Who is this young man?

[SarahFair]

My old boss had this for along time, not sure where he acquired it aside from it being in Georgia (which doesn't mean he is from Georgia). While moving it one day another employee broke it, which made my boss so ill he told me just to take it (and the amazing frame it came in ) so it was out of his sight.

I've had it for a year and a half now and it's so damaged, it's beyond my skill level to restore, but still, I can't bear the idea of throwing him away..

Anyways, I tried identifying his time period awhile ago, but only narrowed it down possibly the Indian Wars, but could never figure out the regiment "394" because that was not created til WWI.


The picture below has been photo shopped to erase some of the damage to atleast make him whole.

What are yalls thoughts on where he belongs in history?




Unedited photo of his insignia

 

[Nicodemus]

Spanish-American war, maybe?

 

[JustUs4All]

Looks like a great coat with a cape. The buttons appear to be plain. Have a look at some of the Military Institute Cadet uniforms from the late 1800s.

 

[westcobbdog]

Looks like a cadet, maybe 1840-1860.
Perhaps send it up to some sort of museum curator @ West Point? My relative Thomas F Drayton was an 1828 Grad with Jeff Davis.

 

[JustUs4All]

West Point may have had caped great coats and they were more plain than the dress uniforms you usually see the cadets dressed in.

 

[Milkman]

There’s a guy in the Atlanta area who’s a big time Military image collector/author who would know for sure.


David Vaughn. He probably has Facebook or instagram.

 

[SarahFair]

There’s a guy in the Atlanta area who’s a big time Military image collector/author who would know for sure.


David Vaughn. He probably has Facebook or instagram.

Haha, I know David well! Love his family. I actually just chatted with him a couple days ago.

I reckon I could text him the picture over.
He's probably already familiar with it.

 

[SarahFair]

I found an interesting PDF on the history of West Points Uniform

I didn't see what I was looking for, but I'm going to pull it up on the big screen later to have a better look

Cadet gray : a pictorial history of life at West Point as seen through its uniforms https://www.cuttersguide.com/pdf/Mi...t West Point as seen through its uniforms.pdf

 

[SarahFair]

I think I narrowed down the date to 1896-1902
The hat he is wearing is a 1895 Forage Cap
They were not issued to enlisted personnel until 1896

"The change was to be effective for officers 1 July 1895 and 1 January 1896 for enlisted personnel. "

"United States Army Headgear 1855-1902"

https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/2429/SSHT-0030_Lo_res.pdf?sequence=2

Very informative link!



Here is a clear image of an officer wearing the same hat, link dates 1895-1905 (but it is dating the collar insignia)

Evolution of U.S. Army Infantry Insignia

Evolution of U.S. Army Infantry Insignia

hglanham.tripod.com

I believe this hat was replaced in 1902 with the Model 1902 cap.


According to this source, it seems West Point had their own style of uniforms, while other military schools changed uniforms to match the current style of the US military.
Here's an image of a boy in a Spanish American style uniform.

school uniform : United States military school uniform chronology

histclo.com

I did notice that the white shirt collar on my image points up, West Points all seemed to point down. The image of the boy above seems to point up as well.


Im going to guess the picture is from a Georgia resident, or at least a southern one.
There are many military schools here in Georgia alone. Not sure how Im going to pick this apart.


Would cadets have even worn infantry insignia?

 

[JustUs4All]

Looks like you are making good progress in your search. I am on a slow Internet connection so the book is not downloading for me. I can see the cover of it and the greatcoats sketched there are the sort that the young man in the picture seems to be wearing but the head gear may get you to a closer date. Finding the Institution will be really tough. I hope Mr Vaughn can help.

 

[Resica]

Love your progress Sarah!! Keep up the good work!

 

[krizia829]

My old boss had this for along time, not sure where he acquired it aside from it being in Georgia (which doesn't mean he is from Georgia). While moving it one day another employee broke it, which made my boss so ill he told me just to take it (and the amazing frame it came in ) so it was out of his sight.

I've had it for a year and a half now and it's so damaged, it's beyond my skill level to restore, but still, I can't bear the idea of throwing him away..

Anyways, I tried identifying his time period awhile ago, but only narrowed it down possibly the Indian Wars, but could never figure out the regiment "394" because that was not created til WWI.


The picture below has been photo shopped to erase some of the damage to atleast make him whole.

What are yalls thoughts on where he belongs in history?


View attachment 1224685

Unedited photo of his insignia
View attachment 1224689

I would contact Dragonman over in Colorado. He's got the craziest military museum in the US. The guy knows his stuff. Maybe you can e-mail them the photos to inquire. Hope this helps!