Need help identifying a soldier

[Ravic85]

Hello, I recently picked this photograph up and I thought at first it was just a union soldier, but now i'm starting to wonder. Every time I look at his belt buckle I keep seeing CS for confederate states, but i'm no expert at military outfits. So, I'm here for help!

 

[Red Harvest]

Hard to tell on the brass bits. They've all been touched up some time in the past to make them shiny and golden, but that has now worn off. That is how it appears to me.

 

[Ravic85]

That is my problem exactly. Part of me keeps thinking it is just US and my eyes are playing tricks on me, but that is one oddly shaped U if it is.

 

[Robert Gray]

An interesting image. You will notice that the buttons are on the wrong side of the coat. This indicates that the photograph has been reversed (mirror image) as would be the case with a tintype. Photographers would attempt to minimize this effect by instructing the soldier to put his leather accouterments on backwards (cartridge box belt over the right shoulder instead of the left). The cap box and bayonet scabbard are likewise worn on the opposite sides. Lastly, the bayonet is turned 180 degrees on the muzzle of the musket (from the right side to the left). So, as this appears to be a Federal private, the "US" on the belt plate, if visible, would also appear reversed.

 

[major bill]

I would think this is Union. I base that on the coat sleeve trim, which would be very common in the Union Amy but much less so in the Confederate Army.

Major Bill
comapny of Military Historians

 

[Gandycreek]

Looks Yankee to me. As major bill said above, the sleeve trim is a big give away to me.