Whose Side Was He On?

If you grew up in the Northeastern United States, you probably learned early on that the Redcoats were the enemy in conflicts fought in the early days of the fledgling country. “The Redcoats” were the British, of course. Schoolbook illustrations of the War of 1812 featured red-coated Canadian troops as well in descriptions of the battles. Today, re-enactors in the Niagara region of Ontario proudly wear their red coats when educating tourists about the heroes of the Canadian side.

But those schoolbook illustrations are misleading, as we recently learned from a beautiful uniform that came into our care from the Delaware County Historical Society. This scarlet coatee with black collar and cuffs was likely to have been worn by a New York or New England patriot. The fine, dense wool was almost certainly spun and woven in England, based on its quality, but the coatee was probably tailored for a soldier on the southern side of the 45^th parallel.

The Red Coatee from 1812

In 1812, the U.S. regular army was growing but fairly small and the country still was dependent on state militias for much defense. Soldiers in some Connecticut militias, for instance, wore Red coats with black trim that would be indistinguishable from the coat in our care. Musicians, indispensable for armies at the time, often wore “reversed colors” and so even in regiments such as the New York City Artillery, who wore blue with red trim, a drummer or trumpeter might be clothed in red. U. S. Cavalry troops throughout the North East also frequently wore red.

We may not know who wore this uniform, but he certainly had a fine tailor! The quality of the fulled red twill fabric is impressive and the stitching meticulous. Unfortunately, the past 200 years have not been kind. The plain-weave front lining (woven from unbleached white wool singles) was riddled with holes from insect damage. The black collar and cuffs, made of fustian (similar to corduroy) were faded to brown and quite ragged from wear.

The damaged natural wool lining

In preparing the coatee for display, the goals were to protect all the fabrics while leaving them visible for examination and simultaneously presenting the garment’s handsome appearance in the best possible way. To accomplish this, the fine lining was fitted with a sheer overlay. The overlay will allow the coatee to be slipped on and off a mannequin without damage.

The lining, protected by a sheer overlay. Note the pillows to cushion the coat against creases

The thickset cuffs and collar were also protected with an overlay stitched in place. For this, a nearly invisible, soft netting was applied in areas of wear. Once those areas were protected, the yellow trims were reattached where they had come loose.

The "thickset" collar. The blue arrow shows one of the areas protected by netting

Finally, custom pillows were fitted in place so that creases that would weaken the fabric could not develop in storage. 

The provenance of this bit of history are still being researched by the historical societies that have cared for it. Someday we may know the name and regiment of this soldier. In the meantime, we can celebrate his memory by admiring his uniform.

Thanks to Shaun Pekar (on Facebook and shaunpekar@gmail.com) and Matthew Keagle of Fort Ticonderoga (https://www.fortticonderoga.org) for their patience, expertise and valuable insights in helping with this posting.