Tait Jacket Shoulder Straps

[GreencoatCross]

Below is a link to the Heritage Auction site where you can find photos of a pair of red broadcloth-faced shoulder straps cut from a Tait jacket by Elisha Hunt Rhodes. Unfortunately, there is nothing to tell us exactly what part of the war or where they hail from.

http://historical.ha.com/common/view_item.php?SaleNo=6034&LotIdNo=102065&txtSearch=&hdnSearch=true#Photo

[roundshot]

Ah, ha! Now we know who cut the straps off the dead Confederate artilleryman's Tait jacket in the famous Ft. Mahone casualty photo! Thanks for sharing. Very interesting!

[Jimmayo]

Ah, ha! Now we know who cut the straps off the dead Confederate artilleryman's Tait jacket in the famous Ft. Mahone casualty photo! Thanks for sharing. Very interesting!

I am surprised they didn't include a picture of the dead Confederate at Ft. Mahone and try to jack the price up. They must not have known about it.

However Rhodes did have ample opportunity to cut off a strap or two. The 2nd RI came over the CS lines within a stone throw of the Battlefield Museum at Pamplin Park. As I understand it they came across in the area between the Cannon in the CS works and the little bridge over the creek. I hunted that area in the late 70s and there were numerous navy cuff buttons, knapsack hooks and such found along the side of that creek. I always visualized them stopping to rest along the creek before pushing out to the Boyden Plank Rd or down the lines. I think some of the RI men were wearing the navy buttons because the navy anchor resembed a RI button but that is just a WAG on my part. I did find two RI staff type buttons right behind the works. When the park opened I donated one to them and kept one. The one I gave them got lost. Glad I kept the other one.

[GreencoatCross]

I sent them a note about Tait jackets as well as a link to the Ft. Mahone soldier image on the LoC website. The same company auctioned the Pendleton jacket several years ago which I also cited as an example of a red-trimmed Tait jacket.

[roundshot]

Just fyi, Pendleton's kepi that he wore with his Tait jacket was recently offered on this site, along with a lot of other interesting stuff:
http://issuu.com/dreamedia/docs/catalog_140_issuu

[GreencoatCross]

Bob, that's a great little catalog and thanks for sharing....but I have to say my blood pressure rises a little when I see identified groupings broken up. I don't know why Mr. Hendershott would sell the Pendleton jacket and cap separately.

[PaulJ]

Hi all and many thanks to Brian for this fascinating link.

Looking at the cloth lining underneath the straps (i.e representing the colour of the main body of the jacket) - does anyone think it's quite a light grey-blue colour? I know there has been some debate as to the colour of 'Tait' jackets - i.e on the re-enacting front that CC's K1 kersey is too light for instance and that re-enactors should aim for a darker blue-grey for a more true representaion of a Tait jacket. The Gouge etc jackets with piped shoulder straps look quite dark, the Pendleton looks to my eye a little lighter and more blue. I have seen a picture of the Maryland Tait (blue collar, no shoulder straps) - the jacket looks quite a dark blue-grey (the collar is an amazing electric blue despite it's age). The colour under these straps seems more of a lighter grey-blue. Of course I've only ever seen pictures, side by side comparisons in natural daylight might tell a different story, also cloth may age differently depending on the storage circumstances (exposure to sunlight etc) over time. Nevertheless, has anyone with better access to the 'real thing' noticed noticeable variations in the colour of Tait jackets?
The reason I ask this is that I believe there is a school of thought that the 'Tait' jackets may not have all been made by Tait, rather there was an approved pattern/ style provided to UK/ Irish manufacturers by CS agents, Tait made some, other manufacturers may have made some too. (I've often been puzzled by the seemingly pointless variants of Tait type jackets (straps, no straps, piped, faced) in such a short period of time - if they were produced by one factory). This is referred to in the book "Peter Tait: A Remarkable Story" by his descendant John E Waite - he says that a Tait jacket should only be referred to as such if it has Tait buttons period attached, even if it looks like one! To be fair, the main thrust of the book is the larger picture of Peter Tait's life - he doesn't concentrate on the CS uniforms aspect and it isn't clear what he bases this assertion on (which doesn't mean it might not be in his unpublished research...). Interested in any thoughts on this. Also looking at the Fort Mahone dead Confederate picture on the LOC website (captioned as a Federal here! - and CS on another pic of the same soldier):-

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/cwp/item/cwp2003005131/PP/?sid=811b661248f91b9d155367ea1d7dd869

I have often thought that the jacket colour (of a Tait type jacket with red trim according to the original caption) in this period photograph was quite light looking in terms of shade. I understand from an e-mail I received from Chas Childs that there is a Tait type jacket of this variation (red collar and shoulder straps) in a private collection in Virginia - has anyone seen it in order to comment on the shade of the main jacket body...?

[GarrettG1993]

The color of the jacket in the photo may be of a lighter color, then again it may be an optical illusion. If you notice, he appears to have a federal issue ground cloth on him that is, with exception to the part in the shaddow, rather close to the same color as his coat.
If my memory suits me there is an alternate shot, a full body, of the same fellow. He has a Federal issue cartridge box slung on his shoulder, and the red collar can clearly be seen. Also visible is the fact that he had shoulder straps on his jacket that were removed. The jacket in this photo appears quite a bit darker. Interesting enough the photographer had a hard time desciding if the man was an infantryman or an artilleryman. He placed a sponge in one picture and removed it for another.


-Garrett Glover