That's a wonderful image ... and I'm going to make a tentative guess at those boys' designation. Blowing up the image, the fellow on the left appears to be wearing a couple of acorns in his hat. So - a longish shot - but they could be members of the XIV Corps - the 'Acorn Boys' as they called themselves - the name apparently coming, according to Billings' 'Hardtack and Coffee' because:
'... at one time in their history, probably when they were hemmed in at Chattanooga by Bragg, rations were so scanty that the men gladly gathered large quantities of acorns from an oak grove, near by which they were camped, and roasted and ate them, repeating this operation while the scarcity of food continued ... [the acorn] ... was therefore adopted by General Orders No. 62, issued from Headquarters of the Cumberland, at Chattanooga, April 26, 1864.'
So they could well be members of the Army of the Cumberland and the image made at Chattanooga just before Sherman's Atlanta Campaign began in May 1864.
Their uniforms raised some questions and inspired me to do some research on Shell Jackets! For a start, what kind of coat is the fellow on the left wearing? I thought at first it looks a frock coat, but with twelve buttons? I'd never heard of a twelve-button coat. So, I guess it's a shell jacket when you consider that on the left (as we look at the image), the coat ends on the top of his thigh. According to K.C. MacDonald's excellent
'Forgotten Federal Generic Garments' article, he refers to Frederick Todd's American Military Equipage 1851-1872 book where he states that:
The fatigue jacket of 1851 carried a standing, hooked-up collar about 3 inches high. By 1861 the collar was reduced to barely 1.5 inches and was open in the front. It was commonly fitted with cloth shoulder straps and sometimes with cloth belt loops on the sides. There were 8 to 12 small buttons down the front, and two on the cuff of each sleeve. Originally these cuffs had been slashed – thus the buttons – but by 1861, with wider sleeves in vogue, the slash was often sewed up for much of its length.
There's a nice image of a member of the 99th Illinois wearing a similar 12 button Shell Jacket in Mr. MacDonald's article, Pvt. T.W. Gates, which he states as typical of a Schuylkill Arsenal jacket, though the collar seems taller in
@Jim-Jammi's image.
View attachment 396384
The fellow on the right's coat is very difficult to identify, especially with his dark blue trousers ... probably not a Frock Coat because of the three, rather than two cuff buttons. So again, a Shell Jacket probably, though I'm relying on the accuracy of whoever tinted the original image to highlight the brass buttons, which certainly appear larger than the buttons on his comrade's jacket.
All guesswork of course, but it may give you a little bit more info on this fine image!
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