life. When the Civil War broke out, Abel joined his neighborhood company out of a sense of duty to his neighbors and his adopted land. Thanks to his military experience in India, he was made a captain.

Civil War America was a diverse society, especially in the North. Not everyone thought diversity was a wonderful thing and many prejudices existed among the various ethnic groups and races. These prejudices are reflected in the language of some of the characters. Besides slurs against African-Americans, the Irish, the Welsh, and the Germans all came in for some derogatory treatment by other Americans. Abel Jones is called "Taffy", a pejorative name for a Welshman.

The dialogue used in the novel is authentic and some archaic words are used. Abel Jones refers to friends as "buttie," which is an earlier version of the word "buddy."

In writing your in-class essay on Faded Coat of Blue you will be asked to write a 20-minute essay on one of the following topics. You will be give a choice of two essays from below.

1) Northern attitudes about the Civil War, e.g., George McClellan's vs. Anthony Fowler.

2) Ethnic groups in American society and how they regarded each other-Welsh, Irish, Scots, Germans, Jews, Blacks, and Old Stock Americans.

3) War profiteering in the North.

4) The Union war effort and its organization or lack of it.

5) How were real people portrayed in the novel -- Abraham Lincoln, George McClellan, and Allen Pinkerton.

6) Religion among Americans. What was Abel Jones's religion and how seriously did he practice it?

7) Socialist politics among Americans. Who supported socialism and why?

8) 1861 America and Victorianism. What was the state of morality of American society?

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