Two previously unknown original Revolutionary War era Hunting shirts have recently come to light in German museums. Both are "Hessian" soldier's "bring homes" from the 18th century. Fortunately, Hunting shirt SME and textile historian Neal Hurst was able to examine and pattern them. Neal is the Associate Curator of Costume and Textiles for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and served a seven year apprenticeship as a tailor within the Department of Historic Trades at CWF under Mark Hutter; bridging the often neglected gap between hands on experience and academic research. Hurst's prior work on Hunting shirts is collected here. Although not an exact match, the Brunswick shirt compares favorably with the Duryea shirt (patterned in both Sketchbook '76 and Katcher's Uniforms of the Continental Army). The brown dyed Mannheim shirt's use of hem selvedge and lack of fringe on the opening and hem, as well as some other details make it very unique among the body of extant shirts. That being said, there is a German image from 1784 of a Rifleman (Americanischer scharffschütz oder Jäger) with a similar shirt that has minimal fringe, although the image lacks a the cape found in all extant shirts and the vast majority of images.
Hurst examining the Brunswick shirt, November 2025. Courtesy Neal Hurst/Brunswick Municipal Museum.
The specific link to the American Officer’s Hunting Shirt in Brunswick, Germany is here. Additional information on the second example (the unique Mannheim shirt) is here. Hurst's work on the topic is important, and his generosity in sharing the information is commendable.