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IDENTIFIED FIELD-USED AND SOLDIER MODIFIED SCHUYLKILL ARSENAL MARKED HEAVY ARTILLERY ENLISTED FROCK COAT OF S.H. YAHRES, 5th PA HEAVY ARTILLERY

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This Civil War Pattern 1858 uniform coat worn by a heavy artilleryman while serving as infantry has a great deal of character- good overall condition and color, but legitimate age in the darker tone of its brass buttons and slightly muted color of its red trim; losses to the lining from wear in service, but not noticeable from the outside; and a rounding of the lower front corners or the skirts by the soldier, something in the manner of a fatigue blouse, to keep them out of the way on the march and in the field. Although intended for dress wear, these coats often found their way into the field alongside fatigue blouses- those worn by the Iron Brigade being just the most famous example.

The coat is in very good condition overall, solid and with good color. The red piping is complete and in place on the collar and cuffs. The collar is full height and still has the small hook and eye at the lower front. The 9 coat-size general service eagle buttons on the lapel; 2 on the rear waist, and 2 smaller ones on the functional cuffs are in place and secure. There is just one short, 1-1/2” tear, sewn closed, about 3” above the lower front edge of the skirt on the wearer’s right.

The skirts are full length, about 16 inches long from the waist seam to the correctly unfinished lower edge and, correctly, have the pleat on either side of the vent at center rear. The soldier slightly modified the lower front edges, however, likely to keep them out of the way while in motion on the march or in the field. Starting about 11-1/2” below the waist seam, i.e. about 4-1/2” from the bottom edge, he cut them back slightly in a gentle curve to meet the lower edge of the coat about 6” back from the center line or what had been the lower front corner on either side, thus rounding them somewhat in the manner of a fatigue blouse and leaving the cut edge unhemmed, matching the unfinished bottom edge of the coat as issued. This modification was certainly a matter of comfort. Enlisted uniform coats were often manufactured with a small hook and eye about midway down the front and back edges of the skirts so they could be turned back and out of the way of the soldier’s legs, something that was not a problem in the fatigue blouse or sack coat. In this case the soldier accomplished the same thing without much altering the coat’s general appearance.

As is correct for the pattern, the coat is lined only in the chest, sides and sleeves, provided with a single pocket inside the left breast and a pocket in the skirts on either side opening to the inside. The lining shows wear. The lining in the shoulders, above the arm holes, is shredded, revealing some of the remaining burlap interlining and wadding. The chest portion is largely there on the wearer’s right, though with a large tear. On the left it has similar tears, with the upper portion and bottom of the pocket there, but the middle portion gone, showing the lining coat lining underneath, which more or less matches in fabric and brown color. The pockets in the skirts, on the other hand are both present and in very good condition. The sleeve lining in the left arm is gone, leaving only shreds inside the cuff. It is intact in the right sleeve, however, and shows a worn but legible ink stamp reading “2 / SA” indicating a standard Army size 2 coat manufactured by the Schuylkill Arsenal.

The coat was on exhibit at the Texas Civil War Museum, comes with its display card, and is identified to Samuel H. Yahres of the 5^th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. Born August 5, 1844, Yahres was from Allegheny County, enlisted Aug. 26, 1864, and mustered into Company (or Battery) C of the 5^th PA Heavy Artillery for one year’s service on Aug. 29 and served with the regiment until mustered out with it June 30, 1865. The regiment organized at Pittsburgh into early September, reached Washington soon after that and was attached to the 22^nd Army Corps. It served in the forts north of the city until Sept. 28 when it was sent into the field, doing guard duty along the Manassas Gap railroad, a supply line for Sheridan's army in the Shenandoah Valley. On this duty, in the words of Dyer’s Compendium, it was “constantly engaged with Mosby,” noting in particular actions at Salem October 4, 1864; Rectortown October 7; and White Plains October 11. Its casualties were noted as 3 men killed or mortally wounded, with implies several times that in wounded who survived. Their summary history in the Union Army notes the regiment also lost 22 men cut off and captured at Salem, but somewhat evened the score by taking part in the capture of some artillery pieces and prisoners from Mosby near Piedmont. In November it returned to the Washington defenses, with the 1^st Battalion posted at Prospect Hill, 2nd Battalion at Vienna and 3rd Battalion at Fairfax C. H., erecting stockades and block houses and doing guard and picket duty. Before discharge, however, it was faced with the gruesome task of helping clean up the battlefield of battlefield of Bull Run that Spring, helping inter or reinter some 2,000 victims of the fighting in the second battle.

Yahres mustered out with the regiment on June 30, 1865, and returned to Pennsylvania where he married in 1873 and raised a considerable family. He passed away in Etna, PA, I January 1929 and was interred at Glenshaw, Allegheny County. We show a photo of him in his G.A.R. uniform from an online family photo album that is also used in vignetted form in his cemetery listing.

Mint surplus uniforms are valued as showing what they looked like when issued. Equally sought after, but considerably rarer, are those actually issued and worn by a soldier, often modified for his own comfort, preserved despite signs of age and wear. This coat displays very well, would be a key piece in a uniform collection or artillery display, and would also fit a display concentrating on the 1864 and 1865 campaigns when many heavy artillery regiments, usually drilled also as infantry in their training, were sent into the field and suffered some of the heaviest casualties of the war in fierce infantry combat from Spotsylvania to Appomattox.  [sr] [ph:L]

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