Collection: Commutation System

Prior to the implementation of the Confederate Depot system, the Commutation system was in place to allow the newly enlisted soldiers to supply their own uniforms for compensation by the Confederate government. The system was relatively short-lived once the depots across the South were put into full production. Living history community generally refers to any garment that was not formally produced by a depot as "Commutation". This is a miss-use of the term, whereas tens-of-thousands of garments were provided privately to individuals outside of the depot system through the end of the war. Common garments such as frock coats are essentially only privately acquired by the individual soldiers and are seen all the way into the trenches of Petersburg in 1865. . . years after the official Commutation System had been abolished. 

Additional historical information can be found here.