Fulton Blues Picture

[kevinw33]

Sirs,

An acquaintance and I were talking about a picture he had of his great-great grandfather and he was looking for some information on the uniform. I told him that if he could email me the picture, I know exactly the people who would know.

The fellow in the picture is:

William Washington Tarrant
Co. "I" (Fulton Blues)
42nd Regiment, Georgia Volunteers

If anyone knows, please comment on the type of jacket, hat, etc. and also if you have a pretty good idea on what colors they were, including the trim.

Any info is greatly appreciated!

Thanks and enjoy a picture you have probably never seen!

Kevin Whitehead


Picture sent by T. Denham.

[brown]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

I like the buttons on the front of the cuff. Seen that a few times in images of guy who would become AoT soldiers, and at least once on a fellow who would become Army of the Cumberland.

[Kiev Thomason]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

Sirs,

An acquaintance and I were talking about a picture he had of his great-great grandfather and he was looking for some information on the uniform. I told him that if he could email me the picture, I know exactly the people who would know.

The fellow in the picture is:

William Washington Tarrant
Co. "I" (Fulton Blues)
42nd Regiment, Georgia Volunteers

If anyone knows, please comment on the type of jacket, hat, etc. and also if you have a pretty good idea on what colors they were, including the trim.

Any info is greatly appreciated!

Thanks and enjoy a picture you have probably never seen!

Kevin Whitehead


Picture sent by T. Denham.

It looks like a cut away frock ..frock thats round in the front. The jacket it's self closely looks like some of the shell jackets that were coming out of GA ,but I have never seen one of these. It's cool ! My grandfather was the 1st Lt. of company I the Fulton Blues.

[Bob McDonald]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

For comparison purposes, note the uniform characteristics of Pvt. Hugh Lawson Duncan, 39th GA Infantry:

http://tinyurl.com/bspz2g

Although lacking the cuff facings and, apparently, the three cuff buttons per sleeve, Duncan's frock coat represents what was likely the Georgia standard issue during the time of his enlistment in March 1862. (Also note that Duncan's frock does display epaulets, although only one is visible, under his cartridge box sling.)

I'd suggest that Pvt. Tarrant's coat was a highly similar gray frock, with typically cut skirt; I believe the photo's slight suggestion of a curved cutaway skirt is simply a visual trick caused by the way the skirt was draped for the pic.

Thanks for sharing such a fine ID'd portrait.


Bob McDonald

[rtden]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

Greetings to all.

I'm new to the group. I learned about this site from Kevin33 and I am the one who asked Kevin to post the photo of Pvt. Tarrant, my great-great grandfather. I am looking to eventually replicate his uniform (as it appears in the photo). I have colorized the photo (via Photoshop), estimating the colors.

However, I'm not absolutely sure of the colors. I'm assuming that the coat material is the blue-gray and the cuffs are dark blue. If anyone has any info to validate these colors, it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, does anyone know if the buttons had the Georgia state emblem?

And while we're at it ... is the hat dark brown or black??

Again, Private Tarrant (later Sgt.) was with the 42nd Georgia, Company "I" (Fulton Blues). He is now interred in Atlanta's historic Oakland Cemetery.

Thanks for any info and for the opportunity to address this issue here. Toby Denham

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

This is a quote from "Requiem for a Lost City" by Robert Scott Davis Jr., page 41.

"There was an exhibition of tableaux in the theater, "The Athenaeum" on Decatur Street, just opposite the present Kimball House, mainly gotten up by Mrs. Perino Brown. Mr. W. P. Howard suggested one scene he thought would be amusing, and called it "The Young Ladies with the Blues." When the curtain raised, instead of seeing doleful and melancholy countenances, and number of young ladies and girls, with smiles upon their faces were seen arranged in graceful groups about the stage with members of our youngest military company whose name was "The Fulton Blues." This military company was composed of those under age for active service called "The Fulton Blues" and their uniform was a comparatively dark blue trimmed with a lighter shade of the same color."

The photo of William Tarrant may not necessarily depict him in the uniform of the Fulton Blues. Then again, it looks like a charcoal sketch OR a re-touching of a photograph so it could be the Fulton Blues uniform but the tones/shades of the uniform may be off of depending on what, or any, artistic license may have been taken by the artist.

In my opinion I'd say that Tarrant is wearing a frock with the "cut-away" style of skirt that begins to slope immediately where it joins the upper body. Not quite the pre-war style "spike tail coat."

Based on the photo I'd guess that the epaulets and cuffs are the only features on his frock coat that are trimmed or faced using entirely different material. The cuff facing looks vaguely like a French cuff, which is the general inverted "V" shape found on Federal frock coats. If we can consider the image to give us a relatively trustworthy view of the coat's structure then it looks like the point of the cuff facing is situated on or just above the sleeve outseam, if there even is an outseam. Perspective here is a a little tricky but I would also estimate that the sleeve buttons line up with the point of the cuff facing.

As for buttons, since the Fulton Blues was a pre-to-early war organization it would not be a stretch for them to have had Georgia state seal buttons on these coats.

[Uncle Pig]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

Without seeing the original it is hard to tell but this could be a touched up photo.

From what I understand it was not unknow for the family to take a civilian picture and have a military uniform drawn on it. I have seen several examples of this. Geof Walden's Orphan Brigade site has several documented cases. It is possible this was not a uniform at all but a civilian cutaway frock that the artist made look like a uniform.

Thanks,
Foster From Flint

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

Foster has a point, I have seen at least two images that have been retouched to give them a more military look. But Tarrant's coat appears to be military for the fact that it buttons all the way to the throat. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't seen many purely civilian garments that button all the way up the front like this one.

[ScottCross]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

Foster has a point, I have seen at least two images that have been retouched to give them a more military look. But Tarrant's coat appears to be military for the fact that it buttons all the way to the throat. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't seen many purely civilian garments that button all the way up the front like this one.

This type of image is called a "Crayon Portrait". These are enlargements made from a negative and produced on a printing out paper. It was then finished with applied pastels and/or charcoal. It is an actual photograph and became popular in the 1860s and remained popular until the 1890s. Most of these are fairly accurate.

[DougCooper]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

Scott is correct on this neat photo/portrait genre. There are many of them north and south. The upside is that it can enhance a poor image with more detail, as it may have been here. I agree that this is a frock, and is draped in a way that makes it look cut away.

Kiev - totally cool on your ancestor. Share the info!

[rtden]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

Gentlemen,

I appreciate all of the info each of you have offered regarding my great-great grandfather's coat. It has been helpful. I am interested in possibly replicating the entire uniform.

I have attached a colorized version of the photo. I'm interested in any input you gentlemen may have regarding the color of the coat, hat and pants. Do I have these colors close to being accurate?? Also, does anyone have any ideas reagrding the button insignia (would they have the Ga. state seal, CSA, or "I")???

Again, thanks to all for the great info.

For convenience, here's the info regarding W. W. Tarrant's regiment:

Co. I (Fulton Blues), 42nd Reg't, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, CSA

.

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

Toby,

I wouldn't think that a reproduction of this uniform would be a problem. I know that with my company we have the frock patterns made up and graded to several various "regulation" sizes as well as combinations of chest, waist, sleeve sizes...and changing the style of skirt from straight to "cut-away" would be simple.

Fabric is another animal completely and I am not sure what kind of goods should be used. You have everything; broadcloth, melton, doeskin, cassimere, satinet, jeans, kersey, etc..

Find attached a photograph of a collection of original CS clothing and equipments. The frock coat on the right appears to be a blue-gray jeancloth and is constructed with a cut-away skirt. I wish I had recorded the origin of this photo when I found it several months ago but I have no idea whose collection this is or if these items have any solid provenance.

[roundshot]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

My recommendation would be Federal branch of service letter buttons such as the midsize Eagle "I". These are probably the most common style recovered from early war CS camps and are way underrepresented in the hobby. Just my opinion however. In the photo the size seems to indicate the mid-size variety except for the smaller version on the cuffs.

[Kiev Thomason]

Re: Fulton Blues Picture

Scott is correct on this neat photo/portrait genre. There are many of them north and south. The upside is that it can enhance a poor image with more detail, as it may have been here. I agree that this is a frock, and is draped in a way that makes it look cut away.

Kiev - totally cool on your ancestor. Share the info!

Well...he was from Paulding County GA. He made friends along the way with some high ups in the state,which I think is the way he ended up in the Fulton Blues. His best friend was the Atlanta Mayor Fultons son. He ran a blacksmith shop and stable in Powder Springs GA. before and after the war. He also had two sons that were in the unit ..after he came home from the fall of Vicksburg.I have copies of papers from that time. I just can't find them right now. I have his discharge and parole and many company forms that he made out. These actually state what the men needed at Vicksburg ...axes ,food clothes all that kinda stuff. I will keep looking. He died around 1813. He is at rest in Powder Springs today. We had a headstone made about ten years ago .The old one had no CS info at all on it.

Those GA jackets have about three or so different types. There are none around that I know of. I know of only 7 pics of them. One has three gents in it and they are the first type shell. Then they went to the frock and back to the shell. All notes lean toward them more than likely being made from wool from the Roswell Mills. That was a nasty weave of salt and pepper looking jeans. The closest thing I can tell you to look at is the Branch shell at the Atlanta history center.

The jacket that Dan posted is awsome. I have notes and pics on it . I forget who has it. However that same set up was at the Nashville show three years ago and the man was nice enough to get it off the dummy for me. The Buttons were coin and the coat was bright blue at one time. I turned back a seam. The frock in the photo was from the 13 GA Light Art. He said the man was shot in 1862 . It is a cut away type frock. It was lined in Osnaburg. Very thin at that. The button holes were brown thread or at least the are now. If I remember right there is a pocket on the left side of the breast. It has two piece sleeves.