August 18 & 19, 2020 Edged Weapons, Armor, & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/18/2020
Extremely rare U.S. Army dress frock coat of General of the Army William Tecumseh Sherman dating 1869-1872. The only uniform coats dating to this period of Sherman’s career known to us are 1 in a private collection illustrated in Langellier’s Army Blue (Vol. 1, p.28) and another with a Brooks Brothers label in the Smithsonian, but not on public view. The coat is configured in the pattern established by General Orders No. 75, War Department, Washington, D.C., September 5, 1866, exclusively for the General Commanding the Army: 2 rows of 12 buttons each, set in groups of 4. It also more closely follows Civil War patterns than later styles in the use of a wide elbow (8-1/2") narrow cuff (5") and long skirts. The latter measure 20-1/2" from the waist seam to the hem, versus a waist-to-lapel distance of 20-1/2", or waist to shoulder of 20".
Given the time-frame and rank configuration, only 2 officers qualified to wear it: Ulysses Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. Comparison in November 1976 of this coat with a known coat of Grant at West Point showed close measurements of the collar, chest, and waist, but noticeable difference in the back (41" to 36-1/2") which would be expected between the taller Sherman (5'11") and the shorter Grant (5'8”). Correspondence in October 1976 with Donald Kloster, then Assistant Curator of the Division of Military History at the Smithsonian, regarding dimensions of a later Sherman coat revealed an expected age expansion of the neck, chest and waist (17" to 17-1/2"; 23" to 24-1/2"; 20" to 21-1/2"), slight loss of height as measured along the back (41" and 38-1/2") but remarkably consistent sleeve length (32-1/2" and 32-1/4"). Sherman was authorized to wear the coat as of March 4, 1869, when he assumed the rank of General Commanding the Army from Grant, who was obliged to resign the post upon assumption of the Presidency. Sherman retained the rank until 1883, long after army uniform patterns had changed from this. The coat certainly predates 1872 in style, giving it a fairly narrow date of acquisition by Sherman to 1869-1872 and wear for not many years after that.
The quality of the coat fabric is commensurate with the rank and the exterior retains good blue color. There is no moth damage, tracks, or stains. Wear is confined to the top edge of the velvet collar and edges of the velvet cuffs, natural points of contact and wear. A hanging tab inside the collar is present, but detached on one side. The collar fastens at the bottom with hook and eye, as should be expected. The eye is present, but the hook is missing and the collar fabric on that side is pulled up, indicating it was lost by carelessly opening the collar without unhooking it. The cuffs show the expected period narrowing from the wide elbow and are non-functional, as is common with Civil War officers’ frock coats.
The velvet collar and cuffs both show expected oxidation to a slight brown tone from the use of iron mordants in the dye. The upper collar shows wear along the top edge, revealing the top of the white interlining, but there are no holes to the sides of the velvet on the interior or exterior. The green silk upper body lining is in place and very good, as are the white sleeve linings, which are securely in place at the arm holes. The interior breast pocket is in place, though with a small hole inside at bottom. The upper edge of the pocket shows wear from reaching into it that is consistent with signs of wear on the collar. The glazed cotton lining of the skirts is largely gone. Fragments are visible along the waist seam. The brown pockets in the tails, accessed through the center gap in the tails rather than the individual pleats, are still in place and in good condition. The black silk tape used to cover seams or a fold are present inside, though fragmentary, but the coat is solid overall. The coat is made with a small watch pocket at the left waist.
Most of the buttons initially on the coat were taken long ago as souvenirs, but 2 very high-quality buttons original to the coat remain on the wearer's lower left front: one at the waist seam still fastened tightly with a cloth wedge and one immediately above, resewn. These bear the backmark "SUPERFINE GOLD PLATE / W.B. CO." Recent research shows the Waterbury Button Company, of Connecticut, using that abbreviation as early as the 1850s and, according to Tice, introducing the "superfine gold plate" marking, "C.1870," which is fully commensurate with the dating of the coat by other criteria. The remaining buttons on the coat are correct general staff buttons and match pretty well, but have been added to the coat for display only and bear a number of different backmarks. 1 has since become detached and is in the watch pocket of the coat.
This coat surfaced in the hands of a Pennsylvania antiques dealer in 1976 and was immediately acquired by our consignor, in whose collection it remained until now. One of the most well-known figures of American military history, Sherman is disliked for some of his later policies in the American west, and still vilified by many for his determination to bring the war home to the south in his March to the Sea. He was nevertheless a premier combat commander and strategist who avoided political entanglements, performed his duty with a rigid honesty, and had no illusions about the price of war paid by vanquished and victor both. This is a remarkable opportunity to acquire an early uniform associated with one of America's most renowned soldiers. SR
Item Dimensions: 41" x 20 - 1/2".
Paperwork
Assorted internet printouts