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PATTERN 1899 CAVALRY
ENLISTED MAN’S TROPICAL UNIFORM BLOUSE COMPLETE WITH THE
PROPER SHOULDER TABS – SCARCE EARLY KHAKI UNIFORM IN
VERY GOOD CONDITION:
At the start of the Spanish American War, khaki colored,
cotton uniforms 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 had
the trim colors on the collar, shoulder straps, breast
pocket flaps and cuffs, and the officer blouses were
trimmed in the branch color on the collar, shoulder
straps and cuffs.
While the colored trim
provided an attractive and distinctive uniform for each
branch, the concept proved to be “one of those good
ideas that didn’t work” for more than one reason.
The immediate problem
became apparent when the colored trim panels -
especially the blue for infantry and red for artillery –
suffered from the severe tropical sun and faded to some
fairly unattractive anemic hues.
Additionally, as the
uniforms were subjected to the rigors of the field, the
army quickly discovered that the wear out period for
cavalry and infantry uniforms was considerably shorter
than it was for artillery and staff department
uniforms. This resulted 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 while the design of the
uniform blouse would remain the same, the colored
facings would be eliminated and replaced with colored
detachable shoulder tabs that would be issued with the
later pattern all-khaki coats in the appropriate color
for the soldier’s particular branch of service.
The next phase in the
evolution of a tropical weight cotton khaki uniform
occurred the following year with the introduction of the
uniform offered here, the Pattern 1899 Tropical
Uniform. The standing collar of the Pattern 1898 Blouse
was replaced with a more comfortable and less
restrictive rolled collar. The waist belt was
eliminated, and the pleat on the rear panel was replaced
with a single center seam. The lower pockets were moved
from the hips to the front, more or less in line with
the breast pockets. The colored shoulder tabs continued
in use, designed to be removable - easily replaced by
the soldier and not requiring the talents of a tailor.
Like the Second Pattern 1898 Blouse, the Pattern 1899
Blouse could be issued to a soldier in any branch of the
service, and this amounted to a substantial cost
savings. The Pattern 1899 Blouse continued the use of
the US Army General Service Buttons used on the earlier
khaki uniforms and wool blouses.
This uniform shows the
obvious signs of having been issued and worn in the
field, but it fared well in service and the soldier took
good care of his clothing both while in service and in
storage after his enlistment. The khaki fabric of the
blouse is in overall very good condition, with no
deterioration, no open seams, no fraying to the edge of
the collar. The exterior edges of the cuffs are smooth,
intact, and show no heavy wear; however the sleeve
lining of both arms has separated from the cuff hem at
the wrist. The wear is even on both arms and appears to
have been caused by the wear of the soldier’s shirt
cuffs against the lining. This wear can be seen in the
photographs below, although when the blouse is on
display the wear inside the cuffs is not visible.
This blouse shows very little soiling. There are two
notable spots – a small dark spot on the rear of the
left hip, perhaps where the soldier’s cartridge belt
rubbed against the material. The other area is along
the outside surface of the right arm from the just above
the elbow down to just above the wrist. There is a
scattering of very small – almost tiny – very pale light
blue spots, appearing to be where something sprayed or
dusted across the sleeve. There is a photo below which
shows the area and the flecks of blue color, but frankly
it was almost impossible to get the lighting necessary
to make the blue color visible - it is very light,
virtually unnoticeable when the blouse is on display,
and only included here in the spirit of a complete
description.
The shoulder tabs which
appear to be original to
this blouse retain
their vivid yellow color. Both tabs are in place and
full form, showing no significant wear and still firmly
held in place by the integral wire hooks.
All of the matching original
General Service buttons are present on the front
closure, the shoulder straps, and the 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. The inside of the
blouse is stamped twice – a costume shop’s
identification name and address, and the original
maker’s contract stamp. The contractor’s stamp was
partially over-written by the costume company, but the
word “Contract” is still fully legible.
Introduced as our army was deployed to far away lands
and subjected to the sweltering heat of the Caribbean
and Pacific, this Pattern 1899 Tropical Uniform Blouse
shows some evidence of the soldier’s service, but
nonetheless, it has survived in very nice condition and
given the scarcity of these tropical uniforms, it will
be a particularly nice addition to your Spanish American
War display.
(0301) $625
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 uniform has an even khaki color throughout as is
seen in the close up photographs.
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