I can hardly believe that was written in 2002.
Shortly after Bill wrote that article I was given transcriptions of the Depew Swartout diary. Swartout was a member of Company D, 1st U.S.S.S. and kept a very interesting account. Accompanying the diary was a photograph of him and his pard Ed Stickney, both wearing green caps with corps badges, dark green trousers, and fatigue blouses. The backdrop is the "US Picture Tent" one seen in over a dozen other Sharpshooter images; from where it stands in my current research, these photos date from between March and June 1863. Sack coats can also be seen in photos of Thomas Reese (Co. A 2nd), "Youthful Sharpshooter" oft published, Sgt. Lewis Allen (Co. F 1st), and some other unidentified Sharpshooters.
About a year after Bill finished his article I was contacted by a private collector from Canada who claimed to own Sergeant Lewis Allen's (Co. F 1st) fatigue blouse, cap, and damaged partial diary that he sent home in late July after the Gettysburg campaign. A note accompanying the grouping stated that Allen had requested his family to keep the items safe and that they had "passed through history." The grouping was at the time sold to a man in California so the Canadian owner was iffy on letting me research it in person but he did send me some photographs. Allen's blouse was a typical dark blue sack coat with rubber eagle buttons and dark green broadcloth chevrons. The lining of the coat appeared to have been cut out at some point, but frayed yarns still remained along the areas inside where it would have been caught by stitching (sleeves, collar, etc.). The former owner put me in touch with the new owner, who agreed to let me view it but his stipulations were so odd that it put me off and I never went. He refused me any measurements, photographs, descriptions, and the like.
About two years ago he e-mailed to ask if I was interested in anything from the grouping. I found out that he had removed the chevrons and rubber buttons from the blouse and sold them individually to get the most money out of the collection. Sadly, I don't know what ever became of the diary or the forage cap and since I moved to Michigan I have misplaced the photographs that the original owner mailed me. Everything in the photos, however, screamed out that the grouping was indeed the real thing from the cap's sweatband to the remnant lining of the blouse.
Ugh....wish I had lottery winnings and a time machine.
_________________ Brian WhiteWambaugh, White, & Companyhttp://www.wwandcompany.com---------------------------------- Randolph Mess, U.S. Sharpshooters
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