Post Civil War perhaps a cadet uniform?

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Brev. Brig. Gen'l
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I recently purchase this image. I am almost certain it is post Civil War , but thought studying it might show the difference between Civil War uniforms and post Civil War uniforms. Some less studied people might see a Civil War uniform here. The image intersted me because Adrian Michigan was the home of Adrian College which was formed in 1859. Because abolitionist Asa Mahan was the first president of Adrian College, the college was a hot bed of abolitionist feelings. The college volunteered to have Union regiments formed on the campus during the Civil War. I am wondering what the "WVU" on the kepi is for. This does not look like the usual college cadet uniform of the era. Note the elaborate Austrian knows on the sleeve cuffs. Maybe the 1880s? Does the white collar look more 1890s? Any thoughts?
 
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WVU stands for West Virginia University? The headwear and insignia do match however the cadet nrank on the collar does not match. Well that explains why I could not seem to match it to any Michigan university. Perhaps a visiting WVU cadet photographed in Adrian Michigan?
 
Perhaps a cadet visiting his family in Michigan. You can probably date your cabinet card by researching the photography studio.
 
Let me study the image I post for a minute. The shorter standing colors became popular after the Civil War while taller standing collars were more common during the Civil War. The single false buttonhole lace on the collar was common in the 1880s but by the 1890s was being dropped in some cases with extra trim added to other parts of the jacket. Note the trousers are tailored in at the knee and then flare out in the lower leg but not as much so as the very tight knees and almost bellbottom trousers of the late 1880-1890s. The kepi could be from the 1870s to 1890s or even later for some cadets. Any thought on the shoulder insignia? Can anyone date the cuff flash (how much of the white shirt sleeves flashes at the cuff of the jacket). For those who do not know, how much white shirt changes over time. When I had my undress blue jacket tailored in the late 1980s my tailor and I discussed this a fair amount. The tailor suggested a hint of a flash, I went the conservative route and did a 1/8 inch flash. What a pain because I had to have any new white shirts tailored to the proper sleeve length to show 1/8 inch no more or less. This also changed if I spent too much time at the gym as lager arm muscles effect the sleeve length of the shirt. For those who do not know the collar flash changed over time as well. By the late 1990s I should have had my blue undress jacket's collar raised 1/8 of an inch or had my white shirt's collars lowed because hint of flash was the normal mode by the mid 1990s.
 
If he's a WVU grad, and not just an attendee, you could look up old alumni names in the census.
http://www.alumni.wvu.edu/about/history
The Alumni Association was founded on June 19, 1873, by 16 graduates who met in the University Chapel at the call of Reverend Alexander Martin, the University’s first president. The group was composed of Marmaduke H. Dent (first president of the Alumni Association), Class of 1870; Oliver H. Dille, Class of 1871; William E. Jolliffe, Class of 1871; Benjamin W. Smith, Class of 1872; and these members of the Class of 1873: Daniel B. Purinton, Edmund T. Bullock, Taylor B. McClure, John T. Harris, Charles M. Babb, James T. Waters Jr., William T. Pritchard, James F. Brown, George P. Lynch, William L. Boughner, Thomas H. Price and Marcellus L. Temple, who signed the first Constitution in that order.


Also, quicker, there's this:

https://archive.org/stream/alumnirecordwest00westrich/alumnirecordwest00westrich_djvu.txtMICHIGAN

Ann Arbor
Yost, Fielding Harris, '97.

Detroit
Gaskins, Walter Wesley, '12.
Shirley, Wilbur Fiske, '14.

Yost looks like the best bet, according to the year, but you never know.

All this assumes he graduated. I have been disappointed so many times, at alumni lists, with drop-outs or transfers. Grrr.
 
The dead giveaway as to period is the extremely flat forage caps or kepis. These are based on the M.1872 but as the century drew to a close they became progressively shorter - I wonder how anyone was able to keep them on their head! Kepis like these scream 1890's; they finally disappeared after the new uniform regulations of 1902 changed headgear altogether.
 
AndyHall I think to nailed the year, give or take a cilouplr years. I tried to base the year by looking at West Point Cadet uniforms and Michigan Military Academy Cadet uniforms. The problem I had was I assumed a possible Michigan location. Some uniform details such as the amount of white shirt indicated 1890s, while the cut of the trousers looked more mid 1880s. I did not have knowledge of the mode in uniforms worn by WVU and used a couple books on other military schools as a guide. At mid 1880s I did not hit a home run on the date, but was in the ballpark.
 
We are getting astray of the Civil War, but here are two real Michigan cadet uniforms from this era.

Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State University) was the first, and only, State sponsored military school starting during the Civil War. This is from 1888 to 1892.

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This is Michigan Military Academy a.k.a. Orchard Lake Military Academy (West Point of the West). Date not certain, but probably the 1880s to 1890s (their dress uniforms remained fairly constant during this period).

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We also may be making a mistake that WVU means West Virginia University. It could be some little school that disappeared--the Western Volunteer Undersized-horsemen... I don't know, but it might actually be the initials of a school in Michigan, rather than a cadet who attended WVU, then went home to get his picture taken. Or more complicated yet, a school in Ohio or somewhere, that he attended, then returned to Michigan.
 
I can't really add much to this because my knowledge is very low when it comes to this sort of thing. But I have to say, one thing I love about this place is the detective work that gets done when someone has a question like this. Its fun to watch
 
But arent you referring to US Army regulations? I would not expect the Army regulations to impact the military schools, at least not for a couple of years.

It's quite true that it took a while - maybe even years - for new Army regulations to take effect or full implementation. But since they were now regulation, I would imagine conscientious officers attempted to put them into effect as soon as possible, under whatever circumstances they found themselves. I always thought it was interesting that documentation on the Battle of the Little Big Horn showed the troops were clad in pieces of uniform going back as far as the Civil War even though they were made obsolete by the new regulations of 1872. A skeleton unearthed there in the 1970's was shown to have been wearing a cut-off infantry frock coat by the style, size, and placement of his buttons - all that remained - for example. That did NOT mean, however, that current issue items were unavailable - old stock was used for campaigning in order to wear it out and use it up, saving regulation items for dress, etc. I would imagine and expect military schools to attempt to convert to the new styles as soon as circumstances would permit.

I thought the US spiked helmets were more based on the British spiked helmets.

As I've stated here many times before, it was the Prussian/German victory in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 that was responsible for the uniform changes in the regulations of 1872. That did NOT affect headgear as much for some reason, a lower kepi-like shako replacing the Hardee Hat for full-dress in the infantry and foot artillery; however, cavalry adopted the first "lobster-tail" plumed helmet that year. In 1881 or 82 (I forget which) those were replaced by a redesigned and only slightly different one, while the infantry received their spiked version. The spikes and their bases do resemble more the British variety, but in both cases I think the Prussian influence is the reason for them at all.
 
But arent you referring to US Army regulations? I would not expect the Army regulations to impact the military schools, at least not for a couple of years.

Military schools do adopt items based on Army Regulations but the schools are often are fond of tradition school items as well. West Point is a trendsetter of cadet fashions. Headgear at the academies is often slow to change.
 
And funding was probably an issue at the military schools. New uniforms and new caps cost money. They could charge the cadets but that could impact attendance.

I know when I joined ROTC, they issued me a used dress uniform. I never replaced it even after 4 years in college and after I was commissioned into the Air Force. It wasn't until I was able to visit the Pentagon, when I saw the importance of the uniform----I saw a high ranking general with a fine uniform made of different material which gave it a slightly different shade. Maybe if I had ordered a special fit uniform, I would be a retired Colonel by now. :lee:
 
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