Dressed to Kill, Dressed to Till
This is the last pattern of sleeved jacket produced as a “forage jacket” or undress jacket for the British infantry, being superceded during the Crimean War by a double-breasted blouse of red serge. The single-breasted jacket is made of red broadcloth with a white standing collar 1 ½ inches high and 2 ½ inch-wide, white cuffs with a slit or slash behind. There are 10 “keyhole” form, worked holes down the left breast, for a corresponding number of buttons on the right (one missing). Each shoulder has a white strap lined with red, 2 ¼ wide as set into the shoulder and tapering to 1 ¼ inch-width at collar, at which end is a worked buttonhole and button affixed to shoulder below. The breast innerfacings are 2 ½ inches wide, of the same red body cloth; the body and sleeves are unlined. A partly-printed War Department label in blue paper is glued inside, slightly under the right sleeve hole. It is inked as size “16” with measurements recorded as being for a man 6 f[eet] 0[in.]/ Breast 40/ Waist 34/ Sleeve 36 and is marked for the 65th Regiment of Foot (which had white facings). However, the buttons on the jacket are all convex, 2-piece, white metal buttons of ¾ inch-diameter for the Dublin County or 109th Regiment of Militia, indicating that this jacket was issued to that unit when the 65th Foot drew the new serge blouses. The pattern of this jacket was used by the Tait Company of Limerick when producing contract jackets for the Confederacy some eight years later. Ex. collection, the late William C. Carman; present owner, 2004.
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