- Joined
- Aug 25, 2012
United States Army Headgear 185501902, Catalog of United States Army Uniforms in the Collections of the Smithsonian Institution, II:
The Winter Cap
[...] the leather forage cap [i.e. the "Model 1833 hog killer"], which replaced [the 1825 pinwheel chacko] it in 1833 (replaced by another pattern in 1839), had in the dragoon model (but not that for other troops) a flap in the rear, which could be let down some 6 inches to protect the neck. All troops were prescribed a band of fur to be attached to the bottom and tied in front. [...] Just prior to the Civil War General W. S. Harney's winter campaign in the Oregon and Washington Territories and the Mormon Expedition brought some relief in the form of "great coats with capotes or hoods and "caps with ear pieces (old pattern forage or last pattern cap)." ...
1. The hat in question is not a piece of regulation headgear. It is either a civilian hunting type of cap or fur hat, or a militia cap for winter duty of some kind. My sense is it is a form of fur cap like the "seal caps" of the New Orleans Greys in the Texas Revolution, or something akin to the Alabama "raccoon roughs" volunteers.
2. The hunting shirt, or pull-over shirt is of a piece with known Civil War militia, irregular, guerrilla, bushwhacker type over shirts. In this case, I would think that a careful, meticulous examination might find similar if not identical hunting shirts in period photos. For instance, photos from the same collection of mobilized militia/ volunteers wearing Corsican-style caps under a tri-corn felt hat appear to be from the same unit.
3. The single-action, cap-and-ball revolver, side knife or dagger, and front pockets of the overshirt with a watch in one side, and a cloth handkerchief in the other appear to be items from the period of the early Civil War.
4. The cravat, or bow-tie and shirt appear to be from the early Civil War-era.
5. The overall style of the photo, and the fact that it appears in the collection of Civil War photos, or more exactly ambrotypes from the LoC collection, militate it being a Civil War-era militia or volunteer.
So: 1) what evidence is there of it being a Union volunteer vs. a Secessionist?
2) Can the hunting shirt be narrowed down to one or another group of militia or volunteers?
3) Are similar or even identical fur or fur-lined caps identifiable, or is this photo a "one off?"
4) The use of "1" or "1st" might help narrow it down?
Well the "1" could be an "I". Company letters on the front of head wear were common at the start of the Civil War.