John J. Tew's trousers were made from a black colored wool-jean cloth. They are both machine and hand sewn. The adjustable belt in back is completely intact and has a brass "Patent 1854" type buckle.  The trousers have the expected side seam front pockets; separate yoke pieces in the rear and the rear seam are sewn entirely closed to the top of the waistband. The pockets are made of white cotton. Typically, the trousers are not lined except on the inside fly. The fly closes with five buttons; one at the waistband and the other four on the bottom fly piece.  None of the black painted metal buttons is missing from the pants. The rear waistband seam is also closed all the way up, omitting the notch. If the pants had suspender buttons there is no evidence of these. Typically Yankee Civil War pants have suspender buttons but at least 2 Confederate extant examples have none. These pants are in excellent condition showing only minor wear. They were at one time washed and this has caused the dye to permeate the white cotton pockets and fly lining with a pinky tone. The name "J. Tew" is written on the top of the fly front lining, From the waist band top to cuff bottom is 39 inches. The cuff is basted under and is a straight cut.

Tew's regiment was a hard fighting unit. Please check out their history at: North Carolina in the American Civil War - 51st NC Regiment (Infantry).  Tew enlisted as a Sergeant May 10, 1862, and was promoted to Jr. 2nd Lieutenant on December 24, 1862, then to 2nd Lt. September 17, 1863. He was wounded at Cold Harbor, June 7, 1864, and was absent until he returned to his regiment January 24, 1865.   His records indicate that he received a CLOTHING ISSUED JANUARY 19th, 1865, BEFORE HE LEFT HOSPITAL! This issue would have to have included trousers. An officer would not typically be issued clothing so we can deduce that the clothing "issued" to him was enlisted man's garb. It is our belief that these pants, showing limited use and therefore in near mint condition, were issued to him just before he left hospital. However, there is a picture of Tew as an enlisted man wearing black trousers (please see photos below). Tew fought until war's end but never formally surrendered.

The trousers worn by sergeant to lieutenant John J. Tew of the 51st North Carolina Infantry are the second of 2 pair of his military trousers found in Tew's trunk which also contained other personal and military items including a few CS "I" buttons and period documents. These trousers were the better of the 2 found in that they suffered less from oxidation of color. Displayed for years at Ray Richey's Texas Civil War Museum. Confederate trousers are extremely scarce and come up for sale rarely.  [pe][ph:L]

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

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

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!