Introduced in the late 1850s, the forage cap was intended to be the alternative headgear to the dress hat, known better to collectors as the Jeff Davis or Hardee hat. Intended for wear on “fatigue” duty, it quickly caught on for general wear in the army and has become the iconic piece of Civil War headgear. This one fits the “Type-2” style in modern collector parlance, with flat visor and fairly wide crown.

In addition to the vicissitudes of field service, this one suffered damage from moths over the years, particularly on the back, lower portions, where a collector has done some restoration work by inserting matching dark blue wool between the outer fabric and lining and stitching it down to stabilize it. He has done the same thing around the perimeter and lower edge of the crown, but left the ornate flat company letter “E” in place.

Some holes on the sides and front have also been backed, but the folds of the fabric do much to conceal others and the largest, at bottom front, though it shows some of the buckram stiffener, is largely hidden by the sliding buckle of the chinstrap. The chinstrap appears to be original, though one of the standing loops is gone, that section is a bit shorter than the other and the buttons have been resewn. The polished cotton lining in the cap is actually very good. The sweatband is missing a section at the wearer’s left side, but is largely there and shows honest use. The underside of the visor shows a repair over the wearer’s right eye. The visor seems to have cracked and broken at the point and the collector used some black fabric and adhesives to mend it. There are also some signs of adhesives over the wearer’s left eye and it is likely the visor had partially separated from the base of the cap.

Please take a look at our photos, where we have tried to make clear the damage to the cap, indeed to over state it. The previous owner, however, thought it well worth while to preserve it. We don’t have any further information on an identification. The company letter is a non-regulation piece, but we see many such variations from all sorts of states and units. Not mint by any means, but a real relic of the war.   [sr]

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