1832 US INFANTRY SERGEANT'S COAT MADE AT SCHUYLKILL ARSENAL

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2024

This is the only surviving example in private hands of an 1832 pattern enlisted man's coat of the U. S. Army and there are only a handful of others known, all in the Quartermaster Collection now in the National Museum of American History. This rare example is the pattern made for a sergeant of infantry, so the cloth is of slightly better quality than those of private soldiers, and it is further distinguished from theirs by having "three buttons and loops and the slash sleeve"--the private soldiers and corporals having but two. The 1832 infantry and foot artillery uniforms were close approximations of what was then being worn by their counterparts in the British Army, changing red to American blue, and with national distinctions (such as on buttons) of the United States. The pattern was smart-looking and was worn from 1832, through the Mexican War and into the early 1850s, when replaced by French-styled uniforms introduced in the 1850 regulations of the Army. During this period, all uniforms were cut by Army tailors at the Schuylkill Clothing Establishment, the components sent out in bundles to be sewn into the finished garments, then returned for inspection. This coat bears the Schuylkill inspection and size mark for an Army size no. 2 coat, being two filled circles stamped in the lining of the of the right sleeve-cap. A size no. 2 coat would fit a man standing 5 foot 6 inches. With the coat is an associated pair of white worsted epaulettes, of the correct form as worn by sergeants with this uniform, but not regular army--being a pair with incorrect buttons. PROVENANCE: Found in a home in CT and sold as lot 92 Bruneau Auctions 20 NOV 2021, whence acquired. CONDITION: Very good, as conserved and presented; the coat when acquired in 2021 was in a fair and incomplete state--only 2 original buttons remained on the coat, many of the seams were open, lining loose and torn and areas of damage from insect browse. The coat was conserved during 2022-2023 by Dr. Karin Bohleke, Director of the Fashion Archives and Museum of Shippensburg U., which involved painstaking labor and extensive manhours, reversing said damage and replacing any loss "in kind" with matching materials. All missing buttons were replaced with pewter reproductions of the originals, cast directly from "mint" originals.