Upside-down Buckle...?

Private Watkins

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Apr 12, 2014
Location
Oklahoma
What do you guys think...? A sloppily dressed Yankee, or a Reb making a statement with battlefield scavenged gear...? Either way he sure looks like an ornery old cuss...
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This guy is sort of what I would imagine Cobb from Cain at Gettysburg (Ralph Peters) would look like... (which I am enjoying immensely right now...)
 
Not completely rare to find period images with inverted waist belt plates... Some have speculated that since the finished image was reversed... if they flipped something over.. it might look correct.... Except for most it is now still backwards AND upside down.... A few scarce images of Confederates wearing captured US belt plates in same fashion... However spawns assumption they are intentionally making some political statement... Far too many reenactors tend to emulate that on the field... But same as US troops observed... many more wearing them right side up just as well...

A few other identified Federals wearing inverted US waist belt plates
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Not completely rare to find period images with inverted waist belt plates... Some have speculated that since the finished image was reversed... if they flipped something over.. it might look correct.... Except for most it is now still backwards AND upside down.... A few scarce images of Confederates wearing captured US belt plates in same fashion... However spawns assumption they are intentionally making some political statement... Far too many reenactors tend to emulate that on the field... But same as US troops observed... many more wearing them right side up just as well...

A few other identified Federals wearing inverted US waist belt plates
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That middle guy is a bona-fide weapon magnet...!
 
It appears to be an ambrotype, too, making deciding even harder - if it were a tintype like I think two of the other three are I'd incline towards Union.
 
Confederates not having the "supplies" that the Yankees had tended to borrow clothing items from Union troops that they deemed did not need them anymore. Belt buckles were worn upside as they were certainly not worn by US "supporters" and also as a bit of disrespect (like flying a flag upside down).
 
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