Uniform for Captain and Brevet Lt. Colonel

[smithjub]

Greetings,

This may be an easy question to answer, but I have been having trouble finding a definitive answer. I'm curious about the uniform an officer described as a Captain and brevet Lt. Colonel would wear. Specifically my interest is in Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. while he was an officer at Ft. Stevens in July, 1864. What I would like to know is whether or not his title of Brevet Lt. Colonel would have in any way have been reflected in his uniform, or would he have just appeared like any other staff captain.

The only pictures I've found of Holmes as a CW officer are of him in his single breasted junior officer's frock, and all documents say that the highest actual rank he achieved was captain. However, an unconfirmed (and famous) anecdote claims that Holmes, after yelling at President Lincoln, who had come out to observe the fighting at Ft. Stevens, was addressed by Lincoln as "Colonel," despite having not been introduced to the president. Now, this could all be legend or an error in the later telling of the story, but if not, would there have been something about Holmes' uniform that would have indicated that he was a brevet Lt. Colonel? (rank insignia, etc.)

Any clarification on this matter would be greatly appreciated, as I'm putting together an impression based loosely on Holmes' time at Ft. Stevens. Thank you.

[1stMaine]

Re: Uniform for Captain and Brevet Lt. Colonel

Comrade,

In Thomas W. Hyde's book "Following the Greek Cross", there is a picture of the staff of the 6th Corps taken at Cold Harbor. General Horatio Wright is in the center, and wearing a frock coat, but every other officer in the image is wearing a commercial sack coat of some pattern. In fact, each coat seems to be a unique item. Most of the officers are wearing some form of hat as well. Holmes appears in the back rank, although only his mid chest and up appear distinct. He;s obviously got a white shirt and a cravat on, but his coat is either open, or the top button is very low down, exposing a good section of his chest. Holes is identified in the image as "Captain Holmes", and is wearing a black army hat, with an officer's hat cord and no other insignia. It's worn unmodified, that is, it looks like it came out of the box.
My copy is a 1st edition work, and I don't dare open it to scan the image, but if someone has a reprint, perhaps they might be willing to.
respects,

[K Bartsch]

Re: Uniform for Captain and Brevet Lt. Colonel

Greetings,

This may be an easy question to answer, but I have been having trouble finding a definitive answer. I'm curious about the uniform an officer described as a Captain and brevet Lt. Colonel would wear. Specifically my interest is in Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. while he was an officer at Ft. Stevens in July, 1864. What I would like to know is whether or not his title of Brevet Lt. Colonel would have in any way have been reflected in his uniform, or would he have just appeared like any other staff captain.

The only pictures I've found of Holmes as a CW officer are of him in his single breasted junior officer's frock, and all documents say that the highest actual rank he achieved was captain. However, an unconfirmed (and famous) anecdote claims that Holmes, after yelling at President Lincoln, who had come out to observe the fighting at Ft. Stevens, was addressed by Lincoln as "Colonel," despite having not been introduced to the president. Now, this could all be legend or an error in the later telling of the story, but if not, would there have been something about Holmes' uniform that would have indicated that he was a brevet Lt. Colonel? (rank insignia, etc.)

Any clarification on this matter would be greatly appreciated, as I'm putting together an impression based loosely on Holmes' time at Ft. Stevens. Thank you.

Jared,
I feel confident in stating, while I have no photographic evidence, that if Holmes were indeed a brevet lieutenant colonel, he'd have worn the silver leaves. Frankly, that was one of the main reasons the brevet system existed, namely, to "promote" officers beyond their current, permanent grade in reward for meritorius service and/or because their demonstrated abilities were needed in the higher, albiet "temporary" brevet grade. Now, you may ask, why not simply promote them permanently? Its a bit complicated, but suffice to say, numbers were set for numbers of officers in permanent grades just as now, and these caps did not usuallly include the numbers of brevet rank holders. To be clear, the term "permanent" grade is not to imply the rankholder will never be promoted, it merely is a term used to distinguish between it and brevet (temporarily warranted) rank. I believe a presidential order was required, as well as senate approval of the list of breveted officers. Probably one of the most famous examples of this system is Geo. A. Custer. His permanent army rank in 1865 when the war ended was lieutenant colonel. Of course, he had been breveted a major general of volunteers during the war. We know he wore his own colorful version of the uniform of a US Army major general during the conflict. Later, after the war ended, he reverted to his permanent rank of Lt Col, and this was his grade when he died at Little Big Horn in 1876
Interestingly, the brevet system ceased to be used in the US Army at the end of WWI.

Cordially,

[smithjub]

Re: Uniform for Captain and Brevet Lt. Colonel

Comrade,

Holmes appears in the back rank, although only his mid chest and up appear distinct. He;s obviously got a white shirt and a cravat on, but his coat is either open, or the top button is very low down, exposing a good section of his chest. Holes is identified in the image as "Captain Holmes", and is wearing a black army hat, with an officer's hat cord and no other insignia. It's worn unmodified, that is, it looks like it came out of the box.

Hmmm. Considering Holmes was breveted BEFORE joining General Wright and the 6th Corps, this leads me to believe he would still have been outfitted as a Captain and not as a senior officer, even though he was technically a brevet Lt. Colonel when this photo was taken. Does anyone else know whether or not he would still have been dressed as a junior officer while serving day-to-day functions?

[1stMaine]

Re: Uniform for Captain and Brevet Lt. Colonel

Comrade,

It may also be that Holmes' brevet was not until after his assignment to the 6th Corps HQ staff, as one source I read wrote of his being a "Brevet Colonel on the staff of General Wright". There is some significant discussion as to whether the event at Fort Stevens regarding Lincoln and Holmes actually occured. If it did, it was not possible for him to have been wearing a Colonel's insignia, as he was still a Captain.

I did a simple google search under his name and found numerous biographical entries. You might want to do the same and spend some time reviewing them, as they probably have the pertinent information you need.

respects,

[markj]

Re: Uniform for Captain and Brevet Lt. Colonel

Try these works for a start:

Novick, Sheldon M. Honorable justice: the life of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co., 1989, 522 p., illus.

Howe, Mark De Wolfe. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1957, illus.

Baker, Liva. The justice from Beacon Hill: the life and times of Oliver Wendell Holmes. New York: HarperCollins, 1991, 783 p., illus.

Aichele, Gary Jan. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.--soldier, scholar, judge. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1989, 212 p., illus.

Bent, Silas. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: a biography. New York: Vanguard Press, 1932, 386 p., illus.

Some, if not all, should be available in your local public or academic library. You are fortunate in that multiple biographies of "The Great Dissenter" have been published, particularly in recent years. I know we have at least one of these works here at Purdue University and I saw a copy of the last item for sale at an Indianapolis bookshop recently. If I remember correctly, one photo in the 1932 work shows Holmes as a field-grade officer.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Kevin O'Beirne]

Re: Uniform for Captain and Brevet Lt. Colonel

Generically, a brevet entitled the recipient to wear the rank insignia of his brevet rank. It's tough to imagine someone receiving a brevet to Lt. Col. and continuing to wear Captain's rank. However, the timing, and the availability of some Lt. Col. rank insignia may be an issue as to when exactly he was able to wear the rank of the higher office.

[1stMaine]

Re: Uniform for Captain and Brevet Lt. Colonel

Comrades,

Another point I would add is that the image I referenced of the 6th Corps shows a number of officers with NO rank straps on their sack coats, not even reduced size ones. Some are wearing straps, of course, but a few are not. Hyde, a Lt. Colonel, is wearing a double-breasted sack coat, and Manning, a full Colonel is wearing a single breasted sack with rank straps. It just goes to show the leeway permitted amongst officers vis-a-vis their interpretations of the uniform regulations for officers.
respects,