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PATTERN 1898 CAVALRY OFFICER’S TROPICAL UNIFORM –
COMPLETE WITH ALL THE PROPER INSIGNIA – VERY SCARCE
EARLY PATTERN IN VERY GOOD CONDITION:
Approved at the start of
the Spanish American War, these khaki colored, cotton
blouses were adopted with the issue of General Order No.
39 on May 9, 1898 and were to be trimmed with the color
of the branch of service (G.O. 51, May 23, 1898) - dark
blue for the staff departments and general staff, yellow
for cavalry, red for artillery, and sky blue for
infantry. The blouses for the enlisted men were to have
the trim colors on the collar, shoulder straps, breast
pocket flaps and cuffs, while these officer blouses were
trimmed in the branch color on the collar, shoulder
straps and cuffs.
Providing a very identifiable uniform for each branch,
unfortunately it was this very same distinction that
resulted in a very short service life for these
uniforms, making them quite scarce today. As the
uniforms were subjected to wear in the field, the army
quickly discovered that the wear out period for cavalry
and infantry soldiers and officers in the field was
considerably shorter than it was for artillery and staff
department soldiers, resulting in a serious shortage of
replacement uniforms for the mounted and foot troops
while an overabundance of artillery and staff uniforms
sat unissued in storage. Due to the way in which this
pattern of coat was trimmed, changing the color of the
facings in order to meet the need for uniforms was not
practical.
As a result, less than two months later, on July 15,
1898, the Secretary of War issued a circular directing
that the colored facings be eliminated and replaced with
colored detachable shoulder tabs that could be issued
with the later pattern all khaki coats as appropriate
for the soldier’s and officer’s particular branch of
service.
The next phase in the evolution of the tropical weight
cotton khaki uniform would occur the following year with
the introduction of the Pattern 1899 Tropical Uniform
which would completely replace the Pattern 1898
Uniform. Nominally made for only a few months - and
then most of those that were made being subjected to the
severe use and wear of combat soldiers in a tropical
environment - it is not surprising that these later
Pattern 1898 Tropical Blouses survive today in
relatively low numbers and when found, often show
evidence of hard use in the field. Further reducing the
likelihood of survival of these blouses was the common
practice of issuing new uniforms to troops returning
from the tropics and requiring that their old uniforms
be burned to prevent the introduction and spread of
disease within the continental United States.
Given the numerical proportion of officers to enlisted
men, and that the cavalry was considerably smaller in
force than the other branches of the army, this Pattern
1898 Officers Blouse
which was worn by a second
lieutenant who served in the cavalry is a very scarce
offering.
This blouse and the Pattern 1898 Infantry Captain’s
blouse offered in a separate listing on this site were
acquired from the same old, well established
collection. Both blouses are, for all intent and
purposes, the same size, and more significantly, both
bear shoulder tabs which are embroidered with bullion
thread executed in the same style and design indicating
they were purchased by the officer from the same uniform
dealer. It was not particularly unusual for an officer
to transfer from one branch of the service – in this
case from cavalry to infantry – sometimes for no other
reason than an opportunity for advancement and promotion
presented itself. The similarity of these two blouses
strongly suggests they were owned and worn by the same
officer, and given the additional cost of the
embroidered shoulder tabs versus those with the separate
pin on insignia, he may well have been a man of some
means.
The lieutenant’s rank is indicated on
both shoulder straps by the absence of the bars
he would add once he was promoted to 1ST
Lieutenant and then Captain. Since before the Civil War
years, 2ND Lieutenants were not authorized a
badge of rank, rather their shoulder straps, dress
uniform shoulder knots and these shoulder tabs bore no
rank insignia. Per the current regulations, his
shoulder tabs are embroidered in bullion thread with the
1898
National Eagles worn by all officers.
The embroidery on both
shoulder straps is very well executed and is full form,
showing very little wear and is in very good condition.
The yellow shoulder tabs are clean and full form with no
fraying, but the yellow has faded to some extent –
evidence of the lieutenant’s service in the tropics.
His assignment to the cavalry is indicated by the
insignias pinned to the
collar on each side of the throat
opening. All of the insignia is otherwise full form,
firmly attached, and all appear to be original to this
blouse.
This uniform blouse shows the obvious signs of having
been issued and worn in the field, but it fared well in
service and the officer took good care of his clothing
both while in service and later stored it well. The
khaki fabric of the blouse is in overall very good
condition, with no deterioration, no open seams, and no
fraying to the edge of the collar. The exterior and
interior edges of the cuffs are smooth, intact, and show
no heavy wear, and there is no wear or seam separation
around the interior arm holes. There is one well
executed machine sewn repair to a small wear point at
the bottom of the outside of the right side lower pocket
and another machine sewn repair to a wear point on the
inside of the blouse at the bottom of the same pocket –
apparently the result of wear caused by something the
lieutenant carried in his pockets. These repairs are
well done, are not unsightly and certainly do not
detract from the display quality of this blouse. All of
the matching original General Service buttons are
present on the shoulder straps, front closure, and
pocket flaps. The bottom edge of the blouse is intact
without any of the characteristic fraying normally seen
on these blouses which saw use in the field.
This blouse is very clean with one small stain high on
the front at the left shoulder and two likewise small
stains high on the center back. They are visible, but
not particularly noticeable and they do not detract from
the blouse when it is on display - only mentioned here
in the spirit of a complete description.
Introduced as our army was deployed to far away lands
and subjected to the sweltering tropical heat, this 1898
uniform blouse shows some evidence of the lieutenant’s
overseas service, but nonetheless, it has survived in
very nice condition and it will be a particularly nice
addition to a Spanish American War display.
(0120)
$1450
NOTE:
To say that photographing uniforms is a challenge is an
understatement. In normal lighting, the cloth absorbs
the light and none of the finer features or condition
details can be seen clearly. In order to highlight the
features and provide you with an accurate view of the
material, I have to lighten the contrast of the
photograph which in turn causes even colored cloth to
appear faded or discolored when such is not the case.
This coat is has an even khaki color throughout as is
seen in the close up photographs.
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