This cap was formerly in the collection of Steve Saathoff, who was well respected for his taste and acumen in Civil War headgear. The cap is an excellent example of the “Type-II” forage cap with wider crown and flat bill. The cap shows just very light wear. The deep blue wool body has nice color and no moth damage. The visor and chinstrap are firmly in place and show good color and surface with only minor storage or age marks. The chinstrap is attached with two small general service buttons with tin backs dating to the Civil War. (There are not many tin-backed Civil War buttons, but small general service buttons are among them.) The crown bears an original infantry hunting horn with the numbers "13" inside loop, above which is stitched a red wool star, the insignia of the 1st Division 12th or 20th Corps. (The latter absorbed the former and adopted its badge.) There is just minor storage dust and few very light spots of dirt along the lower edge and seam at the back where a wearer’s hand would touch it in in putting it on and adjusting it on the back of his head.

The interior is equally as nice. The brown cotton lining is intact, with no holes or tears. The sweat band shows honest wear with losses to the surface and has some loose stitching, but is intact and all there. The lining also bears its original contractor’s label which reads "Size No 4 7 1/8 U.S. Army L.J. & J. Phillips." Lewis J. and Isaac Phillips of New York had huge army contracts for caps every year of the war, furnishing some 35,000 in 1861, 175,000 or more in 1862, 251,000 in 1863, 330,200 in 1864, and even 50,000 on a contract of January 1, 1865. The forage cap was the typical headgear of the Union soldier, and if there was a typical forage cap, it was likely one by L.J & I Phillips.
We cannot be sure how long the insignia has been on the cap, though the cap shows evidence of wear in the condition of the sweatband and the few spots on the back, and the badge has a good look. We checked the 2014 auction listing for the cap when the Saathoff collection sold, but there was no provenance beyond the collection. The insignia is plainly meant to indicate the 13^th New Jersey, which was the only "13th" regiment serving in the First Division of the 12th Army Corps or the reorganized 12/20th Army Corps, which used the same corps badge. This regiment mustered into service in August, 1862, and suffered heavy casualties at Antietam and Chancellorsville. They were present at Gettysburg with minor loss, and then went west with the 12th Corps in the Fall of 1863, fighting at Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek and Atlanta, before mustering out in June, 1865.

This is a very nice looking piece of Civil War headgear in excellent condition, from a well known collection. [sr]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS,

CLICK ON ‘CONTACT US’ AT THE TOP OF ANY PAGE ON THE SITE,

THEN ON ‘LAYAWAY POLICY’.

THANK YOU!