Merry Christmas- Help with new Boots

Billw12280

Sergeant
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Merry Christmas all, I hope you are all enjoying the holiday!

I received an amazing present today and I was hoping to get some help/opinions. My wife gave me an awesome pair of boots but I'm not sure if they are Civil War or post war so I thought I'd post some images for your insight. The boots are knee high, approximately 22" at the tallest point, made of a russet brown leather with cloth boot pulls, and square toes. They appear to be made for left and right wear though. The soles are held in place with brass square head nails and steel? nails at the heel. The only markings I can find are what appear to be possible collection catalog numbers on the bottoms of the soles. I believe the russet brown leather was uncommon during the Civil War, except from the southern states if I'm not mistaken. On the other hand IIRC the taller boots were less common post war? I know officers would privately purchase their uniforms and footwear but does anybody see any indications of whether these are military or civilian boots? If so what should I look for to make that determination? I am leaning more towards post war but still think they are awesome.
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No real way to tell as there were slightly more than 16 million males in 1860 and of those 4 million served during the war. They look period and the inside pulls are a good indicator of such. Outside pulls seem to be more prevalent in later 19th century boots, but are not unknown to ACW. Color is not much of a concern. The issue with an item of clothing that could be both military and or civilian is provenance. Like a slouch hat, it would need to be verifiably identified to a soldier in order for it to be considered military.

What you have is a very nice pair of representative boots; the tanning finish seems to be more in line with IW though, but that could be the reflection of the light. Nice present!
 
No real way to tell as there were slightly more than 16 million males in 1860 and of those 4 million served during the war. They look period and the inside pulls are a good indicator of such. Outside pulls seem to be more prevalent in later 19th century boots, but are not unknown to ACW. Color is not much of a concern. The issue with an item of clothing that could be both military and or civilian is provenance. Like a slouch hat, it would need to be verifiably identified to a soldier in order for it to be considered military.

What you have is a very nice pair of representative boots; the tanning finish seems to be more in line with IW though, but that could be the reflection of the light. Nice present!
Thanks for the reply and Merry Christmas @Package4. I figured it would be difficult/impossible to know for sure and she didn't think to ask about provenance, although I'm sure there probably was none for these boots. Either way I think she did an amazing job. Now I have to figure out how to best display them since they are a little tall for my cabinet. When you refer to tanning finish what are you looking for in ACW vs IW?
 
Very Nice Present. As @Package4 stated it is very hard to determine military or civilian but all in all a very pair of boots and there is one thing I can tell is have had many miles put on them and they have been resoled at least 3 times.
 
Thanks for the reply and Merry Christmas @Package4. I figured it would be difficult/impossible to know for sure and she didn't think to ask about provenance, although I'm sure there probably was none for these boots. Either way I think she did an amazing job. Now I have to figure out how to best display them since they are a little tall for my cabinet. When you refer to tanning finish what are you looking for in ACW vs IW?
I think you have a very nice
pair of period boots; the glossy brown pebbling (though this could be the light) is the only indicator of post CW. The basic constriction, inside pulls, square toe, stacked nailed heel and the brass nails all indicate mid 1860s. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
 
Very Nice Present. As @Package4 stated it is very hard to determine military or civilian but all in all a very pair of boots and there is one thing I can tell is have had many miles put on them and they have been resoled at least 3 times.
Merry Christmas @ucvrelics.com. So they were very well loved and used boots. It really is a shame we don't know who wore them and where they have been. Regardless, they are really amazing boots and I'm very happy my wife was able to find them for me, she always tells me she has no idea what I have or what to look for but I think she hit a home run with these babies.
 
I think you have a very nice
pair of period boots; the glossy brown pebbling (though this could be the light) is the only indicator of post CW. The basic constriction, inside pulls, square toe, stacked nailed heel and the brass nails all indicate mid 1860s. Merry Christmas to you and yours as well!
They do have a pebbled look but I thought that was due to the leather cracking/aging. They are also not quite as glossy as they look in the photos. I'm happy with the boots either way but I'm glad to hear the construction points to mid 1860s.
 
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