The Confederate Army was dressed as well as it could manage. By 1864 that meant mostly butternut, mostly homespun, and often not much.
Quick answer. Confederate uniforms were specified in cadet grey for officers and men, with branch colour trim (sky blue for infantry, yellow for cavalry, red for artillery). The frock coat was for officers and some early war units; the shell jacket (short waist length coat) became standard for enlisted men. Supply problems meant uniforms were often made in butternut (brown) wool dyed with walnut hulls. By 1864 Confederate soldiers wore whatever they could find or capture. Lee at Appomattox famously dressed in a clean new grey uniform he had kept aside.
The 1861 regulations
The Confederate War Department issued uniform regulations in June 1861. Cadet grey wool for the main coat. Officers wore a double breasted frock coat with branch colour trim. Enlisted men wore a shell jacket (short, waist length) or a sack coat in grey. Sky blue trousers for infantry, yellow trim and stripe for cavalry, red for artillery. Buttons were state buttons for state troops (NC for North Carolina, GA for Georgia and so on) or branch buttons (CSA cavalry, CSA infantry) for Confederate regular troops.
The Richmond depot patterns
The main Confederate clothing production centred on the Richmond Clothing Depot, which issued the famous Richmond depot shell jackets. Four distinct patterns were produced in sequence (Type I through Type IV) between 1861 and 1864, with each pattern simpler than the last as supply pressures mounted. By 1864 the shell jacket was a plain six button grey wool garment with minimal trim. The Columbus Depot in Georgia produced an alternative pattern. Each depot had its own cut and detail, which produced significant variation across the army.
Butternut and homespun
Confederate grey was dyed from logwood and indigo, both of which were in short supply after the Union blockade. Many Confederate uniforms were dyed with walnut hulls or butternut dyes, producing a brown or yellow brown colour. The term butternut became slang for a Confederate soldier. Home spun wool, often produced on farms, was pressed into service through the war. By 1864 a Confederate regiment might contain soldiers in grey, butternut, blue (captured Union), civilian clothes and improvised uniforms all in one line.
Officer dress
Confederate officers wore the double breasted frock coat with sleeve lace in gold or silver Austrian braid patterns. Lieutenants wore one knot, captains two, field officers three, generals four. Rank was also shown by collar ornaments: one gold bar for a lieutenant, two for a captain, one star for major, two for lieutenant colonel, three for colonel, three stars in a wreath for general officers. Officers paid for their own uniforms, so quality varied enormously. Rich officers in prewar imported English wool; poor officers in home spun.
Robert E. Lee
Lee is often shown in portraits in a plain grey frock coat with three stars in a wreath on each side of the collar. He deliberately dressed modestly, as a colonel rather than a general, in field dress. For his meeting with Grant at Appomattox in April 1865 he put on his best clean grey uniform (according to Longstreet) because he thought he might be taken prisoner and wanted to appear with dignity. Grant famously showed up in a muddy field uniform. The contrast was intentional on both sides.
After Appomattox
Confederate uniforms were systematically destroyed or converted to civilian clothes after 1865. The grey wool was dyed black for mourning or over dyed brown for everyday wear. Buttons and insignia were often removed, though many were saved as relics. Surviving Confederate uniforms today are rare and expensive. The United Daughters of the Confederacy preserved many during the Lost Cause period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most major museum holdings date from these preservation efforts.
Common questions
What is cadet grey?
The specified Confederate uniform colour: a bluish grey wool. Named after cadet uniforms worn at military academies before the war.
What is butternut?
A brown or yellowish dye made from walnut hulls, used widely in the Confederate South due to shortages of grey dye. Also a slang term for a Confederate soldier.
What is a shell jacket?
A short waist length coat worn as the standard Confederate enlisted uniform. The Richmond depot produced four patterns of shell jacket between 1861 and 1864.
What is Austrian braid?
A pattern of knots in gold or silver cord on the sleeve of a Confederate officer's frock coat, showing rank. One knot for lieutenant, two for captain, three for field officer, four for general.
Can I buy a replica Confederate uniform?
Yes. Reenactor tailors in the US and UK build full Confederate pattern coats, including Richmond depot shell jackets and officer frock coats.